Need to remove black background from your VFX footage? Often with overlay video effects such as snow, fog, glitch and flash fx the files will have black backgrounds. This is due to pre-keyed video formats (which include transparency) having incredibly large file sizes and issues with software compatibility. Sometimes you might have green screen backgrounds, where you would need to use keying effects to create transparency, but in cases where you want to remove a black background the simplest way to achieve this is to use blending modes. Blending modes change the way your effect layer displays over the footage beneath by, in short, only showing the bright or the dark areas depending on the setting. Add or Screen modes will only display the light areas, effectively keying out the blacks. This is useful for VFX overlays which are generally bright elements on dark backgrounds. Conversely, Multiply or Darken blending… read more
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A beginner’s guide to making YouTube intros without spending any money! Making your YouTube channel look fantastic starts with the branding. Let’s look at YouTube intro templates. You’ve just got a groovy new YouTube channel up and running, or could do with some new awesome branding on an existing channel – how about a cool, animated logo intro to top and tail your videos? A professional looking video intro does wonders for your channel’s credibility. Often because people often make snap judgements on your content within the first few seconds of a video. A poorly made intro sequence can cause viewers to assume the rest of the video will be second-rate, even if your video production is first-class. So, how do you create professional looking YouTube intros with little, to no experience with animation software? And, also, how can you do this for free? Contents: Creating intro sequences using Adobe… read more
Let’s Create some animated text in Adobe After Effects! After Effects is universally accepted as the best software for motion graphics, and absolutely excels at animating text, though for the After Effects beginner its interface and multiple panels and settings can seem a little daunting. Fear not, help is at hand! With these handy, step-by-step After Effect tutorials you’ll learn how to add unique animation to your text in a matter of minutes! These short video tutorials are especially for beginners and utilize only the built-in After effects tools – explaining each process in detail. They cover glitch effects, wiggling text and hand drawn text techniques. Recorded in AE CC2018 these methods will work in all previous (or later) versions of After Effects. Try After Effects for Free Use the link below to access a trial version of Adobe’s incredible motion graphics software. How to Create Glitchy Text in After… read more
Close-up or medium shot? High angle or POV shot? What type of camera angle is best? We break down the basic camera shot types so you can storyboard your video or animation sequence with confidence! For video makers, film directors and animators using the correct, conventional camera terminology is key to giving the impression that you know what you’re doing! One of the basics is learning how to describe the framing of your subject matter to other people. This is where you’ll want to brush up on the language (or grammar) of camera shots. Of course, you can simply disregard all of the tried and tested findings from a hundred years of cinema, and develop your own unique style of communicating! But, it’s important to know the rules before you break them. Bear in mind everyone in the television and film industry will be using the same lingo, so don’t… read more
Everything you need to know about Motion Graphics templates for Premiere Pro Ever wanted to add awesome animated graphics into your Premiere Pro video sequence, fast and easy? Well now you can, with Motion Graphics templates. Watch our short video introduction (below) to the exciting new world of Motion Graphics templates for Premiere Pro and scroll down for our comprehensive FAQ guide to get yourself up to speed. WHAT ARE MOTION GRAPHICS TEMPLATES? You may have been hearing a lot about Motion Graphics templates for Premiere Pro, but what exactly is a Motion Graphics template? Motion Graphics templates (.mogrt) are files that include text animations and video effects which you can edit and then add to your video sequences. They can be overlayed on top of your footage or used as standalone sections of animated video content. You can use your own text and often adjust the position, scale and… read more
