4.29.2004

If you and I have ever talked web, you've probably heard me evangelize about Firefox. It's Mozilla's latest incarnation, and it has the be the absolutely coolest thing ever. I was a die hard IE fan until a friend talked me into giving it a quick try. Just give it a day. So I did.

And now, peel the onion.

Why? Because there are SO MANY LAYERS. This browser has my following as much as the MAC guys preach about their precious OS X. Awesome. Nearly every day, I discover a new feature that makes my web time even more benefical. What is it today?

You're on a web page, you see some text that intrigues you. Now, highlight said text, RIGHT click on it, and choose "Web Search..." and BOOM! You're immediately into Google, searching for the text that you highlighted. Beautiful. Couldn't be easier. Oh, and because Firefox supports Tabbed Browsing, the new Google page opens in the background, not the foreground, so your current page is still active.

It's nice to be easily amused.

Ken


AVed at 4/29/2004 01:27:00 PM | LINK |

4.26.2004

Now there's some good 3D. Very intricate. A little tribute to Vans... I really like how well the 3D rendered elements sit in the video segments... good compositing.

Computerlove | Exhibition: Rogier Hendriks - rogier (Vans Trailer)



AVed at 4/26/2004 02:24:00 PM | LINK |

'k. So went to see Squarepusher last night. My thoughts:

(1) I now understand that phrase "there's a fine line between genius and insanity."
(2) the style could be described as "heavymetal-meets-techno-meets-a-brokenguitaramptransistor-meets-a-screechingelectroniccat-meets-an-atari."
(3) Asheville has weird people. Who like Squarepusher.

All in all, it was a delicious infusion of d-n-b beats, experimental (extremely experimental) atonal audio blips and distortions. Saw a Sony Vaio laptop onstage. Oh, and he plays bass. Very chaotic, yet he controlled the chaos and crafted it into an intricate soundworld of confusion with structure.

I'm very tired, as we did not arrive back into SC until after 3. Still, worth the experience.


AVed at 4/26/2004 10:24:00 AM | LINK |

4.23.2004

Kryon (graphics overlay program)
kron


AVed at 4/23/2004 01:54:00 PM | LINK |

Esay RGB.com for advance color theory. Easy way to pick complimentary colors.



AVed at 4/23/2004 10:54:00 AM | LINK |

Main title

A site for After Effects Expressions: Dan Ebbert.


AVed at 4/23/2004 12:23:00 AM | LINK |

Looping a COMP (not a video clip)



from Creative Cow
In your 10 second comp, enable time remapping for the layer. Extend the out point of the layer all the way to the end of the comp.
In the TimeRemap property, add an expression, and use this expression...

loopOut("cycle", 0)

That should do it.
("cycle" is the type of loop-- among other options is "Pingpong")
("0" is the default number of keys, which actually tells the expression to loop across all keyframes in the property)


AVed at 4/23/2004 12:20:00 AM | LINK |

4.22.2004

http://www.ayatoweb.com/ae_tips_e.html

Good after effects tutorials.



AVed at 4/22/2004 02:41:00 PM | LINK |

the Path text effect... under Advanced... Jitter Settings... (adjust the randomness... and Typewriter).

Duplicate a layer (like text) and offset by 1px in Z-space. Then parent together. 3D layers are 1px thick, and therefore this acts as a 1px extrude. Continue adding layers to extrude deeper.


AVed at 4/22/2004 02:30:00 PM | LINK |

Keying > Keylight
Source Crops
keyframe Left, right, top, and bottom for MK12 effect


AVed at 4/22/2004 11:50:00 AM | LINK |

to do an IF:

If(statement) {
then
}
else


AVed at 4/22/2004 11:45:00 AM | LINK |

I just got my Gmail address. Screw hotmail, you can now contact me at ken.wilson@gmail.com


AVed at 4/22/2004 10:21:00 AM | LINK |

The Render order:
Mask, Effects, then Transforms

the drop shadow example.


AVed at 4/22/2004 10:14:00 AM | LINK |

4.21.2004

Ctrl-J in Photoshop takes a selection and duplicates it on its own layer.
Alt-click eyeball in PS, shows only the selected layer.

use Write-On to reveal a text layer as written.



AVed at 4/21/2004 03:54:00 PM | LINK |

Ctrl-Alt_F to size to layer

720x534 is the DV size in Photoshop - make PS graphics in this. WORK IN THIS SIZE
720x480 (video)


Adobe Shared info. Displacement maps, presets, etc.
share.studio.adobe.com


tutorial from Damon



AVed at 4/21/2004 02:59:00 PM | LINK |

The best darn hotkey yet.

Ctrl-G (or click on the timecode in the timeline) is "Go To"

To go to a particular location, enter it. Frames are 00-30, and seconds are expressed in 100s. For example, to go to second 3, frame 16, type "Ctrl-G, 316, Enter" To advance forward a particular number of frames, click Ctrl-G, then type in "+" before the number of digits to advance. So, type Ctrl-G, then "+15" to advance 15 frames from the current position.

To move backwards, you have to type "+-15" (add a negative number). If you type "-15," you'll end up at timeline position -15.



AVed at 4/21/2004 02:15:00 PM | LINK |

to replace FOOTAGE with more footage (or another graphic) and keep the same settings (like position keyframes, effects, etc.)... select the destination layer in the timeline, then select the NEW footage element in the file browser. Now, drag the footage onto the timeline. Before releasing the mouse, hold down Alt. This replaces the target (highlighted) footage with the browser footage.


Ctrl-M (make movie... defaults...). Edit > Templates > Choose settings and set a default template. Set up my Template with the VT codec, then I won't have to search for the render queue. I can just click Ctrl-M to "make movie" with my preferred render settings.



AVed at 4/21/2004 02:03:00 PM | LINK |

Alt - double click keyframe = velocity
damon@ledet.com



AVed at 4/21/2004 01:41:00 PM | LINK |

click on "position," select the first keyframe... can move the entire sequence (duplicating clouds).

Alt + Shift + P = set position keyframe
Alt + Shift + R = rotation
(remember TRAPS)


AVed at 4/21/2004 11:41:00 AM | LINK |

housekeeping keys
Ctrl A (select all)
F2 (deselect all)
~ (toggles all properties)
Ctrl + ? = bring into comp
Shift + property (TRAPS) to show prop.
Shift + Alt + (TRAPS) = open prop. AND add keyframe
Ctrl + Shift + (TRAPS) = same, but allows you to input value.

J and K jump to keyframe
Alt + [ or ], trim in / out point



AVed at 4/21/2004 11:13:00 AM | LINK |

After Effects notes:

ctrl-alt-shift on startup to reset pref.

Shift+F5 through F8 take snap shots
F5 - F8 display them
this crosses compositions



AVed at 4/21/2004 09:49:00 AM | LINK |

4.19.2004

Also, Adobe announces After Effects 6.5 released! GridironXfactor included (network rendering for dummies).


AVed at 4/19/2004 12:46:00 PM | LINK |

Newest obsession is Icelandic band, Sigur-Ros. Favored by the Radiohead set, they bring an atmospheric brooding of texture, drones, with swells of frenzy. Brilliant music. A visit to their site reveals a plethora of free mp3 downloads. Live material, unreleased tracks. Tons that I've not fully explored yet. All beautiful.


AVed at 4/19/2004 12:45:00 PM | LINK |

4.16.2004

So, mr. Nick C. and I made the venture down to Atlanta on Wednesday night to see the honorable Paul Van Dyk spin a set at Eleven50, Atlanta's premier DJ club. It was my first DJ show ever, and I was totally blow away. "So, is DJing really a valid form of musicianship?" That was one of many threads of conversation that Nick and I explored on the journey down, and on the late night drive back. After seeing the opening DJ play, and then see the masterful PVD pick up where he left off, I can say that a great DJ can truly show off his skills. There's a great degree of finesse involved in matching beats (of which PVD never dropped... but DJ #1 did), selecting tracks, building tension and releasing it... working the crowd. It was a magnificant sight. Now there are only 3 more players on my list that I'd like to see. If anyone hears that Oakenfold is coming the Atlanta (or Charlotte), do let me know. Also, my wishlist contains Digweed, and DJ Shadow (a different type of music, but incredible nevertheless).

For those wondering what the heck I'm talking about, visit his site. Also, Liquidfied hosted the show, and their site is worth exploring as well. You can play some of the mixes from the night.

And if I thought all this fun had come to an end, Nick and I get to do it again in a week... Squarepusher show in Asheville, NC. This time, I'll remeber to bring earplugs.



AVed at 4/16/2004 11:29:00 AM | LINK |

4.14.2004

Flabber.nl :: Windows Noise

This is worth the download. An entire song made with windows audio clips.


AVed at 4/14/2004 04:41:00 PM | LINK |

4.12.2004

Freeplay Music

Free stock music for projects.


AVed at 4/12/2004 11:11:00 AM | LINK |

4.07.2004

So the first (of many) Epiphanuit was hosted tonight at the Town House in Anderson. The conversation was wonderful. People had a good time and good cup of coffee, thanks to the host and founder, Nick C. (I won't even attempt to spell it). I hope to see more fun things come from the Epiphany Lounge in the future. Perhaps some creative collaborative works. In the meantime, follow the happenings at Epiphanylounge.blogspot.com.

Good night.


AVed at 4/07/2004 11:46:00 PM | LINK |

4.06.2004

Anderson Independent Mail: News

Our church finally has a home.


AVed at 4/06/2004 11:00:00 AM | LINK |

4.04.2004

The final tweaks are made (for now). I hope this site flows more easily.


AVed at 4/04/2004 03:30:00 PM | LINK |

4.03.2004

been cleaning up and editing this blog.


AVed at 4/03/2004 11:03:00 AM | LINK |