Free Tutorials from Toolfarm

Tags

free, GLJ Media Group, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, learn, software, teach, toolfarm, tutorials

March 7, 2014

by Toolfarm

Welcome to Toolfarm tutorials, where we deliver helpful guides, breakdown professional techniques and share our secrets to creative video content. View by a selected topic by clicking a topic below. Use the search tool here to narrow your results by using the search filter.

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Free Motion Tracking Clips for Training

Tags

Adam Everett Miller, free, GLJ Media Group, Imagineer Systems, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, mocha, motion tracking, vfx

March 6, 2014

by Adam Everett Miller and Imagineer Systems

VFX artist Adam Everett Miller and Imagineer Systems are pleased to offer these free clips to use for motion tracking training with mocha AE and mocha Pro. You can also view and purchase the clips with pre-tracked After Effects projects at:
videohive.net/user/everettoptions/portfolio?ref=everettoptions

View clips here: https://vimeo.com/87612978

Download the full 1080 source files here:
imagineersystems.com/files/free-tracking-clips/at_download/file

Notes from the artist:
You are free to use these clips to practice planar tracking. You may also use them in a non-commercial project. Please do not turn around and sell them. I have a number of bundles available to purchase and download that are pre-tracked and pre-keyed. All you need to do is drop in a screenshot or video.

Any money I make through these purchases goes right back into producing more so if
you see something you like, I’d love your support by purchasing the bundle.
videohive.net/user/everettoptions/portfolio?ref=everettoptions

-Adam Everett Miller (hub.tutsplus.com/authors/adam-everett-miller)
adam@hellostudios.net
ae@tutsplus.com

Take control of FCPX libraries with Final Cut Library Manager from Arctic Whiteness

Tags

Apple Final Cut Pro, Artic Whiteness, fcp.co, FCPX, Final Cut Library Manager, GLJ Media Group, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, libray, manager, plug-in, software, The Touch

March 5, 2014

by fcp.co

A new $6 application that we are rather excited about. Final Cut Library Manager not only lets you catalog libraries across drives, it also lets you free up space by deleting unwanted files safely.

Although the new FCPX Library style of file management from Apple is brilliant, we have to admit to not being the most tidy of editors when it comes to storing things in the right places. We also haven’t got time to go through each Event and delete files we don’t need any more.

The new Final Cut Library Manager from Arctic Whiteness performs a lot of the housekeeping jobs with Libraries, performing tasks automatically without losing any media. The GUI looks very clean and logical, displaying the information about libraries with coloured bars representing the amount of each type of file. Priced at just under $6 we think it’s a winner.

Tim Armes from Arctic Whiteness sent us some more information about the application. If the company sounds familiar, you would be right. They are the developers behind ‘The Touch,’ an application that added more touch gestures for editing.

Final Cut Library Manager is a great utility for running housekeeping tasks on Final Cut Pro X libraries. It’ll immediately find all Spotlight-indexed libraries and display them in one window so that they can easily be sorted and searched. Libraries may be cleaned to recover gigabytes worth of space by quickly and safely removing render files, proxies and optimized media files (users can rest assured that we don’t remove the optimised media if we can’t find the corresponding original media files).

Another small but oh-so-very-useful feature is Open Alone which will open a library by itself in Final Cut Pro to avoid having to manually close all the other libraries first. Finally!

We’ve worked extremely hard to make the interface as efficient, intuitive and beautiful as possible. The free version will run unfettered and allow everything with the exception of library cleaning (yes, users get Open Alone for free…). Nevertheless to celebrate the release of this product we’re offering the full version for a promotional price of just €4.99 (just under $6.00 for those outside of the Europe)!

Here’s a quick summary of the features:

• FCP libraries are automatically found using Spotlight and listed together in one window
• Choose which drives to include
• Sort by name, size, date or even potential space savings once cleaned
• Open the libraries with a double click, or open them by themselves in FCP using our Open Alone feature
• Choose to delete Render files, Proxies and Optimized Media files for one or more libraries at once
• Rest assured – the Optimized Media files for which the corresponding Original Media files cannot be found will be conserved
• Regain huge amounts of disk space quickly and safely!
• Keep it running whilst using FCP to see your libraries growing

Arctic Whiteness are very keen to hear your feedback on the product. One suggestion we would add would be the ability to catalog Libraries so that you can see what files are on disks when they are not plugged in. This would save the dreaded ‘What disk was that on’ scenario.

The price of just under $6 for Final Cut Library manager is a promotion, the app will eventually sell for about $11. For the cost of a few lattes we think it’s a great addition for any FCPX editor.

Apple retires Snow Leopard from support, leaves 1 in 5 Macs vulnerable to attacks

Tags

apple, attack, GLJ Media Group, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, mac, os 10.6, snow leopard

March 4, 2014

by Gregg Keizer, ComputerWorld

Apple last week made it clear that it will no longer patch OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, when it again declined to offer a security update for the four-and-a-half-year-old operating system.

As Apple issued an update for Mavericks, or OS X 10.9, as well as for its two predecessors, Mountain Lion (10.8) and Lion (10.7), Apple had nothing for Snow Leopard or its owners yesterday.

Apple provided Snow Leopard security updates for slightly more than four years, just four months shy of the record set by Tiger (OS X 10.4), which received its final fixes in September 2009.

Snow Leopard was also ignored in December, when Apple patched Safari 6 and 7 for newer editions of OS X, but did not update Safari 5.1.10, the most-current Apple browser for the OS.

Apple delivered the final security update for Snow Leopard in September 2013.

Traditionally, Apple has patched only the OS X editions designated as “n” and “n-1″ — where “n” is the newest — and discarded support for “n-2″ either before the launch of “n” or immediately after. Under that plan, Snow Leopard was “n-2″ when Mountain Lion shipped in mid-2012, and by rights should have been retired around then.

But it wasn’t. Instead, Apple continued to ship security updates for Snow Leopard, and with Tuesday’s patches of Mountain Lion and Lion Tuesday, it now seems plain that Apple has shifted to supporting “n-2″ as well as “n” and “n-1.”

(In that scenario, Mavericks is now “n,” Mountain Lion is “n-1″ and Lion is “n-2.”)

The change was probably due to Apple’s accelerated development and release schedule for OS X, which now promises annual upgrades. The shorter span between editions meant that unless Apple extended its support lifecycle, Lion would have fallen off the list about two years after its July 2011 launch.

None of this would be noteworthy if Apple, like Microsoft and a host of other major software vendors, clearly spelled out its support policies. But Apple doesn’t, leaving users to guess about when their operating systems will fall off support.

“Let’s face it, Apple doesn’t go out of their way to ensure users are aware when products are going end of life,” said Andrew Storms, director of DevOps at security company CloudPassage, in a December interview.

To Apple, Snow Leopard increasingly looks like Windows XP does to Microsoft: an operating system that refuses to roll over and die. At the end of January, 19% of all Macs were running Snow Leopard, slightly more, in fact, than ran its successor, Lion, which accounted for 16%, and almost as much as Mountain Lion, whose user share plummeted once Mavericks arrived, according to Web analytic firm Net Applications.

With Snow Leopard’s retirement, 1 in 5 Macs are running an operating system that could be compromised because of unpatched vulnerabilities.

Snow Leopard users have given many reasons for hanging on, including some identical to those expressed by Windows XP customers: The OS still works fine for them; their Macs, while old, show no sign of quitting; and they dislike the path that Apple’s taken with OS X’s user interface (UI).

Also in play is the fact that Snow Leopard was the last version of OS X able to run applications designed for the PowerPC processor, the Apple/IBM/Motorola-crafted CPU used by Apple before it switched to Intel in 2006. Snow Leopard, while requiring a Mac with an Intel processor, was the latest edition able to run the Rosetta translation utility, and thus launch PowerPC software.

Additionally, Snow Leopard was the final version able to run on Macs equipped with 32-bit Intel processors, making it impossible for owners of some older machines to upgrade beyond OS X 10.6.

The one comfort in Tuesday’s updates was that it looked like Apple will continue to support Lion and Mountain Lion a while longer, even though it has offered those users a free upgrade to Mavericks. Yesterday’s security updates patched 21 vulnerabilities in Lion, 26 in Mountain Lion.

In December, Storms bet that Lion and Mountain Lion had been retired when Apple did not issue security updates for those two editions, even as it fixed a handful of flaws in Mavericks. But he gave himself an out at the time, noting that Apple’s silence — it has long declined to comment on almost any question related to security — on those editions may be temporary.

For parts of Apple’s customer base, the free-OS X strategy seems to be working: By Net Applications’ tally, Mavericks accounted for 42% of all versions of OS X used in January. Mavericks’ continued gains, however, have come mostly at the expense of Mountain Lion — which lost 6 percentage points in the last two months — and Lion, which dropped by 2 points in the same period. Yet Snow Leopard has been largely unaffected. Since October, when Mavericks appeared, OS X 10.6 has dropped less each month than either its 6- or 12-month average.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com..

LIFE AFTER PI, Go Green…

Tags

digital fx, effects, GLJ Media Group, Hollywood, Hollywood Ending, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, Life After Pi, production, Rhythm & Hues Studios, vfx

March 3, 2013

Did you notice the VFX Protest at The Oscars last night…

LIFE AFTER PI is a short documentary about Rhythm & Hues Studios, the L.A. based Visual Effects company that won an Academy Award for its groundbreaking work on “Life of Pi” — just two weeks after declaring bankruptcy. The film explores rapidly changing forces impacting the global VFX community and the Film Industry as a whole.

This is only the first chapter of an upcoming feature-length documentary “Hollywood Ending,” that delves into the larger, complex challenges facing the US Film Industry and the many professionals working within it, whose fates and livelihood are intertwined.

Whether with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Email, or all of the above, change your profile picture to Green Screen. Spread Awareness. Copy the image below.

http://www.facebook.com/hollywoodendi…
http://twitter.com/hollywoodendmov
www.hollywoodendingmovie.com

The Free Music Archive

Tags

download, fair use, FMA, free, Free Music Archive, GLJ Media Group, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, music

February 28, 2014

by The Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality, legal audio downloads directed by WFMU, the most renowned freeform radio station in America.  Radio has always offered the public free access to new music. The Free Music Archive is a continuation of that purpose, designed for the age of the internet.

Every MP3 you discover on The Free Music Archive is pre-cleared for certain types of uses that would otherwise be prohibited by copyright laws that were not designed for the digital era.  These uses vary and are determined by the rights-holders themselves (please see our FAQ) who feel that allowing a degree of free cultural access is beneficial not only to their own pursuits, but to our society as a whole.  Are you a podcaster looking for pod-safe audio?  A radio or video producer searching for instrumental bed music that won’t put your audience to sleep?  A remix artist looking for pre-cleared samples?  Or are you simply looking for some new sounds to add to your next playlist?  The Free Music Archive is a resource for all that and more, and unlike other websites, all of the audio has been hand-picked by established audio curators.

The Free Music Archive is a platform for collaboration between WFMU and a group of fellow curators, including KEXP, dublab, KBOO, ISSUE Project Room, and CASH Music. The site combines the curatorial approach that these organizations have played for the last few decades, with the community generated approach of many current online music sites.

Inspired by Creative Commons and the open source software movement, the FMA provides a legal and technological framework for curators, artists, and listeners to harness the potential of music sharing. Every artist page will have a bio and links to the artists’ home page for users to learn more about the music they discover via the Free Music Archive. We also seek to compensate artists directly. Artist, album and song profiles will contain links to buy the full album from the artist and/or label’s preferred vendor(s).  Users can also “tip” an artist if they like what they hear, sending a donation directly to the artists’ PayPal account.  Artist profiles include tour dates, encouraging users to step away from the glowing computer screen and see some real live music.

While the Free Music Archive is free and open to anyone regardless of registration or other requirements, written and audio content is curated, and permission to upload/edit content is granted on an invitation basis.

Do you have a question about how to legally use the music you find on the Free Music Archive? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

 

Build Your Own Masterpiece, Free Tutorials!

Tags

after effects, artbeats, download, edit, effects, files, free, GLJ Media Group, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, premiere, tutorials, tuts

February 27, 2014

by Artbeats.com

Artbeats recruits top experts in the design industry to create these educational video tutorials for you. Whether you’re a novice wanting step-by-step instruction, or a veteran just looking to expand your creative possibilities, Artbeats video tutorials will help you build your own masterpiece using stock footage. Be sure to check back often for new videos.

software: After Effectslength: 21:33 Watch Final Preview

Frosty Window by John Dickinson (motionworks.net) Inspired by the animated movie “Frozen”, John Dickinson of motionworks shows how he combined an Artbeats stock footage clip using only the default Adobe After Effects tools, to create a realistic frosty window effect. Watch Tutorial (right click to download) Download Project Files

software: Adobe Premiere Prolength: 29:55 Watch Final Preview

Driving Plates Tutorial by Eran Stern (www.sternfx.com) This tutorial takes you from the hustle and bustle of the city to the calm and empty desert in a few easy steps with the help of Premiere Pro and a couple Artbeats clips. Move from one place to another with just the flip of a switch. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

software: After Effectslength: 09:55 Watch Final Preview

Refine Soft Matte Effect by Eran Stern (www.sternfx.com) Adding titles to live video by using the Soft Refine Matte effect to isolate fine edges such as hair or vegetation. Using this effect will allow you to integrate graphics inside natural scene and create an impressive title design at no time with very little effort. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

software: After Effects, Cinema 4Dlength: 18:05 Watch Final Preview

Camera Tracking In AE and C4D by Chris Martin (www.freefxtutorials.com) In this tutorial we will motion track our footage using After Effects CC’s powerful new camera tracker to get a 3D solution. After that, using the new integration between AE and C4D we will locate a 3D origin point in AE to be used in C4D and export. In Cinema we will attach our 3D ship, add lights, materials, and animate. Lastly, we will send back to AE for compositing and final render. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

software: After Effects, Cinema 4Dlength: 34:49 Watch Final Preview

After Effects & Cinema 4D integration by Eran Stern (www.sternfx.com) Execute 3D Camera Track in After Effects with an emphasis on the new features of that effect. Then transfer the 3D Camera solve to Cinema 4D scene, adding three-dimensional elements, add 3D passes such as object buffer and shadows. Explore the workflow between the two applications to take advantage of the capabilities of the new CINEWARE effect in After Effects CC. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

software: Final Cut Pro Xlength: 13:32 Watch Final Preview

Keyer As Shape Mask by Ben Balser (www.bbalser.com) Using a keyed green screen layer can be use as the animated mask source for other layers. This tutorial shows how the basic mechanics work, as well as combining it with other compositing techniques for a variety of effects. Examples include achieving ghosting effects and a Bond style opening effect. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

software: Final Cut Pro Xlength: 08:29 Watch Final Preview

Video-In-Text-On-Video by Ben Balser (www.bbalser.com) This tutorial explains how to composite a video or graphics clip to show inside of text, and that composite on top of an other separate video. All while maintaining each of the two composite operations separate from each other. It also shows how to use filters and reverse timing to effect titles and graphics in Final Cut Pro X. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

software: Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5length: 09:30 Watch Final Preview

Flame Wipe Transition by Ben Balser (www.bbalser.com) This tutorial explains how to create a custom wipe transition using a video clip and animated mask shapes. Specifically using a flaming video to burn a wipe transition from one clip to the next. Both supplied and manually created animated mask shapes are explained, as well as the details of Motion’s shape mask controls. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

software: After Effects + 3rd party plug-inslength: 19:37 Watch Final Preview

Sunset Model by Eran Stern (www.sternfx.com) Eran creates a teaser for an upcoming reality show using footage from the Rubberball, Glamour Key and Aqua Geo Graphic libraries on artbeats.com. He has incorporated plug ins from Mettle, GenArts and Red Giant Software, with some tricks in After Effects, to create this fun, fresh piece. Watch Tutorial (right click to download) Download Project Files

software: After Effects, Photoshop, Mocha AElength: 35:24 Watch Final Preview

Breakout Coffee by Eran Stern (www.sternfx.com) Take a break and learn some valuable tips! This entertaining, yet highly useful tutorial by design guru Eran Stern utilizes Photoshop’s cloning tools and Mocha’s tracking to clone out unwanted text, add green screen footage of people, and replace objects. Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

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$30 IKEA Camera Slider

Tags

camera, diy, GLJ Media Group, Ikea, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, slider, tools

February 26, 2014

by DerekMellott

A $30 camera slider?  No way!
You better believe it.
Here is a way to build a simple. effective, and wildly inexpensive camera slider in about an hour. This slider is simple to build with basic tools and has a weight capacity of 11lbs!

Lets get to it!

 

Step 1: Tools

Drill and drill bits
Countersink bit
Vise or clamp
1/4 20 tap
Another smaller tap, I used 2.5mm
And a saw.

You can you hand drills and saws but if you can use a drill press you will find drilling the small bits a lot easier.

Step 2: Supplies

Here is your shopping list.

From IKEA
LEGITIM Chopping board $1.49
KVARTAL Glider and hook $2.00
KVARTAL Triple curtain rail $19.99
KVARTAL Ceiling fixture $2.50

You will also need 2 1/4 20 machine screws about 1/2 long plus a 1/4 or 3/8 machine screw to attach a tripod head or camera directly to the slider cart. Make sure these screws have a tapered as they need to be countersunk completely.

I used 8 3mm cap head screws that were 8mm long to attach the gliders to the cart. Whatever little screws you get for this you should also get a tap for that thread, you may be able to cut the thread with the screws them selves but a tap is only a couples of bucks and will work better.

Favorite Video Software Tools

Tags

adobe, after effects, apple, avid, DV Fanatics, edit, editor, fcp, Final Cut Pro, GLJ Media Group, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, mac, premiere, tools

February 25, 2014

by DV Fanatics

As a video editor, it’s important to know more than just a single editing tool. If you’re a freelancer, it’s very helpful to know all of the major tools that are used in your local market. Sometimes, what you may consider the Best Video NLE Out There, may not be the best system for every workflow. Everyone has their favorite set of tools, but those tools may not be the ones you use for every project.

I’ll discuss my favorite tools for different workflows. Whether I’m editing video, retouching photographs, creating motion graphics, encoding video or recording and editing sound, these are the tools I prefer to use.

The Avid Media Composer bin.

• Video Editing – The Avid Media Composer is my video editing tool of choice. This is the tool I would use if I’m doing an edit with camera source material and the decision of which editor to use is left totally up to me. I love the depth of the Avid’s feature set and find that its media management and trimming capabilities are the best out there. If I am doing a project that is mostly motion graphics and animation, my preference is to use Adobe Premiere Pro. Adobe Dynamic Link makes editing with Adobe After Effects sources so easy. There’s no need for export/import, Adobe Premiere Pro opens After Effects comps directly in its timeline (See What I Like About Adobe Premiere Pro).

The Adobe After Effects interface.

• Motion Graphics – My favorite tool for creating animations and motion graphics is Adobe After Effects. Whenever a project calls for a title or lower third with motion elements, I always use Adobe After Effects. If Adobe After Effects isn’t available, my next go-to motion graphics tool is Avid FX which is built into the Avid Media Composer. For blogs on creating motion graphics in Adobe After Effects, check out some of my Adobe After Effects blogs.

• Photo Editing and Retouching – Adobe Photoshop is the only tool I use when editing images or photographs (See Photoshop Panoramas Revisited). Photoshop has become part of the modern vocabulary when referring to doctoring an image. Most people now say a retouched image was “photoshopped”.

The Sorenson Squeeze interface.

• Video Encoding – In general, I prefer using Sorenson Squeeze. Squeeze allows me to encode to the codecs I use most. Another thing I like is that, unlike Adobe Media Encoder, Sorenson Squeeze will work with Quicktime reference movies (See Getting the Perfect Video Encode). On the other hand, if I’m using Adobe Premiere Pro and my editing system, I will use Adobe Media Encoder because it will work with sequences using Adobe Dynamic Link – no need to export out a sequence first. For the same reason, I will use Apple Compressor if my edit is being done in Apple Final Cut Pro.

• Sound Editing – Since I am a video editor and not a sound guy, I prefer the tools that are built for us video folks. That’s why I prefer to use Adobe Audition or Apple Soundtrack Pro. Both of these applications offer me more flexibility when handling audio than any of the video editing systems that I currently use. The added bonus with Apple Soundtrack Pro is that it comes complete with a whole lot of sound effects and audio loops.

These are the tools I prefer to use when I have the choice. If I am working for a facility that uses a different set of tools, it is my responsibility to know those tools as well.

A “Frozen” Tutorial by John Dickinson

Tags

AE, after effects, artbeats, free, Frozen, fx, GLJ Media Group, jeff riegel, jeffvlog, teach, training, tutorial

February 24, 2014

by John Dickinson and Artbeats

Inspired by the animated movie “Frozen” released in late 2013, John Dickinson of Motionworks shows how he combined an Artbeats stock footage clip using only the default Adobe After Effects tools, to create a realistic frosty window effect in this tutorial. Also included are the project files to follow along with and make your creative video effect.

Click here to watch tutorial.  (length: 21:33)

We’d enjoy seeing what you’ve come up with. Please feel free to send a link to your finished work to us via the response space, below.

 

Watch Tutorial (right click to download)

Download Project Files