Some software tools are simple, they perform a defined and specific
set of tasks, do them well and leave everything else alone. Others can
seem like the proverbial kitchen sink with a massively wide gamut of
options and possibilities. After Effects is certainly in the later
catagory. Partly by virtue of it having been around so long After
Effects is a tool that has found a way to satisfy a vast array of niche
uses whilst maintaining solid functionality and power in all of them.
Who saids you cant be all things to everyone?
We could easily have devoted half the 2 year course at the International Film School Sydney where I teach just to
working with After Effects and still probably not cover all that it can
do. Professionals working with AE also often find themselves exploiting
just a subset of it's functions - a motion graphic artist doing title
sequences is likely to use a set of AE tools quite different to those
employed by another person doing chroma key composits and rotoscoping
firearm effects. Still again a colourist may use AE solely as a
finishing system for its detailed set of primary and secondary colour
correction options and 16bit processing engine.
It's easy to be daunted by this scale and diversity but the truth is
that all the options in After Effects are built upon a simple set of
foundations; from the simplest effect to the most complex, they are all
extensions of these basics.
- Keyframes (controlling things over time)
- Layers (stacking image layers together)
- Tracking (controlling the movement of one object/layer with another)
- Virtual Camera (controlling the viewers perspective in space)
If you can get your head around these 4 things then the rest of AE
will just fall into place. By focusing on these 4 key fundamentals the rest of AE should
be opened up and made accessible. All you need is the time to practice
and experiment.
To assist that process of self-directed learning here below is a set of detailed and focused tutorials on using AE -
Far and away, without doubt, the very best AE tutorials on the web are those by VideoCopilot. In particular their free online Basic Training Series should be the first port of call for anyone wanting to get into After
Effects. These tutorials, presented as videos with downoadable project
files, are efficient, focused, clever and at times very funny.
If you need more, PeachPit press a a good set of tutorials extracted from their various books on AE.
If you're interested in seeing just how far motion graphics, visual effects and tools like After Effects can be pushed then Motionographer should be at the top of your RSS feed.
And lastly if you're craving a deeper consideration of the aesthetic
and cocneptual paradigms After Effects represents then I can thoroughly
reccomend Lev Manovich's essays 'After Effects and the Velvet Revolution'(PDF)
I love a good title sequence. I love the efficiency; maximum meaning, minimum time. I love the density; multiple images in simultaneity demanding deper more complex relationships to be forged by the viewer. I love the audacity; the simultaneous definace and celebration of cinematic language and the crafting of the hybrid new. I love the diversity; the sheer span of posssibilities thrown up by the humble Alpha-chanel that makes layered composition possible. I love the fun; the playfullness, the celebration of light, movement, texture and form.
Cinema should be a doodle-art but far too often its not. Cinema, as the art of the moving image, is rarely thought of as an artform of brain-storming, of un-directed experimentation, of idea bouncing and of... well, Doodling.
Cinema tends to fall under the banner of production, of assembly and construction and, sometimes, an even factory-like processional of steps with an air of the pre-ordinaied.
Now get me wrong. Im a pragmatist and at the International Film School Sydney where I teach we focus a great deal on making self sufficient filmmakers with a strong streak of pragmatism and business savvy. Art is useless if it remains unable to be manifested into a tangible engaging experience for a viewer. The artist/producer is infinitely more powerful and effective than just the artist.
But, there is an incredible power in doodling, in playing with ideas and images, of approaching the creative development and inception of an idea from a more free-form position. A film need not start with a script. A script need not start with words. Why should a script start with images, or sounds?
Over the years I have engaged a variety of approaches to fueling creative endeavor and of prompting new-thinking in my students. Its the driving impetuous towards my adoption of CELTX; a creative writing development system that whilst designed to develop screenplays doesn't privilege the Word or the even the Script itself. Unlike other screenwriting; tools, Celtx allows the idea of a script to be attacked in whatever creative manor suits the creator and the creative product. Pictures, Video clips, Sounds, Images, Index cards, Storyboards, alternative script layouts; these are all legitimate means to an ends. In simple terms Celtx allows for doodling, it allows for other influences. traditional filmmaking process so very often does not.
Its in this vein of thinking, of seeking digital tools that allow for cinematic doodling that I have stumbled one of the most exciting Web2.0 inspired, online tools I have yet seen. MOODSTREAM comes from the Getty Images company, the worlds largest supplier of stock media. MoodStream is a dynamic, real-time, brainstorming and creative development system that sits astride the massive repository of the Getty media file database.
The concept is simple; a panel of controls allows the user to choose their mood. The choices on those settings set the MoodStream engine in motion drawing upon the Getty database to draw forth images, video files, photos and music in real-time up onto your screen. See something you like, something captures your eye in an interest net then you click a button and its added to your palette. Its effectively a form of digital media scrap book assembly; the sort designers have used for decades (perhaps even centuries) to collate ideas and inspiration.
You can control transitions between images, the rate at which they cycle, use preset moods or custom sliders, control or change the music, and gather all these media assets together into a swatch palette you can save and retrieve.
For production designers this is a gold mine of experimentation and doodling. For Directors its a great way to form a visualized construct of a cinema experience. A perfect medium to communicate visual ideas to a production team in the early development phase. Its uses are virtually infinite and its most definitely highly addictive.
The creators of MoodStream describe it as
a concepting tool. The modern version of the fireplace. An interactive art piece. TV for the future. It's a website we created for and with Getty Images to showcase all of their offerings - still, video and sound - and inspire interactive creatives. And it's really, really fun to use.
Usually I baulk at this kind of marketing speak, but not this time. They are dead-on and theyve created soemthign very special.
Following on from recent posts about the evolving cinematic language of title sequences and motion graphics, David Dunkley-Gyimah (of Viewmagazine fame) pointed me towards this interesting article from WIRED, an interview with Title Sequence guru Kyle Cooper - most famous for his seminal title sequences in such films as Se7en and Spiderman.
The article points towards the idea that all too often Cooper's title sequences are 'too good', better than the films they hearld deserve.
Continuing the discussion of motion graphics and title design I found this video a perfect example of both RemixCulture and the interpretative, stylistic power of Motion Graphics.
If Saul Bass (the father of modern motion graphics) had designed the titles for Star Wars this may well ahve been the strange love child....
Title Sequence Montage - 25 of the best title designs
For a tour through the annals of title design and motion graphics history, and to get a sense of the trajectory of complex visual cinematic language over the past four decades, you could do much worse than to sit back at watch this 10 minute montage. the piece draws together 25 of the more significant, inlfuential, clever and dynamic title sequence designs; and whilst there may be arguments to be had over what was left out, it still serves as highly informative collection.
What i find most interesting about the art of motion graphics is that for much of the past 3 decades it has been resigned to a specific role in constructing condensed visual meaning for the 'introduction' of larger, more traditional, cinema - title sequences for movies and TV shows. In many ways the more interesting evolution for motion graphics going forward will be the saturation of motion graphics as a common visual language, not only for 'intros' but for the consumate telling of cinematic stories and evocation cinematic meaning.
Many may scoff at the idea of a layered, dynamic, complex and visually dense array of media elements being a mainstay of a movie rather than the introductory, special purpose, fringe. But those same people, a few decades ago, would have also scofed at the idea of hand-held camera or fast cutting. Cinematic langauge evolves and the literacy of cinema's viewers evolvs with it. To the 'digital native', who's minds work at twitch-speed, for whom digital, screen-based multitasking is a everyday practice, for whom the senory overload of immersive gaming is their mainstay of cinematic media, such a proposal for Motion Graphics is hardly far fetched.
The past year has seen an array of technological newness that has pointed firmly towards the future directions of interaction, interface and visual experience. Obviously complex bleeding-edge systems like Photosynth shown at TED or the multitouch table shown by Mirosoft jump to mind. But on the smaller, more intimate scale we've also seen the I-phone and I-pod touch with their now famous 'pinch' control.
Now we have PicLens which presents an extrodinary image viewing mechanism delivered as a simple browser plugin.
Working with a host of comon online image systems such as Flickr and Google Images the PicLens plugin allows for the online image selection or collection to be viewed as a 3D video wall. The wall, stretching on almost infinately, as far as the image collection continues, can be zoomed, scanned, tilted and navigated in a highly fluid interactive paradigm.
The great achievement of PicLens is to rise above the status of visual gimmick to present a very functional and fluidly effectivly viewing environent and experience. Seeking and locating a desired image is actually easier and in many ways more efficient on the PicLens image wall than simple scanning through thumbnail pages. Moreover, the developers of PicLens have implimented their image engine in a very system light manner that functions well even over slower bandwidths.
Along with the browser plugin PicLens is also availible as WordPress blo engine plugin allowing users to host their own PicLens image galleries.
The derivation of the word EXTRODINARY is of course Extra - Ordinary; Beyond the Ordinary. The implication of this however is that the truly Extraordinary is that which stems out of the Oridinary and the mundane and finds the 'extra' that elevates it into the Extraordinary.
Here be an example of exactly that - a gorgeous work of motion graphics that plays with that most ubiquitous and common of grpahical elements - Text.
There are two traditional paradigms for cinematic composition; two pillars by which we make meaning and experience on screen. The first is the Mise en scene - the frame and creation of meaning by the arrangement of elements inside the frame. The second is Montage - the generation of meaning by the sequential arrangement of images. Meaning inside the frame and Meaning between the frames.
But of course along comes the digital age and a massively expanded digital toolbox of possibilities. And whilst it can't be said the digital age has dispensed with Mise en scene and Montage it has arguably presented new dimensions of consideration.
As I have argued in previous essays and blog posts the composition of cinematic form in layers, via the mechanics of compositing and motion graphics, presents a tangible expansion and hybridization of traditional Mise en scene and Montage.
The ability for multiple framic compositions and visible elements to occupy a shared and blended singularity of vision presents a new aesthetic of both Montage and Mise en scene.
Compositing, the construction of cinematic media vertically in layers as well as in linear time, creates what might be described as a form of simultaneous montage. Montage makes meaning by juxtaposition in time; Compositing allows for the same montage juxtapositions to be generated by blended layers and 3D spatial arrangement within a singular frame in simultaneity.
This simple hybridization amounts to a profound shift in visual aesthetics and redefines what audiences expect from the moving image.
One of the most comprehensive online resources for exploring and understanding Motion Graphics, Compositing and associated technologies and techniques is Motionographer.
Along with its wealth of eye popping examples cinematic art and a range of articles and interviews Motionographer has now, in the great tradition of user co-creation and web 2.0, added a Motion Graphics Wiki to its resources. Quickly growing in dynamic content I would encourage any one with interest and experience on compositing and motion graphics to contribute to the Motionographer wiki and help develop it further into a comprehensive resource.
For those new to motion graphics and not familiar with its terms and processes this article entitled 'Poetry in Motion or Vertical Editing' may be of use as it briefly looks at some of the concepts behind building visual media in a layered rather than linear environment.
There are undoubtedly a significant number of technology driven elements that have in just the past decade fundamentally altered or shifted the established notions of what cinematic media is. And whilst Interactivity, Gaming, Virtual Cameras and On line distribution all fit this bill there are others that, though more subtle, have a none the less profound impact on visual language.
One of these is the conjoined arts of Motion Graphics and Compositing. Simply put these represent the shift from cinematic media assembly and language as a sequential progression to a layered simultaneous composition. Adding a vertical dimension to the otherwise horizontal montage.
And yet it perusing the knowledge base of writing about Motion Graphics and Compositing (a base that on a rigorous academic level is somewhat under populated) there seems a disparate and problematic discourse of perspective on what Motion Graphics and Compositing are and what they represent.
Take for example Steve Wright's perspective of definition for Compositing from his book 'Digital compositing for film and video'...
"The ultimate artistic objective of the digital composite is to take images from a variety of different sources and combine them in such a way that they appear to have been shot at the same time under the same lighting conditions and with the same camera" [page1]
Whilst this objective of perceptual 'believability' and 'reality' might be a valid objective for many compositing projects, to suggest that it is the ultimate aim of Compositing as an artistic process is simply too limiting and narrow; lacking in foresight and unable to account for the broad palette of possibilities both for now and for wht is to come.
More specifically this narrow attachment to realistic believability brings Compositing down to a much restrained and limited notion of perspective drawn from traditional cinematic thinking - multiple visions of a singular perspective rather than what is possible through compositing - singular vision with multiple perspectives.
The book 'Motion by design' by David Robbins, Spencer Drate, Judith Salavetz puts this into a succinct context:
"We now have the ability with sequence to show an entire context and the simultaneity of a particular event." [page7]
Its this notion of vertical editing and Eisenstein montage principles exerted in concurrent space rather than a sequential one that begins to point toward a new cinematic language capable of simultaneously deliver greater communicative efficiency along with visual complexity.
The father of contemporary motion graphics, Saul Bass, has made these connections in the example of the movie title sequence:
"a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already ave an emotional resonance with it." [Interview in Film Quarterly Autumn 1996]
Lev Manovich has discussed much of this visual cinematic evolution in the context of the emergence of software-only compositing motion graphics systems such as After Effects. What he has termed the cinematicVelvet Revolution: in that its a revolution that has taken place quietly and without overt commentary and observation.
The thrust of this idea is focused on where cinematic media is heading in the context of of where it has come from. Where once cinematic media was rooted in the 'Photographic' as visual norm Manovich comments that:
"the 'pure' moving image media became an exception and hybrid media became the norm.... While the particular aesthetic solutions vary from one piece to the next and from one designer to another, they all share the same logic: the appearance of multiple media simultaneously in the same frame. Whether these media are openly juxtaposed or almost seamlessly blended together is less important than the fact of this co-presence itself."
This points toward my assertion of cinematic space and aesthetics determined as much by production process as by composition technique. That the software environment is a space of production and due to its uniform non hierarchy of media creates a new composition space of coexistence that defies extant notions of composition, foreground/background and visual language of spatial arrangement. Simply put, the tools of production no longer make hierarchical or segmented media distinctions and therefor it is only natural that our visual language made from those tools moves to the same aesthetic.
Its often said, usually by those wishing to bypass the puerile "my software's better than your software" arguments, that production software (NLE, DAW, Compositor etc) are simply tools, glorified hammers. But with the above perspectives and observations there is something inherently problematic about perceiving of production software as simple hammers. A builder changing their choice of hammer does not change the look, feel and aesthetic of the House they are building. It make it easier or faster but the structure neither changes nor is influenced by the tool.
The same cannot be said of digital software tools where the aesthetics of what is made by the tool is fundamentally altered by the tool itself.
Cinematography and visual language changed forever with the advent of the fluid head tripod and even further with the invention of the steadi-cam. The tool changed the aesthetic and the viewer's expectations. Likewise in a world of After Effects and NLE's that add compositing and multiple layers to the editors toolkit, what is made by those tools is fundamentally different to what was made prior to those tools.
The art and craft of making cinema has always been a diverse scientific fusion and the abandonment of analogue systems for the flexibility and robustness of the digital landscape has only made it more so. However, what strikes me as particularly interesting is the the enormous over-lap between sciences, processes and concepts from analogue to digital. 3D and CGI environments are a prime example.
Working in these spaces, compositing, modelling, animating, rendering, largely derives its mechanics from real-world, physical and optical processes lifted right out of the analogue environment. Virtual cameras have f-stops and focal lengths, objects have weight and friction and gravity and light has radiance and refraction.
Each one of these elements is a hard science unto itself with an enormous body of knowledge informing the cinematic construction with these tools. But very often functional engagement with these tools comes form simple, clear, conceptual understandings. This short article from ChromeSphere does exactly that as it overviews the key ideas behind the principles of Optics and Refraction. Short though it may be there is no filmmaker on earth who will fail to benefit from the knowledge.
Cinema IS light, without it there is no cinema. So understanding cinema and how to make it demands you understand how light behaves and how to control it.
Far too often the construction of a Trailer/Teaser for a cinematic work is little more than a cliche assembly of the most dynamic action moments cut at together as quickly as possible. But for the teaser to the widely aclaimed BIOSHOCK (the opening sequence I blogged about and you can view here) Eyeball NYC stepped beyond the mold to producer a triler that was more interpretation that simple expose.
Digital Arts is carrying a short article that looks at the cocnept behind the creation of the trailer and the adapatation of the raw game content. the visual design of this game really does set new bench marks; not simplybecause it's extrodinarilly imaginative but even more so for its superbly well researched and informed design that draws on a deep history of archtecture and futurist thinking tied to the Art-deco and Art-Nuveo. These are designers who know how to fuse art and social history with raw imagintive vision. And if you dont believe me then its more than worth the 70mb download to pop over to Game Daily where they have the Art Book for the game availible for download as a hi-res PDF. It contains all the sketches, illustrations, concept drawings and paintings that fed the visual delight that Bioshock is.
Whilst we may often lament the adage that you never finish a creative project but rather just run out of time there is also an equally strong sentiment to be had in the idea that time and resource short-comings can very often produce incredible work. Pressure forcing lateral and challenging thinking.
This short article from Studio-Daily - A Poetic Film Fest Trailer with After Effects - outlines the production process of a film festival trailer, breaking down the compositing and articulation of a simple idea into a very effective result.
Much has been made of new Intel Mac ability to run both OSX and Windows operating systems. Boot Camp lead the way but what has taken much of the attention of late is virtualization systems such as Parralells. On a simple level tools such as this allow for the running of a virtual machine inside one OS to access the other. No reboot, just a shared environment.
Of course this utopia was not without its issues and the big one was centred on 3D protocols, Open GL and Direct X based apps. Well it seems that those clever folks at Parralells have delt with this issue in their latest release and the video below shows not just the ability to work under OSX and punch a hole through to Windows 3D and video intensive apps but also to do so without a big performance hit. Its very impressive stuff and a third-party app like this may well leave Apple' own Boot Camp out in the cold looking postively last years technology.
Tip of the Week - Group animation of layers in After Effects
The key strength of any motion grpahics system is the detailed control over individual elements, layers, images and grpahics. But just as importantly sometimes you need to take control of your project from a macro-level. This quick tutorial with video demonstration shows the easy process of using adjustment layers and Parent/Child track control to animate groups of layers together.
