In a nutshell, the trick is to give some color variation to those subtle yet tricky gradients. The techniques can also work in other programs as well. Here’s how to approach it inside After Effects: Make sure you’re working in at least 16 bit color. Blur things a tiny bit. Add some noise/grain. Watch the video to see the…
Here it is! The first official Swemsley film of all time! In all of its SD glory! (or grossness… whatever) Our first movie was full of enjoyment and learning. Here is the trailer: And here is the effects shot that started it all:
Back in action! Lethal Abilities is the second official movie my brothers, cousins and I made; (I say second official movie because it was when we started to get serious about making movies. We had been filming ourselves for years: skits, plays, short stories, whatever, but it wasn’t until we had the ability to edit…
I wanted to make some kind of shield, work in wood, and get some new tools. I used this project as an opportunity to do all 3! 🙂 I am a huge fan of The Replica Prop Forum, the creativity in those forums is amazing, so here’s a shout out to all you inspiring people!…
This was a short film for a class, loosely based on another student’s script. Very loosely. Filmed on an iPhone 4 and a Nikon DSLR. We shot for an hour and a half starting at 9:30PM, I transcoded the footage, and then edited all night and burned a DVD by 6:30 AM, just in…
This is a short Batman parody we did as an old group project for school. We were supposed to “swede” a popular film. So, we decided to do some Batman stuff, we mixed The Dark Knight with the 1960s shows. It was shot in one night and cut in the following day or so, just in…
For a class assignment I get to make a mask of some sort. I decided to try Hiccups flight armor from How to Train Your Dragon 2. I started with the helmet. I wanted to do this freehand instead of from a pattern or pep files. Though I am not done yet, I’ve learned a lot.…
Directed by Curt Holman Lighting Design by Benjamin Sanders Projection Design by Justin Hemsley
When Adobe released CS6 in 2012, I was more exited for the addition of the Global Performance Cache than anything else. I was in love instantly. No really, instantly. The first time I toggled a layer off and back on again without having to re-RAM Preview was a spectacular moment. I’ve been using After Effects since…
There are two versions of this one sorry. The original isn’t really a tutorial, it’s more of an overview/afterthought. I originally built it as a test then recorded myself walking through the project, making it a nice sneak peek for advanced users but nigh impossible to follow along and create from scratch. So I eventually got around…
In the spirit of school starting up again, here’s a few thoughts on taking notes in class. I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t particularly care for going to school, although I love learning. Now that I am finally almost done I’m starting to find bits here and there that make the…
The making of a short intro cartoon for an online finance course. Each segment had an intro of its own, featuring the professor of the course. Here is a link.
These finally came in the mail today:) I ordered a pair of prescription sunglasses and I have to say that I’m quite pleased with them. They have a neat wood looking texture on the front and sides. I even had my name engraved on the sides, cool. I have a pretty high prescription so they…
This is just me messing around with the 3D features in Photoshop. I wasn’t trying to make anything specific, I just started the recording and experimented with things. Here is a link.
Just messing around in After Effects. This is just a circle cut into 4 pieces, each parented to the next. Here is a link.
