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Hands-on Keying and Rotoscoping with After Effects CS5 – Jeff Foster

Build your compositing toolkit. Learn best practices for creating good greenscreen composites and creating masks and mattes with After Effects CS5. Using Keylight, you can composite complex scenes with both foreground and background elements. Plus, get tips on how to work with problem footage and how to extract a clean roto-matte using the new Roto Brush tool.

Monday, October, 25th, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm [SOLD OUT]
Tuesday, October, 26th, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm * seats now available!
Wednesday, October, 27th, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm [SOLD OUT]

We will also be raffling off a copy of “The Green Screen Handbook” at the end of each session!

Hope to see you at MAX!
Jeff

My impression of this release in general are much better than the CS4 release overall, with serious productivity enhancements (64-bit optimized, memory allocation/management) and much-needed production tools such as the Roto Brush tool and FreeForm 3D plug-in. I had the opportunity to watch this product evolve through the beta cycles and put it through it’s paces and provide feedback about the usability of the tools during development. Using the Roto Brush on a real post-production assignment gave me a true sense of the usefulness (and possible pitfalls) of this new workflow, and in the end, I found it much more accurate and effective than trying to do hand-roto with a spline mask on complicated tasks such as hair and intricate backgrounds. (link to the final online commercial will be posted here as soon as it’s live)

I might also add that while Digieffects FreeForm from mettle.com is truly a 3D warp mesh and displacement effect that can be applied to any AE layer in 3D space, and integrates well with other 3D layers , lights and cameras, After Effects CS5 still doesn’t provide a true volumetric 3D workflow. FreeForm will definitely garner much more useful 3D capabilities and in the days to come, we’ll see some remarkable projects come to life utilizing this amazing technology. I’ll be posting some examples myself here on my blog as well as reviews and tutorials with FreeForm in the weeks ahead.

“The Green Screen Handbook” (Sybex/Wiley, pub) is finally shipping from the warehouse and hitting the bookshelves. *Note that we are NOW accepting online orders from the PixelPainter Online Store at a 30% discount off retail!

A sneak preview of the book was presented in a live Users Conference session I gave at Macworld 2010 in San Francisco in Feb, 2010. A live green screen shoot is scheduled for the Post-Production Conference at NAB 2010 in April, where I will be sharing some of the material and techniques from the book.

Product Description

Make movies and videos with green screen composting technology with The Green Screen Handbook: Real-World Production Techniques. This unique guide is a comprehensive how-to of professional production techniques, step-by-step instruction, and tips that can save you time and money. Learn when to use green screens instead of blue, find out how the pros operate in professional studios, and get amazing results—even on a shoestring budget.

Topics include matting and keying basics; setups using fabric, portable background panels, or paint; lighting and digital camera essentials; broadcast TV hardware switchers; professional HD and major motion picture compositing; multiple-colored screen composites (background, foregrounds, and objects); directing storyboards and talent; working with virtual sets; motion tracking; and much more.

• See how to plan, set up, and execute your shots to reduce fixes in post
• Choose the right keying process for your project
• Master basic shooting setups and live broadcast keying
• Understand proper lighting and how to match subjects to the background
• Create a working storyboard and learn how to select and direct talent
• Composite your footage and fix problem shots
• Work creatively with virtual sets, motion tracking, and match moving
• Master techniques that apply to all compositing software and plug-ins

The DVD includes sample footage and all project files to accompany the chapters in the book.

(click on book cover thumbnails to see larger images)

Order your signed copy NOW from the Online Store and Save 30% Off Retail!

**UPDATE: Check out THIS NEW PAGE for more info about the book and to see the new 1-minute promo video!

This video segment is from “Learning After Effects CS4″ and shows you the difference between simple “chroma keying” and a real matte extraction/creation tool. Keylight is a plug-in that ships with After Effects CS4 and is an industry standard for compositing/VFX work done with After Effects. The example shown can be found in its entirety along with all the source footage and project files so you can follow along with the DVD.

Click the image below to view the video hosted on Adobe TV:

Check out the other Adobe TV videos from these DVD titles by clicking here and be sure to check out the DVDs in our online store and save 50%!

I’ve been busy wrapping up the final production on my latest book, The Green Screen Handbook (Wiley, pub.) – due out in Feb, ’10 – just in time for speaking at Macworld!

In the mean time, have a look around and be sure to check out the new PixelPainter Online Store! Just click the links at the top of the page and it will take you there… discounts on training DVDs, books, branded merchandise and coming soon – more downloadable training, tutorials, applications, content and much, much more!

Since they’re Hands-On Lab sessions, the projects were pre-loaded on the machines in the room before you come in, and if you weren’t able to complete one of the projects during the session’s allotted time, then you can now download the projects here and try them out for yourself again.

These are the exact same files/file structure that’s installed on the Adobe MAX machines – which includes project files and content that you can revers-engineer to figure out the process as well

• Footage Stabilization (After Effects)
http://pixelpainter.com/MAX09/stabilize.zip

• Track & Replace License Plate (Mocha & After Effects)
http://pixelpainter.com/MAX09/licplate.zip

• Tracking with Green Screen on iPhone (Mocha & After Effects with Keylight)
http://pixelpainter.com/MAX09/iphonetrack.zip

*Note: Sorry that I can’t supply the step-by-step written tutorials for these since they’re also in my books and DVD projects and the publishers don’t want me re-publishing these projects, so hopefully you took some good notes during the sessions!
But please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have or look through some of my older posts here in my Blog to learn tips and tricks with After Effects & Photoshop. Thanks again for attending Adobe MAX 2009!

Cheers,
Jeff

Before & After Motion Tracking the Video Footage

This is a link to the actual article on PVC, which takes you through a step-by-step tutorial process of how I created the side panel of the truck in Photoshop CS4, then imported the layers into After Effects CS4, tracked the motion with Mocha and completed the final composition back in After Effect, including a reflection map on the side of the truck for believability.

Here’s what the Before & After shots look like.

Motion Tracking – After Effects CS4 with Mocha from Jeff Foster on Vimeo.

Watch for more tutorials, reviews and articles I’ll be submitting to PVC’s site soon, as well as continued reviews at the International Press Association’s web portal

Photoshop CS4 Video & Animation covers a lot of material that can all be done INSIDE Photoshop CS4 Extended. Techniques covered range from basic video editing and animation techniques, to rotoscoping, frame animation, video clean-up/retouching, masking, smart filters & FX, green screen compositing, 3D modeling and animation, and my favorite: 3D stereoscopic FX! (3D Glasses included in disk) – also includes all sample projects and source footage/image files on the DVD.

Sample movies will soon be up on the PhotoshopCAFE channel on Adobe TV.

Don’t forget the best companion DVD to this title is also at PhotoshopCAFE.com!

Learning After Effects CS4 is available by clicking the image above or in the “Published” panel to your right.

Some of the 3D stereoscopic materials I’ve been sharing with you in the recent weeks are included on these DVDs. Look for more info and samples to follow here in my Blog after NAB!

Cheers!
Jeff

“Learning After Effects CS4″ and “Photoshop CS4 Video & Animation”

Here’s my current session schedule:

4/20 Mon 3:30-4:45pm [N254] – Character Animation from Photoshop Layers with After Effects

4/20 Mon 5:00-6:15pm [N254] – 3D Stereoscopic Motion Graphics in After Effects CS4

4/21 Tues 2:00-3:15pm [N254] – Motion Tracking & Stabilization with After Effects CS4 & Mocha for AE

4/21 Tues 3:30-4:45pm [N264] – Green Screen Keying and Mattes in After Effects CS4

4/22 Wed 10am-1:00pm [N260] – Boot Camp: Photoshop for Video & Animation

4/22 Wed 3:30-4:45pm [N264] – Creative Titles with CS4 Production Premium

If you can’t make it to my sessions at NAB this year, then please check back here and I will be posting more info about articles and reviews that are upcoming, as well as more about my DVDs and other training seminars, workshops and conferences that I’ll be appearing.

Here’s a sneak peek at a couple of the projects I’ll be teaching this year… the first is from the Motion Tracking with Mocha & After Effects CS4 session (before & after)…

Motion Tracking – After Effects CS4 with Mocha from Jeff Foster on Vimeo.

This next sample is from the 3D Stereoscopic in After Effects CS4 session, which was really just a simple conversion of an existing single camera 3D animation, so it wasn’t originally designed to be a Stereo 3D animation (3D glasses will be provided at the session, but you can get yours for Free – info below)…

3D Stereo Convertion – After Effects CS4 from Jeff Foster on Vimeo.

Don’t have Red/Cyan 3D Glasses? Get ‘em here FREE!
Send me a self addressed stamped envelope (letter sized) and I will send you a pair!
(one pair per request)

Jeff Foster
PO Box 187
Ojai, CA 93024

Enjoy!

3D Stereo Anaglyph Coke Can Animation – Photoshop CS4 from Jeff Foster on Vimeo.

3D Stereo Anaglyph Model Animation – Photoshop CS4 from Jeff Foster on Vimeo.

3D Stereographic Donut Animation – Photoshop CS4 from Jeff Foster on Vimeo.

Don’t have Red/Cyan 3D Glasses? Get ‘em here FREE!
Send me a self addressed stamped envelope (letter sized) and I will send you a pair!
(one pair per request)

Jeff Foster
PO Box 187
Ojai, CA 93024