This video segment is from the “Photoshop CS4 Video & Animation” DVD and shows you how to convert a video layer in Photoshop CS4 to a Smart Object so you can apply effects and transformations to your videos. 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%!

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

“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

First of all, let me start this post by stating that I DO applaud Adobe for combining the animation capabilities of Image Ready into Photoshop, starting with Photoshop CS3. I was hoping they would have stepped up to the plate and given us a bit more in CS4, however. Simple things like a little more control of keyframe interpolation. Allow us a little finesse in the control of keyframes, as we have in After Effects (for several versions now). Also, the biggest disappointment is the stuttering layer movement that makes your animations look like a GIF animation from 1998. Opacity fades are a bit more smooth, but move a layer over time, and you may be a bit disheartened.

Let’s take a look at the Photoshop CS4 Animation Panel:

Photoshop CS4′s Animation Panel – showing a 3-layer animation

This is an example of a simple 3-layer animation… a background in motion, along with a mid-ground element and a foreground layer. In After Effects, this would go together quickly with many simple controls to chose from on the Timeline. However, this is a much more complicated process in Photoshop, since there are so many limitations and lack of simple animatible functions and keyframe tools.

For instance, the simple tools that would give you more control over layer animations would be:
• Keyframable Scaling
• Keyframable Rotation
• Keyframe Interpolation controls – more than just Hold or Linear (on/off)
• Smoother motion of layer elements in an animation (perhaps adjustable by frame rate?)

In comparison, let’s take a look at the After Effects CS4 Timeline Panel:

This is the After Effects CS4 Timeline Panel, split & stacked to view the details

Again, there are far more tools for animation on the Timeline Panel in After Effects than there are in Photoshop, such as Motion Blur, Frame Blending, 3D Layers, Graph Editing, and much, much more…
But what I’d like to compare are the “logical”, simple tools that Photoshop should include at minimum, like SOME Keyframe Interpolation control (even just a simple on/off for Easy Ease In/Out) and the ability to animate Scale and Rotation (or any other Transform functions, if they should chose to do so)!

Okay – so how about we take a look at the end results of this simple animation, with a side-by-side comparison video:

*Download a hi-res, non-streaming version of this video clip to really see the difference here: Hi-Res h.264 Movie Clip

Notice the difference between the smoothness of the After Effects animation compared to the Photoshop version? The only thing I did different between them was to use an Easy Ease In/Out on the Keyframe Interpolation in AE CS4… something not available in Photoshop CS4. But the quality of the layers in motion between the two examples is what I’m mainly concerned about. Both were set to 30fps as well.

So why am I so bothered by this, anyway? Why should I care if Photoshop has these tools when obviously, I have After Effects and have self-admittedly stated that I find that workflow much easier to achieve the results I’m looking for?

Well, I’m thinking about the average guy/gal here. You know, “Joe Six-pack & Jane Wine-box”. They probably don’t have the premium suite which includes After Effects, or maybe they’re intimidated by it’s complex UI, that they have to take a nap by merely opening it up and viewing it. Either way, they’re promised something in Photoshop that is still only “barely” there in my opinion.

I don’t think this is asking too much from Adobe – and I’m not trying to circumvent the After Effects capabilities by trying to do everything in Photoshop, or suggest that Photoshop is any kind of replacement for After Effects – only that Adobe considers that if they are going to go down that road by claiming Photoshop’s keyframe animation capabilities, that they NOT take a half-assed approach at it!

There.
I’ve come down to the point where I actually swore in my blog.
Thanks Adobe.

…/RANT

Jeff

Before and After detail of the Rotoscope process

Using the Clone Stamp tool on the video layer itself, you can either clone out inanimate objects (such as the telephone poles and lines) or chase down a bird in flight over time. I needed to do both in this clip.

I started with the phone pole and wires, working from frame 0 in the video and selecting various points on the video to get source material from. It works just like the clone stamp tool in Photoshop – use the Option (alt) key and click to select the source point and “paint” over the area you’re trying to roto-out. The big difference is, it’s taking video source instead of a single image, so if you select an area with leaves blowing int he wind, it will replicate them in the new area. However, you can also choose to offset the time in the clone tool panel, so you can more easily randomize the effect. Very helpful! I did have to fix a couple places where I didn’t count on the car driving by later in the clip and ended up with a mirror in the middle of a tree for a few frames, but it was easily remedied.

Rotoscoping over the telephone poles using the Clone Stamp tool

The flying bird across the top of the screen took a frame-by-frame “chase-down” roto, but still much easier than trying to mask in a still patch of sky and make it blend in. I was able to retain the video noise as well, so the results were really great!

Before and After video of the Roto process

This technique will be covered step-by-step in an upcoming video training DVD for After Effects CS4 – stay tuned for more info soon!

I’ve also included an extensive step-by-step workflow on both motion tracking and image stabilization in my new training DVD, “Learning After Effects CS4″ – link to it on the right –>

After much trial and error and a lot of frustrated discussions in the developer forums, I’ve FINALLY been able to successfully get a decent track with the new workflow in After Effects CS4 using the included Mocha for AE motion tracker!

If you’re new to After Effects, this will probably not be any more intimidating than learning the rest of the workflow process, but even experienced AE producers have been tripped up by the new software. There are many steps you need to take to prepare your footage for this process to get the desired results. Merely following the step-by-step guide that comes with Mocha for AE will only confuse you more if you don’t have everything setup correctly! The footage files you use, the selections you make when importing the footage to track in Mocha, the preparation of your After Effects project and composition – all play a part in a successful track.

*Note: This isn’t a tutorial – merely a list of items to look out for when using these applications together.

• Footage files: Both the footage that you are tracking and the insert footage MUST match in size and be edited down to the exact running time that you want to use. They also MUST be the exact same frame rate if you are going to be successful at matching them up in After Effects.

• Take care when importing your footage file into Mocha to track – be sure that the frame rate that is specified when importing matches the exact same rate of your actual footage. (The default seems to be 23.976fps – most video footage and Quicktime movies you download will probably be 29.97. Computer generated animations are generally anywhere from 15fps-30fps, so be sure to check your footage ahead of time!). Also, if you change the frame rate at all, you will need to make sure that you ALSO CHANGE the frame count, as Mocha will NOT adjust the frame count automatically once you change the frame rate upon importing. You may need to get out the calculator at this point – but knowing this info ahead of time will definitely help.

You can change the Prefs in Mocha to a framerate standard that you use the most, to eliminate the need for changing it at import and having to recalculate frame counts

• Be sure that you have selected the right aspect ration before tracking. Do this by selecting the “Clip” tab on the lower right, then the “Film” tab on the lower left and chose the pull-down menu item that best matches your actual footage. Failure to select the right aspect ratio here will result in a bad, bad track-match in After Effects.

• First follow the instructions for setting up the motion tracker. If you have a clean internal edge like the screen in my movie below, then there is no need for a hold-out tracking frame – just use the outter tracker spline.

• If you are going to use the Corner Pin data then you need to apply a Surface Tracker. Turn on the grid to see the actual tracking activity, but it’s not necessary.

• Export the tracking data after you’ve successfully completed your tracking and adjustments – the “Copy to Clipboard” function works fine in most cases.

• When importing the data to After Effects CS4, you will have to be sure that your composition size is EXACTLY the same as the original footage file size that you got your track in Mocha from, as well as the file you’re using as your insert footage. Paste the data from the clipboard directly onto your insert footage layer int he Timeline. NOTE: Be sure that you paste this data at frame 0 or it will not match up!

• You will most likely have to nudge your insert footage layer’s Anchor Point to tweak it into the precise position.

THEN – if you are lucky and haven’t overlooked anything, you MAY get a good track. Don’t forget that many others before you have made all the mistakes already, so don’t give up!

Click on the image to view the QuickTime movie of this workflow example

Stay tuned for information about an upcoming training video on all kinds of Motion Tracking, Stabilizing and Compositing techniques!
**EDIT: New training DVD, “Learning After Effects CS4″ is now available on the right –>

Macworld >> First Look: After Effects CS4

Check out the overview I’ve given this great new upgrade of Adobe After Effects! (and make sure to click the “YES – Recommend” button at the bottom of the review!)

I will be doing a more extensive feature review of After Effects CS4 for Macworld Magazine later this next month, so I’ll let everyone know when that will get published as well!

First Impressions: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended

When I first launched Photoshop CS4 Extended, I actually thought something was wrong since it only took a few seconds to load up completely. Adobe has definitely optimized this app and taken some of the “bloat” out of it to perform the way it does!

My first impression of the new Photoshop CS4 Extended UI was that it looked and felt different for some reason – seemed a bit more crowded but yet unfamiliar. Then I did a side by side comparison using the default Workplace settings to see what was moved/removed when you first launch each version. As I suspected, things HAD moved and the new UI seemed to crowd my screen a bit – and there were some new things to discover as well…

I went on to discover what truly WAS new in this release! A few notable mentions are the new Adjustments Panel (make non-destructive corrections to image layers much easier); Re-editable Masks (adjustable feathering and density-control); Refined Dodge/Burn/Sponge Tool (more natural results); Enhanced Auto-Align (stitches panoramas much better); Content Aware Scaling (*COOLEST FEATURE!! Automatically pics out subject in and image and retains their aspect ratio when scaling wide/tall); Extended Depth of Field (simulated natural DOF effect); Fluid Canvas Rotation (lets you rotate your canvas around to make drawing/sketching/retouching much more natural – especially when using a Wacom tablet!); 3D Layer Editing/Compositing (would still like to play with this some more with a simpler model than what Adobe provided – very slow and tough to manage!); Enhanced Timeline (motion graphics power! We’ll get to that more later in this Blog); Volume Rendering (does 3D volumetric imaging from text, shape or pixel layers); and many, many more improvements and refinements all around.

I will be sharing more details in the days to follow, right here in the Blog!

NOW! –> Read a more in-depth review from Colin Smith here: photoshopCAFE.com/cs4

First Impressions: Adobe After Effects CS4

I have been blown away with this latest update of Adobe After Effects CS4! Not only has the performance improved significantly, but the usability and design features that went into the UI enhancements will shave a lot of time off motion graphics producers’ project development! Not to mention the much-needed/much-improved integration with the entire Adobe Creative Suite of software.

First – lets talk about the “non-sexy” stuff like improved performance and UI features that will rock your world (if you’re into AE like I am, that is!) RAM/CPU/OpenGL usage/allocation management (all fully controllable through the Prefs); XMP Metadata integration (allows you to attach and track metadata tags on all your assets – which are retained throughout the project process and stay with the final rendered movie); Keyword-Searchable Project and Timeline Panels (search for filenames, content or attributes right from the UI); Nested Composition Tracking (creates a graphical mini-flowchart of your composition assets); Enhanced Integration with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional (export layer and timeline data that can be edited in Flash!). Not to mention a leaner application that just runs smoother, previews faster and overall workflow-friendly!

After Effects CS4 Navigation/Quicksearch:

Now – the “sexy” stuff! Import 3D Layers from Photoshop CS4 (you can now import/animate volumetric 3D layers and incorporate into your 3D scenes in After Effects CS4!); New Plug-in Effects, like Cartoon Effect (smother and more control than a “watercolor” effect); Bilateral Blur Effect (retains the hard edges in a live video clip – like “Smart Blur” on steroids); Turbulent Noise Effect (fractal-based noise effects – much more natural than just particle effects for making smoke, fire, plasma, etc.); *INCLUDED: Imagineer Systems’ Mocha for After Effects (yes, they are shipping the complete Mocha for After Effects stand-alone application along with After Effects CS4! Google it if you don’t know how incredible this tracker is!!).

Imagineer Systems’ Mocha for After Effects:

There is so much to this update – it’s so very worth the cost for a serious upgrade! *Warning: Just make sure you’re on an Intel-based machine or it won’t even install!

I will also be sharing many of these new features with examples in the weeks to follow right here in my Blog.

NOW! –> Read a more in-depth review from ME (Jeff Foster) here: photoshopCAFE.com/cs4

*Note: I have also written a couple extensive product reviews on After Effects CS4 for different publications, which I will post links to the articles and reviews as they become available online this month.