Computer Effects

This tutorial will work for most any 3D rendering program, such as Houdini, 3ds Studio Max or Maya. Learn how you can replicate the dynamic look of fire, smoke and explosions. Create digital fire and other fume effects with your computer.

For those who want to make zero budget films with special effects, there's only one way to go these days... with a computer. They may look like crap, but they're cheap!

In this video tutorial, we learn how to blend real-world elements and CGI within Adobe After Effects. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and i ...more

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to build a green screen. The materials required for this project are: two 10 ft long PVC pipes, measuring tape, saw, duct tape and pipe elbows and couplings. Begin by marking the two PVC pipes with 6 ft on one side and 4ft on the other ...more

If you love computer pranks, this is one of the easiest ones to pull. This video will show you how to remove the Shut Down button from the start menu in Windows XP. Actually, it does't remove the shutdown button, it just disables it, giving the user a restriction message, stat ...more

Rick Vanman reveals the secrets to professional video effects using your own computer software. Position your model houses into a setup of your liking. Take a picture of the houses with a digital camera using the macro setting. Edit your picture in Photoshop. Disguise any unwa ...more

This guide walks you through the replacing of a coolant temp sensor on a Volkswagon by showing you step-by-step instructions using a 2.8L Volkswagon Passat with a 6 cylinder engine. Start by removing the plastic engine cover, disconnecting the electrical connection, and removi ...more

A shuffle LFO (low-frequency oscillator) is a cool effect in many synths that gives bass lines a swing feel to them. In this video you'll learn how to apply a shuffle LFO to any sound that you can access on your computer using NI Massive, a quasi-analog PC synth. Download the ...more

Code your Flash-based website so that your content can remain the same, no matter if visitors are viewing your site on a computer screen, smartphone display or even a high-definition TV. This tutorial shows how you can code your fluid website to achieve the true fit effect. Pa ...more

Dubstep is the music of the moment in the global underground electronic music scene, and producers from all types of music are incorporating it into their tracks. One of it's distinctive features is the "wub wub" style of bass track that dubstep producers favor, and it can imp ...more

Learn how to create a foreboding flickering light effect with just a single step when working in Blender. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation's popular open-source 3D computer graphics application or are a seasoned digital artist merely on the lookout for new tips and ...more

This clip offers detailed, step-by-step instructions how to create a flip page effect animation by manipulating simple deform modifier parameters. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation's popular open-source 3D computer graphics application or are a seasoned digital arti ...more

This clip presents a guide to faking ambient occlusion (AO) using vertex colors and nodes with glsl in Blender. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation's popular open-source 3D computer graphics application or are a seasoned digital artist merely on the lookout for new ti ...more

Learn how to use nodes and glsl in blender to create a realtime mist effect that fades out objects in the distance to whichever colors you want. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation's popular open-source 3D computer graphics application or are a seasoned digital artist ...more

In this tutorial, give a little life to your drawings by using the wiggle expression attached to the puppet tool in Adobe After Effects CS4. This is a cool way to animate your project. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use these tools to add some life to an otherwise st ...more

Learn best practices for lighting your canvas in Adobe Photoshop. Whether you're new to computer graphics, new to Adobe Photoshop CS4 or a seasoned design professional just looking to pick up a few new tips and tricks, you're certain to like this free video software tutorial. ...more

In this clip, learn how to create an ultra cool Sin City/Max Payne comic book effect using Photoshop. This in depth tutorial will cover every basic step and show you how easy it is to make a great looking piece of art on your computer.

Top-Windows-Tutorials is a great site dedicated to Windows tutorials for almost all things Windows. Whether you are a computer novice or an expert in Windows operating systems, you'll find useful information in these guides catering to your level of expertise. These user frien ...more

Adobe Photoshop is a great program to have on your computer, because you're able to do so much. From editing photos that you find online or in your own camera to creating your own from scratch. Photoshop is used for a variety of different reasons. In this tutorial, you'll see ...more

Not TOO many Western people want to see the United States nuked into the stone age. Some do, but not too many. Now you can simulate the effect on your computer! This video will show you how to use After Effects to simulate the effect of a nuclear blast or other major explosive ...more

Add energy and excitement to your scene with lightning! During this tutorial you will discover how to quickly model a detailed lightning bolt, make an object disintegrate, create light flashes, add glow and glare effects in the compositor. Whether you're new to the Blender Fou ...more

This video tutorial series will show you how to create a magic wand particles effect, the sort of visual effect you might see when a “magic wand” is waved. This will be similar to a “pixie” dust effect, although not so complicated. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation' ...more

This quick Blender 2.5 video tip shows how to make a simple drop-cloth effect like those you see photographers often use. The tip also demonstrates how to make the drop cloth follow the camera's rotation. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation's popular open-source 3D co ...more

This Blender 2.5 video tutorial tackles something that is on most people's "create -before-I-die" list, a Jedi light saber. This tutorial focuses in on the post-processing aspect by setting up a node network to create the effect of the glowing blade. Modeling is not covered in ...more

In this tip video, you'll see how to set the aspect ratio of a plane object to match that of the image mapped to it. This is important to prevent distortion in the mapped image. This knowledge will be helpful when using image planes for cutout trees and people, instanced image ...more

This tutorial teaches how to use Blender’s particles system to “paint” instanced objects onto mesh surfaces. Similar to Maya’s “Paint Effects,” though not nearly as powerful, it’s a very nice way to fill a scene with flowers, vegetation, rocks, pebbles, gravel, debris, etc. Wh ...more

Learn how to knife someone in the face without using digital effects with this video tutorial. You will learn how to perform this effect without needing a computer and without actually hurting someone. You will need a hat and two identical knives. Cut the blade on one of the k ...more

The Video On Demand highlights how amazing backgrounds are inserted behind characters and will show you how to composite video so your characters can seamlessly move in front of these images. Computer generated video objects may be superimposed over a background video image so ...more

This video is a how to guide on how someone can add multiple colored sections to a photograph. It goes step by step to guide viewers on how to accomplish the color effects. Although the video is only 5 minutes long it provides a great wealth of information. However the speaker ...more

The world has gone Lady Gaga MAD! Run for cover! ... But run for cover in STYLE with this makeup tutorial by makeup master, Michelle Phan. In this video, Phan re-creates the "big eye" look for Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" music video. Obviously, Lady Gaga's eyes were worked on w ...more

See how to start using BoinxTV with this overview video. Learn the basics of BoinxTV and see how to turn any modern Macintosh computer into a television studio! BoinxTV, from Boinx Software, turns your Mac into a TV studio for creating Live to Disk, Live to Internet, and Live ...more

Plug this baby into your FiOS-powered computer and simulate the real-time climate of any location in the country -- rain, lightning, fog, sunshine. Get creative -- got any new weather effects you've figured out how to add to your Personal Weather Machine? We'd love to hear ab ...more

This is an amazing video of the dragon illusion (a variation of the hollow face illusion) in effect, and also includes a great video on how to make it. You can download a PDF and save it to your computer. Then you can print so you too can build your own dragon illusion. No mat ...more

New to Ubuntu Linux? This computer operating system could be a bit tricky for beginners, but fret not, help is here. Check out this video tutorial on how to install KDE 4.3 Plasma on [k] Ubuntu Linux. After six months of development, the K Desktop Environment 4.3.0 was launch ...more

Recording the tortured sounds of a guitar running through three pedals and a dirty amps worth of distortion has been the heart of rock n' roll since Jimi Hendrix at least. In this video you'll learn everything you need to know to record distorted guitar sounds yourself. It dis ...more

This video will show you how to make a stop motion film using an editing program called Windows Movie Maker. Find a place to film your stop motion movie. Preferably a well lit area where the light source is constant. Set your camera on a tripod and position at the angle you pr ...more

Pixel Perfect is the "perfect" show to help you with your Photoshop skills. Be amazed and learn as master digital artist Bert Monroy takes a stylus and a digital pad and treats it as Monet and Picasso do with oil and canvas. Learn the tips and tricks you need to whip those dig ...more

There is an option in Flash that allows users to capture the data coming from a web cam attached to the computer and broadcast it using Flash. For more Adobe software tutorials from Layers Magazine, search Layers Magazine on WonderHowTo. WonderHowTo indexes all Layers Magazin ...more

Why make a flip book? Because all animation – even stick-figure Flash animation and multilayered, highly technical 3-D effects – is built on, and can benefit from, the basics of the craft first developed by artists working at the beginning of the last century. And while fancy ...more

If you like the way Compiz works, then you'll love this browser-based compositing windows manager for Firefox. It's an add-on you can install in any Firefox web browser, whether on Windows, Mac or Linux computers. If you are into eye-candy and are always looking for ways to i ...more

The raging debate in the electronic music world between digital and hardware music production is virulent and unnecessary when the best setup is clearly a mix of the two. In this video you'll learn how to get your computer and your DJ hardware together by using the Ableton Liv ...more

After Effects is a powerful software program that will let the user create animations, as well as providing motion tracking and other movement-based graphics. If you've just installed After Effects on your computer, this tutorial gives you a good introduction and shows you aro ...more

Everybody has that destructive feeling sometimes, when you just want to smash your computer to bits due to a glitch or virus or freeze up. If you're making a film, it's a little more plausible that the computer would actually get smashed, considering it would be a fake prop co ...more

This video tutorial in Computers & Programming category will show you how to reduce memory usage in Windows XP to speed it up. The 1st method is to press Windows logo key and pause break together. The 2nd method is to go to start > control panel > system. Now the system proper ...more

New to Ubuntu Linux? This computer operating system could be a bit tricky for beginners, but fret not, help is here. Check out this video tutorial on how to install Frozen Bubble 2 on Ubuntu Linux. Tested on Ubuntu 9.04 Beta (soon to be RC). Colorful 3D rendered penguin anim ...more

Build a computer controller party light that is effected by music.

Final Cut Pro X has all new effects and transitions that no other video editing software has. This is your video guide to all of the things you can with FCP X on your Apple computer. Learn about the adding Boca effects, aged paper effects, and more.

Photo Booth is a fun application bundled with Mac computers that makes it easy to take photos with the built-in camera on the laptop. This tutorial shows how to take still pictures and video with Photo Booth, and add effects to the picture or video.

Need some help figuring out how to achieve that classic "telephone" effect in Logic? Let this clip be your guide. Whether you're new to computer recording, new to the Ableton Live DAW (digital audio workstation) or just looking to pick up a few new tips and tricks, you're sure ...more

This clip provides an overview of how to create a dancy rhythmic gate effect in Ableton Live 8. Whether you're new to computer recording, new to the Ableton Live DAW (digital audio workstation) or just looking to pick up a few new tips and tricks, you're sure to benefit from t ...more