Effect Diy

This clip covers an easy method for creating semi-realistic fog inside of After Effects with nothing but a Photoshop document! Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourse ...more

A LOT of movies have featured talking animals. Especially now that the technology is readily available to even low-budget filmmakers to make animals appear to be talking very realistically. If you've wanted to make your own talking-animal film, this video is here to help. It w ...more

Are you still amazed by the special effects used in the movie Matrix? Now you can add similar effects to your video! Watch and see how to use some creative editing in Final Cut Pro to get it done.

Making titles in After Effects is fun, relatively easy, and sure to make your film make a better first impression. This video will show you how to make a cool light ray text swipe effect with particles, like the one in the thumbnail. This isn't too hard as far as our After Eff ...more

This video will give you basic ideas on how you can create special effect squibs, or fake gunshot wounds, from materials such as rocket fuses, fake blood and condoms.

This Halloween, forget store-bought prosthetics and expensive makeup artists. If you're looking for that creepy undead look, nasty nails are easily made at home. This video will show you how to make some horrific and ghastly fingernails for your zombie, vampire or other creatu ...more

In this clip, learn how to use corn syrup, food coloring and a baby bulb syringe to fake slit your wrists. You will also need a razor blade. Use this trick if you are feeling super emo, or need a special effect for a movie you're making. This trick will totally freak out frien ...more

The video is about how an old stalled photographic image with faded backgrounds to a normal image. A nice clean digital image is taken and is mixed with a texture of a paper and produces a final composite image of all effects combined. The procedure is not that difficult but i ...more

How do you edit or delete a title, transition or effect within iMovie HD without actually damaging your videos? During this short clip from the iMovie HD Troubleshooting Guide we will explain how iMovie HD handles titles, transitions and effects so that you can always revert b ...more

After Effects is one of the best digital motion graphics software programs out there. Learn it. Now. With this video tutorial, learn how to use 3D Stroke in Adobe After Effects. The workflow from storyboards to final After Effects output using 3d Stroke is covered, to achieve ...more

Devin shows you how to create a fireball or energy ball effect in this After Effects tutorial. There are many ways to create a fire ball effect and this is just one of them. So watch the After Effects tutorial to get the idea then get creative with your own energy fire balls. ...more

This software tutorial shows you how to use the Knoll Light Factory Pro plug-in for After Effects. Knoll Light Factory Pro is the industry's favorite tool for creating lens flares, sunsets, photon torpedoes, stars and other effects. It offers a custom lens editor, auto trackin ...more

Old TV's were not famous for their high-fidelity color, but the brown-saturated look they made standard now evokes a lot of nostalgia among viewers. Because of this, it may behoove you, the filmmaker, to know how to simulate that color effect without having to actually use cra ...more

Jeff Schell walks you through, step by step, how to create a handful of different track mattes in Premiere Pro CS3. Schell discusses where you can apply a track matte, how to expand it, how to apply and expand a blur, and what track you want to borrow the shape from. He also s ...more

In this video tutorial, Creative Cow Leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you a an often-missed tool in After Effects (Grow Bounds) that can help you out in a pinch, by expanding the boundaries of your footage. Expand the boundaries of footage in After Effects. Click through to watc ...more

In this video tutorial, CreativeCOW contributing editor, Nelson Fernandes demonstrates a method to obtain a quick and dirty mask using the find edges effect combined with the auto-trace feature. Creative Cow is a support community for digital video, video editing, and media p ...more

What is a cooler effect than fire? Not much! Check out this tutorial and learn how to make very cool flames and explosions in Adobe After Effects..from scratch! This tutorial will take you step by step through the process of making very cool fire effects. Learn this technique ...more

You know those scenes in movies where we see time go by over a single shot? The same image goes from day to night and back again? In this tutorial, learn how to create this great film effect using Final Cut Pro. This video will show you all of the steps you need to know and yo ...more

In this video tutorial, we learn how to create a fisheye or fish-eye effect in Adobe Photoshop CS5. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular vector graphics editor or are merely looking to pick up a few new tips and tricks, you're sure to be well served by this clip. Take a look.

FL Studio is a very powerful piece of audio production software, and it of course incorporates everyone favorite old-school voice distortion device: the Vocoder. This video will show you how to create a really cool vocoder effect in FL Studio, allowing you to zazz up the vocal ...more

This software tutorial shows you how to create custom particles in Trapcode Particular plug-in for After Effects. Learn how any object can be used to create particles with the Particular plug-in in this After Effects tutorial. Create custom particles in Particular in After Eff ...more

Learn how to use After Effects CS5 to create a simple growing vine animation. 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 CS5's new features, you're sure to be wel ...more

Interested in making your photo look like an advertisement from a fashion magazine? This clip will teach you what you need to know. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular raster graphics editing software or a seasoned professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with t ...more

In this video you will learn how to Warp your text into any shape or design you want. This is a really handy effect for applying logos or designs to images of clothing. Using this effect you can warp your text to the wrinkles in your fabric and make it really look like it was ...more

In this clip, you'll learn how to create a simple comic book effect in Adobe Photoshop. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular raster graphics editing software or a seasoned professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filt ...more

Here are some examples of brickwork for dioramas or war game terrain. Create a fine grit coating for foam carvings using a mixture of white glue, paint and fine sand. Press in brick patterns into foam, or if working in smaller scale, you can coat cardboard with a thin coat of ...more

A quick and easy way to achieve the effect of fountains of the red stuff flowing forth from a zombie-bitten neck. Your film will look so real, for what it's worth, that nobody can deny your greatness.

If you've seen Requiem for a Dream, you've seen the snorricam effect - the camera is worn around the actor's waist and as the actor moves it creates a wild camera effect. The guys at Indy Mogul show you how to build your own snorricam.

Check out this informative video tutorial from Apple on how to create picture-in-picture effects in iMovie '09. iLife '09, the software suite from Apple, is the easiest way to organize, view and publish digital content, like pictures, movies, music, and webpages. iPhoto makes ...more

Creative Cow contributing editor Eran Stern demonstrates a quick, easy way to make a smoky title effect. Create smoking letters in After Effects. Click through to watch this video on creativecow.net

Are you getting better at using After Effects and finding that you want to create your own custom particles instead of using the default ones? Then this video is for you. It will show you how to create custom animated particles which can be used to create all manner of cool ef ...more

You'll need to learn how to use the velocity envelope in Sony Vegas if you want to create a time freeze effect - this video shows you how. Whether you're new to Sony's popular non-linear editor or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the ...more

When we think about Photoshop, we think about the desire to look beautiful and "perfect." Celebrities get airbrushed and Photoshoped all the time when they appear in magazines in order to make their faces appear slimmer, their thighs smaller, their lips more voluminous, etc. P ...more

This movie shows you how to create actual 3D objects in After Effects without expressions or 3rd party software. This example uses the shatter tool and some text, but you don't have to stick just to text.

Sound Keys is a keyframe generator plug-in for Adobe After Effects. Learn how to visually select parts of an audio track and convert that audio into keyframes. TrapCode Sound Keys After Effects plugin is great for audio-intensive animations. See how to use it in this tutorial. ...more

In this video tutorial, Creative Cow leader Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to move beyond the Basic shape tools to create your own custom shapes. Part two shows you how to combine several shapes to make a complex shape. Create custom shapes in After Effects - Part 1 of 2. Cli ...more

Steve Nelson from Indy Mogul shows you how to create cool falling or jumping from a building effect. Use a combination of camera angeles, green screen, and editing to create this cool action effect for your films.

Twixtor is a great plugin for Sony Vegas that allows you to create incredible looking slow motion. This visual effect will add drama to your video and make it truly awe-inspiring. Watch and learn how to make the most of Twixtor in Sony Vegas.

Interested in getting rid of edge seams within Adobe After Effects? This video guide will show you how it's done. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular compositing editor or just want to better acquaint yourself with the popular video editing program, you're sure to benefit fr ...more

This software tutorial shows you how to work with Windows Movie Maker and use multiple video effects available in Windows Movie Maker to edit and create movies or videos. You can use up to six different effects together at one time.

This software tutorial gives you an overview of how to animate text in After Effects CS4. Learn how to employ manual and automated text animation techniques in After Effects CS4 as well as how to adjust the range selector and add animation properties. If you want to get starte ...more

This video guide offers a complete overview of how to create a seamless looping particle animation with Trapcode Particular and Adobe After Effects. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to ...more

Can't afford a high-speed camera? Fake it! In this clip, you'll learn how to achieve a slow-mo frame-blending effect with Adobe After Effects CS4 or CS5 and two digital photos of your choice. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a s ...more

The Trapcode suite is a set of plug-ins for After Effects that allow video artists to create a variety of effects for inclusion in video and film productions. This particular guide demonstrates the power of Trapcode Particular and Trapcode 3D Stroke. Specifically, Wes Ball fro ...more

In this tutorial you will learn how to use the "write on" effect in Premiere Pro CS3. Specifically you will learn how to create an animated line that goes across a map to show the route taken.

What every indie filmmaker needs is a little program called After Effects. After effects does wonders for any film requiring a little special effects that would normally be too expensive to make "real". Like this glowing eye effect. See how to make an eye glowing effect in Ado ...more

For all you Star Wars fans, or George Lucas wannabe's, you can finally learn how to add lightsabers to all your movies. Watch this tutorial on creating lightsaber effects in After Effects and see how it's done.

In this tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz shares tips on the many uses of importing After Effects Projects, and how you can recover corrupt AE files. Recover corrupt After Effects files & import projects. Click through to watch this video on creativecow.net

Using Curious Turtle's Film Wash Color Effects in After Effects create a Super 8 look to your film. In this tutorial, you will learn how to build up a color grade using several layers, then using expressions and After Effects own filters to finish the look. To learn more about ...more

In this video, viewers learn how to add realistic camera movement to a still image using Adobe After Effects CS4. Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software. This tutorial will go over how to add realistic camera movement to a still image or phot ...more

In this clip, you'll learn how to digitally replace backgrounds with chromakeying in Sony Vegas. Whether you're completely new to Sony's popular nonlinear editor (NLE) or are a seasoned digital video professional simply looking to pick up a few new tips and tricks, you're sure ...more

This After Effects tutorial will show you a nice underwater scene, complete with light rays, rising bubbles and cloudy ocean mist. You don't have to be a professional AE user to recreate this great animated scene, either! Laurence Grayson demonstrates all the techniques for th ...more

In this After Effects tutorial, you'll see how to use Trapcode 3D Stroke to create animated arrows and lines. 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 progr ...more

First thing to do is to create a new pic image called matrix. The next thing you want to do is to change the width and the height of your picture, as well as the resolution. Pick any background color you want, take the paint bucket tool and fill the background. To get the matr ...more

In this video, learn how to create a realistic looking bite mark on your skin for Halloween, film or theatre projects. This look is actually easier to do than you may think and looks completely real. So, get ready to take a bit 'ol bite outta your arm with this informative vid ...more

Check out this informative video tutorial from Apple on how to add video effects to movies in iMovie '09. iLife '09, the software suite from Apple, is the easiest way to organize, view and publish digital content, like pictures, movies, music, and webpages. iPhoto makes manag ...more