If you ever struggled with your After Effects 3D camera than this tutorial is for you. Learn to rig your camera in seconds or buy a my script that will do it for you.

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Get Simple Camera Rig Script 1.0 (CS3) for only 14.90 USD

I don’t know about you my friends, but each time I’m thinking about using After Effects camera I get the shivers. It’s good for panning and zooming, but once you start to make a more classy and smooth motion, or you want to sex it up a bit with some curves you get into trouble. You need to keep track of zoom, point of interest, position, orientation and rotation keyframes all at once. We should be very grateful for Separate Dimensions feature in After Effects CS4, but it does not solve all the problems.

In this tutorial I will show you a technique that is widely used in camera animation by many artists that work in 3D Studio Max, Cinema 4D, or any other 3d application. I hope it will open your eyes on the subject of camera animation, and that you’ll start making your own more complex rigs. Good luck. Enjoy the tutorial.

And for those of you who don’t have time to build the rig each time you need to use it here’s a handy script that will set up the camera and the rig for you. Enjoy!

Get Simple Camera Rig 1.0 (CS3) for only 14.90 USD

UV mapping finally available in After Effects. Check out this amazing tutorial to learn how to integrate your 3D artwork with After Effects to improve your workflow, save time and money. It’s a must-see!

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Dear Friends! This one is huge! From this day forward you are able to take your 3D render and replace textures or even add reflections and environment. Watch this tutorial to learn how to work with my new Youveelizer plugin.

In a nutshell all you need to do is to apply the Youveelizer to a layer with a UV render pass to apply a texture to a rendered 3d object, or to a Normal render pass to add reflections. All 3d objects should be rendered out from a 3d application such as 3d Studio Max, Maxon Cinema 4D, or any other 3d package capable of rendering UV and Normal render passes.However it’s sometimes difficult to render out a nice UV pass. A solution to that problem may be simply applying a texture that simulates a good UV map. That’s why I’ve included a nice 2000×2000 pixels “uvmap_texture.tif” in the product package. It’s a 32bpc texture representing UV coordinates. Please note that the UV pass needs to be rendered at least at 16bpc, and you should also work in 16bpc or 32bpc mode in After Effects.

Youveelizer is a great tool to help you with your 3D renders and composits, and if used wisely, it can in some cases completly elimitane 3D rendering process. It’s compatible with CS4 and above, and works on Mac’s and PC’s. Enjoy!

Further info
This is the post where it all started – UV Mapping with Pixel Bender. If you’re completely new to the concept of UV maps and Normal maps check out Lutz Albrecht’s article on Working with UV data

Get Youveelizer 1.2 (CS4, CS5) for only 29.90 USD

Learn to create the effects seen in Magic Bullet Looks. Split RGB channels, simulate chromatic aberration, animate the chaos. All in one tutorial.

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Some time ago I wrote a note on my Facebook Fan Page about upcoming tutorials. I’m happy to announce that the day has come – the tutorials are recorded and all will be released soon. This is the first out of four tutorials that will be focused on recreating some of my favorite filters from a great color correction tool – Magic Bullet Looks.

Back in February 2009 I wrote a blog post about Separating RGB Channels. I thought that it would be a great example of what Adobe Pixel Bender technology can to – it’s simple and quite useful. Useful plugins don’t have to be very complex – it’s quite the opposite  - it’s  mostly simple and small things that make our everyday tasks easier.

With this tutorial I give you RGB Splitter plugin (CS4) totally for free, but I’ve got something extra for those of you who would like to support me and help me keep this site running.

Download: Maltaannon's RGB Splitter PBK (After Effects CS4)

RGB Channels Bundle that consists off ChromAberration – a Pixel Bender plugin for creating real chromatic abberation, and a nice CE RGB Playground that utilizes the free RGB Splitter in a way that makes it extra easy and fun to play with RGB channels of your footage.

Get RGB Channels Bundle (CS4) for only 14.90 USD

Check out this amazing CustomEffect for hassle free, custom color, text transform following gradients. You asked for it so here you have it!

Click here to watch the video tutorial

If you ever had to apply a Ramp effect to a Text Layer to make it look hip you know that it can be a nightmare. Not to mention when you have a couple of those Text Layers to handle. But have no fear – TextRamp is here! Check out the examples below.

Some time ago I posted a free solution to this problem, so make sure to check it out before you continue. The old TextRamp tutorial will show you how to create very simple preset that might help in some situations.

But this one… oooooooh… this is serious stuff. CE TextRamp is way more functional and robust than the old solution. You’ve asked me several times to create a CustomEffect that would not only allow to apply a gradient to a Text Layer, but also allow you to rotate and scale the layer with a gradient applied to it. So here you have it. This little baby also handles 3D Text Layers to some extend, so make sure to watch the tutorial and check it out.

Remember that this is not a bulletproof solution. There’s only so much that can be done with expressions and presets, but hey… it works in most situations but there may be times when you need to precompose so be sure to check out the tutorial.

Anyway I’m sure you will find CE TextRamp useful and affortable. Enjoy!

Get CE TextRamp (CS3) for only 14.90 USD

Create a realistic and detailed Jumbotron-style video screen. Make your own preset, buy it, or get it for free with Making It Look Great 5.

Click here to watch the video tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to build a simple Screenify preset for creating detailed Jumbotron-style video screen. You may also choose to buy a CustomEffect that is way more advanced. Best of all, you can get this preset, along with CE LightWrap and others for free with Making It Look Great 5 training.

This tutorial is a makeover of the very last few minutes of the MILG5 tutorial no. 4 called Screenify. The original tutorial includes must-know keying techniques, tips on creating volumetric lights and presets, and ingenious workflow for creating complex looks on a single layer using the CC Composite effect.

Get CE Screenify (CS3) for only 14.90 USD

Hello my dear friends! I’m happy to announce that Making It Look Great 5 hosted by myself is finally here. It took me over five months to record the tutorials, edit them, and put it all together, so I really hope you’ll like it. Please support my efforts and hard work by purchasing this product from Motionworks so I can continue to provide you with free content and great products.

See a full tutorial list and purchase the training here
Watch the promo! (YouTube version)

Click on the image above to learn more about the product. It’s loaded with over 7 hours of video training. Learn how to harness the power of expressions in After Effects to make beautiful, complex animations and save time. Whether you’re an After Effects beginner or expert you’ll learn valuable techniques that will make your work look great. Included with the 10 video tutorials are 3 bonus video tutorials: Gyro Extended, Butterfly Man extended and Working with the Presets. MILG5 is also loaded with free plug-ins and presets discussed throughout the lessons.

Work fast, work smart, look great with Making It Look Great 5.

Making It Look Great 5 ($79.00)

Learn how to make your keyed out footage blend better with the background by casting light on it from surrounding elements

Click here to watch the video tutorial

Light wrapping is something everyone should know about and learn how to do. It greatly improves the quality of your compositions by making them look more believable.

In this tutorial I will show you a quick and easy way of creating great looking light wrap effect without using any 3rd party plugins (with exception of CyCoreFX which you should already have by default). The results are fantastic and you can easily compare them to many expensive commercial plugins out there that do the same thing. But that’s not all…

After over a year of providing free content I thought it’s about time to give you a chance to say “Thank you”, so I also build a CustomEffect that you can buy for a low price. It’s even more advanced and powerful than what I show you in the tutorial. I provided some examples of what you can achieve when using ceLightWrap but to see the real power I really recommend watching the tutorial.

You can purchase ceLightWrap via PayPal. Sales are handled by a secure online shopping system – E-Junkie. After purchase you will be redirected to a download page. Each purchase is valid for two download attempts. The file you will be downloading will be a ZIP file with a polyCE file in it. You need to use CustomEffects Installer to be able to use the CustomEffect.

I hope you will choose the CustomEffect over the simple preset that I show you how to build in the tutorial and therefore you’ll take your part in keeping this site alive and providing new tutorials.

For installation instructions go to What CustomEffects are page.

Get CE LightWrap (CS3) for only 14.90 USD