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Category Archives: After Effects

Adobe MAX 2020 Goes Online for FREE!

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Adobe MAX 2020 Goes Online for Free this year!

This is pretty amazing!

Despite the extremity of all the problems relating to COVID-19, one good thing is coming out of this:

Adobe MAX 2020 will be offered online – for FREE this year!

Check out the information here!

Who doesn’t like FREE Video Effects?

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Once again, PremiumBeat.com is offering stuff for FREE!

Today, they announced a free plugin that works with almost all NLE’s (non-linear editors, for those of you who don’t do video). And, that plugin includes lots of free effects to be used in your work, along with a quick tutorial on how to use them (the transitions aren’t applied as you may be used to – they use track mattes and such – easy though). There’re also some effects using my favorite “toy” – blending modes.

I don’t recommend using all of these as they’re created – but they’re cool enough that you can. But, you can also make them your own, amending their contents to your preferences.

Check out the FREE plugin and content – you’ll be happy to have this resource. I know I am!

Do you love FREE Video Elements, Actions and Effects?

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I DO! I love to get free shared items and then tweak them to my own settings and aesthetic preference and needs. Well, our friends at Premium Beat have done just that (through Rocketstock)

Check out THIS PAGE for some fabulous Action Compositing elements, Space Textures, Motion Graphics Templates (for Premiere Pro), and other great items.

I’m a FAN!

MacOS High Sierra (OS 10.13) Compatibility FAQ for Adobe Creative Cloud

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As many of you know, I’m not a fan of upgrading my operating system for a great deal of time after the release of any new ones. Currently, I’m using Sierra 10.12.6, and will be continuing to hold off on upgrades. However, some people have either upgraded already, or have bought new equipment that comes with the new OS already installed.

For users of Adobe Creative Cloud products (as well as several other developer’s products), High Sierra has introduced quite a few bugs that need to be resolved.

Fortunately, Adobe has a page about compatibility issues with several of their products, with some workarounds and temporary fixes, until they resolve the problem with a CC update.

To view the list, please visit https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/macos-high-sierra-compatibility.html

How to retain old versions of Adobe CC Software when upgrading to CC2018

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I just got back from the AMAZING Adobe MAX conference in Las Vegas, NV. Perhaps you caught some of my social posts on the events!

This MAX introduced a bunch of new device apps and updates, as well as desktop apps. BUT, it’s very important for some people to retain their older versions, when upgrading their apps. The default behavior is to overwrite previous version with the new version – for instance, if you install the new Photoshop CC, you’ll be overwriting Photoshop CC2017 with Photoshop CC2018!

If that’s okay with you, great! But, if you’re like me, and prefer to wait until bug fixes are in, but still want to see (and get used to) some  of the amazing new features in the new version.

Here, I’m going to add a set of images to ensure you see WHERE to adjust your choices so you can ensure to keep your OLD version while also installing the new version. Don’t forget to comment, if you have any questions! Or, ask on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/aym4training

Or, on our Twitter feed at @aym4training

  1. When you open the Creative Cloud app, either from your Menu Bar on a Mac, or your Task Bar on a Windows machine, you’ll see a list of applications that’re installed on your computer, and the option to update those that have new versions available. Note: in previous versions of the Creative Cloud apps, my “previous versions” were listed as a separate section of the updaters, but now, they’re all listed by app)
  2. In this case, I’ll be updating my Adobe Illustrator application. When you click the Update  button, you’ll get a window that looks like this – at Which Point, you’ll want to EXPAND THE ADVANCED OPTIONS SECTION! NOTE: If you want to retain your older version DO NOT select the Update button yet!
  3. In the Advanced section, be sure to UNCHECK the “Remove old versions” button (on by default)!
  4. At this point, you can select the Update button. Your NEW version of the software will be installed, and it will leave your older version installed as well. Personally, I like to import my previous settings and preferences from previous versions, and tweak them in the individual apps to accommodate any changes, but that’s a matter of personal preference.

Hopefully, this will save some of you the pain of encountering some of the inevitable bugs associated with upgrading, or will allow you to work in your older versions of the applications you use, so you may collaboratively share files with others who may not have updated yet.

Please remember to comment here, or on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/aym4training/ or my Twitter feed @aym4training if you need assistance, or clarification.

 

 

Adobe Creates the Pen Tool Game

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For my students who need to practice the Pen Tool, Adobe’s created an adorable online game to practice it’s usage. The pen tool is important in Adobe Illustrator (of course), but also in Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, InDesign, Animate… there’s a version of it in almost every Adobe App!

Check out the game here: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/illustrator/how-to/pen-tool-game.html

A Useful Clarification of the Term “Image Resolution” in Digital Images

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In so many of my classes, particularly Photoshop, Digital Photography and the Video applications, we discuss image resolution – or DPI – dots per inch (or PPI – pixels per inch). For the most part, my students seem to grasp the concepts from when I teach in (as I describe it) “Stephanese“. But here’s another discussion on the subject – this time in “CreativeBloqese“.

Check out this article from CreativeBloq.com for further clarification on the subject of pixel resolution (height/width/depth) of an image for print and for screen viewing:
http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/what-is-dpi-image-resolution-71515673/2

Adobe is SERIOUSLY limiting it’s trial software time limits

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For students who plan on attending classes using trial software, this notice is extremely important. Please note that if you intend to do so, you’ll want to hold off on installing the necessary application until just before your class is scheduled to begin. Otherwise, you’ll be required to enter their Subscription Program to continue usage throughout your class time.

On May 9th, Adobe posted:

Update on Creative Cloud Trials

Adobe provides free trial periods for Creative Cloud in order to allow individuals to download, evaluate and try Creative Cloud before deciding to become a Creative Cloud member. In order to ensure that trial lengths align more accurately with how trials are being used, we are making some adjustments to the program.

Beginning May 9th, 2016 the length of the trial period for Creative Cloud will be standardized worldwide to 7 days.

Individuals currently evaluating Creative Cloud via a trial will not be impacted.

You can find more information on Creative Cloud trials, including how to sign up on the Creative Cloud trials page.

To see the original post, please visit: http://blogs.adobe.com/adobecare/2016/05/09/update-on-creative-cloud-trials/

Really Interesting and Informative Typography Article

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As almost all of my students know, I’m a bit of a type geek. So, imagine how fulfilled my inner geek feels, when I find blog post about Typefaces, Type Structure, Type families, Type anatomy, and Type Classification, the use of Type in Paragraphs, Typographic Terms like kerning and spacing, Page Layout and Type, and so much more!

Although this article is written with a focus on software development, the article is about DESIGN. Knowing what you’re using, and why. As I always say “in design, you can always break the rules, but first you have to know what the rules are!”

I seriously recommend this article to all my design students, my motion graphics students, my still image students, and anyone else who feels that Type is more than just a way to make a word show up.

http://www.imaginarycloud.com/blog/a-typography-workshop/?ref=webdesignernews.com

Adobe is Severely Limiting it’s Font Installations

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In a recent article on InDesign Secrets, I can finally find the reason why so many of my InDesign classes have been having font errors when using files from the Adobe courseware. It seems that InDesign – and all of the Adobe programs, for that matter, are no longer installing the fonts that used to come with the programs! I’ve been using Adobe programs for too many  years than I want to count, so of course, I have the fonts installed, but so many of my students are downloading demo software for their classes, and work in an environment with security limitations, so they can’t easily access Adobe’s Typekit (part of the Creative Cloud suite).

In my opinion, this is a terrible move on Adobe’s part, and I can’t quite figure out why they’re choosing to do it. Over the years, I’ve seen Adobe seemingly losing touch with their users in quite a few ways, but in software that’s ABOUT design, I can’t imagine what they’re thinking.

To view the post on InDesignSecrets.com, please visit http://indesignsecrets.com/adobe-drops-fonts-leaves-users-stranded.php

There’s an earlier article about the issue here: http://indesignsecrets.com/happened-fonts-indesign.php   (which includes a work-around)

And, for a list of the fonts originally installed, and mostly still necessary, please see Adobe’s article here: http://www.adobe.com/products/type/creative-suite-6-installed-fonts.html

As for me, I’ve backed up ALL of my installed fonts into a directory I use for my font management program. I suggest you do the same. If you’d like instructions for doing so, please comment on this post.