There are a number of sites out there on the great big series of tubes that I love to haunt. Some of them I go to for inspiration, some for information, and some for sheer fascination.
Design Sites
Resin
Based in Stepney, Australia, these guys are doing some really amazing work with VFX and motion graphics. Check out their montage and be amazed.
Imago New Media Studios
Another group of really brilliant designers. They have a really impressive portfolio that is well worth browsing through.
!mpossible Pictures
In a word…amazing. These guys are probably some of the most creative and talented designers out there. They’ve done stuff for The Discovery Channel, ESPN HD, McDonald’s…and many others. There is so much talent coming out of this studio. It makes all of us want to raise the bar.
Tutorial Sites
Many motion graphic designers offer really awesome and easy to follow tutorials on their sites (something I hope to do in the near future). So, if you’ve seen something on TV, the web, or in the movies and wonder to yourself, “How in the world did they do that?” these folks offer step-by-step instructions as to how it was done and how you can do it yourself!
The Anvel
Home to one of my favorite Adobe After Effects Experts, Dean Velez, The Anvel has a bunch of great content, including downloadable projects, tutorials and a series of CDs with all kinds of goodies.
Creative Cow Media Pros
Offering industry news and reviews, Creative Cow is a daily stop for me. But, if you really want to hone your After Effects skills, sign up for the free video podcasts through iTunes and just sit back and enjoy. These guys are great!
Gray Machine
These gujys have a really impressive reel and offer some really sweet tutorials as well. Worth a look.
Video Copilot
Andrew Kramer does some really amazing work, and has some great video tutorials, filters, sound effects and complete AE projects available on DVD. He also hosts some of the AE podcasts on Creative Cow as well. Very nice stuff!
ayato@web
Plenty of great tutorials and ideas here. There’s also a lot of really good information on how to use some of my favorite AE plug-ins.
Toolfarm
The only place I buy my AE plug-ins. Their prices are great, their staff is very knowledgable, and they offer some really great tutorials and short-cuts not only in AE, but a bevy of other motion graphic software suites as well.
New Media
The times they are a-changin’ when it comes to how multimedia, especially video, is being distributed. No longer do you need to be picked up by one of the Big 4 or Cable networks to become a success, or even attract ad dollars. If you’ve got a great idea, you can go out and purchase a relatively inexpensive video camera, or even use the web camera built into your laptop for that matter, and shoot your own show about…well, anything you want. Some of them are just OK, but others are really brilliant…funny, touching, exciting, and some are even inspirational. Here are some great places to find them (I’m not putting YouTube on this list because, well, you should already know about them).
Another really interesting new (but old, if any of you are old enough to remember JennyCam) trend is Lifecasting. JustinTV hosts a number of people doing just that, living their lives online…literally. The idea is to have a laptop with a really long-lasting battery, an EVDO connection and a webcam strapped somewhere on your person that you take with you wherever you go. I honestly don’t know if it’s something I could do, but the people who are doing it are really committed. And if you want to see how well it’s working, just jump onto one of the chat boards, where you can interact with these people and see how many others are on there with you and where they’re all from. One of the more popular lifecasters is Justine Ezarik, a freelance graphic/web designer and video editor hailing from Pittsburgh, PA, who has produced a number of extremely funny videos with her roommate Desiree. She’s even got a fan site here! You can check out her antics at her website, Tasty Blog Snack or at Mommy Pack My Lunch.
Hopefully, this will keep all of you busy for a while. Happy producing!
July 31st, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Hey. Thanks for the props!