A TAS, in case you're outside too much to have heard of them before, is a tool-assisted speedrun. Basically you take a video game ROM and use some software like Mupen 64] to control the game's many parameters on a previously unattainable level. This allows for perfect manipulation of glitches and timing, and thus for much faster completions of the game than are possible unaided. This ...
Move over Pro Tools LE— Pro Tools 9 is here! One of the most exciting things about Pro Tools 9 is that there's more tracks without having to have a Toolkit. Another great thing is being able to run Pro Tools without having to use Digidesign, M-Audio or any Avid hardware. Also, there's Delay Compensation Engine on a native system that doesn't require HD hardware or HD native. And this is just the beginning. To see more of the features in Pro Tools 9, watch this overview video.
For all of you gamers out there who haven't started recording your gameplay, you'll be happy to know there's an easy solution— Dazzle.
You may not recognize the term "checker plate", but you've more than likely encountered it many times before. It's more commonly referred to as "diamond plate" and is the hardwearing, lightweight, non-slip metal stock with raised diamonds (or lines) that frequently adorn flight cases, stage decking and metal stair treads. This video will show you how to recreate that grungy look in After Effects.
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 seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, s...
Datamoshing is a cool new art form that takes uses digital videos to create original artistic works by combining them together using software. It takes advantage of the way that digital video is encoded to make one video appear to dance across and destroy the other video is a very psychedelic way. If you use a Mac, all you need are videos and two programs, which you can get in one .zip here. The programs are FFmpegX and Avidemux. If you have a PC, you'll need to use VirtualDub instead of FFmp...
Want to turn an image into black and white? With Photoshop CS5's Black & White command, it's easy! This clip will show you how to use it. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular raster graphics editor or a seasoned designer looking to better acquaint yourself with the new features and functions of the latest iteration of the application, you're sure to benefit from this free software tutorial. For more information, watch this video guide.
Looking for instructions on how to use Adobe Photoshop to create a slick, summer movie style poster? Look no further. This exhaustive 25-minute guide from Quintal Designs will teach you everything you need to know. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular raster graphics editor or a seasoned designer looking to better acquaint yourself with the new features and functions of the latest iteration of the application, you're sure to benefit from this free software tutorial. For more information, wat...
A tutorial using Final Cut Studio 2 on how to convert footage shot in 30p to perfect 24p. Used in the short Sofia's People. Can't quite figure out why you have two of the same filters in FCP? This quick clip will sort you out. Whether you're new to Apple's popular motion graphics and compositing software or a seasoned video professional just looking to better acquaint yourself with the program and its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more...
Interested in editing footage shot on a Canon DSLR in FCP Studio? You've come to the right place. 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 its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video guide.
In this clip, learn how to convert photo shot on a Canon EOS DSLR camera to Apple ProRes for convenient editing in Final Cut Pro Studio. 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 its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, watch this free video guide.
In this two-part video tutorial, you'll learn how to use Magic Bullet Colorista to color grade and color correct your digital video when using Final Cut Pro Studio. 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 its various features and filters, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, w...
Need help figuring out how to format text within Flash CS5? It's easy! And this clip will show you how it's done. Whether you're new to Adobe's popular Flash-development platform or a seasoned web developer looking to better acquaint yourself with the new features and functions of the latest iteration of the application, you're sure to benefit from this free software tutorial. For more information, and to get started making your own Flash-based twinkling starscapes, watch this video guide.
The iPad is one of the most popular devices that Apple has ever released, and they've released some doozies. Unfortunately for those who have bought them, their capabilities out of the box are very limited. But they need not be. This video wills how you how to use a free program called Spirit to load Cydia on your iPad, which will allow you to add custom themes, use unofficial software, and do all sorts of other fun things with your iPad. Enjoy!
Everyone who has a digital camera, no matter how high-end, wishes that they had more megapixels and wider angles at their disposal. Do you want to increase your megapixel count without buying a really expensive camera or camera parts? This video will show you some tricks for taking pictures with more megapixels and wider angles without buying a nicer camera, which will make your photos look better and make your work more professional. You will need Photoshop, but if you're serious about photo...
Do you believe you can fly? Or at least, believe that you can take pictures where it looks like you or other people are flying? Or at least jumping really high? This video will show you how to take pictures of flying, floating, levitating, or high-jumping people using a digital camera, tripod, stool, and photo editing software like Photoshop or GIMP. Either way, the effect is surprisingly easy to create and can help you make some really amazing photos.
Jailbreaking any one of the i-family Apple products, be it the iPhone, iPod, or iPad, is a great way to expand their lamentably limited capabilities. If you were wondering if you could still do it on a unit with iOS4, the answer is you can! And this video will show you how to do it if you have an iPhone 3G or iPod Touch 2G by using a software program called redsn0w 0.9.5. If all goes well this should be quick, easy, and have you well on your way to enjoying all that your iDevice can offer.
In this two-part tutorial series, you'll see how to make a spinning glass block animation with Cinema 4D, Mograph and refraction. Whether you're new to MAXON's popular 3D modeling application or are just looking to get better acquainted with Cinema 4D and its various features and functions, you're sure to enjoy this free video software tutorial. For more information, including complete instructions, watch this 3D modeler's guide.
In this two-part tutorial, you'll learn how to take advantage of the camera projection and GI features within C4D. Whether you're new to MAXON's popular 3D modeling application or are just looking to get better acquainted with Cinema 4D and its various features and functions, you're sure to enjoy this free video software tutorial. For more information, including complete instructions, watch this 3D modeler's guide.
Photoshop might be the best software out there for creating effects on text and other still images. This video will show you how to create one really cool effect in Photoshop on a title. The creator calls this a glowing particles dust effect, and that sounds about right. The end result is words that are surrounded by a unique cloud of glowing particle dust. It looks really cool, and should really spice up your website or film titles.
After Effects contains all manner of cool tools that you can use to create really appealing title effects for your films. This video will show you how to create one quick easy text effect in this powerful software suite by using a camera, null object, 3D text layers, and a particular background, all keyed to the music levels. The result is very cool and sure to impress your audiences.
Creating an abstract wave effect in After Effects will allow you to make graphics like those in the thumbnail, basically clouds of particles with that smokey / silky effect like they used in James Bond titles. This video will show you how to make this effect yourself in After Effects in two parts. Apply this technique to your titles and they should be much, much sexier.
Balsamiq is a really cool software suite that allows you to create Apps visually without having to write any code! This two-part video lecture will introduce you to Balsamiq and show you how to use it to create your own cool Apps. If you want to learn Balsamiq, you really couldn't do any better than this.
Today, BitTorrent Inc. released the SDK for uTorrent Apps, which will allow software developers from around the world to create Apps for uTorrent, the popular bittorrent client. This video will show you how to download the SDK, install it on your computer, make an app, view that app in a browser, and then package the app and view it within uTorrent without compromising uTorrent's famous lightness. This is a big day for bittorrent fans around the world; download the SDK and start making uTorre...
CakePHP is the Ruby on Rails of the PHP world, an open-source web application framework that allows users to create really cool websites and software without spending money on expensive programs. This extensive video series will teach you everything you need to know about working with CakePHP and should make your website a lot more interesting.
If you've ever wanted to make an even slightly fantasy-flavored film, you've probably wanted to make one of your characters fly. Unless you're working with a bird or some really crazy rigging, you're going to need to make this special effect happen in After Effects, or whatever compositing software you use. This video will show you how to create a flying effect with a sonic boom on takeoff in After Effects, and following it's instructions will help you learn a lot about how to use After Effec...
In this C4D user's guide, you will learn how to create a cabinet, complete with a sink, taps, and a mirror. Add some details and group everything together for easy import into the final scene. Whether you're new to MAXON's popular 3D modeling application or are just looking to get better acquainted with Cinema 4D and its various features and functions, you're sure to enjoy this free video software tutorial. For more information, and to get started using this trick in your own Cinema 4D projec...
For 3D artists new to 3DS Max, learning your way around this massive piece of software can take a long time. It need not do. This video will teach you how to use some of the many hotkeys in the program to navigate it like a pro, easily accessing all of the most popular tools and allowing you to save a lot of time modeling. Now that you know what buttons to press to access functions, watch some of our other 3DS Max tutorials for more advanced functions.
Photoshop is the photo-editing software of choice for just about everyone these days. It is very complex; but you're in luck! We have many videos here on site dealing with how to use Photoshop's many functions. This video will teach you how to display a picture inside of text by using masking. The effect is very cool, and sure to zest up your website or film.
In this four-part tutorial, you'll learn how to create a full human head with Blender's 3D modeling tools. 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 tricks, you're sure to be well served by this free video software tutorial. For more information, including step-by-step instructions, and to get started modeling your own 3D heads in Blender, take a look!
This video guide presents detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to create a realistic 3D model of a planet within 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 tricks, you're sure to be well served by this free video software tutorial. For more information, as well as to get started modeling your own planets, take a look!
After Effects allows you to do all sorts of amazing things to your videos and images, but it cannot do it all alone. This video will show you how to use an After Effects plugin called Normality 3 to make lighting adjustments to 3D assets on the fly, having already rendered out a normal pass using either Cinema 4D or Modo (you can use other 3D software too, but those two are both shown as examples in the video). It will also demonstrate how to render out the normal passes.
Flashing the disc drive on the XBox 360 is the first step of truly hacking your XBox 360, enabling it to run whatever discs you like but also putting you at risk for being banned from XBox Live. Microsoft has used several different kinds of drives in the console over the course of its lifespan, so you have to check what type of drive you have before you attempt to flash it. This two-part video will show you how to flash the Hitachi 78FK drive used in many XBox 360's.
Stroke overlays allow you to put semi-transparent lines over you video while it is playing, creating a cool artistic look. This two-part video tutorial will teach you how to use apply stroke overlays to an image using the Adobe Premiere Pro video editing software. This is a very popular technique for fashion videos, so if you are involved in making those then this video should be very useful to you.
Film burn was really annoying all those years ago when we used to have actual film and it used to actually burn. Now its acquired chic status, and people want it to add it to their digital films. This video will teach you how to create film burn effects using the Adobe Premiere Pro film editing software. This technique is very popular for Western and skateboarding films, so if you are into creating either of those types of videos this is a must-watch!
Arguably the single most important aspect to modeling is topology. This overview tutorial takes a look at the topology of the human head, examining each of the main edgeloops, poles, etc. 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 tricks, you're sure to be well served by this free video software tutorial from the folks at CG Cookie. For more information, including s...
Tthis Blender 2.5 video tutorial goes through the steps needed to create custom keyboard shortcuts for changing mesh selection modes (vertex, edge, face). This allows you to very quickly switch between modes by simply pressing 1,2,3 on your keyboard. 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 tricks, you're sure to be well served by this free video software tutorial...
This Blender 2.5 Video tutorial presents an overview of using the particle hair system to create downey feathers, then using the duplifaces technique to add the longer feathers, as well as their texturing and a quick rig setup. 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 tricks, you're sure to be well served by this free video software tutorial from the folks at CG C...
In this Blender 2.5 video tutorial, you'll see how to use driven shape-keys to dilate the pupil of an eye. The tutorial also demonstrates how to use custom bone shapes and limiting the transformation of a bone via constraints. 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 tricks, you're sure to be well served by this free video software tutorial from the folks at CG Co...
As good as Swype's word prediction software is, sometimes we all make mistakes. If you are wondering how to go back and fix something that isn't right in your text messages, check out this tutorial. Fixing words with Swype is just as fast as texting with this lightening fast application.
