Be With You in a Heartbeat - Part 2
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We made the monitor but it still needs a touch more work before we go to Flash.

Approximate download size: 21 MB

The Be With You in a Heartbeat Series:
Be With You in a Heartbeat - Part 1
Be With You in a Heartbeat - Part 2

Be with You in a Heartbeat - Part 1
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Watching a heart beat pulse across an ECG monitor is rather compelling. Here's one way to create this effect using a few tools in the Adobe lineup.

Approximate download size: 22MB

The Be With You in a Heartbeat Series:
Be With You in a Heartbeat - Part 1
Be With You in a Heartbeat - Part 2

Storm Clouds on Lake Superior - Part 1
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Photographers, like Jim Babbage, have the ability to capture an instant in time. Flash designers turn that instant into an experience.

In this video tutorial, we are going to show how to do sheet lightning effects using After Effects CS4.

Approximate download size: 12MB

The Storm Clouds on Lake Superior Series
Storm Clouds on Lake Superior - Part 1
Storm Clouds on Lake Superior - Part 2

Make Your Own Planet
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Just because a planet doesn't have your name doesn't mean you can't make one. Mix together Fireworks, After Effects and Flash and you are able to build your own solar system.

Playing with Lightning
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If you have ever wondered how one experiences one really upset cartoonist? One who is so upset he has lightning shooting out of his body. If you have After Effects Cs3 and Flash professional CS3, it isn't difficult.

Approximate download size: 15MB

Using the After Effects CS3 Puppet Tool
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The new Puppet Tool in After Effects CS3 is a hidden gem. The amount of fun you can have with it should be illegal.

Approximate download size: 8.5MB

Blowing Stuff Up in After Effects
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Blowing up planets and graphics in Flash is extremely difficult to accomplish without a Master-Level of Actionscript competence. After Effects makes this quite easy to accomplish and, in fact, it can be kind of therapeutic!

Approximate download size: 12.8MB

From Flash to After Effects
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Who says you have to export QuickTime out of Flash to get a video?

A Bright Idea from Community MX
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Instead of looking at After Effects and Flash as being two big applications... ask yourself how they can work together. The results my just be the brightest idea you ever had.

From Final Product to Upload in Flash Professional 8: Part 2
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In January, 2007, friendsofED will be releasing a ground breaking book: From After Effects to Flash: Poetry in Motion Graphics. Written by Community MX Partner, Tom Green and Community MX contributer, Tiago Dias, the book is the first exploration of how After Effects and Flash are about to become a motion graphics power house.

Over the next few weeks, we will be presenting the first two chapters of the book. These two chapters are designed to explore the emerging workflow between After Effects and Flash and they take you from concept to upload. In this second excerpt, from Chapter 2, you convert the project created in the previous chapter into an FLV.

Approximate download size: 3.1MB

From Final Product to Upload in Flash Professional 8
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You have created a video in After Effects. Now it is time to encode it and prepare it for playback through Flash.

Approximate download size: 13.6MB

From After Effects to Flash: Poetry in Motion Graphics
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In this last installment of Chapter One we examine how to prepare an After Effects Video for encoding in Flash.

From Concept to Final Product in After Effects 7: Part 2
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Learn how to add and manipulate a variety of objects and media in an After Effects project destined for Flash playback. This is the second part of Chapter One of From After Effects to Flash: Poetry in Motion Graphics

From Concept to Final Product in After Effects 7
Reader Level:

In January, 2007, friendsofED will be releasing a ground breaking book: From After Effects to Flash: Poetry in Motion Graphics. Written by Community MX Partner, Tom Green and Comunity MX contributer, Tiago Dias, the book is the first exploration of how After Effects and Flash are about to become a motion graphics power house.

Over the next few weeks, we will be presenting the first two chapters of the book. These two chapters are designed to explore the emerging workflow between After Effects and Flash and they take you from concept to upload. In this first excerpt, from Chapter 1, you are introduced to the After Effects work space and how Projects and Compositions are created in After Effects.

Create Weather in Flash
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Who says creating rain and snow in Flash has to be difficult? Combine Flash and After Effects and you too can be a rain maker or snow maker.

Warping Video in a Flash
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Sometimes video needs to be such an odd shape that using a simple mask in Flash just won't solve the issue. In this video tutorial, I show you how to use the bezier Warp tool in After efects 7 to create a video that wraps around a shape. Then I show you how to output the video in After Effects and use that video in Flash.

Building a Flash Video Kaleidoscope - Part 1: Video Reflection
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The ideas that sparked this series came about in an unexpected manner.

Having just completed an article on the subject of creating reflections in Flash, I started thinking about how it could be done using video instead of images. In typical Community MX fashion, I bounced my question off of our Flash guy Joseph Balderson, and we rapidly solved the problem. (That's happens when a couple of "Tech weenies" get hold of Flash Video.) By that I mean we have a fascination with what we can do with this technology. As such the two of us starting thinking:, "Yeah that is interesting but, really, what more can we do with this basic technique?"

It turns out there is quite a bit more you can do with the video reflection technique. At one point in our discussion Joe said, "Hey, now that we have one reflection working, why not add a few more? Let's show 'em how to build a video kaleidoscope too!!" And so this series was born.

Approximate download size: 4.2MB

Text in Motion With the Wiggler
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When you start using After Effects, there will come a time when you look at the presets and think, "Gosh, I am bored with these." That will be the point where you discover Adobe has a wonderful sense of humor and you start using the Wiggler. In the text options, on the timeline, the Wiggly selector can be added to a chunk of text to randomize the values of any of the properties associated with that group. That description may sound rather formal, but when it comes to adding effects, randomness can lead to some happy surprises.

Approximate download size: 541k

Alpha Video and HTML: How did they do that?
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Flash Video containing an Alpha channel can be used to intereact with your web pages. It is surprisingly easy to do.

Creating an Alpha Video in Adobe After Effects
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After Effects 6.5 is the tool of choice for creating Alpha Channel video among the pros. Here's how.

Alpha Video Tricks
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Looking to do some cool video stuff in Flash Professional 8 such as adding a drop shadow or having the background "project" onto the subject? Read on...