<p>So much has been going on lately! Returned from a fun and exciting show at NAB 2012, the new <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects.html" target="_blank">After Effects CS6</a> has been announced and I&#8217;ve also finished some new title work.</p> <p>This new title sequence is certainly inspired by the<a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2010/04/retro-titles-via-1985/"> original one</a> I created over 4 years ago and was meant to feature the alternate future represented in the episode.</p> <p>I&#8217;ve added some breakdowns for the work that was involved in the title as well! Plus there may be something interesting in the last credit&#8230;</p> <p></p> <p>Since I&#8217;m talking about intros, I also had the opportunity to create the opening title for the CBS show Person of Interest too. <a href="http://vimeo.com/40926302" target="_blank">Watch That here.</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/sales/nab2012/" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3828" height="266" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/nab2012.jpg" title="nab2012" width="488" /></a></p> <p>We&#8217;re at NAB this week and to celebrate we are having a massive 25% Off Sale on all Video Copilot products for 5 Days Only!</p> <p>All the favorites such as <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/products/opticalflares/" target="_blank">Optical Flares</a>,<a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/products/propresets2/" target="_blank"> Pro Presets 2</a> and <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/products/action2/" target="_blank">Action Essentials 2</a> are on sale.  And remember you can take 25% off BUNDLE PRICES too! <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/bundles/" target="_blank">See our Bundles</a>.</p> <p><strong>Use Coupon Code:</strong> NAB2012</p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/sales/nab2012/" target="_blank">Shop Now!</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/this_guy.jpg"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3822" height="390" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/this_guy.jpg" title="this_guy" width="466" /></a></p> <p>I&#8217;ll be attending NAB in Las Vegas this year so if you see me around please stop and say hello! I&#8217;ll be presenting at the Adobe Booth to talk about some recent television work I created which should be really fun. Sam and Tino are also going to be making the trip.</p> <p>My Schedule:<br /> <strong>Monday:</strong> Walking around aimlessly<br /> <strong>Tuesday:</strong> 10:30 am presentation at Adobe Booth<br /> <strong>Wednesday:</strong> 4:30 pm presentation at Adobe Booth</p> <p>See you there!</p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/mid_air_emergency/" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3811" height="514" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/wing_blog.jpg" title="wing_blog" width="468" /></a></p> <p>In this new tutorial we&#8217;ll composite the interior of an airplane as the wing bursts into flames. We&#8217;ll cover green screen keying, 3D tracking with Camera Tracker, particles and compositing live action elements. I&#8217;ve also included a dropping Oxygen mask in the project file for people that want to add an extra layer!</p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc_yO28NHtk" target="_blank">Watch Sample Video</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/mid_air_emergency/" target="_blank">Watch Tutorial</a></p>

<p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3782" height="647" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/layer-style-big.jpg" title="layer-style-big" width="488" /></p> <p><strong>UPDATED: CS3 project file is now available</strong></p> <p>If you are trying to make sense of the words above&#8230; have at it!  Actually they are various layer styles in today&#8217;s free <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/category/project_files/" target="_blank">Project File</a>.</p> <p>Since they added Photoshop layer styles to After Effects, I pretty much never used it but I recently decided to spend a little time creating some clean titles to share with everyone here. I&#8217;ve even recorded a short tutorial to show you how to edit the project file along with some tips for customizing and adding <a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2009/04/free-textures-from-new-york/" target="_blank">textures</a>. I&#8217;ll be on soon with more tutorial so until then&#8230; Enjoy!</p> <p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/btutorial/layer_styles/2/" target="_blank">Watch Tutorial</a></p> <p><a href="http://video9.videocopilot.net/videos/Layer_Style_FX_Round.zip" target="_blank">Download Project File for CS5<br /> </a><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Layer-Style-FX-CS3.zip" target="_blank">Download Project File for CS3</a></p>

<p><a href="http://digitaldomain.com/projects/20"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3779" height="482" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/break_down.jpg" title="break_down" width="488" /></a></p> <p>Digital domain has a great breakdown for some of the VFX for Transformers 3. In fact if you browse their website you will find many amazing reels and finished work that will surely inspire you!</p> <p><a href="http://digitaldomain.com/projects/20">http://digitaldomain.com/projects/20</a></p>

<p></p> <p>Over at <a href="http://michaelbay.com/" target="_blank">michaelbay.com</a> someone just posted a 10 minute reel of various FX for the third Transformers film. I wish there was some before and after stuff but there is no denying the amount of impressive work that went into it! And remember everything was done in stereo&#8230; There might be spoilers so if you have not seen it be warned. There are robots!</p> <p>BTW, I just moved this past weekend and sucked a little bit of my life away but we&#8217;re almost unpacked hoping to get back in gear this week!</p>

<p></p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O92ZbSAftuI&amp;feature=channel_video_title" target="_blank">Youtube Link</a></p> <p>Video Copilot finally helped kill off William Shatner! Sort of. Love him or hate him, TV personality Captain Kirk was just exploded for a <a href="http://www.expedia.com/" target="_blank">Priceline</a> commercial and I couldn&#8217;t help but notice the explosion looked somewhat familiar.</p> <p>Turns out his gruesome demise was enhanced with a clip from our very own<a href="https://www.videocopilot.net/products/action2/" target="_blank"> Action Essentials 2 pack</a>! I sometimes see some of our products used commercially which is exciting but when they kill off William Shatner&#8230; that&#8217;s worth talking about!</p> <p><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3763" height="620" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/price_line.jpg" title="price_line" width="488" /></p> <p>Now if you want to see Sam Loya being killed check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc_yO28NHtk&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">this Video</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnnm_Z61G68&amp;context=C31aa1e8ADOEgsToPDskLKoJeykyP4RJfl-bOz96oc" target="_blank">this one</a>!</p>

<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/35648355" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3757" height="300" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/emergency.jpg" title="emergency" width="488" /></a></p> <p>Watch as Sam &amp; Tino take-off in this new short video for an upcoming tutorial that will be landing soon!</p> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/35648355" target="_blank">Watch on Vimeo</a></p> <p><a href="http://youtu.be/nc_yO28NHtk" target="_blank">Watch on Youtube</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/element_update.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3725" height="597" src="http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/element_update_sm.jpg" title="element_update_sm" width="488" /></a></p> <p>This will be the last &#8220;update&#8221; before the official release date &amp; launch cycle for our upcoming Plug-in Element 3D.  Over the past couple of months, I let my excitement and ambition overshadow the time requirements for building such a powerful plug-in and I had to hold off on releasing it.  Not just a couple of weeks but a couple of months which is not characteristic of myself or my company.</p> <p>This community is a big part of why I get to go to work and develop such fun and interesting projects so I apologize for not keeping everyone better informed.  I definitely learned a lot about building software of this magnitude and will be much better prepared in the future.</p> <p>We recently overcame an unexpected but important rendering milestone and we are now polishing the remaining features.</p> <p>My hope is that when you see the amount of work and careful planning that went into this plug-in, you will understand where that time went and realize our vision together.</p> <p>The above examples were created inside of Element and I can honestly say that this is only a small part of what this plug-in can do.</p> <p>I really want to give a time estimate but that always gets me into trouble!</p> <p>So until then, let me finish-up and launch this baby!</p> <p>Humbly yours,<br /> Andrew Kramer<br /> Video Copilot</p>