Capture the fun and sun of summer with Barbeque, a free DVD menu and packaging design template set from Eye Scream Factory. The template set includes main and chapter DVD menus in HD, NTSC, PAL, and DV - along with matching disc labels, case inserts, and background images. Easily create new looks and styles by adjusting colors, changing text, and moving layers.

Want to create eye-catching, professional DVD menus and packaging in minutes? Check out Eye Scream Factory's DVD Art Professional which includes 20 themes and 340 templates for DVD menus, disc labels, and packaging designs for your Mac or PC. Easily create new looks and styles by adjusting colors, changing text, or moving layers. Volume I features templates for Children, Holidays, Vacation, Weddings, Locations, and more. Volume II is wedding-themed.

Labels: Eyescream Factory, Free, Templates

As you may have heard, Digieffects Simulate: Illuma came out today. The first 50 customers to purchase Digieffects Simulate:Illuma will receive Digieffects Berserk for free!

Labels: Berserk, DigiEffects, Digieffects Simulate, Free, Illuma

For a limited time, Boris offering a free, fully-licensed plug-in from Boris Continuum Complete 5 - Rays Cartoon, an innovative filter that creates light out of the user-defined 'cartoon edges' of an image. BCC Rays Cartoon is available for Adobe CS3, Apple Final Cut Studio 2, and Avid.


Download Rays Cartoon now! This free filter offer expires July 1, 2008.

Tutorial: Generate a Volumetric Light Effect

In this tutorial, we will use BCC Rays Cartoon to generate a volumetric lighting effect on an animated text element; BCC Rays Carton will also give the text the appearance of being made of neon lights. Then, we will use BCC Light Sweep to add a light sweep across the face of the text. Finally, to complete the effect, we will use BCC Colorize Glow to provide a soft glowing look.

Read the Tutorial

Labels: Boris, Continuum Complete, Free

Hello Video, Film and Web guys and gals,

I thought I'd put up a few free After Effects Projects for download to help celebrate July 4th ( I'm a sucker for good fireworks ). They're only up until July 4th.

You'll find them on my website under the Ani Elements section labeled Ani Elements Batch 1. There are 20 assorted AEPs ranging from Flames, Bubbles, Water, Blood, Glows and a whole lot more.

As usually they are fully customizable and royalty free.

Enjoy!
DeANVELez

Labels: After Effects, Dean Velez, Free

CoreMelt has just released version 1.5 of their popular free Veeyou Plug-in Pack which creates EQ and VU animations from the audio in your project. Version 1.5 has two new free plug-ins. The plug-ins now run on After Effects in addition to FCP and Motion.

• Download Page
• Tutorial Video
• Demo Video

Labels: After Effects, CoreMelt, Final Cut Pro, Free, Motion

Bring the popular look of Cover Flow (in iTunes) to your projects with the latest FxFactory freebie by idustrial revolution. CoverFlux is available immediately for Final Cut Pro 6, Motion 3 and Final Cut Express 4. It's FxPlug.

The iTunes style scrolling still image generator plug-in for Final Cut Pro, Motion and Final Cut Express.

This completely free plugin is available for download and use immediately from this website. (FxFactory & Leopard need to be installed).

• Download it for free
• Learn more about CoverFlux
• Learn more about Noise Industries

Labels: Final Cut Express, Final Cut Pro, Free, FxPlug, idustrial revolution, Motion, Noise Industries

Here's a free Card Dance preset/comp set from LME. Download the free presets here (.zip).

Buy LME 30 Super Card Dance Projects & Matching Presets. The preset works in After Effects 7.0+ on Mac or Windows. They are set up for SD and a few flavors of HD. Enjoy!

I'm rendering a better quality sample at this moment.

Labels: After Effects, Free, LME

Eye Scream Factory is currently offering a cool Free Download of the Month. Add the hope and renewal of spring to your DVD production with Yellow Orchid, this month's free DVD menu and packaging design template set. The template set includes main and chapter DVD menus in HD, NTSC, PAL, and DV - along with matching disc labels, case inserts, and background images.

The free download includes:

• Main and Chapter DVD menu templates
• HD (1920 and 1280), NTSC, PAL, and DV DVD menu templates
• Matching 300 dpi DVD disc label and case insert templates
• Matching HD, NTSC, PAL, and DV background images

All of the DVD Menu Templates are layered Adobe Photoshop files, so they should work great in Adobe After Effects in addition to Adobe Encore.

Labels: After Effects, Encore, Eyescream Factory, Free, Templates

LME makes awesome templates for Adobe After Effects, Trapcode plug-ins and even one for Motion. Try out some free samples!

For After Effects 6.5 or higher, Mac and Win. Zipped file works with both platforms.

• AMAZING_TEXT_SAMPLE_1.zip
• FANTASTIC_AE_LIGHT_SAMPLE.zip
• AE_TRANSITION_PRESET_1.zip
• GRUNGE_SAMPLES.zip
• AMAZING_VIDEO_DISPLAYS_SAMPLE.zip
• AE_TRANSITION_PRESET_2.zip
• AMAZING_TEXT_SAMPLE_2.zip
• LME_PARTICULAR_PROJECT.zip
• LME_STARGLOW_PROJECT.zip
• LME_ECHOSPACE_PROJECT.zip

If you don't have the Trapcode plug-ins, you can download a free demo here.

Labels: After Effects, Echospace, Free, LME, Lux, Particular, Starglow, Trapcode

Free Video Effects Plug-in and Transforms Video into Animation for Free: NewBlueFX's Free Cartoon-Look Plug-in Available for Immediate Download

La Jolla, CA (April 14, 2008) - High-end cartoon effects for video are no longer the exclusive domain of Hollywood big boys thanks to video special effects creator NewBlue, Inc. Now anyone using leading desktop video software can take advantage of this free plugin download to "toon up" live-action video with NewBlue Cartoonr, the company's fast, easy and free way to give scenes a cartoon look. Users seeking free Adobe Premiere effects, free Apple Final Cut Pro effects, free Avid Liquid effects, free Adobe After Effects plugins, free Avid Media Composer effects, free Avid Xpress Pro effects, free Canopus Edius effects, free Pinnacle Studio effects and free Ulead VideoStudio effects can download this free video effects plugin at http://www.newbluefx.com/cartoonr.

Inspired by those stylized television ads for a major brokerage firm, NewBlue chief technology officer Todor Fay led his team in designing a lightweight, flexible free video plugin that instantly applies a hand-drawn, cartoon-like effect to live video. Explains Fay, "With NewBlue Cartoonr, users can combine intriguing artistic effects with the power of live action. This free cartoon effects plugin rivals products costing hundreds of dollars."

Although valued at $250, NewBlue is offering NewBlue Cartoonr free of charge to users of all leading desktop video editing platforms. Designed as a video effects plugin, NewBlue Cartoonr integrates directly into the Adobe Premiere Elements, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid Liquid, Avid Media Composer, Avid Xpress Pro, Canopus Edius, Pinnacle Studio, and Ulead VideoStudio product lines.

When asked why the company would make NewBlue Cartoonr available at no cost to users, Fay replied, "What better way to show the video editing community the power of NewBlueFX? We're quite convinced that once users try NewBlue Cartoonr, they'll come back for more. And with over 100 more effects, filters and transitions in our NewBlueFX collection of video effects plugins, we've got plenty more to offer them."

Part of the NewBlueFX line of audio and video effects plugins, NewBlue Cartoonr offers a rich palette of preset cartoon styles and provides powerful control over drawing and painting techniques. Its elegant user-interface, a NewBlueFX trademark, allows fine tuning of both drawing and painting techniques, resulting in a rotoscoping effect. In addition, NewBlue Cartoonr features controls for blending in the original image to create artistic effects with ease.

Users can download NewBlue Cartoonr, the free video effects plugin, at http://www.newbluefx.com/cartoonr beginning April 14, 2008.

About NewBlue, Inc.

NewBlue, Inc. develops innovative audio, video and multimedia technologies for leading companies throughout the world. Founded in early 2002, NewBlue creates and licenses a range of proprietary technologies-- including a series of NewBlueFX video technologies, the NewBlue Audio Engine and Audiomatrix technology platform-- that meet the varied multimedia needs of mid-and large-sized companies. Experienced developers, musicians, artists, and software professionals with a unique and commanding set of skills, experience and talent comprise the NewBlue team.

The company unveiled its NewBlueFX product line in 2006 to meet the needs of digital video editing enthusiasts. The NewBlueFX collection of software plug-ins includes special audio and video effects, such as audio filters, noise reduction, equalization, compression and dozens of sophisticated graphic filters and transitions. To date, the NewBlueFX line includes 5 audio-oriented plug-in collections and 7 video-oriented effects and transitions collections for the Adobe Premiere, Avid Liquid, Avid Media Composer, Avid Xpress Pro, Pinnacle Studio and Sony Vegas desktop video product lines.

Labels: Free, NewBlueFX

Download the free Media 100 Universal Binary codecs

The codecs are included free with the Media 100 Producer 14-day Trial Version.

With these free codecs, editors and graphics professionals can playback and render modern and legacy Media 100 media files in any QuickTime-based application. The codecs include Universal Binary versions of the Media 100 i and Media 100 HD codecs as well as the PowerPC Instant Media 844/X codec.

Learn more about Media 100

Labels: Codec, Free, Media 100

LME is giving away 5 more Trapcode Shine presets for After Effects. They're version AE 6.5.

LME is also giving away a free Filigree animation. The LME 289 Filigree Originals is a set of filigree patterns in Adobe Illustrator 7 vector format, not found in any other collection. They can be used in After Effects, Photoshop, Apple Motion - pretty much any host app you might own. The freebie consists of an AE project using a filigree.

Labels: After Effects, Free, LME, Preset, Shine, Trapcode

Digieffects is currently creating a Demo Reel for NAB 2008 and would like YOU to participate! Submit your best work using Digieffects plugins and get a FREE Digieffects product! Don't own any Digieffects plugins? Get a free demo here.

Labels: Demo, DigiEffects, Free, NAB

Boris Continuum Complete's FREE (registration required) Snow filter is an auto-animated snow generator. The filter offers extensive options and allows you to create drifts or make flakes pile up along the edges of an alpha channel. The free BCC Snow filter offer expires on March 1, 2008. You must install the free filter before this date.

Download the Free Snow Filter for Apple Final Cut Pro and Motion

Download the Free Snow Filter for Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects


Don't have Boris Continuum Complete? Download a free demo or purchase from our store. Don't forget that for a limited time, if you purchase Boris Continuum 5 AE you get Boris Title Toolkit for FREE!

Tutorial: Make it Snow with the Boris Snow Filter

What good is a snow effect if the snow does not stick to the horizontal surfaces in the shot? The Boris Continuum Complete Snow filter can make snow do just that, creating a realistic look for your wintry scenes. The BCC Snow generator is featured in just about every Boris product, including Boris Continuum Complete, Graffiti, RED, and Boris FX. It works especially well with text captions, creating snow that accumulates on top of the letters for a natural look. Best of all, BCC allows you to create this effect right in your NLE! Apple Final Cut Pro Tutorial
and Adobe Premiere Pro Tutorial.

Labels: Boris, Continuum Complete, Free, plug-ins

LME is kindly giving away seven free presets for Adobe After Effects from their LME Treasure Chest Of 121 Transitions.

• Download the presets now, along with a guide that demonstrates how to install and use them.
• View a sample movie of some of the transitions
• View the entire gallery of 121 presets included in the Treasure Chest Of 121 Transitions
• Buy LME Treasure Chest Of 121 Transitions

Labels: After Effects, Free, LME, Preset

Purchase a Digieffects product in October and receive a free copy of either Basic Training for Adobe CS3 Production Premium or Complete Training for Final Cut Studio 2 by Class on Demand. A $149 value!

Check out all of the Class On Demand titles Toolfarm offers, too.

Labels: Class on Demand, DigiEffects, Free

Download a free ArtBeats clip each month when you sign up for their newsletter. This month is a lovely field of some sort of yellow and orange flowers that is timelapse. Get your ArtBeats footage at Toolfarm and save!.

Register at ArtBeats and get a free clip per month.

Labels: ArtBeats, Free

John Dickinson just sent me the link to a video he just finished for Red Giant Software: Getting Started with Magic Bullet Looks. It's coming out soon. I can't say exactly when, but doesn't this get you excited about it! The interface and ease of use are unparalleled. It will be a lot of fun just to get in there and experiment.

And.... get this... the Standalone LooksBuilder will be given away for free! The free standalone works will still images like Tiffs and Jpegs and presets can be saved. The plug-in works with video.

We'll have more info soon so stay tuned.

Labels: After Effects, Avid, Final Cut Pro, Free, John Dickinson, Magic Bullet Looks, Red Giant

Download Conoa SuperPak 3 which includes Conoa EasyFX, Conoa EasyShapes, Conoa 3D, Conoa 3D Layer and Conoa FreeStreak. FreeStreak is totally free so try out SuperPak 3 and FreeStreak is yours to keep. Yeah, I sound a bit like Ron Popiel, I know.

Want to buy or upgrade Conoa SuperPak?

Labels: Conoa, Conoa SuperPak, Demo, Free

This free update to FxFactory brings you 15 new plug-ins for all FxFactory Pro users, and major performance improvements to all plug-ins when rendering in Final Cut Pro.

The total number of FxFactory Pro plug-ins has now reached 150, thanks to the following new filters: Clone, Chromatic Aberration, Channel Geometry, Free Distort, Mask With Geometry, Color Crush, Zoom Blur Chroma, Zoom Blur Luminance, Add Noise, Sharpen Chroma, Sharpen Luminance, Sharpen RGB, and transitions: Paint Wipe, Twirl Wipe and Waves Wipe.

Download a demo of FxFactory Now!

CoreMelt VeeYou freebie!

VeeYou is the first set of freebie plugins for Final Cut Studio by CoreMelt. Generate Volume Unit level and EQ animations based on the audio in your project. Sample projects are included!

More info | Download VeeYou

SUGARfx Portfolio

The latest SUGARfx theme comes with 9 elements that let you animate through any media you supply. Portfolio lets you elegantly showcase your work, and even comes with a matching theme for DVD Studio Pro.
More info on SUGARfx Portfolio

Labels: Final Cut Pro, Free, FxFactory, FxPlug, Motion, Noise Industries, SUGARfx

Jeff Almasol has created some After Effects CS3 Scripts. They look SUPER useful.

This download contains scripts for editing keyboard shortcuts (KeyEd Up), launching scripts (Launch Pad), create project folder hierarchies (Folder Setup), converting Adobe Swatch Exchange (.ase) files (Swatch You Want, kuler Shapes), and modifying a comp's motion blur settings interactively (Active Shutter) in Adobe After Effects CS3. To use, unzip the archive and place the contents in the Scripts folder located within the Adobe After Effects CS3 folder (Mac OS) or its enclosed Support Files folder (Windows). Active Shutter, Folder Setup, Launch Pad, and Swatch You Want can also be used as dockable panels by placing the scripts (and associated .png files) in a ScriptUI Panels subfolder of the Scripts folder, and then choosing them from the application's Window menu.

Labels: After Effects, Free, Scripts

Jim says, "Everyone loves growing vectors, lighting and grunge textures so I made a preset/project for Motion 3"

Download the project file (Motion 3 only, zipped)

View a Quicktime Sample (pops)

Labels: Apple, Free, Jim Geduldick, Motion, Preset

First, the free clip.

The ArtBeats newsletter if chock full of good stuff. Chris and Trish Meyer's of CyberMotion training have a column in the ArtBeats newsletter, too. Here's an excerpt:

We recommend to folks in the market for stock footage that if they can get the hi-definition (HD) version now, they should - even if their jobs are currently all in standard definition (SD). For one, HD is certainly the future, so buying HD clips now helps prevent your investment from becoming obsolete. Secondly, the extra pixels available in an HD clip open up many additional possibilities when working in SD: You can re-frame the shot, perform pan and zoom moves on it, and also perform creative tricks such as simulating the popular "Kid Stays in the Picture" look.

Hey, look! Tons of ArtBeats clips at Toolfarm.

Labels: ArtBeats, CyberMotion, Free, Stock Footage

Kai Pederson and Studio Daily "look at the new features Enhanced Open GL in version 10 of Cinema4D and its capabilities for accurate viewing and creation of color, shading, lighting and textures, as well as the new interactive rendering region."

Check out the tutorial

Maxon Cinema 4D is an incredible tool for motion graphic artists who mainly use After Effects and would like to start using 3D software. C4D and AE play well together and the learning curve isn't nearly as steep as it would be for something like Maya. Anywhoo, if you don't believe me, try a free demo of Cinema 4D.

Labels: Free, Maxon Cinema 4D, Studio Daily, Tutorial

Floodgate can be considered an advanced paint bucket or fill tool.

Check out all of Stefan Minning's free plug-ins for After Effects. Normality is a plug-in we used to sell, but it's now free. Celulight is another. It's a bummer for Mac peoples that it's all Windows.

Thank you Rich Young of AE Portal for the tip.

Labels: After Effects, Free

The Panalog plug-in is an extension to Adobe After Effects that implements some of the panalog conversion functions. It's been around a while but I seem to have missed it. It's free. I know, that's the only word I need to say.

Via HD for Indies Blogwad

Labels: After Effects, Free

Harry Frank has added a cool preset at his site Gray Machine that gives your content a bad TV look.

Here is a preset for AE CS3 that simulates a fuzzy TV picture, from back in the day when you had to get up and adjust the antennae to watch Real People. This file was kind of an experiment on my part, not really for any project. So, if there are any suggestions, feel free to post ideas for improvements.

Did you know Harry has an incredible training bundle for After Effects Expressions? He has built the training for designers, not programmers, and you'll be up and at Expressions like a pro in no time. Seriously, it's pure minted.

Oh, look! An ad for it! How did that get here?

Labels: After Effects, Free, Harry Frank, Total Training

The plug-in for connecting Adobe After Effects CS3 to Maxon CINEMA 4D connection from MAXON is free. It lets you seamlessly work between the two programs. It's available for Mac and Windows.

Labels: After Effects, Free, Maxon Cinema 4D

LME is giving away another freebie, comp samples like you would find in LME's Amazing Text Display's Vol. 1, to give you a little taste of what the product is all about. You do not need any third-party plug-ins.... well you need lots of third-party plug-ins, but not for this ;-)

This is an extra bonus file from each of their sets of beautiful comp files. This sample is not included in the LME Amazing Text Displays Vol. 1.

• Download the Free Comp (AE 6.5.1 and up) Link Fixed
• View sample movie
• View the LME Amazing Text Displays Gallery - see what's included in the full collection
• Buy LME Amazing Text Displays - Only $132 (Save 5%!). 100 comps are included. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination. Works with After Effects 6.5 or higher for Mac and Win.

Check out all of the previous LME Freebies.

Labels: After Effects, Free, LME

Sign up now to recieve the new Adobe mag. Creative inspiration and practical techniques delivered straight to your inbox. For free.

Labels: Adobe, Free

Star Titler is the newest freebie for FxFactory, a title generator that lets you instantly reproduce the look of the Star Wars opening titles straight on the Final Cut Pro or Motion timeline. Download it here and while you're there, get idustrial revolution Freebie Pack 1 and SUGARfx Mondrianesque, also free.

View a sample movie of Star Titler

Noise Industries FxFactory 1.0.6 just came out. Let me tell you, these are some tight plug-ins. They're so fast and great quality, and they're not too expensive either. They're Universal and FxPlug, so they run in Motion and Final Cut Pro, and run incredibly in Final Cut Studio 2. I'm not just saying this to sell them... I speaka ze truth.

Labels: Final Cut Pro, Free, FxPlug, Motion, Noise Industries, Universal

Mike Curtis at HD for Indies has posted a link to FCP Rescue for FCP 6, a utility for backing up, restoring and trashing preference files in FCP and a utility all Final Cut Pro users should have. It's a freebie!

Labels: Final Cut Pro, Free

Purchase ANY Digieffects product and receive a free T-Shirt!

Buy Aurorix, Berserk, Cinelook, Delirium, Euphoria, Fantazm or a bundle and you'll get an awesome Digieffects t-shirt! Digieffects products are already listed at Toolfarm at a great price and now we've sweetened the deal just a bit more.

Labels: DigiEffects, Free

I'm a big fan of the Adobe Exchange and they've launched the new beta of the site today. At the Adobe Exchange, you can "download hundreds of easy-to-install extensions, time-saving functions, code and more". It's a great place for free stuff!

Via John Nack's Blog

Labels: Adobe, Free

All the comps in the LME Collection series can be resized to accommodate all the HD sizes and ones they haven't invented yet. Learn how with this HD Conversion tutorial. This tutorial may also be useful for other project files, too.

LME makes really cool presets for Trapcode plug-ins, LME Amazing Video Walls & Displays, LME Fantastic After Effects Light Configurations and the newest is LME Amazing Text Displays Vol. 1. All LME products are available in our store.

LME also provided us with Toolfarm exclusive presets that you can download for free to get a good idea of their products. I have a review coming out soon. I know I keep saying that. It's on my shortlist, so stay tuned. It's going to be a good one!

Labels: Free, LME, Trapcode, Tutorial

Ko Maruyama has posted a blog entry at Ninja Crayon about the training that is available for After Effects and happens to mention three of our Forum Experts, Harry J. Frank, John Dickinson and Dean Velez.

Harry's training is available just this week and to say it's selling well would be an understatement! After Effects Expressions hits a niche where there is really not a lot of training and Harry's training is fun to watch and easy to absorb. It's downloadable immediately and is affordable at just $29 for 60 minutes of Expressions training. It is designed for the designer, not the programmer, and it will take your Expressiophobia away.

• After Effects Expressions 01: Introduction to Expressions Duration: 20 Minutes
• After Effects Expressions 02: Introduction to Arrays and Variables Duration: 20 Minutes
• After Effects Expressions 03: 3D Text Duration: 20 Minutes
• After Effects Expression Series 1 Bundle Duration: 60 Minutes

John Dickinson's Creative Background Design Series has also been very popular. John currently has six modules in his series and he uses some innovative techniques and explains several shortcuts that will help your workflow. John's training is just $5 a pop and great for the beginner or seasoned veteran.

• Creative Background Design for After Effects 01: Basic Fractal Loop - Free Sample
• Creative Background Design for After Effects 02: Award Night
• Creative Background Design for After Effects 03: Venetian Blocks
• Creative Background Design for After Effects 04: Fractal Flower
• Creative Background Design for After Effects 05: Molten Cells
• Creative Background Design for After Effects 06: Rose Window

Dean Velez puts out training through his company, The Anvel. His training, The Anvel Industry Training for AE is incredible. I showed my class some of the training last semester and they were completely into it. People actually stuck around until the end of class instead of bagging class after an hour ;-)

Just yesterday, Dean posted the following to our Expert Forum:

Hello Video, Film and Web guys and gals,

The Anvel has just posted 29 new royalty free and fully customizable After Effects 7.0 Professional projects ready for download.

The Projects all deal with Text and adding effects to text. They cover the letters A-Z ( Aura, Balls, Cosmic, Destroy, Electric, Extrude, Fire, Glimmer, Hose, Ice, Join, Killer, Laser, Magnify, Nature, Odor, Paint, Quartz, Road, Strange, Tear, Universe, Vile, Web, Wind, X-Ray, Yank, Zoom )

Some are render intensive...so prerender when you can.

Hope you enjoy them! and drop me a line to let me know which one is your favorite...mine is Killer.