Compositing notes/tutorials

Here are the links I used at work today:
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Lite-Bite_Light-Wrap-Effect/video-tutorial
http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/ryoung/story/how_to_light_wrap/

They have a series called Lite Bites, which are small AE snippets.

And the Mocha manual, from the Mocha AE that comes with CS5: QuickStart p. 39 has amazing tracking info for corner-pin tracking a screen onto a cellphone. So Good.

AE Error messages

Top reasons for AE error messages:
-Too much unnecessary stuff in your comp (select your main comp and do a File/Reduce Project)
-Comps that are too big
-Comps that have a different framerate from each other.

In your Project window, you can expand its view by hovering your mouse over it and pressing ~ (Tilde) located under the Esc key.

Then sort by Kind.

Open all your folders (yes, even the subfolders), starting at the bottom. Click thru your comps and see their framerate and dimensions in the little thumbnail viewer.

Shows name of comp
Dimensions Wide by Dimensions tall
Duration, framerate






To change the framerate or size, hit Cmd K. Try reducing a massive size by half (in Comp Settings, click the "Lock aspect ratio"

and then at the end of the first number (width) type /2 to divide in half).

Then go into the comp it lived in originally (click the twirly next to the name of comp in Proj window and double the scale value.

Click the scale values in that Timeline, and at the end, hit *2 and AE will do the math.

Brilliant!

File transferring websites

Sometimes you need a FREE alternative to FTP. Or you don't know what FTP is.

If you want to send files smaller than 50MB, use YouSendIt.
Files up to 2GB can be sent via WeTransfer.

A lot of other websites offer these services but have creepy pop-up ads, that make you look unprofessional to clients. Don't use 'em.