What is this font called?

You get a project, want to use a font that you only have a JPG of. Huh?
Try WhatTheFont.
https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

It's awesome. Trust me. Trust it (mostly).

Export Illustrator layers to PNG/PDF

http://www.ericson.net/content/2011/06/export-illustrator-layers-andor-artboards-as-pngs-and-pdfs/

AE Memory and performance

If you're having error messages on memory and performance, check out the following:
https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/memory-storage1.html
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/543440

IBM Design Language

Everybody animating now...
http://www.ibm.com/design/language/framework/animation/fundamentals

Want to learn C4D FAST?

Yeah, me too.

So everyone and their sister wants to learn C4D. And it's totally on my list of stuff to learn so I can pass the knowledge along. This is going to be my next(ish) career-related purchase:

http://helloluxx.com/product/learn-cinema-4d-in-one-day/

I'll be sure to post a review once I put it up.

Cheers,
Teacherpants

Followthrough and Overlapping Action

From https://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/animation/character_animation/principles/follow_through.htm

Follow through is the termination part of an action. An example is in throwing a ball - the hand continues to move after the ball is released. In the movement of a complex object different parts of the object move at different times and different rates. For example, in walking, the hip leads, followed by the leg and then the foot. As the lead part stops, the lagging parts continue in motion.

Heavier parts lag farther and stop slower. An example is in the antennae of an insect - they will lag behind and them move quickly to indicate the lighter mass.

Overlapping means to start a second action before the first action has completely finished. This keeps the interest of the viewer, since there is no dead time between actions.

Here is a quote about overlapping from Walt Disney:

"It is not necessary for an animator to take a character to one point, complete that action completely, and then turn to the following action as if he had never given it a thought until after completing the first action. When a character knows what he is going to do he doesn't have to stop before each individual action and think to do it. He has it planned in advance in his mind."

Color linking

This is too good: this way all the yellow in my AEP can be changed with 1 click, all the blue, etc. Great for vector art-based animations with limited color palettes!

http://motionleague.com/2014/03/color-linking-in-after-effects/

Time lapse

http://timelapsenetwork.com/mini-tutorials/tutorial-how-to-create-a-time-lapse-using-canon-eos-utility/

Typography tips

http://www.colinharman.com/five-steps-to-better-typography-with-mark-boulton/

Separate AI layers to artboards

Great script!
https://forums.adobe.com/message/4757712#4757712

Instagram posting

Want to put a video up on Instagram? Use this tut:
http://whoismatt.com/instagramexportsettings/

That CUDA error on AE

You know that error that keeps popping up on AE? Something about CUDA 5.0 and Raytraced GPU?

Use this:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/mac-driver-archive.html

And download the latest driver. Should fix the problem. The latest driver is the one on top.

Yes, I know. I love you too.

Setting up my new MBP

So today I received my new, souped-up Macbook pro in the mail. Slick, streamlined, fast as a bat out of hell, and missing TONS of stuff I'm used to.

Like:
-Firewire (an adapter at B&H)
-Ethernet (buy an adapter)
-A DVD drive! (buy an external)

But buying all this stuff takes time and a trip to the store, so I had to think fast...

First, I had to make a disc copy of each installer DVD I needed, from my old Mac.
http://www.cnet.com/news/need-a-copy-of-your-dvd-mac-os-x-does-that/

And uploaded to Dropbox online, also from my old Mac:
www.dropbox.com

And then copy back to my new MBP and run the installer. And then error! Because of my Security prefs:

How to fix:

And in this last window, click the button marked "Open Anyway."

Now what about my data? It says 10 hours on WiFi. And no Ethernet–remember, I have to buy an adapter for that.

Well if I really need to speed data transfer up between my 2 macs, I'll need a Thunderbolt-to-Thunderbolt adapter. Plug old laptop into the new & use Target Disk to transfer. (NOTE: if you're working on a dinosaur machine, you may need to plug into Ethernet on both, or prepare for 1 long night...)

Target disk?

Long-winded explanation here, or simply put, have new machine ON. Have old machine OFF. Plug both using Thunderbolt cable. On OLD machine, hold T and turn on Power button. After that a cool thunderbolt icon in a circle will float around on its screen, while it will turn into a hard-drive on your new machine. On the NEW machine, run the app "Migration Assistant." And just choose the files or apps you want to transfer from the Old Mac's icon.

Since my old Mac was a hot mess of files, I only used Migration Assistant to transfer my Apps (which transferred beautifully). Then I manually copied only the files I needed onto my new mac from Finder, while both machines were hooked into each other using Target Disk and good old Thunderbolt-to-Thunderbolt adapter.

So after already spending a boatload of money on the MBP, I have to spend MORE...about $130 more. But the speed of this thing may make these extra $$ worth it.

Installing a new printer:
http://superuser.com/questions/678095/why-dont-i-have-any-canon-printer-drivers-on-mac-os-x-10-9-mavericks

Also, if your Wacom tablet ceases to work, you may need to re-install the drivers:
http://us.wacom.com/en/support/drivers/

Or if you have a dinosaur Wacom:
http://us.wacom.com/en/support/legacy-drivers/

If you miss OS Mavericks, here's how to downgrade:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/revert-back-mavericks-from-yosemite-3581872/

FAQ: AE error, RAM preview requires 2 or more frames, etc...

Oh man if I had a nickel for every time a student asked me about this error, I'd have a heck of a lot of nickels.

Check a couple things first:
-How long is your work area? To re-set it, go to the start of where you want to render. Hit B. Go to the end of where you want to render. Hit N.

-What's up with Preview window? That's the VCR controls–make sure it's set to play all frames.

If it's still freaking out, quit your Browsers. What? Yeah, I mean Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Explorer, Netscape, whatever whatever. Seems irrelevant but it's a Known Bug in AE that hasn't been fixed in about 2 versions. Quit your browser, and RAM preview already.

Make your AE work better/faster/stronger

Optimize your AE performance! Bam!

http://www.toolfarm.com/blog/entry/in_depth_optimizing_after_effects_for_the_best_performance#now
-Great tips on simple stuff you can do NOW to make your AE work better. Not too technical.

http://modio.tv/how-to-make-after-effects-render-faster/
-What is a disk cache? How can you make it work for you?

And from the guys at Adobe: good old help. Gotta love it.
http://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/improve-performance.html