FAQ: What is a Square keyframe shape?

Question: What is that square keyframe icon and how do I apply it?

I know it will appear automatically after the Toggle Hold is applied but I can't seem to get it without it.

You're on the right track. A square keyframe or house-on-its side is called a Hold keyframe. The only way to get it is to select a linear keyframe and go to "Animation menu/Toggle Hold keyframe." This command means "change the currently selected keyframe to or from (toggle means to-or-from) a Hold keyframe." Then all keyframes created after this will become holds as well. To have a keyframe turn back to a linear (diamond shaped keyframe), simply select that Hold keyframe and choose "Animation menu/Toggle Hold keyframe" again.

Some animators I know don't use Hold keyframes at all. Instead, they'll create a regular (linear) keyframe at 1 value, and 1 frame later change the value to a different number. For instance, to turn a layer off really quick at 1 second in the timeline, at 29 frames they'd create a keyframe at 100% opacity and at 1:00 (30 frames) they'd create a keyframe at 0% opacity. To change it back to 100% at 2 seconds, they'd create a keyframe at 0% opacity at 1:29 (1 second 29 frames) and then a 100% keyframe at 2:00 (2 seconds). I don't usually do this (because I dislike extra keyframes: 4 keyframes instead of 3 in this case), but some animators prefer this method of 1-frame-apart keyframes to have something "pop" to a new value.

For more nerdy info on keyframe shapes and what they mean, check out Adobe's AE help page on "Keyframe Interpolation Methods."

Illustrator: release to layers situation

So some of my Adobe Illustrator-savvy students complain that the "Release to Layers/Sequence" is a pain to use to actually release multiple Illustrator layers to "top-level" layer status. Well, there's an App for that. Ok, not really, but there's a SCRIPT for that.

It works really well! I found it on the Adobe forum:
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/287812

The script is downloadable here.

And then select your top-level layer, break the groups down based on how you want to animate them, then choose "Release to Layers Sequence." Go to File/Scripts/OtherScripts, and navigate to the JET_X_Layers.jsx file.

OMG magic! It pops all your layers to top-layer status, perfect for After Effects! Bangarang!!

Vimeo compression notes

QT 7: movie to MPEG 4

Settings: H264, 5000kbps, 1280x720, 29.97

Video options: Main, best

Audio tab: AAC-LC, 320 kbps, Stereo, 44.1, Best

480p is 854x480 when it's 16:9, 640x480 when it's 4:3
720p is 1280x720

Time-saving tips in AE

http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/10-time-saving-tips-in-after-effects/
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/10-more-time-saving-tips-in-after-effects/

Designing a graph?

Fake a graph!

Use http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx?ID=f132839312fa483da5701072d851594e
And type in your info. Download a PDF. Design it pretty in AE or Illustrator. And done.

MOV to WMV....ugh

Flip4Mac: awful translation of gradients and lights, no custom settings for the Standard edition. Pro (where you can increase the bitrate) is a hefty $160

Aimersoft Video Converter: free edition comes with a watermark. Used a high bitrate but still looks awful.

Wondershare: watermarked, but good quality.

MPG streamclip: uses Flip 4 Mac, awful at default, $160 to upgrade.

MacX Video Converter Free Edition: keeps crashing

MPG converter: won't do larger dimensions

Tune4MAc: fails

WinXMOV converter: crashes

http://video.online-convert.com/convert-to-wmv just as bad as Flip4Mac

PCHand MediaConverterPro: unregistered version converts up to 3 minutes

In conclusion, when you're on a Mac and you have to convert MOV to WMV your best bet is Flip 4 Mac. (Or to kick it old-school and find a Mac with Cleaner installed that always did a nice job for us in ye olde times...)

How to Terminal Render in AE

0. In AE, if you want to render more than 1 window in the Terminal, in AEP render settings, make sure "render multiple frames simultaneously" checkbox is on. If you're going out to ProRes in the end, render 16-bit Tiffs (change in Render Settings) that are set to Trillions (change Millions to Trillions in Output Module window). ProRes is 10-bit so it'll dumb down your 16-bit Tiffs. Set output of these tiffs to a folder on a drive that has TONS of space (can be 40MB per frame)

1. Cmd-space in your Finder

2. type "terminal"

3. open terminal, copy-paste the text: /Applications/Adobe\ After\ Effects\ CS5/aerender -project 

(yes, with the space at the end of the line of text, also attached as TextEdit doc)

4. drag-drop your project file from Finder to land at end of text.

5. Then make another Terminal window (Cmd N) and repeat steps 3 & 4.

6. When render is over, import folder as Sequence, set framerate, and output your QT.