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Posts by: Aharon Rabinowitz

  1. Old School vs. CGI

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Feb 07, 2012

    This amazing short film made me sad. I don’t find most CGI creatures to be all that realistic or scary, but as a kid, I remember those rubber mask monsters being terrifying, even when I could see the zipper going up it’s back. End of a Scarer from Chris O'Hara on Vimeo. Animated graduate film [...]

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  2. When it comes to Genres, Embrace What You Love

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Feb 06, 2012

    Last week, thanks to Josh Diamond, I saw this fantastic video, called Space Stallions on YouTube: What’s so great about it is that it feels authentic from a storytelling perspective – at least within the aesthetic of 80′s cartoons. Visually, the characters were a little to obviously 3D with toon shading, but outside that, it [...]

    1 comment
  3. Good Robot

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Feb 01, 2012

    Part of my job at Red Giant has me looking through the content on Vimeo to see what people are working on. It’s how I find great user stories and great people to work with. But also how I find inspiration – often from people who are still in school, working on student projects.  Students [...]

    1 comment
  4. Free Textures (not from me)

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Jan 31, 2012

    Yesterday, Angie Taylor tweeted out these cool bokeh textures from JenniStock on deviant art: Lot’s of cool things you can do with this, such as applying and animating After Effects’ Turbulent Displace. Or you can use them as displacement maps. Or as textures for VideoCopilot’s Optical Flares. Be creative. JenniStock’s got a lot of great [...]

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  5. Digital and Analog Inspiration

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Jan 30, 2012

    Just saw both of these videos this morning and felt inspired. One is done with camera angles and well planned concept, prop and set design, the other is entirely digital and abstract. NatGeo ID’s 2012 from Lumbre on Vimeo. 2012 – National Geographic Channels International commissioned LUMBRE to create four new ID’s. Plexus Test from [...]

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    Red Giant TV Episode 69 – Cosmodius: Creating a Retro Sci-fi Logo Animation

    n this episode of Red Giant TV, Aharon Rabinowitz walks you through the process of creating a Retro Sci-Fi logo. In addition to creating the logo, he’ll show you how to age the video to make it look like it came out of the early 80′s. Links: Inside the Nebulae – Space flight video by [...]

    3 comments
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    QuickTip #59: Fast Musical Scoring for Motion Graphics with SmartSound Sonic Fire Pro

    In this QuickTip, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how he quickly generates a soundtrack for Motion Graphics, using Smartsound SonicFire Pro. This is a tool Aharon uses to score most of the videos created for Red Giant and many of his non RG projects. Learn more about SonicFire Pro and Smartsound’s library of Royalty-Free music at [...]

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    Red Giant Quicktip #57: Animating a Look

    In this Quicktip, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to animate the tools in Magic Bullet Looks.

    7 comments
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    Red Giant Quicktip #56: Sketchy Stop-Motion Text Look

    Inspired by a video he found on Vimeo, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you some quick tips and techniques for creating a sketchy stop motion look for text. Links: Get the Sketch Rockwell font at urbanfonts.com/fonts/Sketch_Rockwell.htm Watch Working with the Scribble Effect Part 1 (Creative Cow Tutorial by Aharon) at allbetsareoff.com/tutorials/working-with-the-scribble-effect-part-1/ Get the Project Files at people.redgiantsoftware.com/explore/presetdetail.aspx?presetid=2047 [...]

    2 comments
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    Red Giant QuickTip #53: Layer Sampling – Generate Particles Where and When You Want Them

    In this Quicktip, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to control the way particles are emitted from a picture or text, when using a layer emitter. He’ll be exploring a feature called Layer Sampling. Layer Sampling is a feature controls whether or not particles are revealed by a layer’s alpha channel, or, depending on the setting, [...]

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  11. MGMT – All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Jan 27, 2012

    It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but today, I caught this on Photoshop product manager John Nack’s Blog, and I wanted to make sure more After Effects users saw this. MGMT – All We Ever Wanted Was Everything from oneedo on Vimeo. Taken from the album Late Night Tales – MGMT Info at www.latenighttales.co.uk [...]

    1 comment
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    Red Giant QuickTip #50: From Torch to Plasma Fireball – Building new FX from a Red Giant People Preset

    Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. In this QuickTip, Aharon Rabinowitz builds a beautiful blue Plasma Fireball effect with the help of a Torch preset created by Harry Frank for Red Giant People. Presets: Get the FREE Plasma Fireball preset at Red Giant People: people.redgiantsoftware.com/Explore/PresetDetail.aspx?PresetId=1949 Get the FREE Form 2 Torch Preset at [...]

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    Red Giant TV Episode 59: Trapcode 3D Stereoscopic Workflow Basics

    In this Episode of Red Giant TV, Aharon Rabinowitz explores the basics of 3D Stereoscopic Workflow with Trapcode 3D plug-ins.This tutorial is a great intro to Stereoscopic 3D in After Effects. If you have them, bring your 3D Glasses – it will help. Watch it here: Check out Pinkau.com to get the FREE stereoscopic tools [...]

    2 comments
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    Red Giant QuickTip #48: Digitally Re-Lighting a Green Screen Background with Primatte Keyer 5

    In this tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you a new feature in Primatte Keyer 5 that helps you fix poor lighting on your green screen (or other chroma background), by unifying the background color to make it easier for you to key and composite. Watch the tutorial here: Learn more about Primatte Keyer at: http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/primatte-keyer/

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    QuickTip #47: Glassy Look with Magic Bullet Looks 2

    In this QuickTip, Aharon Rabinowitz explores some fun new tools in Magic Bullet Looks 2, to create a cool distorted “glassy look.” Watch the tutorial right here: You can get the preset at: people.redgiantsoftware.com/​Explore/​PresetDetail.aspx?PresetId=1836 you can get Magic Bullet Looks 2 at redgiantsoftware.com/​products/​all/​magic-bullet-looks/​

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    Red Giant QuickTip #45: Compositing and VFX with Color Correction

    In this QuickTip, Aharon Rabinowitz talks about the process of color correction/grading, when you are also compositing or adding visual effects. He’ll show you how to avoid a common mistake that kills the composite. Watch the video right here:

    1 comment
  17. Plot Device is Online!

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Jun 28, 2011

    Many of you may have caught that I was working on a film with Seth Worley for Red Giant. I’ve not been able to say much until now, but today, the film has been released online as a part of the Magic Bullet Suite 11 Launch. Here it is: I am truly blessed to be [...]

    31 comments
  18. Hang Out with Red Giant (and me, if your in NYC)

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Jun 20, 2011

    What’s new, cool & delicious? Find out in NYC, SF and Portland Ever wonder how certain people always know things before you do? That’s ’cause they go where the buzz, big shots and booze are. On Monday, June 27, you can be the first to know about something really cool. Join us for a fun [...]

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  19. Where’s Ralph Waldo Emerson?

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Jun 14, 2011

    Just a moment of cheesy randomness this morning… “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

    4 comments
  20. Dear L.A. Times: Motion Capture is Animation

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Jun 05, 2011

    Hey folks – I know I’ve been silent lately – I’ve just been quite busy and under water (or as I prefer to say, “creatively engaged”) but I read an article by Steven Paul Leiva in  the LA Times on the subject of how motion capture is not animation, and it made me surface. This [...]

    11 comments
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    Red Giant QuickTip #41: Adding Life to Interview Footage

    In this tutorial, Aharon Rabinowitz shows you how to clean up (remove noise) and add life to interview footage through color correction. Though Aharon demonstrates in After Effects, the tutorial works for users of Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and more. Watch the tutorial below.

    5 comments
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    Red Giant QuickTip #35: Kaleidoscopic Effects with Trapcode Form

    In this QuickTip, Aharon Rabinowitz explores the Kaleidospace features of Trapcode Form to create 3D mirrored kaleidoscopic effects. Watch the tutorial below.

    1 comment
  23. Video Blog: February 2011 Update

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Feb 08, 2011

    In this video, with some help, I give a very quick update on my goings on. Filmed in high quality iPhone 4 (lo-res front facing camera), and cleaned up with Magic Bullet Denoiser and Looks:

    18 comments
  24. Happy Holidays!

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Dec 24, 2010

    First off, just wanted to wish all of you a happy holiday! Here’s a special song for you (yeah – it’s me singing – sorry): Listen to We Wish you a Happy Holiday Thanks so much for a great year, everyone. Looking forward to a great 2011. For those that asked, yes – we did [...]

    18 comments
  25. Off the Grid for a Bit (sort of)

    By Aharon Rabinowitz
    Dec 07, 2010

    Hey folks – I had a bunch of stuff well planned for the site through the end of the year, so naturally,  my son (name TBD) decided to come into this world, 3 weeks early. He was born on Saturday, December 4th weighing it at only 6 lbs, and 19″ tall.We’re all excited and exhausted. [...]

    22 comments