Video CoPilot : Visual FX Video Tutorials

If you are an animation / game art / visual effects artist / student, you need to check this site now. You won't regret it. I can't say enough about it. You need to check it to get better.

Videocopilot.net is a visual effects website that uses video tutorials to help people learn Adobe After Effects. The tutorials are hosted by VFX artist Andrew Kramer who works professionally in the industry. The video tutorials are fast, clear, informative and surprisingly entertaining.

As an animation instructor, After Effects should be one of the weapons in your creative arsenal, as its linked to what we do on a regular basis (by this, I mean how your work is presented). More importantly, the way our typography is used to present our demo reels is sometimes just as important as the animation work itself. After Effects is definitely one of the best at animating text in interesting ways, and since we are judged on this, we have to get better at it. As animation students, we don't get enough After Effects time.

So, be sure you check out the Videocopilots.net site, browse their tutorials and help them out by purchasing their DVD's for reference, especially if you have never been in After Effects before, I'll guarantee you'll learn a thing or two just by browsing their site. Some advice for you....once you watch a tutorial, see if you can make something that you would think is totally fun, and that will be used for your demo reel. I'll bet that this will be one of the "standout" pieces in your portfolio.

Hey Andrew Kramer, keep up the great work and thanks for putting up such helpful information.