Freelance Projects, Design and Programming Tutorials
I need a script that will poll my existing database for referral contests, track how many referrals per day, for a period of two given dates for beginning and ending date.
The script will also be able to display any number, like top 10 referrers or any other given number of referrers.
Please make a bid, and PMB me with the details of how you would go about this so that I know you understand my project.
I need a logo and a simple homepage (web2.0)layout for a catering company.
Expected deliverables by the programmer:
1) PSD file of logo
2) HTML/CSS file of the home page
Please bid only if you are an experienced and a serious programmer. More details related to this project will be provided in PMB.
This tutorial provides you with the fundamentals of shape layers and shape effects. We will have a closer look at the most important functionalities and develop some basic examples. The topics covered will give you a good start to realize and design your own projects using shape layers.
In this tutorial you will be introduced to shape layers and shape effects and the various powerful possibilities they offer.
We first need to take a closer look at the different shape layer tools and understand their properties. So let’s start by creating a new composition by choosing ‘Composition’ > ‘New Composition…’ from the menu.
Click on the shape tool in the tool panel (shortcut Q) and create a so called parametric shape for each option in the dropdown menu
(Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon and Star). There is one important thing to keep in mind. Unless you don’t want to add a shape to an
already existing shape layer (as we just did), make sure that no layer is selected (deselect all layers by pressing F2) or After Effects will
create a mask.
Please take a look at the timeline panel and open up the properties for the new layer called ‘Shape Layer 1′. We find a shape group called
‘Contents’ which further includes the shapes we have created and the ‘Transform’ property.
Here comes the important note that will save you from future nervous breakdowns and the like: Always be sure on which level in the shape
layer’s hierarchy you change properties.
The following example illustrates this in short:
Switch to the selection tool (V), select the layer ‘Shape Layer 1′ and move it in the composition panel. You will see that all shapes move together. Changes in the position of ‘Shape Layer 1′ are reflected in its ‘Transform’ property.
With the selection tool (V) still active, select ‘Polystar 2′ and move it around in the composition panel. This time only the ‘Polystar 2′ shape
changes its position, while the values for the ‘Position’ property remain unchanged. This time, the changes in position were not reflected
in the ‘Transform’ property of ‘Shape Layer 1′ anymore but in the ‘Transform: Polystar 2′ property of ‘Polystar 2′.
The position values found in ‘Transform: Polystar 2′ reflect the position of the shape in relation to the center of the comp.
Let us have a closer look a the properties of our shapes. You will notice that each has a path, stroke fill and a transform property applied to it.
Please feel free to open all properties and change their values to get a feel of how they change the original shapes.
Explaining them all would go to far at this point but they are pretty much self-explanatory.
For example changing the values for ‘Inner Radius’, ‘Outer Radius’ and ‘Outer Roundness’ for the ‘Polystar Path 1′ property of ‘Polystar 2′
results in various shapes of flowers, stars and the like.
What we want to take with us from the above steps is the following:
-Changing values in the ‘Shape Layers 1′ > ‘Transform’ property changes the properties (anchor point, position, scale, rotation and opacity)
for all shapes included in that layer.
-Color and stroke can be changed for all shapes a the same time by selecting the appropriate layer (in this example ‘Shape Layer 1′ and
changing the settings over the ‘Fill’ and ‘Stroke’ tools in the tool panel.
-Changing values within the shape itself only affects the selected shape.
-Make sure to change values on the right level of the hierarchy. To prevent any confusion, it pays out to give your objects
descriptive names once your projects get more complex.
In contrast to the parametric shapes introduced in the steps above, the pen tools can create freeform shapes the same way
as when creating masks. So we start again with a simple example to reveal the basics of the pen tool.
Delete ‘Shape Layer 1′ and activate the pen tool (G). Click and drag into the composition panel and pull out a bezier handle
for your first point. As you create a second point the same way, the pen tool will fill the area that is enclosed between your points
with the color and the stroke you have selected in the tool panel.
If you want to close the path, move the cursor back to the starting point of the shape until a small circle appears next to it and use a LMB click
to close it. A new ‘Shape Layer 1′ has been added to the timeline panel. If we drill down into ‘Shape Layer 1′ > ‘Contents’,
we will find our new shape called ‘Shape 1′.
To create an open path, you simply do not click back to the starting point of the shape. To get rid of the fill, select the appropriate shape in
the timeline panel and change the fill to ‘None’ in the tool panel.
Another way of turning off the fill of a shape is to turn off the video switch (the eyeball) for the ‘Fill’ property of the appropriate shape.
Delete ‘Shape 2′ from the composition and select ‘Shape 1′ in the timeline panel. Click on ‘Fill:’ in the tools panel and change the fill to
‘Linear Gradient’ and click OK.
The ‘Fill 1′ property of ‘Shape 1′ has been renamed to ‘Gradient Fill’ and various new options are available. By changing the values for
‘Start Point’ and ‘End Point’ you can control the direction and behavior of the gradient. However, another maybe more intuitive way is
to select the ‘Gradient Fill 1′ property in the timeline panel, which reveals a gradient handle in the composition panel. Move the starting and
end point to achieve the desired result. Change the color of your gradient by clicking on the ‘Edit Gradient…’ property of ‘Gradient Fill 1′.
Now change the ‘Type’ property of the gradient from ‘Linear’ to ‘Radial’ and observe the gradient handle in the composition panel.
The starting point of our gradient is now surrounded by a small circle that can be used to move the radial center away from the starting point.
But what if we want to change our shape after creation? Let’s see how to edit individual points:
– To add an additional vertex to your shape, click on the path (not on a vertex!) with the pen tool activated and drag out the bezier handles
as far as needed.
– To delete a vertex, just click on it with the pen tool activated.
– To move a vertex, activate the selection tool (V) and click and drag the appropriate vertex.
– To change the path between two vertices, click and drag on the path or drag the bezier handles of the corresponding vertices using the
selection tool.
– To toggle between a vertex with bezier handles and one without (to create sharp edges), activate the pen tool, hold down ALT and click on
the vertex.
– With the selection tool activated (Press CTRL while in the pen tool mode) double click on the shape path (not into the fill area)
to activate the free transform tool. Your shape will be surrounded by a white line with little boxes.
Use the boxes to scale your shape as you wish or hover over the white line to activate the rotation functionality and click
and drag to rotate the shape.
A fast workflow that does not require to switch tools all the time while editing your shape is using the pen tool (G) and temporarily
activate the selection tool by pressing ‘CTRL’ when needed.
Alright, after a lot of theory we are getting closer to the interesting stuff. For this we will now have a closer look at each item
in the ‘Add’ menu.
For the rest of this tutorial, whenever you are asked to choose ‘Add’ and an effect from the shape effect menu, please use the menu items that will
appear when clicking on the little arrow next to ‘Add’.
Create two random freeform shapes within the same Shape Layer using the pen tool. Choose ‘Add’ > ‘Group (empty)’ from
the shape effect menu. This will add a ‘Group 1′ property to ‘Shape Layer 1′ in the timeline panel.
Shift Click ‘Shape 1′ and ‘Shape 2′ and drag and drop them into ‘Group 1′. You can now control both shapes together
by highlighting ‘Group 1′ and changing its properties (e.g. changing fill and stroke on group level). This is a fast way to get control
over a group of shapes without loosing the ability to change the individual shape within that group if needed.
To see the next menu item in action we select ‘Shape 1′ in the timeline panel and choose ‘Add’ > ‘Rectangle’. A new property ‘Rectangle Path 1′
is being added to ‘Shape 1′ and a rectangle appears in the composition panel.
Use the other menu items to add an ‘Ellipse’, a ‘Polystar’ or a freeform ‘Path’ to an existing shape. The new shape path will automatically take
over the look and feel of its parent shape.
Use the ‘Fill’, ‘Stroke’, ‘Gradient Fill’ and ‘Gradient Stroke’ items from the shape effects menu to gain even more control over your shapes. To see an example we delete ‘Rectangle Path 1′
from ‘Shape 1′ and with ‘Shape 1′ selected we choose ‘Add’ > ‘Fill’ from shape effects menu. This will add an additional ‘Fill 2′ property to
‘Shape 1′
Open up the ‘Fill 2′ properties and change ‘Color’ to something different than the original fill of ‘Shape 1′.
You can move ‘Fill 2′ up or down in the hierarchy (click & drag) an change its ‘Opacity’ value to have it mixed with ‘Fill 1′ and ‘Stroke 1′. In
the example below we mix 52 percent blue with the original red to get some sort of purple.
To demonstrate next shape effect, we delete all previously created fills so we are left over with two freeform shapes in ‘Group 1′. Select
‘Group 1′ click on ‘Add’ > ‘Merge Path’. This adds a ‘Merge Paths 1′ to ‘Group 1′ but it looks like nothing has changed in the composition panel.
Activate the selection tool (V), select ‘Shape 1′ and move it over to ‘Shape 2′ so the two shapes overlap. Now the outline of the two shapes
merged to one combined outline. To see this effect without the blue path lines, click on the same icon as if you were showing/hiding a mask.
Open the ‘Merge Paths 1′ property an toggle through the ‘Mode’ properties to see their effect in action.
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To illustrate the next effect we will delete everything from the comp and create a new pen shape. Select ‘Shape 1′
in the timeline panel choose ‘Add’ > ‘Offset Path’ from the shape effects menu. This gives you the possibility to scale your shape up or down.
However, if you reduce the value for ‘Amount’ your shape looses the roundness. “Why not using the ‘Scale’ property instead?”
you are asking? To be honest, I still have no answer to that one…
We now delete the ‘Offset Path 1′ from ‘Shape 1′ and choose ‘Add’ > ‘Pucker & Bloat’ from the shape effect menu. As one can assume from its name,
this effect will pull the line segments either inwards or outwards. As this effect has only one property, it offers a really easy way to create
interesting shapes.
Delete ‘Shape Layer 1′ in the timeline panel and use the shape tool (Q) to add a polystar to your composition. Open the properties for ‘Shape layer 1′
in the timeline panel and with ‘Polystar 1′ selected, choose ‘Add’ > ‘Repeater’. The repeater makes copies of your shape
that can be offset, scaled and rotated as you want. Open up all properties (including ‘Transform Repeater 1′) for ‘Repeater 1′ in
the timeline panel.
We will shortly see, that the repeater is by far the most powerful shape effect. For a start, we play around with some properties to get a feel for
the repeater’s possibilities. Increase ‘Copies’ to 6 and ‘Position’ to around [500,0]. Changing the values for the
‘Position’ property increases or decreases the distance between the copies in X and Y. If needed increase or decrease the ‘Scale’ of the polystar
to match the image below.
With ‘Polystar 1′ selected add a new repeater and move it below ‘Repeater 1′ in the timeline panel.
We now change various properties and see how they effect the final result and to get a better understanding for the repeater’s possibilities.
We first increase ‘Copies’ to 30. However, this time we want the copies to offset in Y and not in X so we
change the values for ‘Position’ to [0,-60] (Remember that the top left corner of our comp is [0,0] so “up in Y” means a negative value). As a next step we change ‘Scale’ down to 90 percent. This means that every copy will
be scaled down by this factor. To make the copies fade out towards the end we change the ‘End opacity’ to 10 percent. You should now end
up with something similar to the image below.
Now we will just quickly animate this creation by going to frame 0 and setting a keyframe for ‘Offset’ with value 30.
As expected, this will offset the copies by the number specified. Move forward to frame 24 and set another keyframe
for ‘Offset’ with value -40. Move the work area end to frame 24 and hit 0 on your num pad to run a RAM preview. This effect
should now look like the one shown in the preview.
As a next example we will take again our polystar to create a cool spiral effect. Delete ‘Repeater 2′ from ‘Polystar 1′ and open up
the properties for ‘Repeater 1′. Increase the value for ‘Copies’ to 60, set ‘Anchor Point’ to [-1000, 0], ‘Position’ to [0,0], ‘Scale’ to 95 percent and
‘Rotation’ to +30 degrees. The values for anchor point give you control over the spreading of your spiral and as its name says, the ‘Rotation’
property adds rotation to all your copies. Move your shape layer with the selection tool (V) so the spiral is centered in the composition panel.
Again, we have the possibility to quickly animate this creation by setting keyframes for the ‘Offset’ property. Set a keyframe for ‘Offset’
at frame 0 with a value of 100 and move forward to frame 24. Set another keyframe with a value of -85.The final effect should now look like
the one shown in the preview.
In addition, the repeater offers the possibility to quickly create various grids. To see this feature in action we delete everything from
the comp and create a new shape using the ‘Ellipse tool’ (Q). Remember to hold down shift as you drag out
the shape to create a perfect circle. Change the ‘Fill’ to ‘None’, stroke color to white and weight to 2px.
With ‘Ellipse 1′ selected in the timeline panel, add a repeater to the shape. Open up the ‘Repeater 1′ properties and increase ‘Copies’
to around 20 and ‘Position’ to around [50,0] to match the image below.
We now add a second repeater to ‘Ellipse 1′ increase its ‘Copies’ to 14 and change its ‘Position’ value to [0, 50]. We end up with a simple
grid of circles.
To make things a little more interesting we want to add a gradient fill behind the grid that fills our circles with color. To achieve this effect,
we will choose ‘Add’ > ‘Gradient Fill’ from the shape effects menu. Make sure that the newly created ‘Gradient Fill 1′ property is placed within
‘Ellipse 1′ group and below the two repeaters. Please note that if you switch to the selection tool (V) and select ‘Gradient Fill 1′ in the
timeline panel, that the gradient handles appear in the composition panel.
Open up the properties for ‘Gradient Fill 1′ in the timeline panel and change ‘Type’ from ‘Linear’ to ‘Radial’. Also change the values for
‘Start Point’ and ‘End Point’ so the gradient is centered in your comp (Instead of changing the values in the timeline panel,
it’s probably easier to click and drag the two gradient handles directly in the composition panel as we have seen before) and adjust the ‘Colors’ as you want by clicking on ‘Edit Gradient…’.
Switch off the ‘Stroke 1′ property for ‘Ellipse 1′ to make the white circles disappear.
We now have various possibilities to animate this setup. For example a pulsating gradient can be achieved by adding a short expression
to the ‘End Point’ property or by just setting some keyframes. I can highly recommend the website of Dan Ebberts (http://motionscript.com) if you don’t feel comfortable with expressions yet. He offers a great introduction into expression on his site and explains various very
handy tips and tricks.
If you like, please check the composition called ‘Grid’ in the project file to see another animated grid with a linear gradient (Switch off ‘Gradient Fill 1′
and turn on ‘Gradient Fill 2′ in the timeline panel.
The examples we have seen here only scratch the surface of what can be created with the repeater shape effect. I recommend to play around with
various combinations of the repeater to see what can be done – there are thousands of creations waiting to be discovered.
To see the next effect in action, we once again delete everything from the comp and create a new polystar with the shape tool (Q).
Select ‘Polystar 1′ in the timeline panel and choose ‘Add’ > ‘Round Corners’. This will add a ‘Round Corners 1′ property to ‘Polystar 1′
and by increasing its only property ‘Radius’ the corners of our polystar get rounded – simple as that.
To take a closer look at the next shape effect ‘Trim Paths’ we take a little detour to see another cool function of shape layers. So let’s delete
‘Shape Layer 1′ and add some text to your comp using the text tool (CTRL + T). Feel free to use whatever text you like.
The cool thing about this is, that we can convert this text into shape layers so we are able to apply a shape effect to it. To do this select the text layer in the timeline panel
and choose ‘Layer’ > ‘Create Shapes from Text’ from the top menu. As we can see in the timeline panel, After Effects has switched off the original
text layer and added a shape layers that contains every individual letter of our text.
Select the shape layer and choose ‘Add’ > ‘Trim Paths’ from the shape effects menu. This will add a ‘Trim Paths 1′ property to the shape layer.
Trim path can be used to draw a shape’s stroke on and off and/or to wipe its fill on and off. For our example, we turn off the fill for all
text-shapes. At the same time we add a white stroke with 4px weight.
By changing the values for the ‘Start’ and ‘End’ properties of ‘Trim Paths 1′ we will now be able to animate the text stroke.
Move the time indicator to the beginning of your composition, change the value for ‘End’ to 0% and add a keyframe. Move the current
time indicator to frame 48 and add another keyframe for the ‘End’ property at 100%. If you want every individual letter to reveal after each other,
change the ‘Trim Multiple Shapes’ property from ‘Simultaneously’ to ‘Individualy’. Hit 0 on your num pad to run a RAM preview.
To make this effect look more interesting you can for example add a glow effect to the layer and maybe add a wiggle expression to
‘Opacity’ to create a flickering effect as in the composition named ‘Trim Path’ from the project file.
The same effect can be used to create an animated line growing over a map or the like. So we start with a new comp
by choosing ‘Composition’ > ‘New Composition…’ from the menu or by hitting CTRL + N.
Use the pen tool (G) to create an open path by switching off fill in the tools panel.
Drill down into ‘Shape 1′ in the timeline panel and open its ‘Stroke 1′ property. To add some dashes and gaps to the shape, click two times on the
little ‘+’ icon to the left of ‘Dashes’. This will add a ‘Dash’, ‘Gap’ and ‘Offset’ property underneath ‘Dashes’. You now can control the lengths
of the dashes and the space in between. If you need a more complex line pattern, feel free to add more dashes and gaps by clicking the ‘+’ icon
as many times as you want. And vice versa with the ‘-’ sign.
Select ‘Shape 1′ in the timeline panel and add the ‘Trim Paths’ shape effect to it. By setting keyframes for the ‘End’ property of ‘Trim Paths 1′
we can animate the dashed line as we have seen it in the example with the text shape. If you want the line to grow backwards, just click
the second little arrow icon to the right of ‘Path 1′.
For the next shape effect we will once again delete all shape layers from our comp and add a new polystar with the parametric shape tool (Q).
With ‘Polystar 1′ selected in the timeline panel click on ‘Add’ > ‘Twist’ from the shape effects menu. With only one property, this effect is
pretty straightforward to understand. Play around with the values for ‘Angle’ make the polystar twist around. Obviously the center region of
the shape is more affected by the wist as the outer regions. A fast and easy way to get interesting results is to use a repeater and to add an
expression to the ‘Angle’ property of this effect. Please check the composition called ‘Twist’ in the project file for details.
As we move to the next shape effect, delete ‘Twist 1′ under ‘Polystar 1′ and click on ‘Add’ > ‘Wiggle Path’. This shape effect is an auto
animated one. To see it in action increase the value for ‘Size’ and ‘Detail’ to around 40 and the ‘Wiggles per second’ to 8.
Press ’0′ on your num pad to run a RAM preview. This flickering star is just one short example, feel free to play around with this to see
how changes affect the shape and the animation. By increasing ‘Size’ to very high values, you can quickly achieve an animated chaos of strokes
and shapes.
Delete the ‘Wiggle Path 1′ effect from ‘Polystar 1′ in the timeline panel and choose ‘Add’ > ‘Wiggle transform’ from the shape effects menu.
Open up the properties ‘Wiggle Transform 1′ in the timeline panel. Under the ‘Transform’ property you can set the desired magnitude
for wiggling the ‘Anchor Point’, ‘Position’, ‘Scale’ and ‘Rotation’. Change some of these values and run a RAM preview to see the corresponding
result. The two last shape effects have been combined in the composition called ‘Wiggle Path & Transform’ in the project file.
And last but not least, we delete ‘Wiggle Transform 1′ from ‘Polystar 1′ and choose ‘Add’ > ‘Zig Zag’ from the shape effects menu. This effect
is once again very straightforward, it either adds a sharp or round wave path to the ‘Polystar 1′ depending on your selection for the ‘Points’
property. Play around with the values for ‘Size’ and ‘Ridges per segment’ and you will see that this is another simple and fast way to
create various nice shapes.
Just in case you catch one of these days where new ideas are rare, you can ask After Effects for a little help by doing a brainstorm
for you. To see what kind of help this function provides, you can select specific properties or just a whole shape and click on the
brainstorm icon. In the example below, I highlighted the ‘Rotation’ property of the repeater from the spiral example (Step 31) and that is
what After Effects came up with. If you like one of the suggestions, you can hover over the appropriate image and choose either ‘Save as New
Composition’ or ‘Apply to Composition’ to add the effect into your project.
And finally for the last step, here is another thing that might come in handy some day. Let’s say you want to convert a mask that you have already
created into a shape path to (for example) apply a shape effect to it, this is how it works:
Delete all layers from your comp and add a red solid to it. Use the mask tool to create a random mask.
Press F2 to deselect any layer and use the pen tool (G) to create a dummy shape layer with a few points. Select the Solid and open its Mask properties,
select its ‘Mask Path’ and choose ‘Edit’ > ‘Copy’ from the menu or press CTRL + C on your keyboard.
Drill down into ‘Shape Layer 1′ > ‘Contents’ > ‘Shape 1′ > ‘Path 1′ > ‘Path’ and with ‘Path’ selected, choose ‘Edit’ > ‘Paste’ from the menu
or press CTRL + V on the keyboard. Your mask has been converted into a shape and you now can apply all shape effects to it.
Alright, that was it so far from my side. It’s time to leave you alone in the endless universe of shape layers and effects so you can
work on your own ideas. However, I’m looking forward to seeing some fascinating creations out there…
We have another great Vector Premium tutorial available for Premium members today. If you want to learn how to create your own graphic identity, through the creation of your own geometric letters, ambigram mark, then this detailed tutorial is for you. The process involves using curves that are created by aligning a series of proportionately scaled circles. Their radii are determined by precisely angled lines and font weights are metrically specified. Simply put, nothing is left to chance!
Continue reading “Create a Rationalized, Geometric Wordmark and Ambigram – Vector Premium Tutorial”
Twice a month we revisit some of our reader favorite posts from throughout the history of Audiotuts+. This tutorial was first published in October 2008.
The wobble bass, used frequently in the Dubstep genre, is a sound that well, wobbles! It consists of a low pass filter with a LFO assigned to the cut off. That may sound extremely complicated, but in actual fact it’s quite easy to do and master. You can find examples of this technique used in Benga’s “Drums West.”
For this tutorial we will be using FL Studio 8, Sytrus VST and Cakewalk’s Z3TA+.
First we want to open Fruity Loops on a blank template. We then want to add a Sytrus to the sequencer and put it on its own mixer channel. We also want to open the preset CERBERA SAW.
Next we want to create a melody on the Sytrus channel.
Cerbera without Wobble Effect
Assign a Fruity Fast LP to one of the FX slots on the Sytrus mixer channel to set up for the wobble.
Now we must right click the cut-off knob and go to Edit events. This brings up the automation for the cut-off knob. Notice the lower the cut-off filter is the less high end we get on the sound. This is because it is filtering the high out of the sound and only leaving us with the bass.
We then need to create an LFO. To do this we either press Alt+O, or click the spanner icon and select LFO.
Value defines how high the wobble will go; it basically defines the highest point of the cut-off to apply to the wobble. Range defines how low the cut-off goes at the lowest point. Speed defines how fast the transitions between low and high on the cut-off apply.
If you right click the speed knob, a set of predefined steps come up.
If we leave the End box ticked we can set the end of the wobble to change, so that over the length of the wobble you can set it to get faster, higher and lower.
Cerbera with Wobble Effect
An alternative way of wobbling is to use a VST with a Modulation Matrix so that we can create the wobble inside of the VST. For this tutorial I’m going to be using Cakewalks Z3TA+, with the preset THUMP BASS in BANK C.
First we need to load up the VST into the sequencer. We also need to make sure it’s not on the same channel as the Sytrus.
Next we need to open the VST interface and load the preset in the top right corner.
Z3ta+ without Wobble Effect
Now we need to assign the LFO to the cut-off filter. We do this in the Modulation Matrix in the bottom left corner of Z3TA+.
In the Source column, select LFO1. In the Range column, we want the value to be quite high but not all the way to the left. We’ll leave the Curve column and the Control column blank.
Last but not least, we want to change Destination column to All Filters Cutoff.
In the top right corner of the Cakewalk Z3TA+ VST is a section called Low Frequency Oscillators. This area is where we can define how the wobble sounds.
For this tutorial I will be using a Sine for the Wave 1 value, and leaving the rest as default. As you can hear by turning on Wave 1, the wobble starts.
But what if we want to change the speed? Well, we have to change the Sync. The sync is equivalent to speed on the Sytrus LFO; the lower the number, the faster the wobble.
We can also add a second wave to the Wave 2 box to manipulate the sound even further.
Z3ta+ with Wobble Effect
The last step in the process is to add the final touches. I’ve added some drums, an arp, sirens, beat box kicks and a lead. You can check out the Fruity Loops file in the sound pack.
Final Track
Vocals are key. You can nail everything else, but without great vocals your song will lack life, interest and believability. Since 2008 we’ve been posting some great tutorials on vocals. In this post we’ve listed them all – 22 in total! Think of it as your manual for achieving the best possible vocals.
In a recent Open Mic we asked if you sing. If you haven’t had a chance yet, head over and tell us about your experiences. But even if you don’t sing, there’s something here for everyone – vocal technique and performance, how to record and produce vocals, using effects on vocals, and more. Let us know what you find most helpful in the comments.
Way before you get to performing, recording and processing vocals, you can improve your sound by using a better technique. This will take some time and effort, but will make a bigger impact on your sound than anything else on this page. Bring the best possible vocal sound you can to the recording session.
The voice is the one instrument we take with us everywhere we go – even into the shower. Yet many of us spend less time working on vocal techniques than we do learning other instruments. Whether you are a lead vocalist, background vocalist, or just record your voice for “special effects”, these videos will teach you to warm up your voice, help you achieve a better vocal sound, and also protect your voice by teaching you to sing with a proper technique.
If you ever use your own voice in your productions – either as lead or backup vocals – you’ll want to get the most you can out of your instrument. The best way to improve the pitch, diction and tone of your voice is to practice daily vocal exercises. Here are a bunch of places to get you started.
Again, it’s what you’re recording that’s more important than how you process it later. Take time to capture the best possible performance. We’re not just talking about the best technical sound – you need to inject emotion and interest into the performance as well. Here are some great tips on how to focus, be inspired, and do just that.
“It’s in the can,” “On tape” and “It’s a wrap!” You all gather in the plush leather, shag-pile comfort of the engineering room and wait as the final touches are put to the mix. Anticipation is running high, everything is technically perfect, the rhythm tracks tock to the clock of the heart with precision and feel, perfectly locking in and connecting the bottom end to the mids and linking them to the highs with emphatic punctuation into an harmonious arrangement that captures the feel and energy of live.
Singing is the first music-making experience most of us ever had. It came naturally without a single lesson probably before you even went to school. You probably started with a nursery rhyme or other well-known song, and you sang for the simple pleasure of it. And your mom probably thought you were amazing!
In this week’s Audio Premium content, Bobby Owsinski teaches you how to get the most out of a vocalist in a recording session.
To get a great vocal sound you need an amazing voice, the right microphone, and correct mic technique. Here are 10 Youtube videos that will improve your vocal microphone technique, and one that’s just for fun.
There’s a lot you can do to improve the recording process, from treating the room, using a better mic, and way you interact with your singer and software. Before you hit Record, check out these tutorials first.
Recording vocals can be one of the more challenging tracking phase processes you may run into. If it wasn’t enough of a tough cookie in the studio, you can be sure it’s a daunting task in a bedroom (or a home office or any other room you’ve set aside for recording fun that wasn’t purpose-built for it).
Recording backing vocals in stereo has been a tried and tested technique for years. Some of the greatest singers have done it – Michael Jackson, Marti Pellow (Wet Wet Wet), Mick Hucknell (Simply Red), Seal, Madonna, Christina Aguilera – and they’ve done it well. But how do you get that layered, wall-of-sound backing vocals without clouding the lead? How do you choose how many and which ones to do?
It takes a lot more than good pre-production to make vocals sound professional in a track (although it certainly helps), and there are many ways to improve your mix. In Part One of this tutorial we had a look at the pre-production as well as how to mix lead and backing vocals together effectively with the use of EQ, compression and panning. This time take it one step further and add the sheen to the sound.
In this week’s Audio Premium content, Bobby Owsinski takes us through some practical and insightful vocal recording techniques from his books.
We spend hours creating, arranging, tweaking and mixing the perfect song. We get so engrossed by all the components of a song that it’s easy to forget one major point – the vast majority of music consumers only concentrate on the vocals. As a result, us “music creators” don’t need to co-ordinate ‘good’ vocal sessions, but ‘great’ vocal sessions!
Effects play an important part in how your vocals sound, whether you’re aiming for a particular sound for your favorite genre, or trying to achieve something special or unique. These tuts are a good start to exploring vocal effects.
Ever heard a song by T-Pain on the radio and wondered how the robotic vocal effect is achieved? By the end of this tutorial, you will own the autotuning sound that is used on so many pop records right now.
Glitch processing is a popular technique in contemporary electronic music. Although this method can be used on any sound it is often most effective when applied to vocal sounds. In this tutorial, Mo Volans shows you how…??
In this tutorial we are going to explore how we can make a simple four-part vocal harmony sound like a full choir. We’re going to do so by using a freeware VST plug-in called “Clone Ensemble” and a few simple recording techniques. This effect is useful for creating an ethereal sounding backing vocal, and it’s also a lot of fun! I’m using Cubase 4, but the techniques would be the same in any audio sequencer.
Autotune is everywhere. It is found on countless albums, and with the help of iPhone apps, the rest of the world are getting in on the act as well. What is Autotune, and why is it so popular?
So maybe you’ve just been given a vocal part to remix and no matter how hard you try you just can’t get it to sit with your style of music. Maybe the progression is just too ‘light’ or perhaps you already have a piece you want to use. Whatever the reason, vocoding could really help you out in this situation.
This is the business end of the recording process. You’ve finished tracking, the singers have gone home, and it’s just you, your software, and the early hours of the morning. Here are some great tips for taking your recorded vocals to the next level.
So, you’ve recorded a vocal, and now you want to mix it and process it so it sounds great in your mix. We’re not going to look at tracking vocals in this tutorial. Instead, we’re going to focus on how to process vocals once you’ve recorded them. Depending on your room, your mic and placements, your pre-amps and inputs and, above all, your skill-level, the quality of your recorded vocal sound is going vary.
In this week’s Audio Premium content, Björgvin Benediktsson teaches you five techniques for enhancing vocals. While the screenshots for this tutorial are taken in Logic Pro, the content is not Logic-centric and is equally useful and valuable in any software that deals with sequenced music.
This is one I get asked about all the time, how do I process my voice recordings for clearer more professional podcasts and voiceovers? Well, the truth is as long as you have a microphone and a voice people can understand, any DAW should be all you need to get things to a pretty high standard.
Persuading a problematic vocal recording to play nicely with the rest of your mix can seem like a futile task. Well-recorded vocals and poorly-recorded vocals both need to be correctly prepared, and the processes we’re going through today will help you turn your untreated vocal take into a polished and commercial sound.
Feeling lazy? Can’t find the singer of your dreams? Your singing makes dogs bark and small children cry? Explore vocal samples instead. Here is a great place to start.
Vocals can add flavor and emotion to your tracks. This article lists 15 sites where you can find vocal samples and loops for free. If you don’t have your own choir or backing vocalists – or just can’t sing – this list might be just what you’re looking for.
Singing comes naturally to most of us. Even if you never intend for your vocals to be heard on the finished track, you can use your voice to experiment with different rhythmic and melodic ideas. Here’s a great tut that explores how to do that.
This article is about a quick and effective technique for capturing inspiration in a practical way that quickly translates into an actual song. This is one way to start a track with a vision you will want to finish.
These days it seems like vampires are all the rage. In books, on television, and the big screen, vampires are everywhere. Thankfully, for us, vampires are not real and for those of us who are not actors or makeup artists, turning into a vampire isn’t possible unless you have some knowledge of Photoshop. In today’s tutorial we will demonstrate how to use Photoshop to turn a lovely portrait into a dark, intimidating vampire. Let’s get started!
To start things off, open the portrait you plan to use. Make sure the Layers Panel and Adjustments Panels are open (you can open both panels from the Window menu). Then add a Levels Adjustment Layer by clicking on the levels icon (second icon from left to right on the first row) on the Adjustments Panel. As soon as you click on this icon a new layer will show above the "Background" layer on the Layers Panel and the content of the Adjustments Panel will change in order to display the Levels options. On the Adjustments Panel move the middle slider (gray slider) to the right until you reach a gamma value of 0.40.
Select the Brush Tool (B) by clicking on the Brush Tool icon on the Tool Bar or by pressing B (don’t press B twice as this will take you to the Pencil Tool, or three times as this will take you to the Color Replacement Tool), go to the Control Panel, click on the down-pointing arrow next to the sample brush tip in order to display the Brush Preset Picker. Choose a soft brush of Master Diameter 65px and Hardness 0% (if you don’t see the basic brush set go to the right-pointing arrow on the top right corner of the panel and choose Reset Brushes from the menu, then select the right brush).
Look at the values on the panel to make sure the diameter of the brush is 65px and the Hardness is 0%. Press Enter to close the panel. Press D to get the default colors on the Tool Bar and then X to invert them, now black should be your foreground color. Make sure the opacity of the brush is 100% (look the value on the Control Panel). Zoom in on the eyes. If you accidentally deselected the brush tool, press B again.
Now select the Levels Adjustment Layer Mask (white square on the right of the levels icon on the Layers Panel), you’ll see a black rectangle around it when it’s selected.
Paint with black over the eyes in order to hide the levels adjustment for that area careful not to paint over the eyelids (when you paint over the image with a layer mask selected you’re actually painting over the mask, not the image itself). Check the layer mask thumbnail, it should have the two black areas you just painted.
Double-click on the Hand Tool in order to fit the image on screen. Click on the left-pointing arrow on the bottom left corner of the Adjustments Panel in order to go back to the adjustments list. Add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer by clicking on the second icon from left to right on the second row.
A new Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer is added on the Layers Panel above the Levels Adjustment layer. Move the saturation slider to the left until you reach a value of -50.
Go back to the main view of the Adjustment Panel and add a Color Balance Adjustment Layer by clicking on the color balance icon (third icon from left to right on the second row). A new Color Balance Adjustment Layer is added on the Layers Panel above the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. Move the Yellow/Blue slider to the right until you reach a value of +35.
Alt-click on the Create New Layer icon on the bottom right corner of the Layers Panel, name the layer "Darker hair" and click OK.
The new layer should appear above the Color Balance Adjustment Layer. If it doesn’t, drag the layer to this position on the Layers Panel.
Zoom out on the image in order to see the pasteboard (grey area around the image). Select the Brush Tool (B), and then choose a soft brush of Master Diameter 600px and Hardness 0%. Press Enter to close the panel. Press D to get the default colors on the Tool Bar, black should be your foreground color now.
Paint over the hair and the neck, then change the blend mode of the layer to Soft Light by clicking on the arrows next to Normal on the upper section of the Layers Panel and choosing Soft Light from the menu.
Alt-click on the Create New Layer icon, name the layer "Iris" and click OK. Zoom in on the eyes. Click on the Foreground Color Picker on the Tool Bar in order to open the Color Picker window. Enter the following values for RGB: R=242 G=150 B=70 and click OK.
Select the Brush Tool (B) and open the Brush Preset Picker. Choose a soft brush of Master Diameter 35px and Hardness 0%. Click Enter to close the Panel.
Paint over the iris of both eyes careful not to paint over the pupil, the eyelids or the white area. Change the blend mode of the layer to Vivid Light and reduce the opacity to 70%.
Alt-click on the Create New Layer icon in order to create a new layer, name it "Iris border." Zoom on the iris of one eye. Press D to get the default colours. Select the Brush Tool (B) and open the Brush Preset Picker. Choose a soft brush of Master Diameter 9px and Hardness 0%. Press Enter to close the panel.
Paint over the border of the iris. Move the view to the other eye (you can use the Hand Tool, the Navigator Panel or the mouse wheel). Paint over the border of the iris. Then change the blend mode of the layer to Multiply and lower the opacity to 80% either by clicking on the right-pointing arrow next to 100% and moving the handle to the left until you reach 80% or by clicking on the value and typing 80.
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, select 2.0 pixels and click OK.
Zoom over the eyes. Alt-click on the icon Create New Layer, name it "Eye shadow" and click OK. Press I to get the Eyedropper Tool or select it by clicking on the Eyedropper icon on the Tool Bar. Click with the eyedropper below the eye in order to lift a brown color. Look at the colors on the Toolbar; you should see this color as your foreground color now.
Select the Brush Tool and choose a soft brush of Master Diameter 100px and Hardness 0%. Press Enter to close the panel. Paint over the eyelids and below the eyes careful not to paint over the eye.
Change the blend mode of the layer to Multiply and lower the opacity to 60%.
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, choose a Radius of 24.0 px and click OK.
Alt-click on the Create New Group icon on the bottom of the Layers Panel. Name the group "Eye adjustments" and click OK. Select the layers "Eye shadow", "Iris border" and "Iris" and drag them into the Eye adjustments group. Now the layers should appear indented. Close the group by clicking on the down-pointing arrow on the left of the group icon.
Alt-click on the Create New Layer icon, name it "Lips" and click OK. Click on the foreground color icon on the Tool Bar to open the Color Picker window. Type the following values for RGB: R=120 G=80 B=90 and click OK. Zoom in on the lips.
Select the Brush Tool, open the Brush Preset Picker and choose a soft brush of Master Diameter 45px and Harness 0%. Press Enter to close the panel. Check on the Control Panel the opacity is 100% (if it’s not 100% press one). Paint over the lips. Change the blend mode of the layer to Multiply and lower the opacity to 50%.
Alt-click on the Create New Layer icon, name it "Lips shadow" and click OK. Select the Brush Tool and paint over the bottom part of the upper lip and the upper part of the lower lip.
Change the blend mode of the layer to Multiply and lower the opacity to 70%.
Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, choose Radius 15.0 px and click OK. Double-click on the Hand Tool in order to fit the image on screen.
Add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. Grab the Target adjustment tool which is on the left of Master above the Hue bar.
Place the cursor over the blue hair, you’ll see an eyedropper, click and drag to the left, now you’ll see the saturation slider moving to the left as well, therefore reducing the saturation, keep moving to the left until you reach -80.
If this doesn’t get rid of all the blue on the hair, adjust the sliders on the color bar at the bottom of the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Panel. The two slim rectangles on each side of the dark grey area define the range of color that will get completely affected by this adjustment. The two triangles on each side, next to the light grey area define the transition area, this means the colors that will get less and less affected by the adjustment.
If there’s still blue on the hair move these sliders to extend the range of colors affected by the hue/saturation modification.
Mobiletuts+ is pleased to announce that we are now consistently publishing tutorials on mobile design! We will be publishing 2 – 3 times per week on mobile design theory and Photoshop in addition to continuing our coverage of application programming and marketing tips. In celebration of our design launch, MobileLove.org is offering a discount to all Mobiletuts+ readers on a mobile design icon set and iPhone book bundle!
This 10 part series will be a comprehensive introduction to designing for the iPhone. Author Jen Gordon will dive into what makes designing for mobile different from the web, unique hardware considerations concerning mobile devices, icon design tips, iOS design templates, and more! It will be published on a weekly basis, so be sure to subscribe via RSS or E-mail to receive updates!
This two part series will show you how to design a beautiful financial application for the iPhone. Author Callum Chapman will demonstrate each step in Photoshop, teaching you valuable skills that you can apply to your own mobile projects!
In celebration of our mobile design kickoff, MobileLove.org is offering a discount of $10 off the list price for all Mobiletuts+ readers on a great design bundle. The bundle features 196 vector icons that can be used in your mobile apps and a 56 page e-book titled How to Make Your First iPhone App. Click-through to the Mobiletuts+ post and scroll to the bottom for the discount information!
Are you a talented mobile designer interested in writing about what designing for iOS, Android, Blackberry, or WP7 has taught you? We are actively recruiting authors to contribute design content for publication with Mobiletuts+. If you have a quick tip or story to share from a recent design project or if you would like to write a step-by-step design tutorial showing how to build an app design in Photoshop, we want to hear from you!
Over the weekend TUAW is going to be featuring in-depth reviews of the new iLife ’11 suite — or at least the three apps that were updated. As most of you know by now, iWeb and iDVD didn’t receive an update at all. In light of that, we’ve compiled a list of several alternatives to iDVD and iWeb that you may want to try out. From a purely consumer standpoint, I don’t think any of these apps offer the ease of use that Apple has so successfully built into iWeb and iDVD, but given that iDVD seems all but abandoned — as should the MacBook optical drive be — and the future is uncertain for iWeb, it’s always nice to know you have some alternatives.
iDVD alternatives:
SmallDVD
SmallDVD is a simple utility that lets you take any video files and add them to a DVD image ISO which can then be burned onto a DVD using Disc Utility. SmallDVD doesn’t have many features, but it will appeal to those of you who want to create very simple DVDs with static background menus. It also has the added benefit of only creating the ISO file which can then be shared to DropBox or iDisk, and then downloaded and viewed on another computer using only the ISO — no optical drive needed. SmallDVD is a free download.
Continue reading After iLife ’11: Alternatives to iDVD and iWeb
After iLife ’11: Alternatives to iDVD and iWeb originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple has released EFI Firmware Update 1.5 for the Mac Pro. The update is recommended for all Mac Pro (Mid 2010) models and addresses an issue that prevented the firmware password prompt from being displayed as well as another issue that prevented the Boot Picker from being presented if Ethernet is connected to a network without DHCP.
The update requires Mac OS X 10.6.4 and is a 1.96MB download via Software Update. It is also available for download here. You can read Apple’s knowledge base article about the EFI firmware updates here.
Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5 released originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The guys at Boinx Software have done it again, this time with a product for the iPad. PhotoBox, a free app, is the first iPad app for the company, which is primarily known for its Boinx TV and FotoMagico applications for Mac OS X and the You Gotta See This iPhone photo collage app.
What’s PhotoBox all about? The idea is that it’s an on-site photographer’s assistant, allowing you to analyze photos that have been moved to the iPad through the Camera Connection Kit or a wireless connection. The analysis can consist of checking the exposure of a photo against defined limits, allowing digital photographers to make sure that parts of a picture aren’t over- or under-exposed. It’s also useful for checking out the focus on an image, and can even do video-out to a projector for a much larger view of the image.
Boinx is soliciting feedback as well as ideas for what the app should contain in the future. Boinx wants to turn PhotoBox into a much more complete photographer’s tool and then charge for it in the App Store.
As-is, the app has limited functionality. You can add photos to the app’s browser from the Photo Library, and then view them in full-screen and 1:1 modes to check overall composition and focus. With the exposure mask tools, underexposed portions of a photo are highlighted in blue, while overexposed bits show up in red. While that’s useful for checking exposure in the field, it’s not enough to make this an app you’d want to buy.
If you’re a professional digital photographer or dedicated amateur, download a copy of PhotoBox and give it a try, and then tell Boinx what you’d like to have added to the app. Several screen shots are available in the gallery below.
Gallery: PhotoBox for iPad
First Look: Boinx PhotoBox app for iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW is giving away a gaggle of ghoulishly good gadgets over the next few days. Be sure to come back every day between now and October 30th for a chance to win. The good part of the giveaways? You don’t need to wear a costume to win ’em.
According to the Dictionary app on my Mac, stabile is defined as “a freestanding abstract sculpture or structure, typically of wire or sheet metal, in the style of a mobile but rigid and stationary.” Stabile is also the name of a rugged and sturdy iPad stand from Thought Out.
Using what looks similar to the base from an iMac attached to a set of padded metal “fingers,” the Stabile is perfect for iPad owners who want a way to hold up their devices without wearing out their arms. I can see where the Stabile would be perfect for kiosk applications running on an iPad.
The Stabile comes in two finishes — black solid steel (US$59.99) and silver solid steel (US$69.99). These things are incredibly well built, weighing in at almost 4 pounds. The base has a set of non-slip rubber pads on it, so it’s hard to accidentally move the Stabile when an iPad installed. The center of gravity is low enough that tipping is out of the question as well.
As part of our Trick or Treat with TUAW promotion, we’re giving away a pair of Stabiles to some lucky readers. To enter, just let us know what you’d use your Stabile for — watching movies on your iPad, running a point-of-sale app on the iPad, whatever… Here are the rules:
Good luck!
Trick or Treat with TUAW: Thought Out Stabile iPad stand originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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My iMac is about three years old. I know this because my AppleCare is expiring on November 7th, and it extends the including one-year warranty by two years to give a total of three years of coverage. In short, I’m glad I’ve had it and wouldn’t consider owning a Mac without it.
In the last three years, I have had a hard drive replaced (December 2008), a logic board replaced (March 2010), and am currently scheduled to have a second hard drive replacement (late October 2010).
I’m not particularly hard on my computers. They’ve all be plugged into UPS units (I’ve had good success with APC) and treated well and fairly. Perhaps I’m just unlucky. Whatever the reason, choosing AppleCare is a simple matter of numbers: given the number of Macs that Apple sells, if even a fraction of 1% have issues over the course of three years, that’s going to be a significant number.
Others will tell you they’ve owned several Macs, without AppleCare. This is the same lot who never purchases “extended warranties,” which they consider “scams.” To them I say that AppleCare is an exception, especially since Macs are increasingly difficult or impossible to get into. Still others will say that Apple ought to include 3 years’ worth of protection with every Mac they sell. Perhaps, but the world as it exists is often disappointing compared to the world as we wish it existed.
Read on for some suggestions for getting the most out of AppleCare.
Continue reading AppleCare has paid for itself
AppleCare has paid for itself originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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More Mac 101, our series of tips and tricks for novice Mac users.
For those with modest text-editing needs, Apple’s TextEdit is a great choice. Did you know that it’s got an autocomplete option? David Mendels points out how it works at Mac OS X Hints.
As you’re typing a long word, hit the escape key. A popup window will appear with a list of guesses. Use the arrow keys to find the word you want and hit enter to select. To shorten the list, keep typing. To abandon the list entirely, hit escape again to put it away.
That’s a nice little tip! Thanks, David.
[Via Minimal Mac]
Mac 101: Autocomplete words in TextEdit originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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