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Live support
 Support Farm (415.462.1982) helps production professionals can find application professionals and the applications they are seeking advice on. Once connected, professionals can receive telephone assistance to help them complete their time-critical project. Applications supported include: After Effects, Photoshop, Commotion, Composite Wizard, Image Lounge, Knoll Light Factory, Magic Bullet, Primatte Keyer.
After Effects Forums and Lists
- The After Effects List Serv. This is the most active area beside the Adobe forum (I think at some point around 2000 the list members numbered over 10,000). The e-mail filters or the digest mode is advised. This page also sports an interface to search posts. Note: the Filter box searches by column, and the Search box by body text. For example: to search for a post by trish, click the 'From' column and type 'trish' into the filter box. To search body text, use the 'Search' box. This is one of the best ways to get information on AE, motion graphics, video, film and desktop computer graphics.
- Creative Cow, brought to you by the founders the WWUG, have several forums featuring AE and design.
- Worldwide Users Groups' AE Forum, is but one of a variety of forums and articles at the WWUG.
- postforum -- Macintosh digital video resources, includes an AE forum that works fine for PC users too. The postforum can even sends you notices of replies and digests of posts!
- MGLA Cafe "The intention of this forum is to continue the discussions that occur during MGLA meetings (as well as during the breaks). Virtually any subject in the motion graphics universe is fair game."
- dvGarage has an AE forum (look for forums on the main page).
- MoGraph, for motion graphics, is another recent entry into the AE forum world .
- AE Platter -- a Hotline server (at aeplatter.softmotion.com; this is NOT the Web) where you can download things related to AE. The only way to get an account was to send an email to rene@softmotion.com; see Softmotion.com for details.
- Shark's After Effects Yahoo Club began in October 1998. Since it is new there had been little traffic due to competition from the list and established forums.
- Internet Relay Chat After Effects Support Group there was an Irc channel created on effnet at #aftereffects. Instructions were: Get client applications for IRC: mIRC, Windows IRC; http://www.mirc.com/index.html; Ircle, Mac IRC; http://www.ircle.com/general.html; connect only to EFnet servers until you get one that connects. Once connected, join #AfterEffects (in Ircle use Commands>Join; in mIRC type in the status window). If you have problems, email Jim at phillips@ro.com.
- I'm not sure if that channel is still open, but there was another AE channel being created on IRC for Motion Graphics Designers on DALnet. The channel was called #motion.
Other AE websites
- The AEWiki is up and running. Based on and limited by MediaWiki, an open source wiki engine used to create the useful Wikipedia, it allows any user to post tips and tutorials.
- The new power of scripting in AE 6.5 is explored by AE Enhancers, a new forum for discussing and sharing AE Expressions, Scripts, and Animaion Presets, and by Dan Ebberts' MotionScript.com.
- LayerLab is an online resource for motion graphics artists that aims to deliver a new type of content, including AE Projects, Artwork, Fonts, and Stills. If you register on the site you will have access to the downloads of sample projects, guides and artwork templates. as well as any resources that you have purchased. There’s also a listing of online resources that may be useful, including After Effects Links, an After Effects Plugin Guide, and an online forum.
- AE FreeMart was integrated with ToolFarm.com. It was a site for AE users to exchange Motion Math scripts, Path Text "helpers" and tutorials often excerpted from the AE list.
- The After Effects helper database (new for AE5, thanks to Damon Ciarelli, dciarelli@curiouspictures.com) had let people submit AEPs that they think might be a good way to do a certain thing. In other words, if you make something cool or if you make a neat expression or even a plug-in, you can put it into this site and it will be there for everybody, instantly.
- ayato@web has many slick Japanese and English language tutorials. You could try Systran, Altavista, or WorldLingo Web Site Translation to translate each page into English if you feel there's something missing.. There was also a Japanese forum, and what appears to be an AE book/CD in Japanese! And there's a Russian site that translates tutorials from other sources according to AE Freemart.
- An AE information site in German is at Slashcam.com.
Conferences
- MOVE: Stories In Motion, held Friday 29–Saturday 30 April 2005 in NYC, is a design conference to explore the definition of motion graphics and expand the boundaries of storytelling. Presented by the New York Chapter of AIGA, MOVE will showcase groundbreaking work by today's leading artists, filmmakers, designers, music-video directors, VJs, musicians, and EFX wizards.
- Chris & Trish Meyer joined the third annual PROMAX/BDA Road Show. They showed tricks and techniques based around the themes of 3D, Text, and Particles using After Effects 6.5, Apple Motion, Zaxwerks ProAnimator, and plug-ins including Trapcode's Lux and Particular and Profound Effects' Useful Things. They were in Los Angeles June 30, Dallas July 8, Chicago July 12, Washington DC July 14, and Atlanta July 16, 2004. More details, including a full list of prizes and the exact locations in each city, can be found at Cybermotion.
- During July and August 2003, Trish and Chris Meyer presented a full day of After Effects training in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Orlando, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Atlanta with the Creative Explosion Tour.
- DVExpo East was held at the Javits center in New York on July 9-11, 2003. You can register for free at the www.dvexpo.com using code EX50, courtesy of the Plug-in Pavillion featuring Digital Anarchy, Automatic Duck, RE:Vision Effects, StageTools, Synthetic Aperture, Total Training, and Trapcode
- The Media Motion Ball, April 7th at the NAB 2003, saw the biggest annual event for AE-List and IMUG members from around the globe. This event, brought to you by the International Media Users Group and the AE-List, will also feature food, prizes, and the debut of the REELFEST DVD compilation.
- Creative COW West 2003 debuted February 18-20, 2003 at the Westin Hotel & Conference Center in the Los Angeles International Airport complex.
- An "Adobe After Effects Users Conference," part of The New York DV Show 2003 was scheduled for February 16-19,2003.
- DV Expo has annual conferences on both the East and West coasts that prominently feature AE. Trish and Chris Meyer have developed a special motion graphics "conference-in-a-conference" for DV Expo West, held December 9-12, 2002.
- After Effects West was announced as the first educational conference for AE (held on August 27-29, 2001).
User Groups
You can find resources for locating and maintaining user groups from Abobe User Group Relations and Apple, as well as Google, for example like this: <<atlanta "user group" "after effects">>. Creative Cow Forums also hosts user groups. MacFilmmakers, a FCP user group in Cupertino, posted a useful list of Bay Area media groups and national FCP groups. The Final Cut Pro User Group Network keeps a current FCP user group list.
The AE user group list below was cobbled together from years of AE postings and is not exhaustive or necessarily updated, but some of the sites are very useful.
- MGLA (Motion Graphics Los Angeles), is an LA user group for motion graphic artists hosted by Trish and Chris Meyer, and others. See the meeting summaries for a basic history of motion graphics on the desktop. Contact info is here.
- The New York City After Effects User Group. The first group was on hiatus, found a new host (William Drescher), and although at times in flux, it continues.
- The BMAG has been resurrected for a 3rd incarnation in San Francisco by Jim Tierney. Jim was formerly on the teams that developed FEC and Evolution, and operates the filter factory Digital Anarchy. San Francisco also had a nascent AE user group at dvGarage.
- The Seattle AE and Media 100 Group meets regularly; contact Reg Harris for more information. More specifically for AE, try Mike Lorrain, who is organizing an informal get-together for professional After Effects users.
- Motion Graphics Atlanta (MGATL), Contact: Jim Kanter at jim@d-film.com.
- The Sydney AE User Group holds meetings; e-mail John Dickinson at jhdickinson@hotmail.com (phone: 02 9332 1555 or 0411266603).
- AE users in France try to get together at times too. Contact Jean-Luc for more information.
- Mograto (MOtion GRAphics TOronto) meets bi-monthly. A professional motion graphics and compositing community formerly known as the Toronto After Effects Users' Group (TOAEUG), Mograto membership numbered 200 as of April, 2002. Subscription information and a users' gallery can be found at: http://www.mograto.com, or send a note to info@mograto.com.
- Find out about an independent user group for Media 100 and After Effects users in the Vancouver area from Dexter at kevind@aic.com.
- Join other users in the Detroit area at SEMAFX Network (Southeast Michigan Animation and Special Effects User Group). The new website is updated regularly.
- See the WMAEUG for info on the West Michigan AE Group. There's also remnants at WMAEUG Yahoo group
- The After Effects Users Group in Richmond, VA will have access to G3 Macs, Gateway NT boxes and projection. Please contact Craig Shields at craig@jazstudio.com.
- The Salt Lake City AE Users Group meets monthly. Send all transmissions to: Steve Haugen or Doug Havens.
- aeChicago is an all-volunteer group, with no membership fee; sign up on mailing list for event info. For organizational and sponsorship information, please contact Mason Dixon. A related site with good new is X-Chicago: Chicago's Art-Tech Resource.
- bigDmg, Dallas Motion Graphics embraces all aspects of moving imagery in video, film, web, and interactive media.
comments or suggestions welcome at aefilter at yahoo.com
Synesthetic Media Connections
Many thanks to the SFSU Multimedia Studies Program for hosting this site.
Copyright © Rich Young 1998-2005
rev 04/15/2005
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