Open Source Creative Suite (Part 5)

An alternative to the Adobe Creative Suite

Introduction

The Adobe Creative Suite is a Software Package used by Art Designers all over the world, but unfortunately it's not free.

In this series we will try to give an overview of the different parts of the Suite and where possible give alternative software for you to use.

This week we will be discussing:

After Effects

The post-production software that allows you to apply visual effects and animate elements to your previously edited video. It's easy to use and features many different built-in tools. On top of all the functionality, it's also possible to use plug-ins from simple color presets to advanced lighting effects. 

And as always, one of the biggest advantages of Adobe products is that it integrates with other programs like Premier Pro and Photoshop, as well as third party software. 

The alternative we would like to recommend is:

Blender

Blender was first used as an in-house tool, developed by Dutch animation studio's NeoGeo and Not A Number Technologies (NaN). After NaN went bankrupt, it was released as open source with the help of crowdfunding.

The open source project is now a free and complete package for professionals. As part of that package, it features a fully functional (non-linear) video-editor. This means it allows for adding simple effects like transitions, text and adjusting colors. 

But it's way more than that. As an alternative to After Effects, it can be used for visual effects, motion graphics and compositing. And the possibility to create animated films using 3D-modeling, animating and physics simulation opens really makes it a worthy opponent. It even features an integrated game engine, allowing you to create your own games.

Another pro from Blender is that it has a fully customizable workspace environment. Being able to choose the visible functions and more, can be used to build distinct layouts for various tasks. In combination with the hotkeys, it can greatly improve the workflow. 

Like any other program geared towards professionals, it takes some patience to figure everything out. However, once you do, the possibilities seem endless. Luckily the Blender website provides great support with manuals and tutorials to get you started on your creation. On top of that, it has a community that is always happy to help.

Download

Tutorial

Community

Open Source Creative Suite (Part 4)

An alternative to the Adobe Creative Suite

Introduction

The Adobe Creative Suite is a Software Package used by Art Designers all over the world, but unfortunately it's not free. 

In this series we will try to give an overview of the different parts of the Suite and where possible give alternative software for you to use.

This week we will be discussing:

Premiere Pro

Which is a software application designed for video-editing. Sometimes they use the term 'non-linear editing system' (NLE) to refer to these kinds of software. This is because you're not tied to a predetermined and ordered sequence, unlike 'linear video editing', which was just called 'video-editing' until the computer-based systems became available. 

Premiere was actually one of the first NLEs, released for the Mac back in 1991. Due to the competition from Final Cut Pro, made by Mac itself, Adobe chose to release the Premiere Pro version on Windows-platform as well. 

There's also an Elements version of Premiere which is geared more towards the Consumer. The Pro version is, as the name suggests, targeted at the Professional and has a lot more input and output formats, effects and features in it's arsenal.

There are several free video-editing Software applications available, but we like to recommend:

Lightworks

Although it's not really open source (see: this thread), it has a free version as well as a paid version. The Free version has a few less features and output formats compared to the Pro version. However, you probably won´t miss them unless you´re a real professional.

The only minor issue with Lightworks is that there is a pretty steep learning curve to be able to get everything out of it.

However, there are some great basic and advanced tutorials available on their website to get you started. 

Once you start to understand how it all works, you´ll probably grow to love it. The layout is customizable and in most cases you can choose multiple ways to achieve what you want. It all works really smooth, especially when trimming or cutting scenes or audio. On top of that, there are some nice transitions and effects that are easily modified, aloowing you to create the video that you want. 

Compared to Premier Pro, the only thing really missing in Lightworks is the integration of other software and plug-ins. Some special features like the ´Shake Stabilizer´ for Premiere are nice a touch, but if you want to get started or do semi-professional editing for free, Lightworks is the way to go.

Tutorials

Download

Product Review: AverMedia Live Gamer Portable

Avermedia is a Taiwanese company, founded in 1990. In the beginning they focussed on Research and Development for Digital Video Technology. After becoming a leading company in the computer market, they broadened their scope and are now devoted to improving entertainment experiences. Can the Live Gamer Portable do this as well?

Ever since I was an early teen, playing Halo 2 multiplayer with a few friends, I have dreamt of directly capturing my screen footage. Although there were options available, I didn't have the money to buy them. So all I had was my dad's camera pointed at the screen, which at least helped me analyze my game. So now about 10 years later, I decided to get one to make game video's for Majestic Entertainment. Has my dream come true?

When taking it out of the box for the first time, the first thing you'll probably notice is the abundance of cables. You won't need all of it, unless you have all consoles (except Wii) or PC. The HDMI cable might not be sufficient for everybody, since it's really short, but I think it's really nice that everything you need is included. 

The instruction booklet gives you easy instructions on how to set it all up and within 10 minutes it's good to go. It's possible to record directly to a harddrive or (to make it portable) to an SD-card. There's even a small pouch included which is great for people who are always on the move, or just a nice way to store it when not using it for a while. 

When everything is connected properly, the device will show you by displaying a blue light, if not it will flash. By pressing the big button it will start recording and display a pulsing red light. The included software allows you to setup some configurations for recording like the definition and size (mbps). The output captured by the device is exactly as expected. It does however seem to miss a frame every once in a while, but this doesn't happen very often and is hardly noticeable. 

All in all, I couldn't have wished for a better device to fulfill my long-term dream of capturing game content. For the same price, there devices that are more or less the same quality. However, some don't include all the necessary cables, which can mean you're spending more in the end. There are less expensive capture cards, but they don't have the same quality. It's up to you to decide which one will be most suitable for your needs.