Stencil Media Goes Green(er)!
Stencil media are proud to announce that our website is now Carbon Neutral! We’ve just offset our carbon usage for the website for the entire year and are delighted to display the ‘Carbon Neutral Website’ certification logo at www.stencilmedia.co.uk
Stencil Media understand the importance of minimising our Carbon Footprint. That’s why we will be offsetting all of our business-related carbon usage at the end of the year so that we will be an entirely carbon neutral organisation. Which is nice…
Why not check out our listing or find out how you can get a carbon neutral website at www.coco2.org today! With prices from between £6 and £40 depending on your hosting setup, it’s never been cheaper to do your bit.
VideoHive
If you are looking for stock footage or After Effects projects then you can do a lot worse than visiting VideoHive. Videohive are one of the cheapest suppliers I have come across with stock footage from around $7 a file and AE projects from around $14. Some are even cheaper but these are average entry prices.
Their AE project offerings are of an extremely high quality/diversity and the only downside I can see is that their stock footage library is not as extensive as some of the other sites.
If you are looking to sell your footage with VideoHive then commission rates are 40% and up with quick review times and it’s easy to join. They are comparatively stringent on the quality of submitted files.
Overall.. well worth a look.
Get in Touch
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions then why not get in touch? You can email us on info@stencilmedia.co.uk and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Alternatively, you can visit our main site at www.stencilmedia.co.uk and use the contact form there.
100 Years of Visual Effects
Nice little video here that’s been doing the rounds for the last year or so. It’s a breif overview of visual effects throughout the years. Check it out!
A little bit of info on CS5
Ok, we know it’s been out for a couple of months now, but we thought we’d give you a little bit of info on CS5 for those who are thinking of upgrading or buying it for the first time.
The latest version of the program is now 64-bit native to take advantage of the full memory of the CPU, even when users are working on high-resolution projects. This also means that you can take full advantage of your systems RAM with previous versions of AE not being able to utilise more than 4Gb
A new Roto Brush tool, which works similarly to the Quick Selection tool in Photoshop, lets you easily isolate foreground elements in complex scenes eliminating the need for tedious rotoscoping.
After Effects CS5 features native support for the new AVC-Intra 50 and AVC-Intra 100 codecs, as well as expanded native support for footage from RED cameras… which is nice.
The new version also offers an auto-keyframe mode, includes an updated version of Synthetic Aperture’s Color Finesse colour correction tool, and now includes the Digieffects FreeForm plug-in.
After Effects CS5 also includes an upgraded version of Mocha for After Effects, a planer tracking system that ships in the box, as well as the Mocha shape plug-in, which lets you use tracking data in new ways. The new Mocha release also includes the ability to apply motion tracking to hand-drawn masks.
Included for the first time in After Effects CS5 is the Mocha shape plug-in, which lets you copy and paste multiple motion-tracked masks from Mocha to any After Effects layer, while preserving all their qualities. This is useful for shots that contain camera movements or moving objects that require masking.
Will Stencil Media be updating to CS5? Not yet unfortunately! We’re still using 32 bit processors, so we’ll have to upgrade those before we do. It’s a shame as the Roto Brush would be an absolute Godsend!
Rainforest Alliance
Did you know that Stencil media are supporters of the Rainforest Alliance? Well you do now! The Rainforest Alliance work to maintain biodiversity and support sustainability which can only be a good thing in our book.
It is estimated that anywhere up to 75% of the worlds species live in the rainforests and that 13 million hectares of their natural habitat is being destroyed every year. Not to mention that deforestation accounts for between 10 and 20% of all global carbon emissions.
That’s why Stencil Media has pledged to donate 5% of all sales to their worthy cause. Not only that, but we’re working on reducing our own carbon emissions with the aim of attaining carbon neutral certification. For further information on the Rainforest Alliance and how you can help, follow the link below:
Motionographer
Motionographer is probably the leading website for all things Motion Graphics. I think there About us section sums them up perfectly:
Motionographer seeks to be a source of inspiration for filmmakers, animators and designers by sharing:
- outstanding work from studios, freelancers and students
- feature stories that give readers a closer look at influential studios and individuals
- commentary that sparks discussion or introspection about the creative process
- miscellaneous items that Motionographer contributors find interesting
Motionographer isn’t just about motion graphics. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and the Motionographer contributors hope to provide you with interesting material regardless of the medium in which it was created.
If you’re looking for advice, hints and tip or anything to do with Motion Graphics then you can do far worse than to add Motionographer to your favourites list.
VideoCopilot
If you’re interested in visual effects and motion graphics and haven’t heard of Video Copilot then I’ll assume you’ve been on a manned mission to Mars and haven’t been around for a while.
Video Copilot is a website established by Andrew Kramer that provides a whole host of vfx knowledge along with a great range of product available to buy. The website has built up quite a following over the few years it has been going, mainly due to a whole host of free tutorials and Andrew’s quirky sense of humour!
Primarily working in After Effects and the occasional 3D program, the site is ideal for beginners and pros alike; there’s even a basic training section to get you up to speed in no time. The excellent selection of products (For both vfx and motion graphics) combined with the free tutorials will ensure that your next production will look like it was shot by a pro. A professional that is.
And if you’re wondering about the quality of this guys work… Andrew did the titles for the TV series Fringe as well as for the latest Star Trek movie! Now that’s quite an impressive CV!
About Stencil Media
Stencil Media are an affordable provider of Visual Effects, Motion Graphics and Stock Footage. Established by Scott Edington in 2010, Stencil Media are based in Derby in the Midlands.
We specialise in creating high quality promo videos and adverts to help busineses and individuals effectively market their product, service, portfolio or event. Work completed by Scott prior to setting up Stencil Media included motion graphics for the NHS, Derby Conference Centre and Orchid IT, along with visual effects for a selection of short films and music videos in and around the Midlands.
Utilising a novel system of externally sourced video templates, Stencil Media are able to offer complete animated video packages from £99 including VAT!
The Stencil Media Blog was set up as a place to share all the latest news and resources relating to visual effects and motion graphics. Whether you’re just interested in ‘how it works’, are looking for some advice on creating a certain effect or are an aspiring visual effects artist yourself; we hope that this blog will be of use to you.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, or just need a bit of advice on visual effects and film making then feel free to drop us a line to info@stencilmedia.co.uk and we’ll be happy to get back to you. We might not know the answer, but we’ll try our best to find out for you!
Why not visit the website to find out more:
Welcome Aboard!
Welcome to the Stencil Media Blog, a place for anyone interested in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics. Here we will be discussing all the latest happenings in the world of Motion graphics and Visual Effects along with providing you an invaluable source of hints, tips and resources. Make sure you subscribe to our blog to keep up to date with all the latest comings and going.
Stencil Media are an affordable provider of Motion graphics, Visual Effects and Stock Footage. We specialise in creating high quality promo videos and adverts to help you effectively market your product, service, portfolio or event.
Please take the time to visit our main site to see what we are all about: www.stencilmedia.co.uk
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