This course is designed for Smoke users familiar with the basic operations and are looking for more intermediate and advanced knowledge of Smoke. In addition, SMK210 should also be of interest to Flame artists who have made the move to Flame 2014 and are looking to improve their editing skills in the new workflow.
This course will cover Smoke as an NLE, including project management and advanced trimming techniques. Yes, Smoke is an editor, but knowing how to use it well comes from knowing how Smoke works and customizing those hotkeys. We will also dive in to Action and ConnectFX for some compositing and motion graphics project style classes. Project style classes are a great way to highlight the workflows in Smoke as they show real-world working examples and problem solving. WTHR-TV's Brian Mulligan (@bkmeditor) and experienced fxphd Professor, and an Autodesk Elite Member, will head up this course.
Class Listing
Class 1
Smoke as an NLE Part 1: Yes, Smoke is an editor. This class will work on a :30 promo from numerous source clips and highlight some project organization inside the Media Library and begin timeline editing from scratch.
Class 2
Customizing Hotkeys: Smoke is very hotkey driven in editorial and inside ConnectFX and Action. Work fast and efficiently by knowing the shortcuts and customizing your own. Many features inside Smoke do not have keyboard shortcuts assigned, but they should. But the shortcut system in Smoke is more complex than it should be, lets simplify it.
Class 3
Smoke as an NLE Part 2: This class will explore some advanced trimming techniques as well as knowing and customizing the keyboard shortcuts to make those trims. Learn how to massage those edits in a fast and efficient manner and avoiding some of Smoke pitfalls.
Class 4
Smoke as an NLE Part 3: Timeline effects. The great thing about Smoke is the ability to design looks and effects during the editorial process. This class will explore the differences in workflows between doing a timeline effect vs. jumping straight in to ConnectFX.
Class 5
Let there be Light: Smoke has a very powerful procedural lens flare system. Smoke comes with several presets, and this class will teach you how to build your own lens flare designs and incorporate external images as texture maps. Lens flares can also be exploited for motion design and simple particle uses.
Class 6
Editing and Motion Graphics Project Part 1: This class will create a very energetic motion graphics and video project using 3D elements and Photoshop files inside Action and ConnectFX.
Class 7
Editing and Motion Graphics Project Part 2: This class continues the very energetic motion graphics and video project using 3D elements and Photoshop files inside Action and ConnectFX.
Class 8
Understanding Smoke Under the Hood. An Exploration of the /usr/discreet folder. This class will give you an in-depth look at how Smoke manages it's media and metadata. Learn how to recover a corrupted library in a step by step walk-though.
Class 9
FCPX & Premiere Pro Conform to Smoke: Even though Smoke is an editor, sometimes you might also pick up a project from other systems. This class will go over the techniques used to conform from FCPX and Premiere Pro timelines.
Class 10
Understanding the Modular Keyer: Everything is shot in green screen these days. Smoke has some of the best keyers ever designed. The Modular Keyer is powerful, yet intimidating at the start. Lets breakdown the nodes inside this keyer and find out how to blend multiple keyers together, to create that perfect comp.