[Jean Hauptman]

I just stay with the app that comes with OSX called Fontbook. So far it’s been
adequate. I stopped using 3rd party font apps because it’s a hassle when they don’t keep up with system updates.

Extensis makes the most universally used 3rd party font manager. It’s called FontAgent Pro.

Here are a few others that I haven’t tried:

Free: https://www.linotype.com/fontexplorerX

also Free: https://software.fonthit.com/

X-fonter from https://www.blacksunsoftware.com/

https://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptfonts.asp

Then there’s always good old Font gander.

[Jean Hauptman]

Dean,
Thanks so much – you’ve been more than generous to the AE community.
I’ve thought about teaching, but production gets so crazy that I worry about
having to bail on the kids. At some point, though, these notes could come in
very handy.

[Jean Hauptman]

“A Smile in the Mind” is a classic. It’s interesting how Paul Rand had the complete opposite approach. He advised his students to get everything worked out in their head before picking up a pen. He thought that starting to draw beforehand introduced too many possibilities, and made the process too long. Maybe the different approaches are because Bass was doing motion graphics, and Rand worked with stills.

[Jean Hauptman]

Thanks, Tim. This was all Echospace. Modes were applied on layers in the precomp, and by collapsing transformations, they interacted in the final comp. For me, this is one of the most interesting thing about the filter – that and retention of 3d. Boris Continuum has a really good Trails filter. It’s easier to get a handle on, but you miss not being able to work in after effects 3d.

[Jean Hauptman]

It takes a few tries to find someone who can give a decent back and neck massage, but a good one is worth every penny. An hour and a half is best. Also, rather than take long vacations, we go away for a couple of days once a month. We have a favorite lodge in the mountains and in winter, go to Montauk beach and zone out at a resort with a room on the dunes. They have a really cool, waterfall hot tub.
Yeah, a few slugs from the bottle at times.

[Jean Hauptman]

I picked up a good one at https://www.beautifuldecay.com/
It was their more expensive silkscreened T, and the material was very soft.

These guys had some spray painted T shirts at Semi Permanent
https://dooker.com/

[Jean Hauptman]

like the way Echospace interacts with lights and shadows. This is a background that I made in less than an hour.
https://mangoinc.com/shard3.mov

[Jean Hauptman]

Sam –
If you have depth, you can do a lot with lights and breaking
up the backround with flats on different planes. Translucent
flats can look very cool. I’m partial to metal grids used on sports
shows.

The all time best news set imho is MSNBC Countdown.
Most others range from cheesie to clinical.

[Jean Hauptman]

Frank, I’ve never used formal contracts or anything that smells like a contract because it gets the client nervous and he has to show it to his attorney for addendums, then I have to show the changes to my attorney etc.

It is important, when you work with a small company, to require 50% up front. If you don’t, you will get burned repeatedly, just as you are now. If your client is associated with a large company, you won’t need to do this.

I don’t know enough about your situation to give any advice on payment. Was the client unhappy with the work? If so, let it go. If you work i a small community, it might be better to (as much as it kills you) end on friendly terms for the sake of good word-of-mouth. And just don’t work for him again.

On the other hand, if he’s done something crooked take his butt to small claims court and do whatever you can. Small claims is almost more hassle than it’s worth, but there would at least be the gratification of making his life unpleasant for a while.

As for agreements, when I worked with small companies, I wrote down the deliverables, the amount agreed on, the turnaround time, and that all changes needed to be in writing, and any changes or additions beyond that could raise the budget. I would also give the client a specific timeframe for approval – otherwise, you’ll wait on hold for days.

[Jean Hauptman]

For fast turnaround news, you want Zaxwerks. It’s a very fast, intuitive program and it works right in After Effects. You can use after effects layers as textures on your 3d models. 90% of the 3d work that I see on demos could have easily have been done in Zaxwerks.

I also recommend that you have a dedicated 3d program around for more advanced projects.

Cinema 4d has quickly taken over the broadcast design industry. There are several reasons for this. The program is robust, intuitive, integrates with after effects, and is available for both platforms. Maya is a close second. You can much more in Maya, but isn’t so easy to master, and rendering times can be rough. Lightwave is history. Max has a loyal following. But most design shops want Cinema experience.