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I have decent Photoshop skills but I’m not an artist.  I have an understanding of After Effects but I’m not a motion graphics designer.  I know what’s involved when it comes to visual effects but I don’t have the skills to pull it off.  But that doesn’t mean these subjects don’t interest me greatly.  Thanks to Andrew Kramer’s VideoCopilot.net, I’ve created things I never knew I could pull off.

I’ve written about Video Copilot several times on this blog before.  I’m writing about the site again because there has been a ton of phenomenal content over there lately.  Let me first say that I am not an affiliate of the site.  Andrew Kramer has no idea who I am.  I’m writing this because I’d be lost in the world of After Effects without VC.

Truthfully, I really have no use for these skills at the present moment.  I just think it’s fun to mess around with motion graphics from time to time.  I’d say my skills are nicely situated on the line between beginner and advanced.  In short, I don’t suck but I’m far from impressive.  Here is my latest creation:

The effects in that video were made possible by Action Essentials 2.  A collection of pre-matted elements you can buy on Video Copilot.  Check out the trailer:

Recently they released a new plugin for After Effects called Element 3D which lets you manipulate 3D objects inside of After Effects without the use of another program.  Now…  I’ve never ventured into the 3D world of graphics but the effects you can create with the plugin are pretty fantastic.  Check out these videos:

Seem complicated?  I agree but these videos are almost immediately followed up by a tutorial like this.

And this:

A quick search on YouTube reveals thousands of videos featuring effects inspired by hundreds of Video Copilot tutorials.  Better still, check out all the amazing work people post in the Video Copilot Forums.  Basically, if you haven’t visited yet, you really should.  That’s all I’m saying.

I decided to include a couple videos I found on YouTube:

These videos are nuts!  I can’t do that…  Some day I might but currently I do not possess those skills.