Hi Everyone,

I hope that you all had a great week....  I am just about set for IBC 2010 starting next week.
I think I am ready but I cant help double checking myself at every step!

Just to remind everyone of the following details so if you attend the show or watch it on-line you wont miss anything out...

We will be streaming our main theatre live during the show (10th to the 14th September) and they will also be available as on-demand at the AREA IBC 2010 web page. Click the banner above to go to the Autodesk IBC 2010 Area section.

I will also be appearing at the Final Cut User Group Network SuperMeet on the 12th September showing Smoke on Mac. This will be streamed live as well as on demand at a later stage. Click the banner above to register!

Finally, we are running SMOKE-ON-MAC hands on training sessions at the Autodesk Booth with Autodesk instructors and there is even “ASK THE EXPERT” sessions for all your operational needs. Click the banner above to register and its all FREE!!!

Autodesk Smoke for Mac OS X: Hands-on Training at IBC 2010
Daily Schedule: Friday, Sept. 10, 2010, to Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010.

Those planning to attend IBC can register for a free 45-minute Smoke for Mac OS X training session, which will be held at the Autodesk booth. These introductory sessions are ideal for digital artists and Final Cut Pro users who want to learn more about Autodesk Smoke for all-in-one editorial finishing on the Mac.
Preregistration open now: http://ibcsmokehandson.autodeskevents.net

If you are attending these events please come over and say “HI!!!!”

Back to the VLOG!

G-Masks (Garbage Masks)

This tool has many names depending on the software you are using but it is an essential tool in every post production application.

In the video blog, I am not going to teach you how to use the garbage masks as that is covered in our Smoke Essentials tutorials but there are a few tips that I want to point out which can be very useful in the everyday masking which we all love to call Rotoscoping!

Hopefully there will be a few surprises as well as some refreshes for others.

Finally I have also added a bonus tip on how to rename elements (clips in the timeline) and layers since there has been much recent talk about it online.

This presentation can be watched at full 1920x1080

The features shown are current to Smoke 2011 SP4 (mac & Linux)

I hope these tips have been very useful to you.

Just a little extra. The Q hot-key I mentioned is designed to lock the control point of the G-Mask while you adjust the tangents of the Advanced Edge Gradient. It works with the regular move mode as well as the scale tip I showed.

Next week will be focused on IBC 2010 so I’ll post some updates for the show as well as links for the streaming feeds and any other exciting news that might come my way.

I hope to see many of you at the show!!!

Thanks for the feedback and keep it coming! Take care where ever you are!

Signing off

Grant