Due to the success of the original site, CG Swot.com has been redeveloped to meet the needs of an ever-growing, computer graphics community. With a solid focus on community, many new features have been added to the site and we hope you have a good look around and take full advantage of these great additions.

Tutorials:

01. Image Manipulation in Photoshop
Learn how to manipulate an image in Photoshop and create a unique, stylized image….
Create a Masquerade mask and decorate it using material overlayers and layer effects…
Create shadows and effects to seamlessly merge elements into the image…

02. Futuristic Sniper Scope – Part 1
Learn how to create a futuristic sniper scope using After Effects expressions and null animation…
Tie the navigation graphics into the position of the camera movement over any still image or footage…
Use adjustment layers to emulate night and thermal vision…

03. Futuristic Sniper Scope – Part 2
Learn how to create a futuristic sniper scope using After Effects expressions and null animation…
Tie the navigation graphics into the position of the camera movement over any still image or footage…
Use adjustment layers to emulate night and thermal vision…

04. Missile Trails in the Clouds
Learn how to create and animate realistic missile trails through 3D clouds using only After Effects and Particular…
Animate the position of the camera and missiles using easy expressions for random movement…
Use Trapcode Horizon to get a realistic background animation…

05. Playing with Pivot Points
Learn some fun techniques to get interesting animation by playing with the pivot points of layers and nulls objects…
Use a photo image, color correction and blurs to create a gold metal effect on a text layer…
Use Trapcode Shine to create a classic light-ray effect emanating from the text…

06. Puppet Animation in After Effects
Learn how to rig a still image using the Puppet Pin tool and animate it using only After Effects…
Start with a transparent still image, rig it for animation using after effects and animate…
Create a basic set using 3D layers and light it using AFX lighting and shadows…

07. Underwater Scene in After Effects – Part 1
Create an underwater scene from scratch using only After Effects…
Animate a swimming fish and create a school of fish using Particular…
Create floating particles and volumetric light rays based on the underwater surface animation…

08. Underwater Scene in After Effects – Part 2
Create an underwater scene from scratch using only After Effects…
Animate a swimming fish and create a school of fish using Particular…
Create floating particles and volumetric light rays based on the underwater surface animation…

12. Layer Styles Logo
Have some fun creating this simple logo using only Layer Styles and built-in effects within After Effects…
This tutorial shows some of the potential power of layer styles without having to create them in Photoshop….
Learn a quick method of creating some common metallic finishes including checker-plate…

13. Dynamic Sparkles
Create “dynamic sparkles” which adhere to the highlight features of an element…
Use fractal noise for controlling the dynamics of the sparkle element…
Give an animated sheen to an element using masks and animation…

14. Power of the RPF – Part 1
An introduction to the power of RPF and RLA files and how they can be used in post production….
Render from any 3D application and embed various channel information to be used in compositing software…
Learn how to create depth-of-field effects, without the render overheads…

15. Power of the RPF – Part 2
An introduction to the power of RPF and RLA files and how they can be used in post production….
Render from any 3D application and embed various channel information to be used in compositing software…
Learn how to create depth-of-field effects, without the render overheads…

16. Flying Gallery
Learn how to create a flying, 3D image gallery, using any collection of images you want in After Effects…
Use Trapcode Particular to drive the simulation and wind to animate the images movement…
Fade images into the space using vanishing settings and deflect the elements to avoid flying through the camera…

17. Map Morph Transition
Learn how to create, from scratch, a morphing effect from one graphic element to another using fractal-noise animation…
You will learn how to create a map grid with interactive animation…
Use brightness animation to control the fractal noise for an organic transition effect…

18. The UFO Hoax
Learn how to create a shaky, hand-held shot of a UFO sighting to fool all of your friends and workmates…
You will learn how to stabilize footage in order to accurately add digital elements and graphics for animation…
Then you will learn how to add the stabilization data back into the comp for a hand-held looking final product…

19. Bullet Riddled Text
Learn how to animate the creation of bullet holes which conform to specific shaped masks in After Effects…
You will learn how use Particular to drive the creation of the bullet holes…
Then we add some light shafts coming from the bullet holes, for some added realism…

20. Quick Tip – Fix Tiny Z-Depth Numbers
The first of many “Quick Tips” we hope to provide which will allow you to save time, effort and headaches…
If you have ever had Z-Depth channel information which just wont let you get good Depth of Field, here is the solution…
This fix allows you to correct the problem in After Effects without having to go back into 3D and re-render…

21. Running Water in After Effects
Learn how to create realistic running water in After Effects…
Use particles to drive an image map displacement effect based on a background still image…
You will learn how to use CCGlass to achieve a Specular highlight for added realism…

28. Composition is Everything – Part 1
An introduction to the power of good composition and how it applies to graphics and imagery….
Learn how to improve your composition by using the “Rule of Thirds”…
Learn how to create a handy template in After Effects to help you design stronger compositions…

29. Composition is Everything – Part 2
An introduction to the power of good composition and how it applies to graphics and imagery….
Learn how to improve your composition by using the “Rule of Thirds”…
Learn how to create a handy template in After Effects to help you design stronger compositions…

30. Day-Night Earth Globe – Part 1
Want to have a Day/Night terminator effect on an Earth sphere and use lighting to control the materials..?
Learn how to create a Falloff material in 3dS Max for a realistic Day/Night Earth globe…
Learn how to composite this effect in After Effects and how to build the scene…

31. Day-Night Earth Globe – Part 2
Want to have a Day/Night terminator effect on an Earth sphere and use lighting to control the materials..?
Learn how to create a Falloff material in 3dS Max for a realistic Day/Night Earth globe…
Learn how to composite this effect in After Effects and how to build the scene…

32. Designing and Compositing a HUD
Learn how to design and composite a combat Heads-Up-Display (HUD) with an automated tracking system using real ground targets in After Effects…
Take a pre-tracked background plate and feed various target data into the on screen graphics, based on distance to camera expressions…
Design and build various animated and static elements including random number generation and meter movement…

33. Cloudy-Moonlit Night in After Effects
Learn how to design and create this fully animated, classic, cloudy, moonlit night scene, from scratch in After Effects…
Create a cloud system using Trapcode Particular, including animation and color treatment…
Build a starfield background using “Fractal Noise” and create a moon element using the CC Sphere effect…

34. Canyon Dusk – Matte Painting in After Effects
Learn how to build this “Canyon Dusk” scene by using silhouette layer elements and effects…
Distribute the layers in 3D space and create your own unique camera animation…
Add color correction and lighting effects to create a believable sunrise scene…

36. The Classic Star Wars Crawl
Learn how to create the most recognized film opener of all time…
Use 3D camera and layer animation to recreate the Star Wars opening crawl…
Learn how to create the iconic space backdrop including the planet Tatooine, it’s two moons…

39. Aged Film Using Particles
A great way to take modern footage and turn it into vintage looking aged film, using particles…
Learn how to create film scratches, dirt and dust using Trapcode Particular, which can be saved as an importable element for future projects…
Learn how to color correct the footage for an aged, vintage film look…