They’re so engrained in how I use AE now that sometimes I forget they’re even plugins.” As soon as you start using AE, you’ll run into Red Giant plugins because they’re extremely popular. “Everybody does post color correction, and among those people using After Effects, almost everyone uses Magic Bullet Looks and other Red Giant plugins. “Everything you see in 3D has been through Magic Bullet color production in After Effects,” he says. Color was important to sharpen this project’s visuals, giving it an enchanting effect that pulls the viewer into the graphical world of make-believe. For EDM artist Flying Lotus’s song “Kill Your Co-Workers,” Mike created a music video that put his best 3D skills to the test. That way, he can use color to emphasize a graphic rather than overwhelm it. It offers many different looks, and now I actually use it quite a bit in Photoshop to do post stuff on my ‘Everydays’ because it’s such a powerful and intuitive tool.”Ī simple interface in post color correction gives Mike a lot more time to work on the graphics in CINEMA 4D. “That’s one of the reasons I like it so much. “The interface is super simple,” he says. This way he can quickly scan the list and see if one of his presets would be perfect for upping the look of his graphics to the next level. He benefits from all of its options and presets, and he likes working off of them to create his own presets, which he saves for later projects. Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Looks is one of Mike’s favorite plugins to give footage that final touch it needs to be truly great. For his videos, he says that he can get 80% of the way there in CINEMA 4D, but because it is so time consuming to tweak, process the file and re-tweak, he tends to do the last 20% in After Effects using Red Giant plugins. Mike uses a number of tools to get the perfect look, and many times, working in post is his chance to let his creative juices flow. And because time is hard to come by, Mike swears by Red Giant plugins to push quality content out faster. Although he still keeps up with his personal creative work (when Mike says “everyday,” he means it), much of his time is now spent on these larger projects. When Mike started getting calls from big stars wanting customized Beeple graphics for their shows and music videos, he got to break out the big guns. The free clips are cool but we’d rather have something that’s a little more branded toward us.’ That’s how some of the bigger artists found me.”Įnter chart-topping electronic artists like Skrillex, Avicii, Taio Cruz and many, many more. “People started finding me through the internet and asking me to make customized VJ clips,” he says. If Mike had been on the map before, his VJ clips put him in Times Square. His VJ clips are short – 10 to 30-second long pieces of video that anyone can download and use for any project, commercial or non-commercial. When Mike began releasing VJ clips about five years ago, or source material in the public domain for other motion graphics designers to use, it became one of his primary projects alongside his “Everydays” and short videos. His work began to take on a unique look that caught people’s attention – and not just anyone. Learning how to use CINEMA 4D through his “Everyday” creations and short videos proved to be invaluable. His personal style led him to the abstract, weird, 3D-animation-type projects that were more computer-oriented as opposed to live action. Mike’s fascination began in college after goofing around on a couple of short films with his friends he found that he really enjoyed postproduction work. But before Mike could teach himself how to use CINEMA 4D, he first had to discover his passion for video. So good, his films have been screened at onedotzero, Prix Ars Electronica, the Sydney Biennale and other festivals. With it, Mike is able to model characters or scenes and incorporate them into short videos, a medium which he has become particularly good at. “I wanted to learn about digital photography and Adobe Illustrator, so I started doing more of that, and somewhere along the way, I taught myself how to use CINEMA 4D.”ĬINEMA 4D is a 3D modeling and animation package. “I started out doing drawings with paper and pencil, but I saw that the ‘Everydays’ were a good way to learn new skills,” Mike says. Today, Mike has over 3,000 days worth of art up on his website, not to mention a bunch of new skills on his resume. Inspired by a fellow artist in May 2007, Mike set out to create a new piece of art every day – aptly named “ Everydays” – for his website Beeple, an online wonderland filled with what he calls “art crap” (and for the record, we disagree). It’s not often that a small project can turn into a big break, but if you work on your craft everyday like graphic designer Mike Winkelmann has, you just might get to work with big name musicians like Flying Lotus, deadmau5, Tiësto and Zedd.
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