Best of Tuts+ in August
Here’s our collection of the Top 5 tutorials from each site in the Tuts+ network in August. Whether you want to design and code your first website, layer hip hop drums, design a mixed media masterpiece, illustrate a brain icon, make your own Adobe AIR application, model a lethal combat knife, take gorgeous HDR photos or create a gruesome tracked head wound in After Effects, you’ll find lessons on each – and much more – in this collection.
Hit the jump and learn to the max!
Phototuts+ – Photography Tutorials
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7 Tips for Taking Travel Photos Like a Pro
Travel photography seems so simple. What could be easier than traveling to an exotic location in a beautiful country with a camera and a handful of memory cards and taking some amazing photos? But, when you arrive at your location, you find that it’s a lot harder to take a decent travel photo than it looks. In this tutorial I’ll be sharing seven key tips for taking professional-looking travel photos you will appreciate for years to come.
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Create a Stunning High-Key Portrait Photo
Creating weaponry effectively in a next-gen workflow requires detailed knowledge of a variety of very specific skills and tools. In this four part tutorial you will learn how to create a combat knife suitable for use in next-gen games.
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How to Shoot and Post-Process Professional HDR Photos in One Day
In this tutorial you will learn the simple secrets of crafting a shoot sequence for HDR and creating professional quality HDR images in both Photomatix and Photoshop (depending on your weapon of choice). Not only will you learn an efficient workflow, but you’ll also learn the theory behind Dynamic Range. This lesson is taught by Peter Tellone, a professional photographer specializing in HDR landscapes.
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Photography Kick-start Guide: How Your Camera Works
Most photography tutorials, including most of the ones you’ll find here on the Tuts+ network of web sites, assume a certain base level of knowledge. But what if you’ve only just decided you want to make the leap into taking photos with manual settings?
In this tutorial you’ll start to begin to learn the fundamentals of photography – fundamentals that will allow you to start reading and using more advanced tutorials, and manipulating the manual settings on your camera. Here we cover exposure, how the camera works, the shutter, focus, light, depth of field and ISO.
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How to Use Flash With a Slow Shutter to Create Motion and Ghosts
Though the still photo is a beautiful thing, it does have its weaknesses – especially when it comes to portraying movement. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to faithfully capture movement by taking photos that use flash and a slow shutter speed. You’ll learn about recommended gear, how to choose appropriate subjects, setting up the shoot, dealing with lighting and choosing the best settings on your camera.
Cgtuts+ – 3D Tutorials
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Model a Photorealistic Boss Tu-2 FX Pedal in Modo
In this two-part tutorial you will learn how to model the Boss Tu-2 FX pedal using Luxology’s Modo 302. Taking advantage of Modo’s workflow enhancing toolset, the model will be highly detailed, and suitable for close up renders from any angle.
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Next-Gen Weapon Creation
Creating weaponry effectively in a next-gen workflow requires detailed knowledge of a variety of very specific skills and tools. In this four part tutorial you will learn how to create a combat knife suitable for use in next-gen games.
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How to Export 3D Camera Data from Cinema 4D Into After Effects
When it comes to motion graphics, exporting camera data from a 3D program to a 2D compositing program is one of the most important techniques you could know. In this tutorial, you will learn the basics behind getting Cinema 4D and After Effects to talk to one another, including using exporting tags, using the camera data in After Effects within 3D layers and effects, and how to set up and tweak your render for the best results.
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An Introduction to Fluid Simulations in Blender
Learning to simulate realistic fluids in any 3d app is always a challenge, but Blender’s sophisticated solver allows for some very rewarding results.
In this introduction to Blender fluid simulations, you will learn the basics of how to set up a fluid simulation in Blender with an obstacle, and a few fluid set ups to give you an idea of some of the other things that you can do with Blender fluids.
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An Introduction to 3Ds Max: Polygonal Modeling
In the first part of the series, professional video game artist, Kaleb Aylsworth, walked you through many of the key skills that you will need to get started modeling in 3ds Max. Now, in the second part, he will demonstrate how to apply the things that you have learned by using them to make a low-poly version of Guy van der Walt’s “Retro TV Set”. You can see some more examples of Guy’s work at his portfolio website, Plasticboy.
Nettuts+ – Web Development Tutorials
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8 Regular Expressions You Should Really Know
Regular expressions are a language of their own. When you learn a new programming language, they’re this little sub-language that makes no sense at first glance. Many times you have to read another tutorial, article, or book just to understand the “simple” pattern described. Today, we’ll review eight regular expressions that you should know for your next coding project.
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Design and Code Your First Website in Easy to Understand Steps
In this tutorial, we’re going to design and code our first website in simple, easy steps. This tutorial was written for the beginner with the hope that it will give you the tools to write your own standards-compliant websites! It’s a brand new week; maybe it’s time to learn a new skill!
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30+ PHP Best Practices for Beginners
PHP is the most widely-used language for programming on the web. Here are thirty best practices for beginners wanting to gain a firmer grasp of the fundamentals.
Editor’s Note: The “Best Practices” series has been my baby for three articles now. However, due to my focus on the CI video series, I’ve decided to hand off this next entry to Glen. Having said that, I’m not very good at keeping my mouth shut! I thought it might be fun to sporadically add a few rebuttals to his tips. I hope he doesn’t mind!
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6 Ways to Improve your Web Typography
Typography on the web is anything but simple, and for many, it is a troubling mystery. Today, we’re going to review six ways that web designers and developers can improve the typography of the sites they create.
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A Crash-Course in Advanced CSS3 Effects
Webkit is one of the few – if only – browser engines that really embraces advanced CSS3 effects. Unfortunately, this presents somewhat of a double-edged sword. We get to play with all of these amazing effects – such as CSS masks, reflections, transitions, animations, scaling, etc. – yet, we can’t truly implement them into our projects until more browsers provide support. With all of that said, it’s important to be on the cutting edge of what’s possible.
In today’s video tutorial, we’ll review a bunch of different neat effects that can be used in Safari 4, Chrome, and for all iPhone development
Audiotuts+ – Audio Tutorials
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How to Use Multi-band Compression in Mixing and Mastering
In some of my recent tutorials I have been breaking down the processors used in a typical mastering chain into individual subjects. So far we have looked at buss compression, M/S processing and stereo enhancement. In this tutorial we are going to look at multi-band compression.
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36 Audio Interfaces Under $1000
Most computers come with a sound card with line and mic inputs, and many people use these when starting out with audio recording. But if you are serious about the quality of your work, you should avoid them. They have inferior audio to digital converters, and often produce a good deal of noise. You need to choose a professional audio interface that allows you to plug in your mics and instruments, and connects to your computer through a USB, Firewire, PCI or PCMCIA interface.
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Advanced Drum Editing in Kontakt
I created this tutorial to serve two purposes. First off, I feel that there is a distinct lack of proper in-depth Kontakt tutorials. This tutorial teaches you everything you need to know to get started with Kontakt 3’s amazing Group editing. Second, I find that there are plenty of threads out there where someone will ask “How do I get my drums to sound like ____?” (Usually Squarepusher). I feel that group editing is the quickest, yet most hands-on way of creating incredible, glitchy beats without relying on VST effects as a crutch (and therefore avoiding sounding like anybody who else who uses Plug-in X).
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How to Configure Your Axiom Control Surface with Logic Pro 9
MIDI controllers with control surfaces are quite common and affordable these days. They can control just about any aspect of your DAW, but their strength is in allowing you to control the DAW while at the keyboard as opposed to being used for a mixing session after tracking is finished. Since the Axiom doesn’t come with any Logic presets, let’s take a look at how to configure all those buttons, faders and knobs from withing Logic.
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How to Layer Hip Hop Drums in FL Studio
Although it is often seen as a signature move of Hip Hop producers, customizing drums through layering is a technique used by artists in every genre, and it allows you to have fresh, new drum sounds that will energize your productions. Using simple tools and sounds you already have, you can expand your sound palette. In this tutorial, Sean Duncan gets us started.
Psdtuts+ – Photoshop
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Create a Mixed Media Masterpiece – Psd Plus Tutorial
If you want to take your photo hand crafted textures into Photoshop and create a high-quality mixed media illustrations, then we have an exciting tutorial for you. Learn more at the jump!
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How to Create a One-of-a-Kind Twitter Background in Photoshop
If you’re on twitter and reading this blog, chances are you’ve already customized your profile with a cool twitter background. In this tutorial, we’ll create one of our own around a central mascot: a highly detailed twitter bird, that you’ll have to draw yourself! Get ready to do much more than clicking in this artistic tutorial!
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Manipulate Smoke to Create Hyper-Real Images
Learn to apply the Warp Tool effectively and a few other tricks to make smoke look like a skull. This technique has a variety of outcomes and works well with water, clouds and a whole bunch of other stuff. This is probably more for intermediate users, as I guide you through the process well, but not every Warp Grid point handle move. Let’s get started!
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How to Create an Original Pin-Up Girl in Photoshop
In this tutorial, I will be taking you through the steps that I do when creating a cartoon pin-up. I will start off with thumbnails and continue on to the final image. Along the way, I will be sharing with you my techniques and thought process when it comes to creating an original image with Photoshop. Let’s get started!
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How to Create a Fallen Angel on Fire Photo Manipulation – Psd Plus Tutorial
If you want to take your photo manipulation work to the next level, then we have an exciting tutorial for you. We’ll work with fire and other images to create this fantasy scene. Learn more at the jump!
Vectortuts+ – Vector & Illustrator
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How to Create a Mesh Flower in Illustrator
In this tutorial, we’ll explain how to create a flower with Illustrator’s mesh tools and opacity masks. With these tools you have a high-degree of control and can create realistic looking illustrations. Let’s get started!
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Create Illustrated Type from Sketch to Vector – Vector Plus Tutorial
If you want to learn how to combine illustration and typography, then we have an awesome tutorial for you. Learn more about this tutorial at the jump!
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How to Create a Rainy Window Vector Background
Using the Symbolism Tools, plus a bit of Gradient Mesh, learn to make a realistic window covered with raindrops. This is an advanced tutorial that assumes a fair amount of Illustrator experience, but everyone should be able to follow along. It can be done with earlier versions of Illustrator, but takes full advantage of newer features in CS4. Let’s get started!
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How to Illustrate a Brain Icon for OSX and Vista
In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a cartoon style illustration of a brain, then how to convert the image for use as an icon for OSX and Vista. I’ll discuss some points about detailing for icon design as well. Let’s get started!
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How to Create a Radial Mesh in Illustrator and Make a Vector CD
Ever wonder about creating Radial Mesh in Illustrator? Yes, now you can and it will reveal more possibilities to you in Illustrator. In the first part of this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a Radial Mesh in Illustrator (without using any 3rd party plugin), and in second part we’ll create a Vector CD using that radial mesh method. So let’s do it!
Flashtuts+ – Flash, Flex & ActionScript Tutorials
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Create an Attractive Digital Clock in Flash
ActionScript 3.0 is a very powerful language, capable of creating anything from simple and light utilities to full-featured desktop applications.
In this tut, we’re going to create something simple, a basic and good looking digital clock in Flash.
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AS3 101: Arrays
In this installment of AS3 101, we’ll spend the entire tutorial exploring a single type of data available to most programming languages: the Array.
Arrays are ways to keep lists of values. Arrays are useful to keep an arbitrary number of related items grouped together, and can represent complex data structures though nesting. In ActionScript, Arrays have quite a bit of flexibility and functionality, as we’ll see. After the usual abstract introduction, we’ll apply what we’ve learned (whilst also learning some more along the way) by building a rather simple puzzle game.
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Make Your Flash Logo Bling with Alpha Gradient Masking
In this tutorial we’ll look at how to create a logo which incorporates alpha gradient masking in its animation. I’ll explain some tips and tricks on how to get it working and avoiding some common problems.
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Using AMFPHP with AS3 and CodeIgniter
It seems that the AMFPHP project has now been laid to rest, unfortunately it never made it past the 1.9 beta version and nor did the tutorials. However, Adobe didn’t give up on it that easily and with the new Flex compilers they’ve included the AMF3 object encoding!
Good news for all you Flexers, but it’s a different story for all you AS3′ers. Flex allows you to quickly and simply build a service that will interact with your AMFPHP code, but you have to get your hands dirty with AS3. So, I’ve decided that it’s time there’s a decent set of classes out there that help Bob build a site with AS3 using the AMFPHP gateway.
And to throw some more dirt into the mix, we’ll be integrating AMFPHP with CodeIgniter so that we have a fantastic PHP framework for the backend.
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Create Your Own Adobe AIR Application with Flash
In this tutorial we’ll create a Twitter Reader application, fed from your own Twitter updates. We’ll look at some of the features of the nativeWindow class, how to sign it and make an install package.
Aetuts+ – After Effects Tutorials
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How to Create a Palmticular Tree
In this tutorial, Vincent introduces a few of the new features in Particular 2 with the creation of a growing palm tree. Put on some sun screen and enjoy!
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Creating a Tracked Head Wound
In this tutorial Mathias shows that corner pin tracking can do much more than just replacing some pictures on a wall. We are going to compose a wound on a moving head and use the Mocha tracker in combination with his script MochaImport. Trust me, this is so much easier than creating a real head wound!
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Create the “My Paper Mind” Effect
This tutorial will teach you how to recreate the “My Paper Mind” effect done by Javan Ivey, but with the environment in mind, Nicolas has come up with a way to save some paper (as well as about 3 days worth of paper cuts!) It is all done in After Effects without any third party plug-ins. Enjoy!
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Recreate Mac OSX Intro Video with C4D
As the penultimate nugget of goodness in our Mac Lover’s Week, Satya created a 2 day tutorial that everybody will enjoy! In day 1, he will walk us through Cinema 4D and how to create the 3d text in this effect.
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Make a Glitchy Interface Animation
This tutorial will teach you how to recreate a stylized Glitch Interface Animation that resembles a high tech control system, with an analog monitor startup. Anthony Errisuriz provides his step by step process for creating this amazing effect with design from Illustrator and animating in After Effects.
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Love the new photo tuts site..much needed..can’t have good tutorials with photos without good photography :)
A great roundup of tutorials and a lot I haven’t had a chance to try out yet. I will have to try lots of these tutorials. Thanks for sharing.