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20 Brilliant TV Show Title Sequences

By Andrew Lindstrom, February 22nd, 2009 in Inspiration | 145 Comments

Since the advent (and in turn, massive success) of "TV on DVD", television programming has really upped the ante in production value. Now-a-days it seems every show is presented in glorious high definition with big name actors and well-structured story telling. But there is another significant improvement in television over the last few years that could use some recognition: the title sequence.

Long gone are the days of cheesy video montages involving "memorable" moments from seasons past, coupled with tacky music you can't get out of your head... yes I'm looking at you, Golden Girls.

Today, the credit sequences on television are so visually pleasing that even though we possess the technology to skip past them, we don't. They're that captivating. It is in recognition of these amazing television title sequences that we've compiled our favorite 20 Brilliant TV Show Title Sequences.

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50 Incredible Stop Motion Videos

By Vailancio Rodrigues, December 31st, 2008 in Inspiration | 121 Comments

Stop motion animation is one of the hottest areas of film-making today. Stop motion is an animation art through which one can spring life in inanimate things and do the unnatural. It works by shooting a single frame of an object, then moving the object slightly, and then shooting another frame. When the film runs continuously in a film projector, or other video playback system, the illusion of fluid motion is created and the objects appear to move by themselves. This is similar to the animation of cartoons, but using real objects instead of drawings.

Well, how can you make use of stop motion in web design? Some design agencies integrate stop motion in their showreels, some may use it to present a product or a service. The main advantage of the technique is that it really looks different, unusual and therefore memorable. In technical terms, stop motion consists of many forms according to techniques used to create, animate and film it - pixilation, cutout animation, time-lapse, clay animation and many more. Stop motion animation is time-consuming, repetitive process which requires patience.

Below we present over 50 amazing examples of stop motion videos, a tribute to hard work of animators, artists and creative folks.

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30 Unforgettable Movie Opening Sequences

By Andrew Lindstrom, December 19th, 2008 in Inspiration | 222 Comments

We all know that first impressions are important, right? Well, the same goes for film. The opening title sequence of a film is that film's opportunity to make a good first impression on you, the viewer. A well-crafted title sequence introduces the audience to the tone and theme of the film as well as the cast and crew.

Mind you, not all films have the luxury of a great title sequence. Some have budgetary constraints, limiting them to a simple, yet classic, white text on black background. Hey, it's a style that has served Woody Allen very well for many years. Others prefer to take the minimalist road and omit the titles altogether, taking us straight to the action.

In tribute to all of the wonderful title sequences in film, Smashing Magazine has collected 30 Unforgettable Title Sequences for your enjoyment and inspiration. We have chosen some of our favorite selections from all eras and genres. Of course, there are too many brilliant examples to list them all here. What are your favorites? What is missing in the list? Let us know in the comments!

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10 Futuristic User Interfaces

By Smashing Editorial, August 17th, 2008 in Inspiration | 187 Comments

Good user interfaces are crucial for good user experience. It doesn't matter how good a technology is — if we, designers, don't manage to make user interface as intuitive and attractive as possible, the technology will hardly reach a breakthrough. To gain the interest in a new product or technology, users need to understand its advantages or find themselves impressed or involved.

And here is where creative ideas and unusual interface approaches become important. Innovative doesn't mean usable and usable hardly means innovative. As usual, it's necessary to find an optimal trade-off. And some user interfaces manage to achieve just that.

Below we present 10 recent developments in the field of user experience design. Most techniques may seem very futuristic, but some of them are already reality. And in fact, they are extremely impressive. Keep in mind: they can become ubiquitous in the next years.

You may also want to take a look at the related posts:
- User Experience In The Future
- 15 Stunning Cutting-Edge Gadgets and Technologies
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Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials - Best Of

By Dirk Metzmacher, March 28th, 2008 in Tutorials | 174 Comments

by Dirk Metzmacher

The best thing about Photoshop video-tutorials is that they allow you to observe professionals just as if you were standing nearby and looking over their shoulders. You can see step-by-step how buttons, collages or even paintings are created. Instead of reading through books describing what needs to be selected, activated and clicked, you can simply imitate mouse clicks knowing exactly that you are actually doing the right thing.

The learning curve is easier to climb and the result is easier to compare. More than that: you can observe how it is done from the very beginning to the very end and (sometimes) you can get explained why it is done in exactly this way.

We've searched through dozens of video-sites, forums, articles, blogs, portfolios and communities. And we selected 80 excellent Adobe Photoshop video tutorials which you can use as a starting point to improve your skills or observe how professionals do their job. Among other things, below we present Photoshop video tutorials about speed painting, design of buttons and interfaces, beauty retouching, digital matte painting, photo manipulation, effects and much more.

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25 Brilliant Animated Short Movies

By Smashing Editorial, March 3rd, 2008 in Inspiration | 100 Comments

Animated short movies are excellent for tedious coffee breaks and uninspiring monday mornings. To put some beautiful story in a short 2-5 minutes sequence isn't easy, but even in this case designers and artists are quite creative and manage to come up with very surprising and unusual results. The selection below is supposed to make you cry, laugh, feel bizarre or even shocked — in every case being absolutely smashed.

Let's take a look at the collection of 25 brilliant animated short movies. Among them you'll find funny cartoons, typography-related movies as well as artistic masterpieces — hopefully everybody will find something interesting and unusual for his/her personal taste.

Please take a look at the related articles
- Funny And Creative Animated Videos with funny and touching animated videos and
- Typography in Motion showcases examples of typography embedded into movies and videos.
- 29 Brilliant Music Videos covers original and inspirational music videos,
- Graphics In Motion with beautiful examples of videos in which graphics are set in motion.
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Graphics In Motion

By Smashing Editorial, January 28th, 2008 in Graphics, Inspiration | 50 Comments

Graphics doesn't need to be static or fixed: it can float, jump, fly, dance around and transform in different forms. Once you set visual elements in motion, you can achieve stunning results which would be far too difficult to achieve otherwise. And in fact, there are a number of stunning examples of how this can be done.

In this post we present some excellent examples of videos in which graphics are set in motion. In most videos graphics dominates, but it can also support the content.

You might want to take a closer look
- at the category Monday Inspiration where we've covered some graphic motion works over the last months,
- and particularly at the article Typography in Motion which describes what effects can be achieved once the letters are set in motion.
All links lead directly to Quicktime-versions of the videos which is why you might need some traffic to load them. These pieces simply don't deserve to be watched in low-quality on YouTube.

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Funny and Creative Animated Videos

By Smashing Editorial, December 29th, 2007 in Inspiration | 37 Comments

The new year is just few days away; however, not all parties are planned, not all presents are packed and not all work is done. If you feel under the weather, bored or overwhelmed by the late shopping or working chaos, it's just the right time to take a short break and get into the right mood.

To help you to achieve just that we've collected some excellent, funny and touching animations and videos — for you, your colleagues, your friends and your family. You probably have seen some of them, but it doesn't make them less funnier. You can also click on the images — they lead to the sites from which the screenshots have been taken.

Enjoy the last days of the year 2007. Smashing 2008, folks!

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