Skystorm Attends After Effects World Conference

Staying current in this industry is like hitting a moving target. The bar is constantly being raised and standards are evermore improving. That’s why Skystorm sent one of its best to learn straight from the source.

In September, Wally Argueta, Skystorm’s Video & Motion Graphics Editor, attended the After Effects World Conference hosted by Adobe in their hometown of Seattle, Washington.  The four-day event immersed attendees in insiders’ techniques and ground breaking new technologies within the motion graphics industry.

“I was able to speak and interact with world class educators and creatives whose work has been in TV, commercials, and movies,” Wally says. “These are the people making the blockbuster hits actually happen. It was just amazing to network with them.”

Industry leaders and professionals came from literally around the globe to attend the conference. Australia, Denmark, France, and of course Orlando, were represented. More importantly, both the freelance and full-time sides of the industry were well represented. “This gave people the opportunity to speak on challenges they encountered and how different people solved those challenges with what resources they had access to,” continued Wally.

Program managers Rich Harrington and Eran Stern of Adobe led the conference with Adobe senior professionals Steve Forde, Todd Kopriva, and David Simons by their sides. Speakers and special guests included (but were not limited to) Angie Taylor, Brian Maffitt, Mark Christiansen, Matt Silverman, and Tim Rice – all who are widely known in the After Effects and motion graphics business as outstanding industry leaders.

The conference was broken down into four basic categories: After Effects Essentials, Motion Graphics, 3D in After Effects with C4D integration, and Visual Effects. All presentations were grouped into one of these categories for organization and more efficient absorption by attendees.

Everything from personal workflow maximization to overcoming time and budget constraints – along with the current industry trends like 3D – were heavily covered. “One thing that really stuck out to me were these amazing breakdowns of some commercial spots and how their creators built the graphics to suit the product,” Wally says. “Proper design is so critical to this industry.”

Even after the daily meetings were over, the attendees found themselves still highly engaged in discussions over dinner and drinks – even planning collaborative projects with those they had just met.

“Overall it was an incredibly inspirational event with all the users, educators, and creators being in the same room discussing what they love – motion graphics and design,” Wally says.