Hello, Iโ€™m Desmond!

Motion Designer & Creative Technologist, NYC.

Designing and leading creative systems and workflows.

Teaching

I also create motion design tutorials on my YouTube channel, NoSleepCreative.

Yet another free preset for masking! This time, we have an elliptical mask that lets you create circle or oval masks with various controls! 00:00 - Introduction 00:20 - Why I made this 00:35 - Apply & saving the preset 01:20 - Using the preset 01:55 - Using multiple mask 03:15 - Tip: FX Console ๐Ÿ”ด Animation Preset download โ†’ https://nosleepcreative.gumroad.com/l/dqxdf Adobe Help: Effects & Animation Presets Overview https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/using/effects-animation-presets-overview.html ๐ŸŒŽ Connect with me โ†’ Website: https://duitbetter.com/ โ†’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesmonddu/ โ†’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmonddu โญ๏ธ Domestika course: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu ๐Ÿ“š Resources & Readings โ†’ Expressions library: https://docs.nosleepcreative.com/after-effects/expressions โ†’ Expressions reference: http://expressions.aenhancers.com/
Elliptical Mask ยท After Effects Free Preset
A walkthrough of a free After Effects preset I made for creating rounded rectangle mask with various controls. 00:00 - Introduction 00:30 - Why I made this 01:39 - Using the preset 03:30 - Using multiple masks ๐Ÿ”ด Animation Preset download โ†’ https://nosleepcreative.gumroad.com/l/egmjq โญShoutout to Abraham E. (https://www.instagram.com/abraham___3/) for designing and animating the new title card! ๐ŸŒŽ Follow me everywhere โ†’ Website: https://duitbetter.com/ โ†’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesmonddu/ โญ๏ธ Domestika course: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu ๐Ÿ“š Resources & Readings โ†’ Expressions library: https://docs.nosleepcreative.com/after-effects/cookbook โ†’ Expressions reference: http://expressions.aenhancers.com/
Rectangular Mask ยท After Effects Free Preset
Learn how to create a multi-line text grid in After Effects using just one text layer with the split() and for-loop statement! 00:00 - Introduction 01:30 - Using the split() 03:40 - Formatting our text 04:40 - 'Lock Anchor Point' custom preset showcase 06:20 - Using for loop 10:00 - Splitting text with commas 11:10 - Randomizing lines' position ๐Ÿค– ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ https://docs.nosleepcreative.com/after-effects/expressions/type-and-text#text-grid-multiple-line-repetition ๐ŸŒŽ ๐—™๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ โ†’ Website: https://duitbetter.com/ โ†’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesmonddu/ โ†’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmonddu โญ๏ธ Domestika course: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu ๐Ÿ“š ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ & ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ โ†’ Expressions library: docs.nosleepcreative.com/after-effects/cookbook โ†’ Expressions reference: http://expressions.aenhancers.com/
Procedural Text Grid 2: Multiple Line Repetition
In this tutorial, learn how to create a text grid in After Effects using a single text layer and the repeat() function. ๐Ÿ˜„ Quick life update: Hey everyone, you might have noticed the lack of tutorials for the two years or so- well, that's because I've been knee-deep in my MFA studies, juggling some health hurdles, and navigating through work stuff. But hey, the good news is, I've graduated, I'm feeling healthier than ever, and I'm ready to dive back into making more awesome videos! Hope you're as excited as I am for what's to come! ๐ŸŒŽ Follow me everywhere โ†’ Website: https://duitbetter.com/ โ†’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesmonddu/ โ†’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmonddu โญ๏ธ Domestika course: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu ๐Ÿ“š Resources & Readings โ†’ Expressions library: https://docs.nosleepcreative.com/after-effects/cookbook โ†’ Expressions reference: http://expressions.aenhancers.com/
Procedural Text Grid: Uniform Repetition ยท After Effects Tutorial
This is a Zoom recording of my in-person workshop on Graph Editor conducted for the SCAD MOMELove club on 9 Oct 2022. The audio may be a bit soft or noisy because there were moments when I was a little far from the camera. I adapted some materials and the Onion Skin preset from Jake In Motion tutorial on Graph Editor that came out 4 days before the workshop; very timely publishing. I recommend everyone to watch that tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pOCtlrrE3Y ๐Ÿ˜„ Blog: Currently, I am working on my MFA thesis at SCAD this Fall quarter, and I am severely swamped (mentally) with getting it completed in time within the next 6 weeks! This past year, graduate studies have gotten increasingly busier, hence I have not been publishing anything. But preparing and conducting this workshop has been so refreshing, it felt great just animating stuff, producing teaching content, and sharing it with everyone. I am so excited to get back into doing more workshops or tutorials after completing my thesis! I will graduate in March 2023, and so stay tuned for more videos in the future! โญ๏ธ Sign up for my Domestika course "Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu ๐ŸŒŽ Follow me everywhere โ†’ Website: https://duitbetter.com/ โ†’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesmonddu/ โ†’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmonddu โ™ฅ๏ธ Support NoSleepCreative by making a donation โ†’ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nosleepcreative โ†’ Taco & Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oM3Ylrf -- NoSleepCreative is a creative resource to give you the skills you need to create a killer portfolio, land your dream Motion Design jobs, and clients that you want!
Workshop: Graph Editor in After Effects
This was a title sequence for a fictional documentary show based on the book "Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet" that discussed technology, advertising, and attention as commodities. It was produced as the final project for my Domesitka course "Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design" course project to showcase the animation rigs and techniques made use of expressions and mathematical equations learnt during the course. You can sign up for the course using this link: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu Credits Design and animation by Desmond Du (https://duitbetter.com/) Assitant animator: Abraham E. (https://www.instagram.com/abraham___3/) Sound designer: Federico Franco (https://www.instagram.com/federicomarianofranco/)
Subprime title sequence - Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design Course
Hello everyone!!! I am super excited to announce my first Domestika course โ€œAdvanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Designโ€ is available for pre-order!! You can use the link below to sign up, and the full course content will be available on 17 August. โญ๏ธ Sign up for my Domestika course "Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu ๐Ÿ˜„ย Storytime: Near the end of last year, I was approached by Domestika, the biggest creative community for curated courses and short documentaries, to produce a course about my work and creative process, taking care of all the workload and cost of filming, editing, and promoting the course. Not only did they guide me through the creation of course content, but they made an offer I couldnโ€™t refuse: to invite me to their studios in Madrid, also covering the cost of traveling and stay! ๐Ÿ˜ณ How exciting is that! I was given the freedom to teach what I want, so I used this as an opportunity to teach people how to take their animation and motion design skills to the next level with Expressions in After Effects! The final project will be to use all the techniques learned to make the title sequence! Topics covered include (but not limited to): introduction to expressions, procedural design techniques such as step repetition, randomization, and compositing of the final project. If you would like to start incorporating expression to bring any creative idea to life, then this course is for you!!! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ โ€” โญ๏ธ Special thanks This was many months of work, and it was all made possible because of the support I had from the Domestika production crew: Arantxa Mandiola, Jesรบs Rodrรญguez Lluch, and Jon. Thanks to Abraham E. (https://www.instagram.com/abraham___3/) for assisting me with finishing touches to the course preview animation and Federico Franco (https://www.instagram.com/federicomarianofranco/) for coming up with the wicked music score and sound design!! ๐ŸŒŽ Follow me everywhere โ†’ Website: https://duitbetter.com/ โ†’ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesmonddu/ โ†’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmonddu โ™ฅ๏ธ Support NoSleepCreative by making a donation โ†’ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nosleepcreative โ†’ Taco & Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/oM3Ylrf -- NoSleepCreative is a creative resource to give you the skills you need to create a killer portfolio, land your dream Motion Design jobs, and clients that you want!
Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design โ€“ A Domestika course by Desmond Du
This was a presentation recording that I submitted for MFA candidacy review during Winter 2022. - Presentation made with Google Slides - Visual aid GIFs made with https://ezgif.com/video-to-gif ---- โญ๏ธ Sign up for my Domestika course "Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design " https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3818-advanced-after-effects-coding-for-motion-design/thedesmonddu ๐Ÿ’ผ Portfolio: https://duitbetter.com/ ๐Ÿ“บ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/nosleepcreative ๐Ÿ“ธ IG: https://www.instagram.com/desmondddu
Desmond Du MFA Candidacy Review Presentation