When using gradient opacity masks, the mask will not go fully opaque unless the black swatch of your gradient is in RGB mode.

Default for gradients is Grayscale mode:

Illustrator Opacity Mask Gradient Grayscale

To fix this, double-click on the black swatch, then click the dropdown in the top right of the box that pops up. Change the mode to RGB.

Illustrator Opacity Mask Gradient RGB

If you’re not sure where to start with opacity masks in Illustrator, Bittbox is a great place to learn the basics.

Anyway, Gridiron Software have just released Flow, their unique, ingenious workflow/assest-management software. The video below kinda explains why you need it (and if you work with computers, you probably do need it):

I was lucky enough to be able to Beta test Flow for the past six months and it’s transformed from a really great idea to a fully-featured, didn’t-know-you-needed-it-til-you-had-it, life-saving piece of the creative toolkit.

Gridiron also make Nucleo Pro, which is essential for anyone running After Effects on a multi-core machine. It’s help us meet tight deadlines on numerous occasions and is just damn useful.

So if you make stuff on computers, go take a look. If you don’t, maybe take a look to see some of what goes on behind the scenes at Super Mega Action Plus!

The Vimeo guys have also been hard at work upgrading the ‘Channels’ section of the site, which looks great! You can see our new Vimeo channel at http://www.vimeo.com/smaptv.

To celebrate, here is a few of our recent HD videos for your enjoyment and pleasure:

Max & Beth Trailer (2008) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.

Café of Ideas – Kate Banks Trailer (2008) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.

the egg (2008) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.

the egg – Urban Hype (Preview) (2008) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.

SEA – ROADflow (2008) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.

Debs and I decided to brave the blizzards on Sunday night to go see what Central London is like in deep snow, and to get some more stills photography practice. We’re quite please with what we got! I processed all the Canon 450D RAW shots using Photoshop Camera Raw, and did a quick pass over the Powershot photos using Curves and Hue/Saturation in Photoshop CS4. I’ve posted a couple of shots below, or click here to see the full set on Flickr.

Read on for the new video…

Learn more about Brian’s protest at http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/

Back in August 2007, we found out about the Friends of the Earth ‘Green Film’ Competition, and decided to have a go at making something for it. Competition rules stated the theme had to be ‘Saving The World’ and the video had to be no longer than 1 minute. We got a bit carried away with our ambition within the time we could make available to get it done, so it ended up being archived, unfinished, and never entered into the competition…

We dug it out again recently, and decided that it makes us laugh and Si and Mike’s performances are amazing, so we should just put it out there. So, here you go!

[SMAP Experiments] Friends of the Earth (2007) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.

This was the first time we’d experimented with full CGI backgrounds… We learned to always film the smoke afterwards. Ha! It was also really good to have the 1 minute time limit to learn how to be more ruthless in the edit.

Huge thanks to Invention Studios for letting us film there, and especially Jonathan Turton-Smith for being so lovely to us.

If you have a project you’d like to discuss with us over a cup of tea and a slice of cake, get in touch. You can check out our commercial work here.

Happy christmas! xx

UPDATE: If you wanna get a flavour of the delights you’re in for, Si’s made a handy promo video to give you a taste:

Happy Christmas, You Guys! (PROMO VIDEO) from Si on Vimeo.

(via Swiss Miss)

We filmed the play as part of the egg film we made this summer, but because the show looked so great on camera (unusual for a play), we went back and filmed the whole thing another night to produce this trailer. 

The YPT are taking the show on tour next year, so if it comes near you we highly recommend you go see it!

Max & Beth Trailer (2008) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.
 
View it in HD at Vimeo.com

‘Inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the egg young people’s theatre YPT Urban Arts company presents Lowkey’s Max & Beth.

“What? Have you forgotten what the Witches said? You won’t be fully respected till that little pr*ck is dead.”

Kidulthood meets Shakespeare in this unflinching tale of teenage drug pushers and knife-crime in an adult-less world. Written entirely in modern rhyme, Max & Beth marks the emergence of a blistering new talent with this debut play from acclaimed UK rap artist LOWKEY!

First performed at the egg in July ‘08, Max & Beth will be re-touring in Summer ‘09. Watch this space!’

View the SMAP project page
Max & Beth Tour Details
Max & Beth on MySpace
Max & Beth Facebook Group

Thursday 30th October – Saturday 1st November
Thursday – Saturday 7pm & Saturday 2pm
Tickets: £8 / £6 discounts
Ages: 7 – Adult
Click to buy tickets online
Box Office 01225 823409 / 01225 448844

FREE Mentoring Course – 1st & 8th November 2008

We are now recruiting new mentors to join our mentoring project. We are looking for committed individuals to mentor black and minority ethnic young people aged 13-16 in schools. The project aims to raise the achievements, self esteem and aspirations of young people. Click here for more details (PDF).

We are offering a free two-day training course in Mentoring Skills on the following dates:
Saturday 1st & 8th November 2008
10am – 4pm at Percy Community Centre, New King Street, Bath
A free Caribbean lunch and refreshments will be provided

If you are interested in becoming a mentor and would like a place on our training or more information please call Leah on 01225 827830 or visit the website.

To see the sort of projects Black Families Education Support Group run, check out our video for the Voice Minority group, below:

Voice Minority (2008) from Super Mega Action Plus on Vimeo.