Category Archives: Tutorial

In-depth guide

Making Mobile Phone Shots More Professional Using Photoshop

KAtherine car

That Random Moment We’ve all had those random moments in life where we see a great moment at a party or walking down the street and we pull out our phone to a take a quick shot before the chance escapes us. We don’t have time to set up lighting, fix hair or position our [...]

Also posted in Adobe, Photoshop, Tips & Tricks | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Introduction to ScreenFlow: Tips, Tricks, Uses.

Hi Everyone! In this post, we’ll be introducing ScreenFlow (newly deployed in all MPS labs) as a tool to capture, edit, and finish beautiful screen captures for use in tutorials or in any other video capacities you may desire. Let’s start with the basics.

Also posted in New at the MPS, Screencast, Tips & Tricks | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How to Animate Text in After Effects

In this entry, I am going to explain how to animate text in After Effects. This can primarily be done one of three ways: using pre-made Animation Presets, focusing on the position control, or using a camera layer. I hope with this tutorial to give a brief explanation of all three and how they can [...]

Also posted in Adobe, AfterEffects, Tips & Tricks | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Time-Stretch with After Effects

Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere CS 6 both offer modern time remapping tools, but those of you still using Final Cut Pro 7 may find the included speed adjustment tool a bit lacking in quality. Users looking to slow down or speed up a clip in FCP7 will often change the speed of [...]

Also posted in Adobe, Final Cut, Premiere | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Improving so-so footage with Color Correction and Film Grain in Final Cut

In this tutorial, I will use Final Cut Pro 7 to transform footage from not so pro cameras into more professional (IE Hollywood style) movies.   Not everyone has access to one of those awesome thousand dollar video cameras, so for anyone who only has a video camera good for everyday footage, there is Final [...]

Also posted in Final Cut | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

FTP Basics

Written by Michael Kelly More and more people are wanting to create their own websites, but, unfortunately, just aren’t quite sure where to start. Places like WordPress or Tumblr will let you create something quickly, but it’s often not what people are looking for. Luckily, for anyone with a NetID, Duke provides basic but usable [...]

Also posted in HTML/CSS | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Better Contrast with Unsharp Mask in Photoshop

Written by Joel Wanek Photoshop is an amazing and sometimes overwhelming program.  There often seem to be multiple paths we can take to reach the same desired result.  No one way is right or wrong but its good to have a variety of options.  Here’s an alternative to using the Brightness/Contrast adjustment tool that will [...]

Also posted in Photoshop | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Final Cut to Color and back

Written by Austin Powers Color correction is often overlooked in the rush to finish a video project. Aside from fixing color flaws in the source footage, such as white balance mismatch between cameras, color correction can be used for artistic effect—even video from a Flip can look (somewhat) like a Hollywood movie with the right [...]

Also posted in Color | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Big Heads, Tracking Motion, and Napoleon Dynamite

Written by Tim Yoon I love watching the NBA. In addition to loving the game, I often enjoy watching the NBA promotional video series (“Where Amazing Happens” is a personal favorite). There was a particularly amusing promo series a couple years back where NBA stars had big head cutouts and looked akin to bobbleheads: Today [...]

Also posted in AfterEffects | Tagged , , , | 1 Response

InDesign: Getting Started

  Whether you want to create a text-heavy layout for a publication, or a single-page poster presentation, Adobe InDesign allows you to lay out pages in a relatively easy and aesthetically pleasing way.  This post will walk you through the basic tools you need to know to turn a simple template into a savvy, print-ready [...]

Also posted in InDesign | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
  • New MPS West Now Open!

    The new MPS in 006 Bostock is officially open! Come see us in our new location near the Link in the lower level of Bostock.

    The Old Chem branch of the Multimedia Project Studio is now permanently closed.

  • What is the MPS?

    The Multimedia Project Studios are a series of high-end computer labs located at Duke University. We feature cutting edge equipment and industry standard software and are staffed by a corps of student Multimedia Consultants who are available to help you out with your project on a one-on-one basis, but are not able to do production work on your behalf.
    MPS Lab Locations & Hours
    MPS East
    115 Lilly Library
    The MPS in Lilly is open whenever the library is open. Check their site for hours, which can change during holidays and academic breaks.

    MPS West
    006 Bostock
    The MPS in Bostock is open whenever the library is open. Check their site for hours, which can change during holidays and academic breaks.




    Staffed Hours for Both Locations

    Winter, summer, and other break hours will vary, according to student consultant availability. To check consultants' availability, view our Live Schedule.

    Sunday - Thursday: noon to midnight
    Friday: noon to six
    Be sure to check our Live Schedule to see who will be on staff and our staff page to meet our talented consultants.