News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by thrownaway954 on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @05:39PM (#24054773)
THAT... IS... AWESOME....

dude you really out did yourself. usually i criticize people because their product homepage doesn't tell nor show anything about their product so i'm confused about what it does and how to use it.

YOU... DID.. IT... PERFECTLY

your homepage not only tells me exactly what this does, but shows me to the point where i'm excited to use it. good on you. others should learn from you.

my one thing that i noticed (and this could be a revenue generator for you) is the lack of templates currently. the more templates you have for us noob video editors, the better. not only that, but allowing the community to contribute and/or sell their template would be a HUGE win for you.

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by michaelaubry on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @05:59PM (#24054938)
This means a lot. I have spent some time getting it down. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears haha.

I agree with the templates. I am trying to allocate my time wisely and I think expanding that will be major.

I am drawing up a way to make it even easier for people to create amazing videos.

When you click "add new video" I plan to make it interactive and guide you along every step.

Your options will be

Do you want to create a video

- from scratch - from a template - for your podcast - for your product - for your brand

Based on the selection I will walk the user through an simple experience. Have them upload their assets, select a vibe, enter some information, etc. Then generate the video data and put it on the timeline.

I am doing sales, customer support, engineering, and design. So once I can get some runway I will be able to roll it out.

To be honest I hate sales and marketing. I just want to build, and if I can get to ramen profit. Then I can pay people to do what I hate.

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by ghj on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @10:20PM (#24056654)
Make it easy to create /r/highqualitygifs style memes and it will probably market itself!
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by amitheonlyone on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @04:10AM (#24058379)
So it is pretty intuitive to use. But when I tried to export, it asked for sign up. So I signed up and I was taken to the dashboard where I couldn't find the story I was working on till then. :(
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by michaelaubry on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @04:28AM (#24058491)
Interesting. I think I know why. I did a huge migration and forgot to test that step.

Thanks for reminding me. Sorry that happened. Happy to give you a month for free if you can see yourself becoming a user.

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by bigiain on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @07:58PM (#24055819)
> I agree with the templates. I am trying to allocate my time wisely and I think expanding that will be major.

Maybe worth trying out some "Create and share templates in your free plan, earn upgrades to 3 months worth of Pro plan when 5 other users create with your templates!" kind of crowd sourcing and network effect thing?

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by addandsubtract on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @05:40AM (#24058876)
Are the people creating templates interested in this product, though? If I was a creator, I'd rather want to sell a premium template and get a percentage of each sale – or if they were included for free in the premium plan, then a kickback from the premium plan sales.
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by michaelaubry on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @04:27AM (#24058477)
Love this idea.
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by eganist on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @07:04PM (#24055450)
Two questions based on that last sentence:

1. Are you going to do the sales grind until you find a CEO and sales team who can do that for you?

2. Would you be comfortable in a CTO role, letting a CEO handle the non-technical but knowing they could very well be determining what you should focus on strategically?

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by michaelaubry on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @12:53AM (#24057361)
Yes if it is needed and makes sense for the company to thrive I am not married to any set way.

I do have a vision for this product and it would have to be the right fit.

I keep an open mind though.

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by aerovistae on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @10:30PM (#24056702)
I'm curious, did you use some kind of library for the little thumbnail videos under "Try a Template" or code it yourself?
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by michaelaubry on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @12:51AM (#24057344)
So I re-used some code from inside the app.

I built the ability to grab and scroll inside the timeline. Then I converted it to a re-usable component.

I'd be open to open sourcing it.

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by Technetium on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @02:59AM (#24058007)
I eagerly await an open source release. Fantastic work!
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by murukesh_s on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @07:15AM (#24059459)
man.. huge respect. you did an amazing job here. i have build products almost on my own and know the pain. i know exactly what you mean by blood, sweat and tears :). good luck. hope it takes off well.
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by jamalx31 on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @05:43PM (#24054795)
100% his landing page feels like a breath of fresh air comparing to other landing pages mess
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by michaelaubry on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @06:22PM (#24055129)
Thank you :)
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by kreelman on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @10:58PM (#24056863)
Have to agree with above.

Had an issue with sign up via Google, but I got past that and really quickly I was able to build a video!

It's really enjoyable to use. Well done!

...You may have also picked the absolute perfect time to put a product out like this. We're all mostly stuck at home, coming up with great ideas that we want to communicate.

I hope it takes off.

Watch this space!

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by michaelaubry on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @12:56AM (#24057373)
Niceeee.

Sometimes that Google button can be a weirdo. What was the issue? Was it disabled for a moment?

There is something happening internally within the button component. I think it's looking for something inside the cookies. Not entirely sure.

Glad it worked out though.

Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by kreelman on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @01:34AM (#24057564)
A dialog came up with a 'time is passing' kind of icon. I got asked if I gave permission, I did and then it disappeared and I wasn't logged in after that. Had to go through the 'Sign Up' path. I got there, but the Google sign up would be easier I think.
Re:Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies by Moghammed on Wednesday August 05, 2020 @03:51AM (#24058269)
Yeah, I can't think of anything i'd need a video for, but still made one just to see if it works as well as the intro makes it look. And it really does work that well!

One small issue and a small feature request, tho:

- Undo of resizing images should restore it to the size that it was before you started dragging, currently it restores it to a lot of sizes during dragging.

- It would be great if you could switch between different kinds of text effects without having to remove the entire effect and re-enter your text.

[EDIT: found some more small bugs]

- Copy & paste hex colors for text doesn't work b/c it will paste the text element instead

- One time the download link for the video didn't work, it just closed the modal and i had to render it again. Worked fine the next time

All in all very well done! Will definitely be spreading the word about this one!