Creative Cow Leader and Contributing Editor: Serge Hamad

Serge Hamad http://www.nyc-visual.com New York City, New York USA

When he was nineteen, Serge started working as a combat photographer and learned during this time to visualize beauty, misery, hate or compassion almost instinctively -- but also respectfully.

But he soon realized that "Sound" as a high dramatic media was missing in his messages, so Serge learned film in the mid-eighties and started his own production company in 1992. Since then, Serge and his wife, Haleh, who is an Avid editor, have been producing different kinds of features on film and video and "Ad Spots" for European TV. To supplement their income while getting started, they also went into the camera equipment rental business.

When his clients started to require graphic capabilities produced with a higher standard, Serge hired some excellent graphic artists that have since become good friends who taught him much in the world of motion graphics.

Serge Hamad has won several International Awards as a photographer and filmmaker. He gives thanks to all the wonderful teams he worked with and still works with now through his company in Germany. Serge says, "Awards are great, but in all honesty, to get the feed back from a client after the job is done thanking you for the quality of the delivered product. That makes my day!!!"

COW Master Series Titles

Zaxwerks Invigorator Training

You can find Serge Hamad hosting in Creative COW's and Zaxwerks Forum.

Articles by Serge Hamad

	Zaxwerks Advanced Control of Invigorator Pro: Part Two In this video tutorial, CreativeCOW leader, Serge Hamad in his new Invigorator-advanced-control tutorial series will show you this time how to use the Depth-Scale Parameter to create a 3D growing City-Block. Tutorial, Video Tutorial

	Zaxwerks Advanced Control of Invigorator Pro: Part One Serge Hamad in his new Invigorator-advanced-control tutorial series will show you how to use the Center of a Set to precisely animate an object. Tutorial, Video Tutorial

	Zaxwerks Controlling Zaxwerks ProAnimator Pivot-Point Controlling ProAnimator's pivot point has always been a daunting task! In this video tutorial, Creative COW leader, Serge Hamad will share with you a simple but very effective trick to gain ABSOLUTE control over the Pivot-Point and consequently greatly enhance your ProAnimator animations. Tutorial, Video Tutorial

	Zaxwerks Creative Cow Master Series: Zaxwerks Invigorator Training with Serge Hamad Need 3D modeling inside Adobe After Effects? Then you need this DVD! Creative COW Leader and Contributing Editor Serge Hamad shares his award-winning motion graphic expertise to unlock the power of the Zaxwerks Invigorator AE plug-in. Even if you've got no 3D modeling experience whatsoever, Serge will show you how easy it can be, and how great it can look. And even advanced AE and Zaxwerks users will find plenty of tips and tricks to work more effectively. Feature

	Zaxwerks Understanding Custom Edges In this tutorial, Creative Cow leader Serge Hamad demonstrates everything you need to know about creating a Custom Edge in Zaxwerks Invigorator and ProAnimator. Tutorial, Video Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Creating a 3D Filmstrip or Flowing Ribbon In this quick tutorial, Serge Hamad uses Zaxwerks Invigorator to create a 3D Filmstrip. This method is also useful for creating those flying ribbons that are so popular in the commercials now. You'll need Invigorator classic for this. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Creating the Egg: Part 5 of the Golden COW by Serge Hamad Many of you have seen Serge Hamad's various animations in the After Effects forum at CreativeCOW. In this 5-part tutorial, Serge demonstrates the steps involved in re-creating his "Golden COW." In this tutorial you will be creating the egg. This is the final step in this animation. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Building the Cage: Part 4 of the Golden COW by Serge Hamad Many of you have seen Serge Hamad's various animations in the After Effects forum at CreativeCOW. In this 5-part tutorial, Serge demonstrates the steps involved in re-creating his "Golden COW." In this tutorial you will be creating the cage around the planet. You will need 3D Stroke from Trapcode as well as Invigorator Pro or Classic for this one. Note that with Invigorator Classic you won't be able to open the provided AEP though. The emphasis in this tutorial is on the use of the transparency mapping technique. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Creating Shockwaves: Part Three of the Golden COW by Serge Hamad Many of you have seen Serge Hamad's various animations in the After Effects forum at CreativeCOW. In this 5-part tutorial, Serge demonstrates the steps involved in re-creating his "Golden COW." In part two, we create the Aura and the Planet. You'll need Image Lounge and Knoll's Light Factory from Red Giant Software and Zaxwerk's Invigorator. If you don't have these plug-ins, download the demos to follow along. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Creating Planets & Auras: Part Two of the Golden COW by Serge Hamad Many of you have seen Serge Hamads various animations in the After Effects forum at CreativeCOW. In this 5-part tutorial, Serge demonstrates the steps involved in re-creating his Golden COW. In part two, we create the Aura and the Planet. Youll need Image Lounge and Knolls Light Factory from Red Giant Software and Zaxwerks Invigorator. If you dont have these plug-ins, download the demos to follow along. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Creating a Nebula: Part One of the Golden COW by Serge Hamad Many of you have seen Serge Hamad's various animations in the After Effects forum at CreativeCOW. In this 5-part tutorial, Serge demonstrates the steps invoved in re-creating his "Golden COW." In part one, we create the nebula. You'll need Image Lounge from Red Giant Software. If you don't have it, download the demo. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Layer Mapping in Invigorator Serge Hamad demonstrates the technique of layer mapping in Zaxwerks Invigorator. This tutorial assumes that you have some previous exposure to the plug-in. If you don't have the plug-in, download the demo so that you can follow along. Serge uses the Pro Version, but you can accomplish the technique with the Classic Version as well. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Animating with the Parenting Features in AE 5.5 An easy way to make any number of layers follow the movements of a single layer is to use the Parenting feature in After Effects 5.5. In this article, Serge Hamad demonstrates the power of parenting in some of the different situations you may encounter in your production studio instead of the usual robotic animation exercises that you may have seen elsewhere. Tutorial

	Adobe After Effects Using Post Render Actions to Pre-render elements and create proxies in AE 5.5 One of the best ways of speeding your work in AE is to use low- resolutions proxies to substitute your original footage. This will increase the speed while previewing or rendering your work tremendously, especially if you are working with 3D. A proxy can be a lower resolution still or movie and you can replace it by the original footage at any time just by clicking on the respective proxy button on your footage window. In this article, Serge Hamad explains the procedure while creating a 3d ride through a corridor. Tutorial

	Zaxwerks Creating Lord of the COW Ring with Zaxwerk's Invigorator Serge Hamad uses Zaxwerks Invigorator to create 'Lord of the COW Ring' in response to a question in the Zaxwerks COW. Everyone wanted to know how to recreate the ring in that much talked about movie, 'Lord of the Ring. Tutorial