• Animation Composer

  This video talks about how to download and use Animation Composer, a plug-in that can be used in Adobe After Effects. At the Corps, people who use After Effects sometimes use Animation Composer to speed up animation workflows. It can be used for text and graphics, and provides a unified look for simple transitions. While […]

• Ball State Lower Thirds

  When watching videos that include one or more interview subjects, it can be difficult to keep track of who everyone is. To make this easier, the Digital Corps follows best practices by using lower thirds to identify the subject’s name and job/student description without distracting viewers from the content they are watching. Lower Thirds and […]

• Cintiq Basics

  When you are working on a project, you may find that a laptop does not offer enough creative freedom or the precision you need to create content. A Cintiq can be a useful accessory when working on various projects at the Digital Corps that include drawing, storyboarding, animation, and logo/branding design. A Cintiq is a […]

• Client Interactions

  Working with Clients At the Digital Corps, we work with clients every day. Client interaction is a vital part of project success, and it’s essential to understand how client communication works, and how to approach it. Some general rules when dealing with clients are as follows:   Client interactions come in more specific forms as well. For instance, client communication can come […]

• Connecting an Azure Repos Account to Sourcetree

  Viewing Code Changes without Azure Access Employees simply looking to view the commit history for a project can use the Corps Dashboard’s Project Commit History feature. This method is particularly effective for JPMs who would like to stay aware of what their teammates have worked on recently. The rest of this article concerns employees who […]

• Corps Recruitment Guide

  The Corps Recruitment Guide includes detailed information about the hiring process, as well as a media kit with assets for recruitment. This manual provides a monthly breakdown of recruitment tasks, easy access to promotional materials, and important insights from past recruitment endeavors.   Recruitment Strategy  Look over the information below to see details about our overall […]

• Design, Development, and UX Collaboration

  Collaboration is essential for the Corps to provide its valued services. Developers, designers, and UX-ers must work together to ensure a project’s success and allow for effective progress. Designers Helping Developers Wireframing Creating wireframes is often the first task designers and UX-ers are assigned for most website projects. The wireframes show the skeletal structure of […]

• Earning a Software Certification

  Certifications are a great way to prove your skills in your discipline. Most students take Adobe certifications, but others are available.

• How to Create Lower Thirds in After Effects

  A lower third is the graphic that appears at the bottom of the screen to introduce information. Lower thirds are typically used to display the name and job title of the person being interviewed, but there are other uses for this type of graphic. This tutorial video explains how to make simple lower third graphics […]

• How to use the Equipment Checkout System

  What is the Equipment Checkout System? The Equipment Checkout System is a custom tracking system created by the Digital Corps that allows students to reserve video production equipment. It is integrated with Slack to notify users of changes to the equipment reservation or to remind them when equipment is due for check-in. Making a Reservation […]

• Installing and Using the Corps Printer

  The Digital Corps printer is, unfortunately, not able to be installed by default on Corps computers. To use it, students must download the printer drivers and run the setup process before the printer will be available. The printer can be installed on personal Mac laptops as well. Installation and setup on Windows computers is possible, […]

• Lip syncing for Loading Zone

  When editing an episode for the Loading Zone, you must lip sync the recorded voiceover with the mouth movements of the animated robots. This article explains the process of how to sync the recorded voiceover with the characters’ animated mouths. Making the Lips Sync with Voiceover First, open Adobe Character Animator. Then, import the files below for each character you need to […]

• Loading Zone Reusable Assets

  Using pre-existing Loading Zone assets will save you time and prevent duplicating items.  This folder keeps elements of The Loading Zone consistent and allows you to work more efficiently.  Look through the assets and download them from this OneDrive folder. Be careful not to edit, move, or delete any of the items from the folder. […]

• OneDrive File Management

  The Digital Corps uses OneDrive to organize many files in the same place, so everyone at the Corps has access to them. This video will shows how to navigate OneDrive and how the Corps organizes its files in the Digital Corps Projects folder.

• Outlook Crash Course

  Organization is key for all projects, and Digital Corps staff and students use Microsoft’s Outlook email and calendar to share information, schedule meetings, and manage work schedules.   Outlook Email To access Outlook email go to outlook.office.com or go to my.bsu.edu and click on Outlook Webmail in the top banner. The Digital Corps typically uses […]

• Prepping Design Work for Review

  As you work on a design file, it is important that you prepare your file for review. Preparation ensures your file will stay consistent throughout the design process, making it easier for you and all of the reviewers to view the same file. Not only will the exported file stay consistent, but you will be […]

• Reducing PDF Size for Design Reviews

  As a Design Team member, you will have to submit many PDFs for review. PDFs allow everyone at the Corps to easily view your work without having to worry about any changes made during the review process. However, PDFs often have very large file sizes. There are a few easy ways to reduce the file […]

• Responsive Code: Web Platforms

  Have you ever used a website on your phone’s browser, and noticed how difficult it was to navigate (as compared to on a laptop)? Situations like this highlight the importance of responsive websites. Responsive web design is a set of practices that ensure a website can adjust to various screens and render correctly on all […]

• Reviewing Design Content as a JPM

  NOTE: Riley and Josh share responsibilities on most projects. Check with your PM or staff if you aren’t sure who should review a submission. This article will cover overall considerations for the review as well as identify the most common design deliverables produced at the Digital Corps. Overall Considerations There are four main aspects of […]

• Saving Out Logos and Branding Assets for Clients

  This article explains how to export logos and branding assets for clients. When working with clients, the goal is to export many versions of the logo or assets using different file types and color modes to account for various client uses. File types to include for each asset are: Illustrator (.ai) file PDF file PNG file SVG file Create a New […]

• Submitting Work for Review

  What are Reviews? The review process is essential to the function of the Corps. The content we make needs to be reviewed and approved through multiple levels to ensure quality throughout. To begin the review process, you need to understand how to access the review function in Slack. Using the /Review Function Congrats, you’ve successfully […]

• Using the Local App for WordPress Sites

  Using “Local”(an app for managing locally installed WordPress sites) makes managing and sharing WordPress sites easy.