Sin City Effect & Mystic Text

Since this blog started after the release of these two tutorials, I'll just combine them into one post. Feel free to leave comments on your thoughts, or any questions you may have.

Sin City
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Grant Swanson will take you step-by-step through the easiest and fastest (and extremely effective) way of creating the popular Sin City effect - colorized objects in a black and white world. You will learn basic techniques when working with color, and some useful masking/rotoscoping techniques.

Mystic Text
In this video tutorial, Creative Cow contributing editor Grant Swanson will take you through an effective way of tracking "Mystic Text" onto a wall or screen. This technique can be used in horror films, commercials, or promos. He will cover the basics of the After Effects paint tools, some basic "2.5D" motion tracking, and some simple yet effective compositing techniques.

UPDATE:
I was planning to mention this, but forgot to in the tutorial.

Another, and perhaps simpler option to recording the paint strokes, is to use the "write-on" selection for the "Duration" property in the Paint menu, rather than "Constant". This is especially useful if you have a Wacom tablet, since it will record your exact motion and timing.

The only downside is that it is difficult to edit should you make a mistake, whereas with the technique I demonstrated, you have complete control.