Ana Dias filmed her first YouTube video in her student room at university, introducing herself to the YouTube community with a video that combined video, graphics, and music. She’d been playing with the idea of making videos for ages, but certainly didn’t expect that her open, honest approach would result in an invitation to join the New Age Creators. Today, Ana is one of the channel’s five contributors who each post one video per week on topics ranging from music, food, and travel to the challenges of learning a new language and waking up in the morning.
The New Age Creators also had the rare opportunity to contribute to the SoulPancake channel, aligning their youthful, authentic style with the channels motto of making stuff that matters.
Photo by Alivia Latimer
Adobe: How did you get your start creating content for YouTube?
Dias: I’m from a small town in northern Portugal with 30,000 residents. I’ve always been into creativity, art, and ways to tell stories in unusual ways. After going to university in London to study communication design I started experimenting with video and realized it would be a more complete way to convey what is going on in my mind. When I found Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Illustrator CC it was what I’d been waiting for all my life. They are tools that help me turn all of the stuff that is bubbling in my brain into something that I can share.
Adobe: Did you always want to pursue a creative path?
Dias: I was very torn when it came to choosing my university courses. Coming from a small town, design, photography, and video are not things people pursue professionally so I was a bit nervous. I didn’t see it as a financially stable direction and my family thought that architecture would offer more stability. I completed the university application for architecture, but then I just couldn’t sleep. It didn’t feel right, so I went with design. It was such a relief, it fit like a glove, and I’m very happy to be doing it.
Adobe: How were you first introduced to Adobe Creative Cloud?
Dias: When I got to university I found that everyone uses Adobe Creative Cloud applications. Nothing else is as effective. I use many different apps, including Adobe Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, Photoshop CC, and Illustrator CC. Being able to drag something from one Creative Cloud app to another is such a time saver.
Adobe: How did you get connected with the New Age Creators?
Dias: Orin and Chase contacted me and invited me to join and of course I accepted. I went to London on exchange and that’s where I met the team. We are all from different places and the idea to collaborate with people who are so diverse was interesting.
Adobe: What type of content do you create and what is your process?
Dias: On a weekly basis we each create a shorter video that tackles thoughts, ideas, or questions that we hope will impact people in some way. We decide on the themes for each week in advance. Sometimes I know exactly what I’m going to do and can go straight to filming, and other times it doesn’t come as easily and I have to sit down and listen to music or watch videos that inspire me.
Adobe: When creating a video every week, how do you stay on schedule?
Dias: Each of us has our own methods. I start by getting inspired, writing things down and creating storyboards. From there I go straight into filming. I usually have two days off in my schedule and can use those days to shoot what I need and start editing. Editing and creating animations take the most time, but I try not to do really complicated animations for the weekly videos.
I draw the animations in Illustrator and drag them straight into After Effects. It saves a lot of time not having to manually export and import. In Premiere Pro I have the option of replacing Premiere Pro comps with After Effects comps. I can work in After Effects and see how the animations look in Premiere Pro in real time thanks to Dynamic Link.
Adobe: What is your favorite video that you’ve done for the New Age Creators?
Dias: One week our theme was words. I asked viewers to submit a video of their favorite word and got short clips from a lot of people. There were a lot of different words, some that I didn’t even know how to pronounce. I put them all together and created illustrations for each one. It was fun to do something as a collaboration with more people and I like the way it came out.
Adobe: Why do you like working with the New Age Creators?
Dias: If I was doing this on my own I probably would have failed, but working with four other people pushes me to carry on. I know how much the others commit to it and that makes me want to work harder. Seeing what they come up with every week is very inspiring. It’s interesting to see how another person approaches a topic. There is so much diversity and different interpretations of a theme; I don’t think we’ve ever had the same idea, and I’m curious each week to see what they make.
I’ve also enjoyed working with SoulPancake, making videos that answer different questions about growing up, our inner struggles, who we are, what we like, and how we see the world. I hope other people are able to relate to us.
Ana Dias will be presenting in the Adobe stand at IBC 2016 on Sunday, September 11th and Monday, September 12th.
Learn more about Adobe Creative Cloud