Tools

On the sidebar to the left are some nice resources in the form of Flash and PDF files (compressed into ZIPs), the first of many more to come.

Some aren't directly FX related yet, but the first one is a big archive of scans on various effects in the form of model sheets or animation breakdown notes from a few different feature films.

Then there's storyboard and actionsafe templates for Flash story artists & animators to use for series production work, here's the list description.

Notes on FX Design
31.5 MB PDF file containing:
Over 200 pages of various sketches, key drawings and step-by-step pointers on effects animation design and breakdowns from various artists including lots of descriptions and samples.

Storyboard Templates
ZIP file containing 11 Flash templates:
Five 8.5x11 inch page templates of both full production board panels and small-sized thumbnail panels in both horizontal and vertical formats, and in both standard NTSC aspect ratios (4:3) and High Definition (16:9).
Three 8.5x14 inch page templates of storyboard and thumbnail panels in horizontal format (in NTSC and HD).
One large format 11x17 inch thumbnail page template.
One HD format storyboard template with various panel sizes for camera moves.
One HD format storyboard made for the artist working on Cintiqs or Tablets where every panel is meant to be drawn full size on the stage and later exported as an image sequence for the editor and saved for the animators to directly use for layout and posing reference.

Field Guides
2.2 MB ZIP file containing:
Three grid templates with multiple and movable vanishing points.
One interactive Frame Jumper template for frame by frame analysis of SWF renders.
One 4x3 field guide with slate and frame counter.
Two 16x9 1280 pixel HD field guides with slate, frame counter, actionsafe / titlesafe templates with pre-comp layer setup.