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Tip #1618: Game Design: “Galaxy’s Edge”

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1618: Game Design: “Galaxy’s Edge”

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Authenticity, movement and image quality were the driving forces of design.

Image courtesy of Lucasfilm and ILMxLAB.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Chris McGowan, first appeared in VFXVoice.com. This is a summary.

Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge was produced by ILMxLAB in collaboration with Oculus Studios and launched last November on the Oculus Quest VR platform.

The primary narrative features new and iconic Star Wars characters and is connected to the Black Spire Outpost, a prominent locale in the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands of Disneyland and Disney World. As the player, you are a droid repair technician whose ship is boarded by Guavian Death Gang pirates and their leader Tara Rashin (Debra Wilson). To save your skin, you must jettison a mysterious cargo and flee in an escape pod to Batuu.

It was a challenge making Tales and moving the story forward while “giving the player more agency,” notes Jennifer Cha, Lead Animator.

Maintaining high-quality animation was another challenge. The volume of work increased for several reasons, including branching animations and AI trees, as well as longer shots and the resulting heavy animation files, according to Kishore Vijay, Lead Animator. “We don’t really have cuts,” he says. “The characters cannot really go off frame easily, so everything has to be animated to work from different viewpoints and distances. There are also technical considerations for interactivity and blending for branching cinematics and AI animation that the animators have to be cognizant of.”

The article provides an in-depth look at the design of the visual look of the game, as well as a number of production stills.

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Tip #1619: ActionVFX: Crowd Stock Footage for COVID Times

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1619: ActionVFX: Crowd Stock Footage for COVID Times

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Crowds for sports and concerts – ready for VFX integration.

Image courtesy of ActionVFX.com.

Topic $TipTopic

ActionVFX just introduced the first two VFX collections in the new Crowd category: Sports Crowds and Concert Crowds. Industry productions will no longer need to film individuals on green screens while bringing hundreds of other extras to create a massive crowd. We’ve done the work for you. This creates a safe environment for your set and crew as we navigate an uncertain world rattled by a pandemic.

Both Crowd products will have 330 clips, our biggest collections to arrive on our website. The vast amount of clips will allow easy replication of crowds with different variations, crowd reactions, and talent. The collections also come with 15 different angles, giving artists unlimited amounts of creativity to implement digital crowds into any scene, no matter the perspective.

The variations in the clips include:

  • People with different skin tones, body types, ages, and heights.
  • Each person performs different actions that you would see at a sporting event.
  • There are sitting and standing versions of each person so they can be used in a variety of different settings.
  • The clothing being worn is different throughout the collection.
  • All clothing was chosen specifically so that the people could be duplicated without any one person standing out.

Here’s a blog post with more details.

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Tip #1602: Animation Fundamentals

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1602: Animation Fundamentals

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Animation is all about getting the details right. These are the details.

Image courtesy of Disney Books.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by John Rodriguez, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

Implementing the fundamentals of animation is no easy task. Here’s a quick guide to understanding and applying the basics in animation.

Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas put together twelve animation fundamentals in their book The Illusion of Life. When I first studied these fundamentals, I realized that there were so many details in life I never saw. Since we’re so familiar with all the motion in our day-to-day lives, we become blind to the details.

  • Easing. Nothing moves in a linear fashion. As an object moves, it accelerates and decelerates, also called easing. In animation, you’ll have more frames of an object condensed in a smaller area at the beginning and end of the movement.
  • Anticipation. Anticipation is basically the action before the main action. You can see an example of anticipation in Pixar Studio’s opening animation. When the lamp shrinks down to get ready to jump on the letter, that hesitation is anticipation. Without the buildup of energy, the proceeding motion wouldn’t feel natural or believable. Anticipation is definitely one of the hardest fundamentals to get right.
  • Follow-Through. Follow-through and anticipation are sort of the same thing, but on opposite ends of the action. Inertia is introduced with follow-through. Follow-through helps your object obey the laws of physics. The object can bend, stretch, and jiggle to indicate this motion. You can use this to help give hints at what material your object is made of.

One thing people don’t keep in mind is that these fundamentals apply to all motion media. From 3D to cell animation, think of the twelve fundamentals of animation as the bible for motion design.

EXTRA CREDIT

The link above includes a video where the Disney authors outline all 12 principles of animation. It is well worth watching.

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Tip #1603: 6 Tips for a Successful Grass Roots Release

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1603: 6 Tips for a Successful Grass Roots Release

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The key is to start marketing early – and to your most invested base.

Image courtesy of No Small Matter.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Laura Wilson Fallsgraff and Jon Reiss , first appeared in Filmmaker Magazine.com. This is a summary.

The past year has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at filmmakers, disrupting distribution timelines, cutting the legs out from under theaters, and depriving our community of opportunities for networking, sales, and press. But there have also been bright spots. While contending with major disappointments this year, many filmmakers have successfully pivoted to unique and impactful releases — models that are worth learning from and iterating on in the years ahead.

Following its completion in 2018, our own feature documentary No Small Matter had run into the familiar distribution hurdles faced by many other filmmakers.

Yet, No Small Matter has reached millions of people all over the world through more than 1,300 grassroots screenings, DIY educational distribution and 13 million social media impressions.

The secret sauce for this successful grassroots release? We built a direct, long-term, and authentic relationship with our core audience — primarily, early educators around the country and the organizations that reach them — starting in pre-production.

Here are our tips:

  1. Launch Your Impact Campaign During Pre-Production
  2. Early Funder Support
  3. Think Outside Your Feature Film
  4. Seek National, Networked Partners
  5. Build A Robust Impact Team (That Can Pay For Itself)
  6. Jump At Timely Impact Opportunities

EXTRA CREDIT

The article has lots of details on each of these steps, written by the producers of the film: No Small Matter.

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Tip #1570: Video Scope Settings

… for Adobe Premiere Pro CC

Tip #1570: Video Scope Settings

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Float provides the most accurate video scope readings.

The Video Scope bit-depth menu.

Topic $TipTopic

At the bottom right corner of the Lumetri Scopes is a small menu called “float.” This controls the detail visible in the video scopes. Here’s how to set it.

  • 8 Bit. Displays all values on a 0 – 256 scale on the right, IRE on the left.
  • 10 Bit. Displays all values on a 0 – 1024 scale on the right, IRE on the left. Video values remain the same, what’s different is the amount of precision in the values.
  • Float. Displays all values on a 32-bit scale (±2.14 million values).
  • HDR. Displays all values on a scale from 0 – 10,000 (10K). (HD media uses a scale of 0 – 100.

While the scales are different, the display is essentially the same. For non-HDR work, use float. For HDR HLG or PQ use HDR.

NOTE: This setting does not affect your video clips or output.

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Tip #1589: New Use for Custom Overlays

… for Apple Final Cut Pro X

Tip #1589: New Use for Custom Overlays

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Overlays appear in the Viewer, but never export.

The Overlay portion of the View menu in the top right corner of the Viewer.

Topic $TipTopic

In Tip #980, I showcased a new Final Cut feature: Custom Overlays. But, recently, I discovered a new use for this feature that saves time during editing.

All the videos I post to social media have my website burned in as a watermark. For a variety of reasons, it is far easier to add watermarks during compression than to try to add it during the edit.

The problem is that I don’t always remember that the watermark will be added later and create text, titles or other visuals which are blocked by the watermark.

So, I created a custom overlay that displays my watermark during editing, but never outputs it.

This gives me the best of both worlds: a constant reminder of the size and position of the watermark, with no risk it will export as part of the master file.

Cool.

EXTRA CREDIT

Here’s a tutorial from my website that describes how to create and apply overlays in more detail.

If you want an overlay to burn in during export, either create it as a caption or a title. Overlays can not be included in the final export.

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Tip #1577: Sometimes You Just Want Stuff to MOVE!

… for Apple Motion

Tip #1577: Sometimes You Just Want Stuff to MOVE!

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The Random Motion behavior causes any element to move.

Random Motion behavior settings in the Inspector.

Topic $TipTopic

Sometimes, you just want something to move. Not a lot, but enough to catch the eye. Enter Random Motion. The Random Motion behavior applies a small amount of random movement to any selected element. This movement is never very big, but you have control over how much and in which direction.

For example, apply the behavior to an element, then go to Inspector > Behavior:

  • Amount. This determines the amount of movement. (Remember, if you need LOTS of movement, apply one of the Basic Motion behaviors.)
  • Frequency. How often this movement repeats during the effect.
  • Noisiness. The larger the number, the larger the movement.
  • Drag. Adds internal friction to the movement. Most of the time, you’ll leave this at zero.
  • Include. This determines the direction of the movement: side-to-side, up-and-down, or to-from the camera.
  • Random Seed. Click the icon to create different pattern of random behavior.

Good ways to use this include animating a logo, product name or phone number to keep re-attracting a viewer’s attention.

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Tip #1580: Finding Inspiration in Architecture

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1580: Finding Inspiration in Architecture

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Sometimes, the best place to find inspiration is where you don’t normally look.

Production shot from Vikkal Parikh’s IKEA motion graphic commercial.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Vikkal Parikh, Founder and Creative Director, Ataboy Studios, first appeared in Motionographer.com. This is a summary.

The practice of motion design is, as its title suggests, a thing that is constantly changing and evolving, adapting to the world (and the technology) around it. But in order to grow and change in a way that keeps pace with the times, often motion designers have to look outside the traditional aesthetics of advertising and production spaces to different design-related fields that can offer inspiration and unique perspectives — and one of the most fascinating (and underrated) of these is architecture.

On the surface, it may seem like there aren’t many similarities between the two. But in my opinion, the foundation of any and all forms of design are essentially the same, be it architecture, product design, graphic design, motion design, or any related field. As the saying goes: “form follows function.” This idea can be applied universally to any form of design. As designers, we are problem solvers, and our goal is to come up with a solution that not only solves the problem but connects on a more personal level with the users or audience. Great architecture is an easy example of this: it not only solves the problem but makes the experience of visiting or seeing a space enjoyable in the most unexpected way.

If you’re willing to look, the world of architecture is full of beautiful and enduring creativity. I am personally a big fan of both Zaha Hadid and Mies Van Der Rohe, and they remain some of my biggest creative inspirations. They have very contradictory styles — Zaha Hadid with an emphasis on incorporating curves and creating organic shapes on an institutional scale and Mies Van Der Rohe focusing more on the space and light created in his buildings.

For those who wish to draw inspiration from nontraditional sources, the best advice I can give is to keep your eyes and ears open to the world around you. Whether it’s from reading or listening to a podcast on a certain subject or simply observing your surroundings, learning about disciplines outside your own can expand your thought process greatly.

EXTRA CREDIT

Vikkal’s article has more details and production stills illustrating his ideas.

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Tip #1586: Video Tips for Nikon Cameras

… for Codecs & Media

Tip #1586: Video Tips for Nikon Cameras

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Going “Behind the Scenes” is a fun way to learn from the best.

Still from David Tejada’s “Lighting with SpeedLights” video.

Topic $TipTopic

Nikon has published an excellent series of tutorials on using Nikon cameras for stills and video.

There are sections on lighting, technology and creativity. A section that I really like is the “Behind the Scenes” videos. 35 videos on how photographers get their images.

The videos are short, well-produced and fun to watch.

Here’s the link

EXTRA CREDIT

After watching these, I wanted to stop typing, grab a camera and start shooting.

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Tip #1559: Top 10 Filmmaking News Sites

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1559: Top 10 Filmmaking News Sites

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

These provide outstanding resources for filmmakers.

(Image courtesy of Kyle Loftus, Pexels.com.)

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Jourdan Aldredge, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

Filmmakers should always be striving to improve their skillset. Whether that means staying up-to-date on the latest camera and tech releases and breakthroughs, or constantly on the lookout for new lighting techniques or editing tutorials, it’s good advice for filmmakers to have several website resources they can check up on regularly.

So, here are the recommendations from PremiumBeat:

  1. Filmmaker IQ
  2. Filmmaker Magazine
  3. Newsshooter
  4. No Film School
  5. Motionographer
  6. Film School Rejects
  7. Provideo Coalition
  8. PremiumBeat
  9. Shutterstock Blog and Tutorials
  10. Rocketstock

The article – linked above – also includes more links, sample videos and more details.

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