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Tip #1291: Top Ten Tips of 2020 for Visual Effects

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1291: Top Ten Tips of 2020 for Visual Effects

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

It is fascinating to see what readers find interesting!

Topic $TipTopic

During this last year, The Inside Tips published 975 tips and techniques covering six subject categories:

  • Adobe Premiere
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Apple Motion
  • Codecs & Media
  • Random Media Weirdness
  • Visual Effects

Here are three “Top Ten Tips Lists:” The first shows the most popular tips covering Visual Effects. The second list shows the Top Ten most read tips across all categories. The third list shows the highest rated tips across all categories sorted by votes.

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS of 2020
FOR VISUAL EFFECTS

  1. Tip #413: Mask Multiple Clips with an Adjustment Layer
  2. Tip #329: Blurs and Mosaics are No Longer Safe
  3. Tip #592: Make Zooms More Interesting
  4. Tip #396: Mask Your Microphone
  5. Tip #723: 5 Highly Creative Edits
  6. Tip #418: What is an Anchor Point?
  7. Tip #435: Faster Rotoscoping for Still Images
  8. Tip #728: Improve Landscapes with Gradients
  9. Tip #572: Tips to Create Better Titles
  10. Tip #674: 51 Free Accent Animation Graphics

NOTE: Tips are sorted by views, most views listed first.

 

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS of 2020
(Sorted by Views)

  1. Tip #479: Copy and Paste Masks in Premiere
  2. Tip #283: AAF vs. EDL vs. OMF Export
  3. Tip #413: Mask Multiple Clips with an Adjustment Layer
  4. Tip #474: DNxHR vs. ProRes
  5. Tip #329: Blurs and Mosaics are No Longer Safe
  6. Tip #592: Make Zooms More Interesting
  7. Tip #957: Apple Supports VP9 in macOS Big Sur
  8. Tip #1135: Boost and Smooth Dialog Levels
  9. Tip #715: How to Reset FCP X to Fix Problems
  10. Tip #342: Uses for Emoji in Final Cut Pro X

NOTE: Tips are sorted by views, most views listed first.

 

TOP 10 INSIDE TIPS of 2020
(Sorted by Ratings)

  1. Tip #742: The Best Advice to Keep Your Cool
  2. Tip #614: What is the Alpha Channel
  3. Tip #580: The History of Storyboards
  4. Tip #911: The Skin Tone Line is Your Friend
  5. Tip #515: Using the Active Camera Menu
  6. Tip #631: Get Freelance Work From Video Marketplaces
  7. Tip #1056: Move a Mix from Audition to Premiere
  8. Tip #624: Not All Captions Look Alike
  9. Tip #581: Create Colorful Lighting for 3D Text
  10. Tip #398: Use Watch Folders in AME for Automation

NOTE: Each tip was rated 5 out of 5. They are sorted by the number of votes each tip received, with most votes listed first.

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Tip #1296: The Fairy-Tale Effects in Pinocchio

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1296: The Fairy-Tale Effects in Pinocchio

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Take a deep dive into on-camera visual effects, aided by CGI.

(Image courtesy of One of Us, ©2019 Archimede/Rai Cinema/Le Pacte/Recorded Picture Company.)

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Ian Failes, first appeared in VFXVoice.com. This is a summary.

Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio, an Italian-made re-telling of the classic tale by Carlo Collodi, is a film that draws upon both practical and digital effects to tell its story of the central puppet character wanting to become a real boy.

Behind the majority of the digital visual effects work was One Of Us, based in London, which augmented several scenes that made use of on-set makeup and prosthetics, as well as delivering a number of fully-CG elements that had to stay within the fairy-tale realm of the story.

Here, One Of Us Visual Effects Supervisor Theo Demiris breaks down a number of the studio’s characters and shots from the film.

“Pinocchio as a character was entirely filmed in-camera made possible by some incredible prosthetics developed by Mark Coulier and his team. Our intervention consisted mainly of cleaning up creases and imperfections, usually around the hands and neck area.”

Donkey underwater: “We knew from the very beginning that this was going to be entirely a VFX shot. This moment was all about hitting the emotional beats of the story, and we very quickly realized that this also meant that it had to be a very long shot, 1,000 frames to be exact. The donkey had to lose its breath and then very slowly be enveloped in a shimmering school of fish.

“Once we blocked the Donkey animation, we started working on the environment and the behavior of the fish. The environment had to feel Mediterranean – highly detailed but murky and poetic. The fish had to behave beautifully but also realistically. For that, Matt Noris, one of our Senior FX Artists, put together a crowd simulation that was flexible and easy to art-direct. Once we had all the ingredients out from CG, Guillaume Menard, our Comp Supervisor, put it together himself and introduced a lot of real-life elements in the environment.”

“The most notable of effect in terms of work was the character of the Tuna. Not only was it a big fish, but also had to interact with the surrounding water and performances. For this, the actor was in prosthetics on the face with the rest his body hidden away underwater. We then kept only the very front of his performance and attached a CG body behind him. To do so seamlessly we had to track the head and attach the body while reverse-engineering his head movements and adjusting the animation to make them feel as if they were coming from the body rather than the other way around. It had, after all, to feel as if the body was floating and driving the movements of the head.”

EXTRA CREDIT

There’s a lot more to his discussion, along with images illustrating some of their VFX work in the article linked above.

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Tip #1297: Super Alien Models of Valerian

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1297: Super Alien Models of Valerian

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Note that motion capture, more than pure design, was the foundation for these chararacters.

(Image courtesy of VFXVoice.com)

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Ian Failes, first appeared in VFXVoice.com. This is a summary.

Among the many creatures and aliens showcased in director Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets are members of the Pearl, a beautiful race of humanoid-like creatures who live in a picturesque beach setting.

The Pearl were completely synthetic creations by Weta Digital, which generated the characters from performances by actors with motion-capture equipment for their face and bodies.

VFX Voice visited Weta Digital in Wellington to find out more from the studio’s Visual Effects Supervisor, Martin Hill, as he runs down some of the main challenges his team faced in making the Pearl. Here are his comments:

Luc didn’t want to go completely human for the faces – otherwise he’d have put makeup on them and just [filmed] them, of course. He wanted to be able to make them abstract enough from their selves that although we could still read their emotions and read their personalities and read their characters, they were still very much not of this world. They were very alien faces. We spent quite a lot of time working at how we can alter their features and still carry their personality across in terms of the eyes.

One of the great things about the performance capture that we did, particularly the stuff on the set, was, as Luc was filming it, he was doing it as both capture and filming – composing the shot. The terrific thing about that is he’s getting the performance he wants. We could rely on the motion capture very heavily as the performance. Essentially, that ‘template’ is what Luc would expect back. That was a really great help for us when it came to giving shots the first-look animation. Nothing was unexpected. The animation would look pretty much exactly like the live template. Obviously, there was finesse and touches we added because the proportions are a little bit different.

EXTRA CREDIT

The article goes into more detail on how these creatures were created, along with video, images and links.

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Tip #1270: Learning DaVinci Resolve 17

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1270: Learning DaVinci Resolve 17

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Free tutorials simplify getting started with the latest version of Resolve.

(Image courtesy of Blackmagic Design.)

Topic $TipTopic

This DaVinci Resolve tutorial website has a host of tutorials on learning the basics of DaVinci Resolve.

These tutorials include both training video and project files.

Titles include:

  • Introduction to Editing
  • The Art of Color Grading
  • DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel
  • Fusion VFX
  • Fairlight Audio Production
  • Managing Media
  • Delivering Content

All tutorials are free and can either be viewed online or downloaded to your computer.

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Tip #1271: How to Setup Network Rendering

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1271: How to Setup Network Rendering

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Network rendering speeds output, but setup can be tricky.

(Image courtesy of Pexels.com.)

Topic $TipTopic

Toolfarm.com has created an in-depth tutorial on render farms, also called “network rendering.” (Link)

The idea of network, or distributed, rendering is to distribute your render over a network, or farm, of computers, to speed up your render times. This can be done in many different programs with a myriad of different setups, so it isn’t as straight forward and clear cut as I’d like it to be.

Creating the right storage and management can be a challenge but it’s important to get that in place first. There are tons of resources out there but I’m keeping this short and sweet so this will be a page of resources more than actual instructions.

Subjects include:

  • Setting Up a Network Rendering for After Effects
  • Network Rendering with RenderGarden
  • Cinema 4D Team Render
  • Autodesk BackBurner for Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, Flame, and more
  • Chaos Group V-Ray Swarm
  • Pipeline
  • Pixar’s Tractor
  • Digital Rebellion Pro Render
  • Aeriform Ramma
  • Using your Plug-ins and Software on a Network Rendering Setup

The article linked above has much more information, plus links to more resources.

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Tip #1272: Art & Business of VFX for TV & Streamers

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1272: Art & Business of VFX for TV & Streamers

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

“Game of Thrones” is considered the Gold Standard for VFX on TV.

Topic $TipTopic

VFXV, the magazine of the Visual Effect Society, has an article, written by Trevor Hogg, on “The Art and Business of VFX for TV and Streaming.” (Link)

“The continued emergence of new streaming platforms, Disney+ and Apple TV+ among some of the most recent to launch, has created entirely new avenues for content, and much of it is prestige programming that requires quality visual effects, with the scope of a traditional feature blockbuster or high-profile cable series,” states Simon Rosenthal, Executive Vice President Global Studio Operations at Method Studios. “At the same time, technology advancements are enabling studios to work more quickly and efficiently, and so producers are increasingly using visual effects to support their storytelling, whether creating a full CG creature, mass destruction, or digitally altering practical locations to be period-authentic.”

This article provides an in-depth look at an industry expanding into new markets along with interviews, screen shots and links.

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Tip #1250: Special Effects in Miniature

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1250: Special Effects in Miniature

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Models made the difference for The Mandalorian.

The “Razor Crest” (image courtesy of PremiumBeat.com)

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Mike Maher, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

“The Mandalorian” turns to a tried-and-true special effect — hand-crafted miniature models – to create stunning visuals. The Mandalorian’s ship, the Razor Crest, was initially concepted and then modeled in 3D. Small ships were printed for use by the production team to not only finalize the look of the ship, but to help with things like determining the size and layout of the ship itself.

After seeing the number of shots needed and the type of shots, production immediately began on both a physical miniature model of the ship itself, as well as a custom-made motion control rig and track to capture the footage.

The two-foot long Razor Crest model was printed piece by piece in a 3D printer. As soon as parts were completed, they were immediately handed off to John Goodson, who was in charge of assembling the on-camera model.

The 3D printed pieces were so fragile, there was no way they would hold up in construction, let alone on set. The print was fully assembled and then Goodson created a two-piece mold from that initial print.

To capture these miniature shots, ILM CCO and VFX Supervisor John Knoll manufactured a custom motion capture rig and track system in his home garage. A Canon DSLR would be mounted to a custom-made system.

EXTRA CREDIT

The article has more details, images and two videos that go behind the scenes showing how the visual effects of this movie were created.

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Tip #1253: How to Light an Animated Film

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1253: How to Light an Animated Film

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Lighting a scene happens at the end, but planning the lighting starts much earlier.

Image courtesy “Finding Nemo” and Pixar.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Jasmyne Bell, first appeared in NoFilmSchool.com. This is a summary.

Lighting animated movies isn’t just about making scenes look more stunning, it’s also about choosing an aesthetic that can evoke a desired feeling in audience members. Just like live-action films, lighting plays a major role in how animated films affect moviegoers.

Artists create blueprints called color scripts, which are hand-painted frames that depict scenes throughout a storyline…much like a storyboard only more detailed in terms of tone. When these frames are viewed consecutively, the director and production designer can determine the emotional story arc.

Surfacing determines an object’s texture and how it will appear when light hits it. Surfacing artists will assign numerical values to something in the frame. Something like a jacket could be more prone to something like reflectiveness as opposed to roughness.

Ray tracing is a rendering method that uses the virtual camera to shoot out a light-sensing ray until it hits an object in the scene. This shows what surfaces are translucent or solid, depending on how light is reflected.

Path tracing shoots out multiple rays that bounce around until the light source is located in the scene. This method is used especially in newer animation and is the reason these films look so realistic.

EXTRA CREDIT

The article has more images and details. See the link above.

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Tip #1254: Turn Your Kids Into Super-Heroes

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1254: Turn Your Kids Into Super-Heroes

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Super-heroes – without the trauma or destruction.

Super-hero power – without property destruction.

Topic $TipTopic

It’s the holidays – everyone wants to feel special.

Ben Eshagpoor of beMotion.dESIGN shows you how to turn your kids into Super Heroes. Give your kids some superpowers without subjecting them to a radioactive spider bite!

Ben uses Boris Sapphire and footage from ActionVFX. He’s working in Premiere Pro and After Effects. He explains how to work between the programs. It’s tons of fun and, indeed, would be a fun project with your kids over the holidays.

Here’s the link on Toolfarm.com.

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Tip #1233: New Color Tools in DaVinci Resolve 17

… for Visual Effects

Tip #1233: New Color Tools in DaVinci Resolve 17

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

DaVinci Resolve continues to set the pace for color control and creativity.

(Image courtesy of BlackmagicDesign.com.)

Topic $TipTopic

DaVinci Resolve has long been respected for its color grading tools. In the Version 17 release, these were improved even more. Here’s a quick summary of the new features, taken from the DaVinci Resolve website.

Next Generation HDR Grading Tools. The HDR grading palette lets you create new color wheels with custom roll off for specific tonal ranges, giving you more creative control to make fine adjustments. The wheels include exposure and saturation controls for each zone. They’re color space aware so you get perceptually uniform results.

Color Warper for Refined Grading. The mesh based warping tool lets you adjust two color parameters at once. You can adjust both hue and saturation or chroma and luma. Adjustments are made by dragging control points, with smooth falloff for clean, natural looking adjustments. It’s an entirely new way to transform color in your images!

Targeted Grading with Magic Mask. Selecting and tracking people for targeted correction has never been easier! Magic mask uses the DaVinci Neural Engine to automatically create masks for an entire person or specific features such as face or arms. You get matte finesse tools, the ability to add and remove strokes and automatic tracking!

Advanced Color Management. DaVinci Resolve color management adds features to simplify your workflow and improve image quality. You get wide gamut image processing, new input and output tone mapping and color space aware tools that provide for a more consistent response while grading and greatly improved image quality!

DaVinci Wide Gamut Color Space. DaVinci wide gamut and DaVinci intermediate are timeline color space and gamma settings that provide a universal internal working color space. It’s larger than what cameras can capture, or BT.2020, ARRI wide gamut and even ACES AP1. You’ll never lose image data, no matter where it comes from!

Updated 3D Professional Scopes. You can now open multiple versions of the same scope, set customizable waveform scales, create 3×3 layouts and open a separate scope window on a second display. You could open 3 vectorscopes, set to different tonal and zoom ranges, allowing you to simultaneously see shadows, midtones, and highlights.

Additional LUT Support. DaVinci Resolve 17 lets you generate 17 point 3D LUTs directly from the timeline, which are great for monitoring on set. There’s also support for video range LUT metadata, as well as the ability to set your own custom LUT paths either on local or to a network volume for sharing LUTs in a facility.

New Viewer Wipe Modes. New diagonal, venetian blind and checkerboard wipes provide additional flexibility for comparing images in different ways. A new split screen mode for comparing up to four playheads from the timeline is useful for comparing multiple clips or for comparing different frames within the same clip.

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