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Tip #1186: BorisFX Releases Mocha Pro 2021

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Mocha Pro: World-class motion tracking.

PowerMesh on the left, image replacement on the right.

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Mocha Pro is the world renowned software for planar tracking, rotoscoping and object removal. Essential to visual effects and post-production workflows, Mocha has been recognized with prestigious Academy and Emmy Awards for contribution to the film and television industry.

Mocha Pro 2021 new features include:

  • PowerMesh: Mocha’s planar tracking engine now handles warped surfaces with speed and accuracy. PowerMesh sub-surface tracking drives warp stabilization, mesh warped roto-splines, and more. Export dense mesh tracking to many hosts with the new Alembic exporter.
  • AdjustTrack 2.0: Improved track editing takes the pain out of correcting the most difficult tracking shots.
  • Python Scripting: Powerful Python Script Editor is now included in the Mocha Pro plugin for flexible development.

Here’s the link to learn more.


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Tip #1165: Different Ways to Use Slow Motion

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

This article focuses on the theory of slow-motion with LOTS of videos for more info.

(Image courtesy of The Slow Mo Guys.)

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

Let’s face it, slow motion is cool. There’s just something undeniably awesome about the slowing down of time. Whether it’s in a giant action sequence on an IMAX screen, or in the tiny moments of your favorite YouTube series on a smartphone, the effect of slow motion seems to always work and delight audiences of any size.

So, while there are plenty of tips and tricks to read up on for how to shoot slow motion and high frame rate, we’re actually going to dive more into the theory of slow motion and the different ways you might want to utilize it in your film and video projects.

Actually shooting slow motion for action and stunts is perhaps one of the most technically challenging feats on any production and, in part, why we see them more often in the biggest of big-budget films versus indie features and DIY shorts. It’s important to keep in mind both safety and practicality when tackling slow motion for stunts, as you’ll need to be in control of every element of the situation to make sure your camera is properly framed, focused, and recording the exact high frame rate moves that you’ve carefully and meticulously planned.

In many ways, slow motion for cinema-sake has become synonymous with this new style, as digital editing has made techniques like speed ramping easier to use and more precise to control. If you’re looking to add slow motion or fast motion in your projects today, your best bet might just be to get a solid HFR camera, shoot at 120fps (if possible), and then make all your slow motion and speed ramping decisions in the edit once you have everything planned and covered.

EXTRA CREDIT

This article includes videos on

  • Slow Motion for Action and Stunts
  • Slow Motion to Highlight Cinematic Moments
  • Slow Motion to Draw Attention to Details
  • Slow Motion for Sports
  • Ramping Between Slow and Fast Motion
  • A link to The Slow Mo Guys YouTube channel


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Tip #1166: Get Started with Cinema 4D

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Learning new software is never easy – but this is a good place to start.

(Image courtesy of Cineversity.com.)

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In this series of about 20  video tutorials, instructor EJ Hassenfratz shows how to get up and running in Cinema 4D through this project-based series introducing you to the basic concepts of 3D modeling, animation, and rendering. Each movie in the series is about ten minutes in length.

Episode 1 provides a brief series overview on what you’ll be learning and the aspects of 3D that will be covered.

Here’s the link to Episode 1 on Cineversity.com.


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Tip #1167: Learn Maya on “Maya Monday”

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Free, short, video tutorials to learn Autodesk Maya 2020.

(Tutorial images courtesy of Toolfarm.com.)

Topic $TipTopic

Toolfarm.com has created a series of video tutorials on using Maya 2020. With a focus on empowering artists throughout the production pipeline, Autodesk Maya 2020 introduces new tools that not only help animators, modelers, riggers, and technical artists work faster and more intuitively. In addition, it makes the creative process more fun.

All tutorials are free.

Here’s the link


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Tip #1120: Free Title Animations for Premiere

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

These templates require the latest version of both Adobe Premiere & After Effects.

One of these free motion graphic templates for Premiere.

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This article, written by Todd Blankenship, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. With these free animated motion graphics templates for Premiere Pro, you can add some eye-catching animated titles to your edits — quickly and easily.

As you can tell, we’ve been all about these sort of gritty textured styles of animation and design lately. I feel like it’s a nice step outside of the clean, almost sterile corporate animation and design we see so often. We’ve recently learned some new ways to incorporate some of that handmade stop-motion style texture and vibe into these motion graphics templates for Premiere.

With each of these free motion graphics templates for Premiere, we wanted to include as much customization as possible. Every single one of these templates has a whole slew of options inside of the Essential Graphics Panel. These options will give you the ability to create a vast amount of different, unique title animations, rather than just the ten stock looks included.

Here’s the link to download these free, motion graphics templates for Adobe Premiere.


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Tip #1142: Tutorials from Toolfarm

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Covering 15 different applications with a wide variety of tutorials.

Software and categories from the Toolfarm website.

Topic $TipTopic

When it comes to effects tutorials for a wide variety of products, there are very few equals to Toolfarm.com.

Covering 15 different software titles – from Premiere and Final Cut to Autodesk and Maya – this website provides a wealth of tutorials for users from beginning to advanced.

Here’s the link to see what they have available.


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Tip #1146: 22 FREE After Effect Show Reel Templates

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

These take your work and make it shine!

(Image courtesy of Pexels.com)

Topic $TipTopic

This article first appeared in MotionArray.com.

After a year like this one, any good news is welcome. So MotionArray has assembled twenty-two After Effects showreel templates to kick-start your showreel.

Selecting the best moments is one thing, but how do you piece it together in a fluid and eye-catching way? It can be difficult to devote time to creating a showreel when you’re also busy working and creating videos.

These include a variety of show reels, wedding reels, sports reels, and, ah, just about any other reel you need to create.

All free. Downloads are located here.


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Tip #1124: Dozens of Free Cinema 4D Tutorials

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

GreyScaleGorilla specializes in tutorials for Cinema4D and motion designers.

Image courtesy of GreyScaleGorilla.com.

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GreyScaleGorilla.com is a website with dozens of free tutorials for Cinema4D artists.

Current titles include:

  • 5 Tips I Wish I Knew Before Learning Octane
  • Why Cinema 4D Artists Should Care About ACES Color
  • The Best New Features Inside Cinema 4D R21

They currently have 53 free tutorials posted to their website. Here’s the company description on their website:

For over 10 years we have made training and tools to help motion designers and 3D artists.

Our extensive library of free tutorials and Greyscalegorilla Plus subscription offering guides you through popular 3D programs like Cinema 4D, Redshift, X-Particles, and much more.

Greyscalegorilla plugins and tools are developed as must-use workflow solutions, used daily in real studio environments, on feature film titles, commercial animations, broadcast graphics, and experiential displays.

We want to give you the tools and training to help you create your best work. That’s the Greyscalegorilla way.


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Tip #1125: Free Red Giant Tutorials

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Red Giant makes tools, films and training to enrich the community of filmmakers and motion designers.

A sample of current tutorials on the Red Giant website.

Topic $TipTopic

Red Giant, now a part of Maxon, is an industry leader in creating software for visual effects. To help new and existing users use their programs more effectively, they have a dedicated website for tutorials covering:

  • Trapcode Suites
  • Magic Bullet Suite
  • Universe
  • VFX Suite
  • PluralEyes

The company describes itself this way on their website:

At Red Giant, we make tools, films and training to enrich the community of filmmakers and motion designers. Red Giant develops tools that make the filmmaking process faster, more secure, more accurate and just more fun. For almost 17 years, we have built software for motion design, color correction, visual effects and photography that is used for everything from major motion pictures to worldwide television programming to web production.

Here’s the link to their tutorials.


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Tip #1127: Re:Vision Effects Wins an Emmy

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Re:Vision joins six other companies winning an Engineering Emmy.

Television Academy logo.

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Re:Vision Effects won a Engineering Emmy for exceptional engineering development which will be announced at the Oct. 29 Emmy Awards ceremony.

According to the announcement from the Academy:

Engineering Emmys are presented to an individual, company or organization for developments in engineering that are either so extensive an improvement on existing methods or so innovative in nature that they materially affect the production, recording, transmission or reception of television. This year the Academy is recognizing nine companies and five individuals with the prestigious award.

Re:Vision Effects was honored for all of their products, however, the Academy specifically mentioned:

RE:Vision Effects introduced the industry to optical flow-based postproduction video tools via the products Twixtor®, ReelSmart Motion Blur®, RE:Flex® and others. In addition, RE:Vision Effects supplies these technologies as plug-ins to a wide range of host applications and interfaces that are already familiar to the user.

Joining Re:Vision Effects for Engineering Awards this year are:

  • Apple – for the ProRes family of codecs
  • Codex – for high-speed data migration of RAW content
  • Dan Dugan – for gain sharing automatic microphone mixing
  • Epic Games – for the Unreal Engine
  • Sound Radix – for Auto-Align Post for audio phase/time corrections
  • Bill Spitzak, Jonathan Egstad, Peter Crossley and Jerry Huxtable – for Nuke.

Here’s the press release from Re:Vision Effects.


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