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Tip #921: Cinema 4D Quick Tips

… for Visual Effects

Tip #921: Cinema 4D Quick Tips

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Fast, free and easy ways to improve your Cinema 4D skills.

A partial list of Quick Tips from Cinema 4D. All free.

Topic $TipTopic

The rebranded Cineversity, part of Maxon, has published a variety of free Quick Tips on using Cinema 4D. Here’s where they are.

Go to this link.

Then, scroll the list on the right (see screen shot) until you find a subject you want to watch.

Each tip takes only a few minutes to watch.

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Tip #922: FX Tutorials for All Major NLEs

… for Visual Effects

Tip #922: FX Tutorials for All Major NLEs

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

These plugins span the full range of visual effects for all major NLEs.

The FXFactory list of supported products.

Topic $TipTopic

FXFactory publishes visual effects software and tutorials for major NLEs. If you haven’t visited their News & Tutorials web page, your are missing some great tools.

FXFactory has effects for:

  • Final Cut Pro X
  • Motion
  • Logic Pro (audio)
  • GarageBand (audio)
  • Premiere Pro
  • After Effects
  • Audition (audio)
  • DaVinci Resolve
  • Avid Media Composer
  • Pro Tools (audio)

Here’s the link to learn more.

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Tip #923: Introducing SyncSketch

… for Visual Effects

Tip #923: Introducing SyncSketch

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

SyncSketch is a team-based review web-app focused on animation and VFX.

The SyncSketch logo.

Topic $TipTopic

SyncSketch started as a tool to help Animation tutors review student work but has since evolved into the media review tool of choice for a number animation, post-production, VFX and games studios.

Their website says the software provides:

  • Real-time Reviews
  • A VFX and animation-optimized player
  • Team oriented
  • Can be integrated into an animation pipeline
  • Secure, using SSL technology with AWS access priviledges
  • Web-based

The current version also provides integration with Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Shotgun, Unity and Python.

They have three versions: Free, Pro ($8 / month / user) and Enterprise (requires a minimum of 20 members).

Their website has a variety of video tutorials that explain the product in more detail.

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Tip #900: Putting Text Message on Screen

… for Visual Effects

Tip #900: Putting Text Message on Screen

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

There’s no perfect answer – but, at least, you have options.

Image from “Sherlock” on the BBC.

Topic $TipTopic

This article, written by Rubidium Wu, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is an excerpt.

Text messages are one of the main ways people communicate. And, as art imitates life, text messages have made their way into films and TV, which presents a problem for filmmakers — how to show a text message exchange in a way that doesn’t bore the audience.

Here are several ideas:

  • Method 1: Place Text on Screen. The first (and probably most popular way) to show a text message exchange is to shoot the phone itself. This is also how a lot of filmmakers show emails when the need arises. But it leaves you with a dated interface.
  • Method 2: Display Unfiltered Text On Screen. Rather than attempting on-screen OS representations, you can take the approach popularized by shows like Sherlock: Just display the message on the screen in plain, unfiltered text. (See screen shot.) This has the dramatic advantage of the above method, but it’s device agnostic — it works just as well for an early flip phone as it does for a future phone. However, this causes problems if you need to localize your film for multiple languages, as these titles are burned in.
  • Method 3: Use Subtitles. Why not, as some filmmakers have done, just insert a subtitle for the text message, as if it’s another character speaking? While this method doesn’t exactly scream “high production value,” it does help you avoid dated footage, allows you to see character reactions, and can be changed to any language.

EXTRA CREDIT

The article linked above includes more details, and a free template offer for After Effects users.

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Tip #901: Better Screen Replacements in After Effects

… for Visual Effects

Tip #901: Better Screen Replacements in After Effects

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Screen replacements provide higher quality with greater image control.

Image courtesy of Jason Boone, the author of this tutorial.

Topic $TipTopic

Written by Jason Boone, this first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This tutorial offers a step-by-step guide to one of the most common VFX techniques — the screen replacement using Adobe After Effects.

Shooting a screen almost never looks right. A much better option is to replace the screen with a whole new image. A screen replacement tracks the screen in your shot, then uses that tracking data to “replace” the screen with a separate clip or sequence.

Here’s a summary of the steps:

  • Step 1: Track the Screen. After Effects has a great point tracking system, but I prefer the planar tracker of the Mocha effect. It’s just more versatile when it comes to tracking for screen replacements. And don’t worry, Mocha AE is bundled with After Effects, so you already have it installed.
  • Step 2: Prep the Replacement Clip. Phones use vertical video, which means clips need to be prepped correctly.
  • Step 3: Replace the Screen.
  • Step 4: Isolate Any Screen Reflections. Since the reflection of my original clip is on top of a blank black screen, I can separate it using basic blend modes, such as Lighten, Add, or Screen.

EXTRA CREDIT

In the article, the author provides a video showing exactly how he uses these tools, along with an illustrated transcript of his material.

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Tip #902: More Free VFX Tutorials

… for Visual Effects

Tip #902: More Free VFX Tutorials

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

More than 29,000 tutorials covering a wide variety of subjects.

Image courtesy of Pexels.com.

Topic $TipTopic

I was looking for free visual effects tutorials and discovered Envato Tuts+. These self-paced tutorials allow you to learn at your own pace.

Their website states: “We believe everyone can be creative. It’s not a rare or magical talent, just a mindset and a set of skills. We’re all born with curiosity, playfulness, and an ability to learn. As adults, we can choose to foster that creative spark and devote time to master the practical skills needed.”

With more than 29,000 tutorials online, choose from categories such as: Design, Photography, Animation, Video, 3D and Motion Graphics.

Here’s the link

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Tip #885: Pixotope Unveils Mixed Reality Advances

… for Visual Effects

Tip #885: Pixotope Unveils Mixed Reality Advances

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Improved interactivity between the computer and actors is a highlight.

The Pixotope logo (image courtesy of The Future Group).

Topic $TipTopic

The Future Group, creators of live photo-realistic virtual production system Pixotope, unveiled its latest Version 1.3 software last week featuring a wide range of advances that significantly improve how virtual environments interact with real-world elements.

Pixotope enables the production of mixed-reality content by bringing together physical components such as presenters, actors, props and free-moving cameras, with virtually created assets such as scenes, graphics, animated characters, or any other computer-generated elements. Pixotope forms the central production hub when creating mixed-reality content for broadcast and live events, with Version 1.3 offering new object tracking, powerful lighting integration, enhanced colour management and more.

A major advance in Pixotope Version 1.3 is the ability to easily utilize and integrate data from real time object tracking systems. This allows Pixotope to use the position of moving tracking locators in the real-world environment and attach them to digitally created objects, so that those objects can be made to follow the tracked motion. This in turn enables presenters to freely pick up and rotate graphics or any other virtually generated asset, opening limitless creative possibilities. From showing a 3D model in the palm of their hand, to controlling any aspect of a virtual scene with their own physical movement, presenters and actors become free to interact with the virtual world around them.

Here’s a link to the Pixotope new features website.

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Tip #886: Explaining VR, AR, and Mixed Reality

… for Visual Effects

Tip #886: Explaining VR, AR, and Mixed Reality

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

VR, AR and MR will all be part of our story-telling world – we just don’t know how… yet.

Image courtesy of PTC.

Topic $TipTopic

Rumors abound about Apple’s work in Augmented Reality (AR). Another article in this newsletter talks about Mixed Reality. And we are currently wrestling with how to tell stories using Virtual Reality.

Industrial enterprises are transforming the capabilities of their workforce with audiovisual technology that blends the physical and digital worlds together. Connected workers can now overlay digital data within the context of the real world in order to process information in a way that more effectively maps to the relevant learning and memory systems in the brain.

Technologies like augmented and mixed reality are helping enterprises scale knowledge faster, but with so many products, solutions, and concepts hitting the market it can be hard to keep up with all the different terminology used to describe them.

Written by Greg Kaminsky for PTC, this article briefly defines:

  • Augmented Reality
  • Mixed Reality
  • Virtual Realty

Here’s the link to his article, along with links for more information on each of these topics.

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Tip #887: Current Examples of Mixed Reality

… for Visual Effects

Tip #887: Current Examples of Mixed Reality

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Mixed Reality combines both AR and VR into something more “real-world.”

Image courtesy of pexels.com.

Topic $TipTopic

When I first read the Pixotope press release, I didn’t know such a thing as “mixed reality” existed. (Clearly, I have been living under a rock.)

So, I started searching.

AcademyXI.com defines “mixed reality” as: “a combination of multiple advanced technologies, primarily Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.”

Microsoft’s Hololens is a good example of an existing, commercially available Mixed Reality device. It is a holographic computer you wear around your head, with lenses over your eyes that project holograms you can manipulate and interact with as though they existed in your physical surroundings.

“Unlike AR that simply overlays digital elements on the physical space without considering its unique and changing composition,” AcademyXI writes in their blog, “MR devices constantly gather information about the surroundings. This information will then be used to seamlessly place digital content and information on the physical space and allow the user to interact with it.

“Unlike VR,” AcademyXI continues,”you don’t disappear into the digital world, the digital world goes to you.”

They then illustrate several current and near-term uses of Mixed Reality.

  • Healthcare and Medicine. In addition to physician and medical student training, with MR, first responders can also better prepare for work scenarios safely and without risk, making them better prepared for these stressful situations. MR also helps PTSD patients through controlled exposure in a safe environment and at their own pace.
  • Education. Experiential education is one of the most effective learning and teaching tools. Through Mixed Reality, students are able to interact with what they’re learning. It’s not just visual, audio, or traditional learning methods that will enable students to learn, but actual experiences that promote deeper, immersive learning.
  • Gaming. There is great potential for Mixed Reality in gaming, unlocking an experience that combines the intense and impressive worlds in video games into the actual environment. It has the potential to gamify fitness, as Augmented Reality had done as evidenced by the Pokemon Go phenomenon.
  • Retail and Business. With MR, stores can give customers unprecedented information as they walk through the aisles, empowering customers to make informed and confident purchases without the need for assistance. They can also experience a product or a service before purchasing.

Here’s a link from AcademyXI to learn more.

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Tip #867: Four Tips to Improve VFX Compositing

… for Visual Effects

Tip #867: Four Tips to Improve VFX Compositing

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The trick with any composite is to make all elements look related.

(Image courtesy of pexels.com.)

Topic $TipTopic In his YouTube video, Javert Valbarr provides tips to improve compositing for visual effects. Here’s a summary.

  1. Look out for your black and white levels when adding elements. You want the elements you’re bringing in to look like a part of the scene and to belong to the same world. Keep composted elements within the range of lightest and darkest values of the original footage, or change them to meet in the middle. This can be fixed by applying LUTs and changing the color space of video elements.
  2. Use selective blurring to draw attention to the most important areas of your shot. This can be done using color gradient effects.
  3. Match the grain/quality of your footage and composited elements. You may need to add grain to composited elements to create the illusion that they belong to the story world. When adding grain or noise, make sure to match the color of the added grain to the color of the original grain. Conversely, you may need to sharpen composited elements to match your footage.
  4. Don’t forget that color grading has a large impact on the final look of the composited image. The final step can and will change your image! 

Here’s the link to his video.

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