How to create high-impact images in After Effects using Cinema 4D.
Cinema 4D Lite is the free version of Cinema 4D that ships with Adobe After Effects. In this free 31-video tutorial series, Athanasios Pozantzis illustrates the interface, navigation, customization, modeling, texturing, light, animation, sweeping, lathing, moving, rotating, deforming, scaling and many others.
https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-27 01:30:002021-01-22 17:26:44Tip #1368: Learn 3D in Cinema 4D Lite
Effects created from practical effects, miniatures, optical compositing and real 65mm film.
This article, written by Ian Failes, first appeared in VFXVoice.com. This is a summary.
In 1982, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner set a distinctive tone for the look and feel of many sci-fi future film noirs to come, taking advantage of stylized production design, art direction and visual effects work.
On the eve of the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 sequel, VFX Voice revisits the miniatures of the original film with chief model maker Mark Stetson, VES. He and a crew of distinguished artists helped to craft many of the film’s iconic settings and vehicles, including the opening Hades landscape,
Blade Runner begins with a slow push-in over a heavily industrialized section of Los Angeles. Many were surprised when it became apparent that the endless refinery imagery – known as the Hades landscape – was largely achieved with rows of acid-etched brass silhouette cut-outs in a forced perspective layout.
The ground plane structures were painted quite roughly to make the buildings look ‘aged and crappy’ – instant coffee was even used for that effect. Then, after making an evening flight into Los Angeles, Stetson was inspired to replicate in the Hades landscape the look of thousands of city lights.
A myriad of fiber optic strands – seven miles worth – was added underneath the tables holding the silhouettes and other model pieces. The lights included a mix of different bulbs, too, all filmed in different passes, as were the gas flares captured ‘in-model’ with specially placed projection screens and a synchronized 35mm film projector.
Equally iconic in Blade Runner lore are the flying police vehicles known as Spinners. In visual futurist Syd Mead’s design explora- tions for Blade Runner, he called the flying vehicles ‘aerodynes.’
The vehicles were particularly recognizable for their flaring and spinning police lights. In fact, the larger scale Spinner models were a significant feat of engineering. They were made to include room for cabling, stepper motors, lighting, and even nitrogen plumbing for exhaust.
“Late in the development of the models, Ridley asked for a rack of gumball-style police lights to be mounted on top of the car,” says Stetson. “Getting the lights to spin on the model required a new lighting rig that replaced the rear bodywork on the model and was shot on a repeat pass using motion control. We made little brass cans for each halogen light, with lensed snoots driven through speedo cables by a rack of stepper motors on the back of the car.
This article goes into a lot more detail with excellent production stills of models and sets in construction.
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Moviola has video training on all aspects of filmmaking.
Moviola.com has a series of nine, free, online video courses on creating visual effects. Each lesson is deeply condensed to get you up to speed on the topic quickly. Subjects include:
Shooting Visual Effects
Node-based Compositing
Sky Replacement
Tracking
Rotoscoping
Adding CG Elements to a Scene
Green-screen Fundamentals
Keying Green-screen
3D Fundamentals
Each video runs 15 – 30 minutes and features lots of examples.
If you are want to extend your effects expertise beyond your NLE, an excellent place to start is Blackmagic Design’s Fusion.
Fusion is built into DaVinci Resolve and features a node-based workflow with hundreds of 2D and 3D tools. Fusion is ideal for everything from quick fixes such as retouching and repairing shots to creating true Hollywood caliber effects.
Fusion uses a flow chart called a node tree that visually maps out how effects are connected and work together. Nodes are like building blocks that represent effect tools, generators, transforms, masks and more. There are no confusing stacks of nested layers and hidden menus! You build effects by stringing nodes together one after the other.
You can also use Fusion to create 2D and 3D text, as well as add and track infographics.
Best of all, you can get started with Fusion for free.
From image repair to image enhancement, Filmworkz can help.
Filmworkz.com announced a new website along with six new color grading tools. While their descriptions are a bit pretentious and somewhat obtuse, if you are interested in color grading, this site is worth visiting.
They have created six DVO’s (Digital Video Optics). These tools work with DaVinci Resolve, Mistika Boutique, Scratch and Nucoda running on Mac, Windows and Linux platforms. These tools are available singly for $15 (US) per month, or $59 US per month for all six.
And, as part of the launch of their new website – https://Filmworkz.com – they are offering 7-day free trials.
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Start with experience, grow organically and pay attention to your pipeline.
This article, written by Ian Failes, first appeared in VFXVoice.com. This is a summary.
Like any business, getting a new visual effects studio off the ground can be a monumental effort. The tasks of hiring talent, setting up pipelines, bidding for work, and managing the intricacies of VFX production are not trivial ones. That said, the wider availability of accessible VFX software and collaboration tools have perhaps made the task of getting started as a studio and delivering shots somewhat easier than ever before.
VFX Voice asked the founders of four relatively new visual effects studios – CVD VFX, Mavericks VFX, Outpost VFX and Future Associate – how they began as independent operations, how they took up often unexpected opportunities, what hurdles they had to overcome to get their studio going, and what advice they had for others who might be looking to start their own VFX company.
The one constant among the studios VFX Voice spoke to is that they all began as startups by visual effects supervisors who had already gained experience elsewhere. Brendan Taylor, for example, started Mavericks VFX in Toronto in 2011 after working for several years with MR. X.
“When we were just compositing, it was fine,” states Taylor. “The real challenge came when we introduced 3D. Any inefficiencies we had with 30 artists were going to be doubled with 60 artists. And one of my senior artists shared with me that experienced VFX artists are very concerned about the pipeline of the company they go to. If it is an inefficient pipeline, and they have to work harder at doing small tasks, they can’t spend as much time working on their craft, and they hate it.”
Asked what his main piece of advice would be to others thinking of starting a VFX studio, Taylor identifies advice he received from another visual effects industry member – that he should straight away engage a great team of lawyers. “When you get into the legal and business affairs of DreamWorks and Disney,” says Taylor, “it can be daunting and scary. We could have saved a bit of money to go with a smaller law firm, but there’s something to be said for the letterhead. ”
The article provides in-depth interviews, images and links.
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https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-13 01:30:002021-01-13 01:30:00Tip #1330: How to Start a VFX Studio
Toolfarm has published 45 “Burning Questions” tutorials covering a range of products and techniques.
Topics include:
Burning Question: How to Make The Super Moon in Post
Burning Question: How Do I Quickly Give My Project a Letterbox Look?
Burning Question: How Do I Edit and Export with My NLE for TikTok?
Burning Question: What is a Cinemagraph and How Do I Create One?
Burning Question: What is Reverse Stabilization?
Burning Question: Is there a smooth, easy way to wipe my hard drive and start fresh?
Burning Question: How Do I Remove Flicker from my Footage?
All tutorials are free on the Toolfarm website – linked above.
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https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-13 01:30:002021-01-13 01:30:00Tip #1331: Fast Answers to Hard Questions
Deep fake face swapping is both boon and bane – depending upon how it is used.
This article, Deep Fakes – A Creative Perspective, from VFXVoice, looks at the impact of emerging face-swapping technology on visual effects. This is a summary.
New ‘deep fake’ face-swapping videos seem to go viral on the internet with increasing regularity. Perhaps that’s because artists, and the machine learning algorithms they use for deep fakes, are increasingly getting so much better at them. Many have pondered, therefore, whether deep fakes will soon make their mark – or are already doing so – in traditional filmed entertainment.
The deep fakes you tend to see in online videos, where a speaking person’s face is typically replaced with that of another (often famous) person, rely on deep learning algorithms and training data. This data is usually video footage or photographs of the other person used to craft a convincing model for face swapping.
Some of the most popular deep fakes made by ctrl shift face include actors doing impressions of other actors, with their faces swapped. Those, in particular, have an extra level of appeal since the voice is already part-way there. “I make videos that I want to see and make me laugh,” ctrl shift face advises, in relation to deep fake video project choices. “Some ideas fail because the technology is not there yet, but most often they fail because of YouTube policies and copyrights.”
“As far as using deep fakes in VFX goes, they’re still very much in their infancy, but they do offer creatives an exciting new range of storytelling possibilities,” outlines Framestore Executive Creative Director William Bartlett. “We used it for example on a very small part of our work on Pokémon: Detective Pikachu where the film required Bill Nighy’s character to appear younger in an ‘old’ news reel. It required some fixes, but deep fakes suited this need because of the nature of what would ultimately be presented on screen.”
The full article presents interviews, videos and more details regarding this process.
EXTRA CREDIT
From my perspective, this article reminds me of the adage: “Just because we can, does not mean we should.” The problem is the deep fake genie is out of the bottle – now what do we do with it? These may solve a creative problem, but there still seems a major societal price to pay.
What happens when we can’t trust anything we see?
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https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-06 01:30:002021-01-01 17:05:57Tip #1309: Deep Fakes – A Creative Perspective
Tour four different studios and learn how they create their projects.
The School of Motion recently released a free course called “The Path to Mograph.”
“In this short 10-day course you’ll get an in-depth look at what it takes to be a Motion Designer. Along the way, you’ll learn about the software, principles, and techniques used in the field through in-depth case-studies and tons of bonus material.” (School of Motion website)
The course instructor is Joey Korenman. Prior to starting School of Motion, Joey was the Creative Director and Lead Animator at Toil in Boston, MA. There he lead projects for clients like Subway, McDonalds, Progressive, Saucony, and many other high-profile brands.
The course also includes example projects and over six hours of video and audio instruction. Click the link above to learn more.
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https://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpg00Larry Jordanhttps://www.theinsidetips.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Tips-Logo-700x150.jpgLarry Jordan2021-01-06 01:30:002021-01-06 01:30:00Tip #1310: The Path to Mograph – Free Course
The most popular VFX freebies and tutorials – all in one place.
Announced on News Year’s Eve, here are the “Toolfarm Top Ten Freebies & Tutorials” – the Top 10 most popular, fan-favorite freebies from 2020 at Toolfarm.
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