Look on the Bright Side | If it’s Cloudy, bring the Sun | Track, Comp, Perfection

In this tutorial, we look at how to do a complex sky replacement with Adobe After Effects CS5. We take a look at a variety of tools, including Tracking, Displacement maps, exposure, Refine Matte, Edge Blur, Colour Correction with Curves, and applying a vignette.

If you wish to download the project file for this tutorial, you can grab it here: SkyReplacmentTutorialv001.zip

If you have any comments or questions, please let me know!

Thanks!

Stabilization | From Shaky Beginnings | A Tranquility

In this tutorial, we use Adobe After Effects CS5 and take a look at stabilizing a piece of footage. Once the footage is stable, we “paint” out two unwanted objects from the shot using a quick and simple technique. We then complete the shot with some quick colour corrections.

Hope you enjoy it!

If you would like to see the same tutorial, but done in a node based compositing application, check out this tutorial here:
http://vfxhaiku.com/2010/09/stabilization-and-object-removal-with-eyeon-fusion-6/

A Puppet Master | Not through Strings, but a Keyboard | Making our Comps Dance

In this tutorial, we use Adobe After Effects CS4 and take a look at the wiggle expression, and show how it can be used with the Puppet tool to add some life to otherwise static objects.

Hope you enjoy it!

Here’s a link to the animation which is used in this tutorial:
http://blog.isotropy.ca/2010/06/i-could-jump-out-a-window/

A 3D Journey | Information Parity | Stereo Knowledge

This is a recording of a presentation I gave in October of 2008 on Frantic Films work on Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.

There’s quite a few topics covered here including:

Post-vis, 3D tracking Stereo footage, Fluid Simulations, Creature design, Compositing Passes, Creature Rigs, Particle tests with Krakatoa, Cloth Simulations, 2D look Developlemt, and common problems with 3D Stereo Footage.

There’s a bunch of behind the scenes stuff here that normally doesn’t make it out of a VFX studio, so I hope you enjoy it!

Let me know if you have any comments of questions!

Thanks!

From Layers to Nodes | Mountain of Learning Awaits | Your Journey starts Here!

In this tutorial, we take a more in-depth look at node based compositing from the perspective of an After Effects user. If you are someone who has lots of experience with After Effects, and wants to get into using a program like Shake, Nuke, or Fusion, this will help you get on the right track.

In Part two of this tutorial, we take a look at an entire shot built in fusion, and break down the tools one by one, and replicate the shot in After Effects. Hopefully, by seeing how this shot is built in Fusion and in After Effects, it will help you to understand the workflow differences between working with layers and nodes.

The big transition | We look for the common ground | From layers to nodes

In this tutorial, we take an introductory look at node based compositing from the perspective of an After Effects user. If you are someone who has lots of experience with After Effects, and wants to get into using a program like Shake, Nuke, or Fusion, this will help you get on the right track.

In Part one of this tutorial, we take a look at the differences in importing footage in After Effects VS. a node based compositing application (in this case Fusion 5).

We also cover:

• Different frame rates
• Straight VS. Post Multiplied alphas, and explaining the difference
• Removing fields
• Setting pixel aspect ratios
• Looping your footage

Real time re-lighting | It is not a fantasy | 2D FTW!

In this tutorial, we take a look at how to export a Normals pass from Cinema 4D, and how to use it to re-light objects in 2D inside of After effects and Fusion 5.

You can download the Normality Plugin for After Effects here:
http://minning.de/software/normality

This is a feature length tutorial on Advanced Multi-pass Compositing with Cinema 4D and Fusion. There’s a ton of material covering how to set up your render passes in Cinema 4D to working with them in Fusion 5.

Advanced techniques | Taken to the next level | Your skills will increase!

Here’s a quick overview of a few of the topics that are covered:

Cinema 4D:

Adobe After Effects:

Eyeon Fusion:

Adobe Photoshop:

What’s included in the Download?

I really hope that you enjoy this tutorial. I put a lot of work into making everything as simple and easy to understand, so it should get you really rocking with multi-pass renders. Even though I do the final comp inside of Fusion instead of After Effects, ALL of the concepts can be applied to After Effects as well. Fusion is my compositing tool of choice, and once you see how easy it is to manipulate and play with different passes in Fusion, you might be a convert to the node based workflow!

Thanks!

Light is scattering | Wrapping around your objects | Making them real

In this tutorial, we take a look at how to create light wrap and edge blurs in Adobe After Effects and Fusion 5. We use some footage from the book “The Art and Science of Digital Compositing” by Ron Brinkman.

If you have any comments or questions, please, feel free to ask!

Thanks!

A quick overview of some of the basics of working in 32 bit float (32bpc) inside of After Effects

32bit float | Zero to One, and Beyond | All the range you need

In this tutorial we take a look at a few concepts you should understand when working with 32bit float images in 32bpc mode in After Effects. We take a look at things like dynamic range, colour fidelity, motion blur, and realistic compositing.

If you have any comments or questions, please, feel free to ask!

Thanks!