In this tutorial we take a look at how to make a Cinemagraph with Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. Cinemagraphs, a term coined by Jamie Beck & Kevin Burg, are not quite photographs, and not quite video. They straddle a line somewhere in between. For more information, check out this article, and see the site where they originated. Some very cool stuff!

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

Thanks!

It’s not quite a video | A Cinemagraph | It’s not quite a Photograph

A few Tips and Tricks | To make your shots come alive | Blur, Blacks, and Film Grain…

In this tutorial, we look at a shot from a recent video game trailer I created. We take a look at some of the compositing techniques I used to make the pixel art look like it’s part of the filmed plate.

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

Thanks!

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 Eyeon Fusion 6 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 want to see the same tutorial, but using After Effects CS5, check out this tutorial here:
http://vfxhaiku.com/2010/08/stabilization-and-object-removal-with-after-effects-cs5/

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.

Camera Disturbance | Not a Rhythmic Displacement | Shake is more Random

In this tutorial, we take a look at how to create realisitc looking camera shake. Rather than using the stock Camera Shake node, we create our own custom shake using a transform and the shake modifier on various properties.

In this 45 minute tutorial, we take a look at a final shot for the Open Cut 3.0 Challenge created with Fusion 5.3, and look at every tool involved in putting this shot together.

Compositing Love… | Every Single Node Explained | Details are the Key…

Here’s some links to topics and plugins that are refered to in this tutorial: