Andrew Kramer over at VideoCopilot has released some HD footage of particles that he shot. This is physical particles, not particles generated in a program. He did a post on shooting real flour particles and later decided to release some of the footage he shot. This is a great free resource and it’s time to let the creativity fly! Thanks Andrew!
Famed Monty Python Terry Guilliam explains the process of cutout animation. I have no idea where this was shown originally, but it is entertaining and informative. This is a good explanation of the art that was very popular on Monty Python and has gotten a new life in the internet age with the likes of Flash animation and more.
Paths of Hate is an animated short film made by Damian Nenow of Platige Image. It tells the story of two World War II fighter pilots as they battle relentlessly in the skies. Platige Image is the same animation house that has previously brought us The Cathedral and Fallen Art. Here is the trailer.
I saw a glimpse of Paths of Hate from Autodesk’s 2011 animation show reel from Siggraph. The look was amazing! I had to know more! I looked around and found an interview and a video of a presentation done by Damian.
The presentation can be found at Autodesk’s Siggraph site and embedded below.
The information in the presentation is good. I wish I could find the tutorial he made about the clouds for the presentation somewhere. I did manage to find a version done by Eugene Mishibinijima based on his technique.
Cloud Tutorial from Eugene Mishibinijima on Vimeo.
Eugene uses VRay in his version of this cloud. I will try using the included rendering engines to get the same effect when I get the chance.
The clouds are real nice, but I am more interested in the planes and the rendering style used there. I will attempt to reproduce that look myself based on the information I have available and using the tools included with 3ds Max. Look for more on this in the future.
I found the imagery beautiful and haunting in it’s own way. This look would be perfect for something I have wanted to work on for quite some time, a fan film actually. I will share the fruits of my research here. First stop for me is trying to recreate the line work. I will be looking at the ink and paint material and also at Mental Ray contour shaders. Watch this blog for more.
This is an interesting video showing a stop motion animator at work. You can’t get too much of an idea how to do the same thing, but it does give a bit of an impression on how the process works. It is very time consuming and exacting work when done well. This looks very well done.
Tchaikovsky Timelapse from joe clarke on Vimeo.
This article at greyscalegorilla about learning from tutorials wonderfully echos my own thoughts on the subject and the reason I started my VideoCopilot tutorial series. I want to learn by doing, even if it’s repeating someone else’s project. I will also try and review and comment on other tutorials I find, like those by Tyson Ibele or from tuts+ network. I find it very useful to watch and listen to tutorials, but nothing compares to doing them. I have already learned the limitations of some techniques by trying to reproduce some of VideoCopilot’s tutorials on my own footage. So take the time to explore. Do be passive with your learning.
Just as I get started on my VideoCopilot tutorial series, Andrew Kramer releases another one. This one is quite packed with information. If you don’t keep up with Andrew Kramer and his stuff on VideoCopilot.net, you really should. He has made some incredible tutorials and is the one who got me started working in After Effects. He made me see that making a good looking movie was within my grasp. It was after trying one of his tutorials that I started looking for other materials and found the DV Rebel’s Guide and later Film Riot and so many more resources.
Anyway, back to the point. Andrew made an iPhone app and a movie to promote it. The app, and the movie, are called Demon Cam. This tutorial is the first in a series showing details of how some of the effects were made. There are lots of tips in here on color correction and keying. He also uses a 3d render to add a dimensional reveal of a person coming out of a portal. This is amazing stuff and a great boon to amateurs like myself who wish to make good looking movies. Thanks Andrew!
This is something I just HAVE to try out! The folks at Autodesk, the makers of 3ds Max and Maya, are working on an application that will build 3d models from a collection of photos. If this works well this can be an immense time saver for people making effects for films.
Imagine you have a prop you spent a lot of time and energy creating and you need to destroy it for your film. First, instead of modeling it, you can photograph it and have the model made for you. Then you can destroy it digitally and not risk loosing the original. I don’t know if that is possible with this tool, but I will find out. See the overview below.
So far, the public at large seems to be lukewarm to 3d and I tend to be in that same category. It is great when used well and can really detract from a movie when done poorly. I tend to think that 3d is in its infancy as an art and in time we will see some great things.
Most people who care to think about this stuff believe that 3d is only worthwhile when the film is shot in 3d or is 3d animated and thus 3d can be made pretty naturally. It seems we may be misinformed. Even the poster child for 3d, Avatar, includes shots that were converted from 2d to 3d. It seems that being originated in 3d might be less important that we thought.
This article at Effects Corner talks about the process of 3d conversion and makes the case for the technology, even showing that at times it is a better choice than 3d origination. This is a good read. Check it out!
This video shows a 20 minute history of the use if digital animation for films with an emphasis on characters. It’s a pretty good refresher of what has come before and where the state of the art lies today. If nothing else, this should be used as a list of movies to watch to see the evolution of digital technologies in movies.
a short history of CG characters in movies from lnrdshelby on Vimeo.
I can’t say for sure how I stumbled across this guy, but I watched a couple of his YouTube videos and think he is a valuable resource. The Frugal Filmmaker covers inexpensive ways to build tools for filmmaking. To me it seems like a video and blog version of the book Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking by Dan Rahmel and that’s not a bad thing. Check him out!