VFX Show Reel Summer 2013 Breakdown

        This video created by Stian Halvorsen is a great example of compositing and a few other really cool effects. To create the avalanche the artist imported the 3D solving and tracking points into Houdini to create the geometry of the mountain. Stian then added a birth particle simulation to give the avalanche the moving effect. Additional layers of particles were then added to give the avalanche detail, the final rendering was done in Mantra. Nuke was used for the compositing and after all said and done it took a total of 8 weeks to complete the final project. The second project featured was the Oscar which  has an intricate feather explosion produced by using Houdini to create the feathers. After this the artist used a particle system to simulate the feathers to fly and roto shaped the person in Nuke and then projected it in Houdini. This project was also not a small feat and thus took a total of 7 weeks to complete. The second to last project was composited in Nuke, altered in Photoshop and also was created in Realflow and Maya. Although thats all the information that I could gather about this specific grouping of projects I am owerwhelmed with attention to detail and the overall appearance of the artists work. Additionally it is inspiring to see an artist use so many different applications and programs in sync to get one final product.

Stian Halvorsen - VFX Show Reel Summer 2013 from Stian Halvorsen on Vimeo.

EXIT 73 Studios: Coin

     Recently I was scrolling along our blog page and stumbled upon the link to the site Motionographer. I found a short little animation called "Coin" created by a small animation and motion graphics company in James-port, NY that specializes in animation production and graphic design. "Coin" was directed and animated by Chris Burns with music, sound design and composition by Bob Fox. "Coin" is a 2D 8-bit animation that plays homage to games from the past. The animation takes the viewer on  a nostalgic journey through many environments such as underwater and outer space that include references to many of the games in our early childhood which inevitably faded out due to better technology. While only a team of two EXIT 73 Studios stands tall among its peers with its precise animation, overwhelming creativity and lastly experience to keep the company moving in the right direction. Chris Burns has been an animator for over 10 years working for prestigious clients such as Disney, Fox, Adult Swim, Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon. Additionally Bob Fox partner of Burns has worked for such clients as Disney, Nickelodeon, MTV and IFC. Enjoy as "Coin" takes you through some of the most memorable video games of all time.

Exit 73 Studios

                 


A few other examples of EXIT 73 Studios notable works:

                  

                    

E*Trade Baby

This past weekend I was in NYC interviewing for a couple animation/motion graphics internships for the upcoming summer. I interviewed at Click 3X (http://www.click3x.com/), this really cool entertainment company who do the graphics for the Superbowl, the Geico pig commercials and the E*Trade Baby. I got a tour of their studio and office which was really awesome. They have this massive Flame compositing suite with these mega computers for fast rendering.

I really love the E*Trade commercials. I learned they were made by filming babies on green screens and filming older children who read the script. The lips of the older children were composited onto the babies which was then supplemented by the voice actors audio track. A pretty crazy process that produced an almost seamless result.

Incredible Camera...

The camera shown in this video is incredible. Ramesh Raskar and a team of MIT students/professors developed a new camera that can record at a trillion frames per second. Some of the ramifications for this technology are shown, like advancements in medical technologies to help with invasive surgeries, firemen in rescuing survivors from a building. I believe that there are numerous possibilities not discussed in the video, particularly in a military setting. On the other hand us creative types could make some extremely cool motion graphics with this camera. I just wonder what someone could accomplish with a camera like this and creative intent. It is hard to describe exactly how powerful this new technology is, but I feel like the video really speaks for itself. I recommend everyone watches it; this camera could have a big impact on media in the near future!

Box Animation

So I was waiting to run my events at my track meet today, when someone on my team who has worked with motion graphics before was trying to help me think of a topic for my blog this week. Well, we went onto to vimeo and started looking at a handful of videos.

We came across this one video which I thought was pretty cool, and actually really simple to replicate with my basic knowledge of After Effects. He told me it was basically matchmoving and various compositing techniques. Apparently the boxes were hand painted and then scanned into the computer for use. I thought it was an interesting piece, because of its simplicity. Hopefully, if I get the chance I will have a chance to do something similar to this which takes a simple thing such as music and pairs it to the movement of random objects. So here it is and enjoy:




Also here is another short video made by the same exact artist Jordan Clarke, for the 2011 MMVA's. It was used for onstage screen between artist performances:

Encouraging Winter

This post runs along a very similar topic as Kyle Riether's post: Fun with Particles. He posted a tutorial using a particle system to create an actor's breath, making the scene look cold despite the fact that it was not. These tutorials below also deal with particles but we will learn how to actually make it snow in a scene. I also include a short, basic breakdown of a 3D composite using After Effects simulated snow. In my mind this fits together and is interesting because a project I am currently working with may be combining these elements.

I have posted two different methods of creating snow because the first one, though it achieves a much nicer result, requires an add-on for After Effects that not everyone will have. The second video will give the basics of creating the snow and I'm sure it could be manipulated using a 3D layer and a small amount of creativity to look much more realistic. The other useful tip that the second video has is a method of making the snow actually interact with the actor on screen. 

 


Unfortunately I was unable to embed the video for you, but here is the link to it; it is a fairly short tutorial: Particle Playground: Ice. This will give you an idea what the result looks like:

And now putting it together. The only aspect of the composite done outside of After Effects is the snow on the roof of the saloon, which was painted in Photoshop.

For further details on 3D compositing visit: Video Copilot, or Creative Cow, I know both of them has some superb tutorials on the subject.