Motion Graphics & Animation and Special Effects Compositing @afterfxme-blog - Tumblr Blog

Motion my Name

Final submission for DIG271

Motion my name

Here is my name in motion thus far. I used a the puppet warp tool to stretch the crystal branches into position behind each letter. I then changed the text to editable text layers that i could reposition behind the crystal in mid-flight so it appears like they are part of the crystal branches. It was not exactly how i wanted to achieve the outcome but i was able to make it work.

It has had some colour treatment as the original is more a green colour and i wanted to use the blue or perhaps a blue black typography and the green didn't seem to work. I have include the original crystal which has been sliced into 10 or 11 layers. Overall i am really happy with the typography style which has been kerned slightly.

Original Crystal

Reference:

Peggy_Marco. (2013). snow-snowflake-flake-cold-snowfall [Image]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/snow-snowflake-flake-cold-snowfall-1015504/

#dig271 motionmyname

Dripping Text Tutorial

I found this tutorial i am hopeful of using to achieve the melting snowflake into text.

Reference:

Lowery, Owen. 2014. AE Drippingshapetext. Vimeo video. https://vimeo.com/89797444.

#DIG271 #motionmyname

Storyboard 1 B&W & 2 Colour

I am thinking on top of these layers could be a light snowfall and maybe some flashes of ski images as the flake dismantles. These would be quick but help tell the story. Another special effect as the text finishes might be helpful.

Storyboard 1 B&W background

Background out of focus as snow crystal zooms into focus.

Individual snow crystal layers disintegrate and melt into individual letters.

Lower case text is formed from melting crystal and image comes into focus. To finish it the text might have a small wiggle to it.

Alternate text lower case comes on the screen. To finish it the text might have a small wiggle to it.

Storyboard 2 colour background

Background out of focus as snow crystal zooms into focus.

Individual snow crystal layers disintegrate and melt into individual letters.

Lower case text is formed from melting crystal and image comes into focus. To finish it the text might have a small wiggle to it.

Alternate text lower case comes on the screen. To finish it the text might have a small wiggle to it.

References:

Peggy_Marco. (2013). snow-snowflake-flake-cold-snowfall. Image. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/snow-snowflake-flake-cold-snowfall-1015504/

Morrison Ian. (2013). Fannies finish Mt Buller. Image

#DIG271 #MotionGraphics #MotiontheName

Motion elements

These are elements i’m considering using for ‘motion my name.’

#DIG271 motionmyname

The plan

One last thing i found helpful was the plan. In the end though it was hard to keep an eye on while trying to finish production. My plan can be viewed through the included link. Everything completed is in blue and to my surprise only one list item i never got the chance to explore and review more was lighting.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XrT7Te7V0tunoBiqjVumWeat8xPGUKH5PPFHVSy7JbA/edit?usp=sharing

#dig120 #planning

The dud

The dud result

Overall I am proud of the result but there are some things I am disappointed in; the final render is not as crisp or as smooth as I would like and the crashing on render caused some changes to be made that effected some of the keylight results.

In the scene where he picks up the box I had to change the keylight to stop it from crashing but it came out okay in my final submission. I did redo this scene and fixed the moment when he picks up the box under the snow, but the keylight issue ruined any chance of using that particular render which i have included here.

Take a peek.

Look for the green showing through.

#dud

Conquer VFX Breakdown

The VFX breakdown was quite difficult to do. I was following Jarrads lecture on how to piece it together only to find after two days I had nothing to show. I could not get the text layers to mask with the images slides. I thought this was a confusing lecture but one of the only ones that caused me pain.

While I know some did not like the lecture I found most of them invaluable, they have a totally different feel and way than tutorials found on Lynda.com.

In the end, I had to fake it until I made it. Trial and error that eventually led to this production and while not perfect I think it illustrates some of the work I undertook.

It doesn’t however do the production justice as there is so much more like key frames and small effects that at that point in time of the last frame that you build upon are almost impossible to show in the breakdown.

What I love about the breakdown, not mine, but the concept is its ability to allow you to learn how VFXs are applied to scenes or moment in time and without them I would not have been able to achieve the outcome I have.

I have learnt so much doing this unit and although not perfect I think I can say that I have AE skills.

Some of the errors in the breakdown come from the early trouble I had but in the end I just had to produce something.

A couple of things I have learnt about myself during the unit is that I am durable with a reasonable level of patients and a great ability to persevere. If you are a student reading this, I hope your experience was as rewarding and you finished the unit with a new skill and confidence that lets you know you can achieve against the odds because I am sure there are plenty of us who entered this unit with trepidation when opening After Effects for the first time.

Cheers

So you can see the two together i have included i Conquer video

References:

Graphics

Porembiński, Kamil 2013. Tatra Mountains. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paszczak000/11357576676/in/photolist-dY8EKq-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9saryu-9o7R7j-eSRqPj-9iAjXj-te2T7f-uQwWLU-8JXZRg-7wX48Y-BuPdUS-gmqr7E-sgKVMj-6r481h-de4nDY-8FHsyZ-5fgocE-8dEbt3-dgbKja-cKLZqS-aESXM9-fqNGGK-aqzHtE-23v2p7-6kosBu-btpvcq-5aZgxW-nWCGGR-agpcaU-dofs6N-8mKxvq-7mWdSw-fDX5eA-5qQej4.

Scortegagna, Douglas. 2014. Mountain. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/douglucas/16447691210/in/photolist-r4qHyW-7n5hF3-6T6pTG-p3qaEk-m9Xjjc-acoPwx-xG5Zov-ai2Q6U-rBKqz4-2NkrCc-yJVjVY-xFZij1-aDSmPz-kBTGu-NB7jy-oY9bNu-4V8Nu8-436vzP-s8tSPh-mRaAK-dCboQ-raz8Xe-xzABC-zKiq7G-xhEHdo-e3AdyA-8t9uRd-rNrxz2-r7P5FT-p6uRF6-sk48u3-qEDnvN-9t55yq-dtJ8at-r5KSK6-4vFqea-5RvHNd-dTouxf-dGQt34-wY1iYk-w1wYPp-8MHsFb-qi8zR6-y8krpF-x2zjMJ-cjiR5y-a9nq86-fLEXVC-6Yfycn-5EJVfJ

Smith, Andrew. 2014a. Annapurna South. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_annemarie/13575226843/in/photolist-mFAzZe-mE4ZCM-mE6QMr-p4264S-p434wk-mE9LCM-9oT6uS-9Hi9sG-X5dWd-HjiqA-mEb2RH-2hCoAV-bgPBCz-x7g4qM-65qy9y-66kBnH-66pLmj-65UEBD-66pSwy-66k6Sf-66pR2d-65Qhww-65ieXP-oPERwQ-q5B9oK-4NsdYJ-pkuigG-pjWFci-mEf83q-mEdrBc-mDV6E3-65zCES-65QjzL-64QTr4-4QsDuk-93JyW5-pjWxtT-phqrpq-4Nsb3m-e2CBQH-2hBHAx-9EUkRm-da92GW-pjWMgT-Ha9fK-mE8tYD-mFH7Fc-HjFeM-4NsbLq-4NsbJ1.

Smith, Andrew 2014b. Sunrise over Macchupucchre. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_annemarie/13558552464/in/photolist-mE88gW-66k4Ko-93a6ri-mEaS3H-p1cPUS-rcHvB3-fodK3c-fot1jd-mE4Aax-6mUKcb-p3JDw1-pjszuM-mFAzZe-mE4ZCM-mE6QMr-p4264S-p434wk-mE9LCM-9oT6uS-9Hi9sG-X5dWd-HjiqA-mEb2RH-2hCoAV-bgPBCz-x7g4qM-65qy9y-66kBnH-66pLmj-65UEBD-66pSwy-66k6Sf-66pR2d-65Qhww-65ieXP-oPERwQ-q5B9oK-4NsdYJ-pkuigG-pjWFci-mEf83q-mEdrBc-mDV6E3-65zCES-65QjzL-64QTr4-4QsDuk-93JyW5-pjWxtT-phqrpq.

Unsplash. 2015a. Mountain-Peak-Summit-Altitude-Top. Image. https://pixabay.com/en/mountain-peak-summit-altitude-top-690104/.

———. 2015b. Winter-Snow-Mountains-Sky-Clouds. Image. https://pixabay.com/en/winter-snow-mountains-sky-clouds-690741/.

———. 2015. Snowboarder-Snowboarding-Snowboard. Image. https://pixabay.com/en/snowboarder-snowboarding-snowboard-690779/.

Valcker. 2013. Thamserku Mountain (6608) as Seen from Namche Bazaar. Image.https://www.flickr.com/photos/valcker/14236853241/in/photolist-nG4AsV-p1sLv1-8v21ua-8YheiM-B4VJgF-dSZsiy-BS2Z1N-i7rZpU-oiuQ7e-7bV9FR-7n3fG1-BwSCh5-fUESpD-mnBRr4-xofv18-oE2gNp-3N6EM-7Qhdtp-nCkkxU-86u9U5-sy4Jfh-SWcEn-iJfHAy-9PxVUQ-s5Q93U-qd2WAL-a9ndV4-hLnvRU-A7BZNz-g5kh23-a1jnLp-9PUb3C-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9o7R7j.

Woelber, Paxson. 2007. Walking Below Crow Peak. Chugach Mountains, Alaska. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paxson_woelber/5434552264/in/photolist-9hev3Y-bWi7hZ-ajaSvk-fmuXkJ-paFE3T-8t9vPJ-6nRt9s-fVcjSS-aC4cWU-5xg7y5-48jeAi-6C65PN-65HgGu-dvEpm8-egccbo-8v1ZKp-dMK1eG-a1DkRh-4iqGvH-fwJGHm-BbtGNi-5x49vL-3JmMJ6-mNkJ8s-fg61Rg-pT5YV4-9GqW3C-a1n4he-eUeLc7-61mkbv-7B5zC5-HQf9p-4mi1Xx-699MfH-dPZ9u2-aEP81z-5is1k3-aF368K-5x3Vz7-aw4n3o-qmydWc-6dWhqJ-6ZSaMd-FFDJH-i1GWi8-bJbAZB-rgg8p1-oaa6ef-9p5maJ-bHpp4r.

Woelber, Paxson 2011. The Summit of Flattop. Chugach Mountains, Alaska. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paxson_woelber/5644945827/in/photolist-9APPJc-9APQtZ-9gshCv-9gw4FB-9hbkji-9heqNq-9gsygH-9hbkAr-9hev3Y-9gM2ym-9gsHj8-aFHXr2-6zVKNg-64h855-pfhzTc-qFUErS-2dXYE8-e9PRjY-9gsFBr-6fitnp-6WNr5a-s7ipbm-yg9QT2-bA9Eo4-e5gHhY-ogvPnb-qzenEz-8jM8ZV-BczJG-8jQjJu-8jMaSi-nwi9ox-8qm9BX-8jQnBC-wJ6cFV-qpPW3j-4Pp3ix-4PmVtm-8qm9Ft-3Kyo1y-yg2Yb3-zaJ4NA-9gsfFx-9gsCte-yVrx7q-rNMD64-4Pp4fR-4Pp4KX-usonz-usjhW.

Young, Dave 2011. First Snow on the Mountain. Image.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcysurfer/5501152930/in/photolist-dY8EKq-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9saryu-9o7R7j-eSRqPj-9iAjXj-te2T7f-uQwWLU-8JXZRg-7wX48Y-BuPdUS-gmqr7E-sgKVMj-6r481h-de4nDY-8FHsyZ-5fgocE-8dEbt3-dgbKja-cKLZqS-aESXM9-fqNGGK-aqzHtE-23v2p7-6kosBu-btpvcq-5aZgxW-nWCGGR-agpcaU-dofs6N-8mKxvq-7mWdSw-fDX5eA-5qQej4/

Sounds

Bosk1. 2012. Wind Howling. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/Bosk1/sounds/144083/.

iujhu. 2015. Snow Footsteps. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/iujhu/sounds/269865/.

Karstenholymoly. 2013. The Thunderstorm. Audio file http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Karstenholymoly/41792.

numar. 2011. 7 Thump. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/numar/sounds/118401/.

Owens, Erin 2006. Wind. Audio file http://www.flashkit.com/soundfx/Nature/Wind/wind-Erin_Owe-8719/index.php.

UncleSigmund. 2007. Breath.Wav. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/UncleSigmund/sounds/30709/.

Special thanks to the following people:

Climber - James Henry Traeger

Film assistant, equipment and space - Ian, Susan and Melissa Traeger

#vfx #vfx breakdown

Final submission

Some Reflection part 5 of 6

My experience of unit DIG120 was a rewarding one.

It was like an adventure really, the assignments challenging on numerous fronts but also fun.

A big personal challenge for me was to understand some of the AE basics, this I think was because I do have some Photoshop experience but the two packages could not be further apart. I was not prepared for the vastness, unique processes or shear power the AE software affords nor the issues encountered along the way.

A key issue for me was continual crashing of the software which initially I thought was shear processing power but after days of watching and learning where the software crashed and under what conditions it enabled me to establish it was more about the tolerance of certain elements within the package that caused the problems.

My project had a lot of green screen filming that necessitated the use of keylight that crashed at least 200 times during the weeks leading up to the final assignment. One reason for this I believe was discovered by shear observation. I noticed a small flicker in the screen during and around the time of the crashes.

On further analysis, I found that some of my settings were out of tolerance mainly due to a lack of understanding of the package. I found by rekeying the effected footage and reducing some of the tolerance I was able to stop the crashing but this also changed the complexion of my render which can be clearly seen in the sample 'dud'. It also had an effect on the VFX breakdown but it did correct the issue of crashing which enabled me to get a production out.

I think given another opportunity I could vastly improve on my efforts here.

Another cause was the use of adaptive resolution in the preview settings of the comp window. When set to adaptive my project would crash but when this was turn off or set to fast preview the crash vanished.

Many other crashes occurred during final render which affected the smoothness of the final output and even my last attempt has some of these staggering playback issues but with no time left I cannot eradicate them entirely. I get the feeling I also missed something about smooth rendering in the unit material but could not find a reference in my files and folders.

One thing i learned was to use the ‘about’ menu item, you can see at any particular point in time how much RAM you are using which helped detect and locate offending scenes.

Another key discovery was my poor arrangement of files, this I mainly put down to the crashing making sure I had every base covered but I can’t help but think this also caused many issues let alone the impact on efficiency and something I can take away for next time. basically i had to many files that were not needed.

I learned that the art of filming and setting up a studio regardless of planning has many unintended pitfalls that can affect the final production. One issue for me as mentioned in an earlier post was the lack of space.

This can be found in scene two of my project where I have used a fade in fade out of three different shots to give the illusion of movement over time. It is an effect I remember seeing in the opening scenes of the film ‘The Bourne Legacy.’ Overall it is quite effective and I was able to solve a problem but being a little creative.

The use of AE lighting effects was also something that I could not get my head around and something that I need to keep working on if I am to get better. Conversely one of my favourite scenes is the final 3D text. I did not break this down but possibly should have although I expect the complexity to be obvious. Just creating the text itself was an achievement, it required AE lighting so the third dimension became visible.

Dropping the text into the scene required a number of key frames and the use of white solid masks and CC Scatterize over time to complete the effect.

To make the scene better the use of the sound effect ‘thump’ makes it more realistic and helps to suspend the fact it’s not real, quite obviously. I also was really happy to be able to bury the bottom of the letter ‘Y’ in the snow. I used a mask of a snowboard photo to help that along.

It is amazing that 2D images can be used to create a 30 second video scene that is somewhat interesting.

One of the keys to my submission is the soundtrack and soundFX. I am really happy with my choice of soundtrack and effects, wind, breathing and footsteps. The music I believe sets the right mood for the production and the sound effects really add some impact.On reflection without the sound my submission would be pretty boring.

I think I have created a good story although the length is slightly over, 34 seconds long if you remove references and introduction.

When i think about the unit i realise it would have been a great unit to take solo without other units getting in the way. This would have given more time to really explore its potential. I believe strongly students should be made aware of how intensive this unit is the work load is quite heavy for a level 1 unit and although it did not affect me personally because I was happy to do it I think the impact of time others was substantial and quite unexpected.

I should express however the amount of work is certainly required and the value of the early unit material such as the heavy analysis I feel without it I would not have been able to get the result I did.

It gave me clear idea’s that translated to my animatic and then to my surprise I was able to replicate that into the final production quite closely. In the end I am really happy with the result as a first time user of AE and my first VFX unit.

Final submission - Conquer

Take a peek.

References:

Graphics

Unsplash. 2015a. Mountain-Peak-Summit-Altitude-Top. Image. https://pixabay.com/en/mountain-peak-summit-altitude-top-690104/.

———. 2015b. Winter-Snow-Mountains-Sky-Clouds. Image. https://pixabay.com/en/winter-snow-mountains-sky-clouds-690741/.

———. 2015. Snowboarder-Snowboarding-Snowboard. Image. https://pixabay.com/en/snowboarder-snowboarding-snowboard-690779/.

Valcker. 2013. Thamserku Mountain (6608) as Seen from Namche Bazaar. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/valcker/14236853241/in/photolist-nG4AsV-p1sLv1-8v21ua-8YheiM-B4VJgF-dSZsiy-BS2Z1N-i7rZpU-oiuQ7e-7bV9FR-7n3fG1-BwSCh5-fUESpD-mnBRr4-xofv18-oE2gNp-3N6EM-7Qhdtp-nCkkxU-86u9U5-sy4Jfh-SWcEn-iJfHAy-9PxVUQ-s5Q93U-qd2WAL-a9ndV4-hLnvRU-A7BZNz-g5kh23-a1jnLp-9PUb3C-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9o7R7j.

Young, Dave 2011. First Snow on the Mountain. Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcysurfer/5501152930/in/photolist-dY8EKq-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9saryu-9o7R7j-eSRqPj-9iAjXj-te2T7f-uQwWLU-8JXZRg-7wX48Y-BuPdUS-gmqr7E-sgKVMj-6r481h-de4nDY-8FHsyZ-5fgocE-8dEbt3-dgbKja-cKLZqS-aESXM9-fqNGGK-aqzHtE-23v2p7-6kosBu-btpvcq-5aZgxW-nWCGGR-agpcaU-dofs6N-8mKxvq-7mWdSw-fDX5eA-5qQej4/

Sounds

Bosk1. 2012. Wind Howling. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/Bosk1/sounds/144083/.

iujhu. 2015. Snow Footsteps. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/iujhu/sounds/269865/.

Karstenholymoly. 2013. The Thunderstorm. Audio file http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Karstenholymoly/41792.

numar. 2011. 7 Thump. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/numar/sounds/118401/.

Owens, Erin 2006. Wind. Audio file http://www.flashkit.com/soundfx/Nature/Wind/wind-Erin_Owe-8719/index.php.

UncleSigmund. 2007. Breath.Wav. Audio file http://www.freesound.org/people/UncleSigmund/sounds/30709/.

Special thanks to:

Climber - James Henry Traeger

Film assistant, equipment and space - Ian, Susan and Melissa Traeger

#dig120 #final result

Scene 4 exhaustion

Scene 5 assumed discovery

In scene 5 there is no subject movement however using the tutorial i trialled for the 3D text layer i was able to create snow accumulation on the subjects boots and pants.

To create this effect i used a white solid expanded over time each solid had the pixel feathered to a large degree basically making the white solid invisible. At the other end of the timeline the mask was expanded to its final position and the feather reduced making the mask more opaque to produce the build up effect.

To accentuate it i rotated the foreground snow layer to an angle so it appears like the snow is wind effected which will suit the sound effects planned for the final project construction.

Overall i actually like this scene and fits well with my animatic produced for assignment 2. The matte is a combination of more mountain layers and although there is a distinct blue filter i have decide to leave the color effects until i piece all the scene compositions together.

Heath, J. Robert. 2013. Silvretta Mountains, Austria. Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/67769979@N06/17869114222/in/photolist-dY8EKq-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9saryu-9o7R7j-eSRqPj-9iAjXj-te2T7f-uQwWLU-8JXZRg-7wX48Y-BuPdUS-gmqr7E-sgKVMj-6r481h-de4nDY-8FHsyZ-5fgocE-8dEbt3-dgbKja-cKLZqS-aESXM9-fqNGGK-aqzHtE-23v2p7-6kosBu-btpvcq-5aZgxW-nWCGGR-agpcaU-dofs6N-8mKxvq-7mWdSw-fDX5eA-5qQej4.

Porembiński, Kamil 2013. Tatra Mountains. Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/paszczak000/11357576676/in/photolist-dY8EKq-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9saryu-9o7R7j-eSRqPj-9iAjXj-te2T7f-uQwWLU-8JXZRg-7wX48Y-BuPdUS-gmqr7E-sgKVMj-6r481h-de4nDY-8FHsyZ-5fgocE-8dEbt3-dgbKja-cKLZqS-aESXM9-fqNGGK-aqzHtE-23v2p7-6kosBu-btpvcq-5aZgxW-nWCGGR-agpcaU-dofs6N-8mKxvq-7mWdSw-fDX5eA-5qQej4.

Smith, Andrew 2014. Sunrise over Macchupucchre.Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_annemarie/13558552464/in/photolist-mE88gW-66k4Ko-93a6ri-mEaS3H-p1cPUS-rcHvB3-fodK3c-fot1jd-mE4Aax-6mUKcb-p3JDw1-pjszuM-mFAzZe-mE4ZCM-mE6QMr-p4264S-p434wk-mE9LCM-9oT6uS-9Hi9sG-X5dWd-HjiqA-mEb2RH-2hCoAV-bgPBCz-x7g4qM-65qy9y-66kBnH-66pLmj-65UEBD-66pSwy-66k6Sf-66pR2d-65Qhww-65ieXP-oPERwQ-q5B9oK-4NsdYJ-pkuigG-pjWFci-mEf83q-mEdrBc-mDV6E3-65zCES-65QjzL-64QTr4-4QsDuk-93JyW5-pjWxtT-phqrpq.

Unsplash. 2015a. Mountain-Peak-Summit-Altitude-Top. Image https://pixabay.com/en/mountain-peak-summit-altitude-top-690104/.

———. 2015b. Winter-Snow-Mountains-Sky-Clouds. Image https://pixabay.com/en/winter-snow-mountains-sky-clouds-690741/.

Woelber, Paxson 2011. The Summit of Flattop. Chugach Mountains, Alaska. Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/paxson_woelber/5644945827/in/photolist-9APPJc-9APQtZ-9gshCv-9gw4FB-9hbkji-9heqNq-9gsygH-9hbkAr-9hev3Y-9gM2ym-9gsHj8-aFHXr2-6zVKNg-64h855-pfhzTc-qFUErS-2dXYE8-e9PRjY-9gsFBr-6fitnp-6WNr5a-s7ipbm-yg9QT2-bA9Eo4-e5gHhY-ogvPnb-qzenEz-8jM8ZV-BczJG-8jQjJu-8jMaSi-nwi9ox-8qm9BX-8jQnBC-wJ6cFV-qpPW3j-4Pp3ix-4PmVtm-8qm9Ft-3Kyo1y-yg2Yb3-zaJ4NA-9gsfFx-9gsCte-yVrx7q-rNMD64-4Pp4fR-4Pp4KX-usonz-usjhW.

#dig120 #visual test

Development & Reflection

Scene 4 exhaustion

This scene took a bit longer and although not totally finished it does replicate my animatic. I have however fallen a little behind as the scenes are taking longer to create.

I’m not sure if this is because i am trying too hard or if it is a lack of experience in getting the job done. I think i am actually spending too much time per scene but what is too much time who would really know.

The subject was filmed indoors on green screen and keyed using keylight 1.2 and placed on several mountain layers. To create the matte i used a similar process to my opening sequence to build a 2.5D environment. Using 3D layers and a 35mm camera i created a fly through that zooms forward into the next scene.

I had an enormous amount of trouble colour grading and in fact i am nowhere near finished but just had to move on. If you look closely you can see a blue green tint in the rock over the subjects right shoulder. At first i thought it would not be too difficult to neutralize but my lack of experience with AE really came to the fore and i was unable at this stage to achieve my goal.

The layers themselves were created and imported from Photoshop. I chose this method because the mask in AE with my limited knowledge appears not as accurate and i just seemed to be spending way too much time getting an unsatisfactory result.

As with the other scenes i have multiple snow layers on black solids at different depths. I have experimented with changing the angle of the snow so it can replicate the wind which i am yet to include but it does have a strong sound which would mean the snow should be more horizontal. In the next scene below you can see further results of this approach.

Smith, Andrew 2014. Sunrise over Macchupucchre. Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_annemarie/13558552464/in/photolist-mE88gW-66k4Ko-93a6ri-mEaS3H-p1cPUS-rcHvB3-fodK3c-fot1jd-mE4Aax-6mUKcb-p3JDw1-pjszuM-mFAzZe-mE4ZCM-mE6QMr-p4264S-p434wk-mE9LCM-9oT6uS-9Hi9sG-X5dWd-HjiqA-mEb2RH-2hCoAV-bgPBCz-x7g4qM-65qy9y-66kBnH-66pLmj-65UEBD-66pSwy-66k6Sf-66pR2d-65Qhww-65ieXP-oPERwQ-q5B9oK-4NsdYJ-pkuigG-pjWFci-mEf83q-mEdrBc-mDV6E3-65zCES-65QjzL-64QTr4-4QsDuk-93JyW5-pjWxtT-phqrpq.

Valcker. 2013. Thamserku Mountain (6608) as Seen from Namche Bazaar. Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/valcker/14236853241/in/photolist-nG4AsV-p1sLv1-8v21ua-8YheiM-B4VJgF-dSZsiy-BS2Z1N-i7rZpU-oiuQ7e-7bV9FR-7n3fG1-BwSCh5-fUESpD-mnBRr4-xofv18-oE2gNp-3N6EM-7Qhdtp-nCkkxU-86u9U5-sy4Jfh-SWcEn-iJfHAy-9PxVUQ-s5Q93U-qd2WAL-a9ndV4-hLnvRU-A7BZNz-g5kh23-a1jnLp-9PUb3C-ogDztp-hJ3mBb-djCqm-qifnLv-e7dAeG-9gzcds-iiCxRw-pY68Mt-cSFajq-8hYDeX-aEMmx3-pCbsNk-xq5Wdn-9s7swM-31Q2Nv-e3uCxg-b7mE44-9o7R7j.

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Development & Reflection

Scene 2 - The climb

This is my attempt at scene 2 of my project.

The first thing that posed a problem which i alluded in my last post was the time frame. For this scene in my project i allowed 3.5 seconds, so to get from one end of the frame to the other the raw footage was way too long so i came up with the idea of showing the subject a t various positions in the frame to simulate moving forward into the distance.

The middle of the scene where the subject is edging along with hand raised to cover his face from the snow i change to a 3D layer so i could rotate it differently. I'm sure this is not the correct way but it seemed to work for me.

The shot has 3 separate pieces of green screen footage. This action was to overcome the problem of not having enough distance in the initial scene that allowed for enough footsteps with the subject in frame. So basically each shot has only a few steps.

To create the scene i keyed the 3 subject pieces of footage but had trouble with a bug in keylight so the process took far more time than i anticipated other than that this process went reasonably well.

I made a matte of three mountain images masked to enhance the look of the drop away and included two snow layers on black solids set to screen, one in the foreground and other layered between it and the final layer in the sequence.

If you you closely you can identify two rates of fall that give it a more realistic effect, I also rotated one black solid layer to change the angle of the falling snow.

There are two white solid mask layers treated to show foot marks, which are basically undetectable if you didn't know they were there, these appear in the first few seconds and remain for the entire scene.

On the shoulders and hood of the jacket i have used the same effects treated slightly differently. These were then tracked to the subjects movement attached to a null object and then connected using the pick whip so the jacket snow would follow the movement of the shoulders and hood, they were then faded by reducing the opacity to match the the fading subject.

There is no colour correction or grading added to the scene as yet. Overall i am reasonably happy with the result particularly overcoming shortcomings of the footage to achieve what essentially is my animatic scene 2.

This scene was initially to be 3.5 seconds but i have extended it by 13 frames to 4 seconds overall.

#dig120 #visual test

Green screen filming

This weekend i finally did some filming for my project and as much as it was fun it was also hard work and filled with many challenges some that were overcome and others not. So here i am to baring my soul and my mistakes.

Space was a big hurdle mainly not having enough room to film the shot adequately.

I film on the upper floor at a friends place and at one point standing on the roof outside the window to get enough roof on the shot was necessary, talk about suffering for your craft.

Another issue was the green screen itself, it had many wrinkles that were hard to stretch out. There was a lot of improvisation, lighting height was an issue not enough lights, not enough light, to much light, too many shadows. It went on and on.

It really showed the art of creating an environment suitable to get a great result was difficult to achieve.

In this image below some of the equipment leaking into frame was moved or covered in green material.

One of the hardest things i found was getting the footage at the right pace, in the end i had more footage that will have to be cut. In some ways i think it is better to have to much footage than not enough but on the other hand i cant help think of how inefficient the process was either. I put this down to a lack of experience and clearly i had little idea of what i was doing.

Here is one piece of green screen footage shot that has uneven light and really didn't work although keying out is still okay. I guess in the end i did as best i could with definite limitations and will just have to work with what i shot and somehow turn it into a masterpiece.

The footage was also shot at 1080 which although higher quality was a mistake in hindsight. I guess i just didn't know enough about the equipment i was using and lost my way a little in the end.

#dig120 greenscreen

afterfxme-blog

Compositing test update.

Chroma Key

This is my first Chroma key test. This test is relevant to own project as the removal and keying of the subject will be vital to its success.

In this test i used two existing assets downloaded from YouTube, the flag and soldier. I then keyed out the background using the tutorial suggested by Jarrad Gittos and replaced it with a back plate of little Mt Buller. I duplicated this layer and placed it on top then masked out the top portion. I then positioned the flag in between these layers hiding the bottom of the flag pole.

Systems, Green Screen. 2009. Green Screen Keying with after Effects by Andrew Kramer. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQphUOZGZCc.

I then created a new camera and null object and plotted a path attaching the data to the keyed out layer using the pickwik and getting the soldier to move from one location to the other. I even managed to make him bob down, this is an interesting effect having to shape the path of the null a bit like the bottom of the letter J, which made him appear to rise up at the beginning of the clip and bob and stand up again at the end.

I would liked to have motion in the grass to match the flag movement but it was not a priority in the time frame i had. Overall i learnt quite a bit from this simple exercise and my navigation of After Effects is improving.

To understand the null object a little more i used the following tutorial. I found this helpful because unlike some of the lynda tutorials it was practical and contained in a single video and not chapters.

I also used this tutorial as a basis for some of the movement in my animatic which although rudimentary it provided some valuable experimentation and learning through trial and error.

Lastly i made some colour changes to wash out the flag a little which is obvious. in a later version this has been improved but not upload to YouTube.

Dudeinadrama. 2009. Camera Pan and Zoom with Null Object: After Effects Tutorial. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP9LyCYhv-w.

Asset references:

CMStudios. 2012. Free Green Screen Footage. http://cmssix.com/free-green-screen-videos/green-screen-australian-flag/.

Green Screen #4. 2015. http://www.mediafire.com/download/nxtd2sg9i5gyirj/green+screen+%234.zip.

Morrison, Ian 2012. Little Mt Buller. Image file

afterfxme-blog

Further to this green screen test i discovered some slight halo effect that i was able to feather out. I think this was due to the colour of the soldiers clothing, khaki. I was able to clip that out almost like a feather and get a reasonably clean edge.

The flag was relatively straight forward and the edge was clean but these opposites made me realise the importance of both having a good grees screen back ground and contrast in the subject reaffirming my planned decision to use black clothing on my subject against the green screen background.

While there is a bit of rotoscoping in my project i am quite confident due to the high contrasting colour that I will not encounter too many problems although not taking this for granted either.

3D text visual test

Once the matte was made i could start the process of creating a new text composition to add to my pre-comp final matte. This was very time consuming and tested on screen literally over 100 times. What i wanted to do was get the snow under the text to shift as it landed and perhaps use the same process to accumulate the snow on the lettering.

It was really hard to find any tutorials at all n this process and after looking for almost two weeks i posted to the tutor forum on DB where Andrew Taylor came up with something that might work with trial and error hence the 100+ times.

So you can get a feel for what i am trying to achieve here is one of my attempts which i was quite pleased about. As you will see the snow shift on landing with the timing a little off, the color caused by lighting errors is also obvious and as mentioned in another post lighting is something i am really having trouble with.

To get this far i adapted the tutor response trialling multiple masks on white solids expanding and contracting over time and various effects such as turbulent and fractal noise also applied over time.

Here is the basic tutorial i used and adapted to get some of the results posted here.

1. Create a solid and give it a name like 'snow'

2. Set the colour to white

3. Create a lumpy, organic looking mask shape

4. Set a keyframe for the mask shape and a second keyframe further down the timeline and change the shape of the mask to make it morph or expand over time.

5. Apply a Turbulent Noise effect and crank up the contrast so that you have pure black and white patches

6. Change the complexity and evolution as much as you want and set 2 keyframes for each property

7. Add a 'Roughen Edges' effect and experiment with the properties until you cannot see a distinct mask outline

8. Add a bit of Gaussian Blur to finish it off.

9. Set the Layer mode to Screen to make the black transparent.

10. To create a drop shadow, you won;t be able to use the default layer effect as it will take on the whole mask shape so make a pre-comp of the snow solid, duplicate it, place it underneath the original and set the layer mode to multiply.

11. Last of all, use the Invert effect on the duplicated layer and nuge it down a bit in order for it to display correctly.

Taylor, Andrew. 2015. Accumulating Snow, January 17, Andrew Taylor, Discussion Board.

This is another version with more impact on the snow.

In this test i wanted to see how i was going to fit the entire text from my animatic and while i only have one effect on one piece of the text naturally it is planned to have effects applied to both.

What i struggled with here was the positioning of the text and lighting which is obvious in all these test pieces. I could not get the lighting right at all and will have to undertake further tutorials as mentioned in my planning document to get the lighting right.

I also need to play with the text position, including the letting scale and individual height and kerning of the letter to perhaps achieve a better result.

The final test was to pull the text forward in the shot and and apply a similar approach to the snow breaking underneath it. I was looking here for a different angle with heavier effect which i think i managed to achieve although the timing is slightly off.

This is one of the final testing pieces in a progression that lasted days and from the very first attempts which were totally disastrous. I do intent to keep experimenting with this effect hopefully to apply it to give an accumulation on the top of the text itself. If i can make this work then i might be able to apply it to my subject in the final assignment.

This particular effort has has 3 masked white solid applied, both ends and the middle of the text have been used so the effect is moving in opposite directions so they overlap and enhance the look. Again the lighting was problematic and the adjustment layer was used more strongly to darken the scene.

#dig120 #visual testing #visual test

Final scene matte

Before i could put the 3D text into the scene i had to create it. This matte is a combination of 4 images, some duplicated and masked to create the look i wanted which is somewhat close to the final scene in my animatic.

Each layer has its own snow layer at varying degrees of snow rate, depth, flake size etc. found in CCsnowfall. There was also an adjustment layer to color grade down so it looked a bit wintry and dark but i had to remove the layer as the scene was jumping around after uploading but looked fine on my screen. This begs the question as to why this would be? if anyone can answer it please that would be great. Ahaha helps if you replay in HD.

Images used to create the scene

Woelber, Paxson. 2007. Walking Below Crow Peak. Chugach Mountains, Alaska.Image. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paxson_woelber/5434552264/in/photolist-9hev3Y-bWi7hZ-ajaSvk-fmuXkJ-paFE3T-8t9vPJ-6nRt9s-fVcjSS-aC4cWU-5xg7y5-48jeAi-6C65PN-65HgGu-dvEpm8-egccbo-8v1ZKp-dMK1eG-a1DkRh-4iqGvH-fwJGHm-BbtGNi-5x49vL-3JmMJ6-mNkJ8s-fg61Rg-pT5YV4-9GqW3C-a1n4he-eUeLc7-61mkbv-7B5zC5-HQf9p-4mi1Xx-699MfH-dPZ9u2-aEP81z-5is1k3-aF368K-5x3Vz7-aw4n3o-qmydWc-6dWhqJ-6ZSaMd-FFDJH-i1GWi8-bJbAZB-rgg8p1-oaa6ef-9p5maJ-bHpp4r.

Scortegagna, Douglas. 2014. Mountain. Image https://www.flickr.com/photos/douglucas/16447691210/in/photolist-r4qHyW-7n5hF3-6T6pTG-p3qaEk-m9Xjjc-acoPwx-xG5Zov-ai2Q6U-rBKqz4-2NkrCc-yJVjVY-xFZij1-aDSmPz-kBTGu-NB7jy-oY9bNu-4V8Nu8-436vzP-s8tSPh-mRaAK-dCboQ-raz8Xe-xzABC-zKiq7G-xhEHdo-e3AdyA-8t9uRd-rNrxz2-r7P5FT-p6uRF6-sk48u3-qEDnvN-9t55yq-dtJ8at-r5KSK6-4vFqea-5RvHNd-dTouxf-dGQt34-wY1iYk-w1wYPp-8MHsFb-qi8zR6-y8krpF-x2zjMJ-cjiR5y-a9nq86-fLEXVC-6Yfycn-5EJVfJ.

Text test

Geocache final scene text V1

This is my first attempt at 3D text and the beginning of a process for the final scene of my project. This looked fairly straight forward but i found using the lighting extremely confusing.

As i write this i am totally perplexed at how to accurately position of the lighting. What i found was even subtle movements and i would lose all lighting on the text. You can see from this first attempt one side is very dark and the other not much better. At times the composite view was totally black and the other views such as top and side were not helping me at all.

I had similar problems with the camera and null object during my animatic experiment. I compare using some of the tools in AE like using the pen tool in Photoshop for the first time. It took my forever to get that worked out only to find even the pen tool in AE is slightly different also.

I was able to animate the text by using key frames and the blue colour is from the spot light i used.

To create the text i used the following tutorial which was fairly good i thought.

RiverCityGraphix. 2012. After Effects Tutorial: Cs6 New 3d Text Extrusion Hd. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDcyA3uJcVQ.

#dig120 #visual test

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