» Posts Tagged ‘visualeffects’
Compositing is often a time-consuming process, but software can help do a lot of the work for you, especially tracking. Unfortunately, when a scene is particularly difficult and you’re adding in parts from other takes and things are moving, it can be very hard to make things look seamless. That’s where Disney’s new DuctTake software comes in. They have developed a way to seamlessly composite elements of multiple takes into a single video automatically. See the software in action in the video below. More »
From Microscopic to Cosmic: The Fittingly Organic VFX of 'The Fountain' & 'The Tree of Life'
Other than their deep meditation on mortality — and the associated motif of a sacred source of life — Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain (2006) and Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011) couldn’t be more different. That is, aside from the way in which the films achieve much of their strikingly beautiful cosmic imagery. In an era of filmmaking in which CGI and space-bound science fiction are far from strangers, these two films opt for a more naturalistic alternative — such as macrophotography and high-speed microscopy — to visualize their explorations of life in the universe. What could be more appropriate effects for films so occupied with the organic? Click through for some details on how VFX allowed the microscopic to ‘double’ for the cosmos. More »
Extended Behind the Scenes & the Sound Design of the Sony F65-Shot Sci-Fi Film 'Oblivion'
Oblivion, the new film starring Tom Cruise and shot on the Sony F65 by Claudio Miranda (with some RED EPIC for one of their practical effects), has only just launched into theaters, but we’ve got a tremendous amount of behind the scenes material already available online. The director, Joseph Kosinski, who was also at the helm for Tron: Legacy, wanted to use as many practical effects as possible for the film, and it certainly shows in many of the clips and videos available online. Check out the extensive BTS as well as an in-depth look at the sound design for the film courtesy of Michael Coleman and SoundWorks Collection. More »
'Before VFX' Blog Gives Us a Glimpse of Blockbuster Movies Without the Visual Effects
If you’ve ever heard someone play an electric guitar totally unplugged, tasted raw cookie dough, or planted a seed, you know the feeling. There is potential there, but something is clearly missing. This is the exact feeling you get scrolling through the Tumblr blog ‘Before VFX.’ The title just about says it all, along with its brief self-description: “Blockbuster movies without visual effects.” The core or basic element of a shot is there, for certain, but in each case, it’s obvious there’s plenty of additional magic and ingredients that must go into the shot before it can be called complete. Check out a few examples from Before VFX below. More »
How ILM Built a Digital NYC for Marvel's 'Avengers' (Just to Blow It Up with VFX)
ILM has been at the cutting edge of visual effects in cinema since George Lucas founded it back in 1975. Constructing some of Hollywood’s most memorable moments is an impressive feat, so it’s only natural that Joss Whedon and company tapped the FX house for the much-anticipated The Avengers. Marvel’s recent efforts in film (Iron Man, Thor) built quite the lead-up for Avengers to deliver upon, and needless to say, the film brought the spectacle in spades. Check below to see how ILM built a massive digital ‘stunt’ version of New York City, just to rough a whole bunch of it up — plus some more from ILM on other VFX in The Avengers. More »
Is the First 'Instant' 3D Modeling and Motion Capture Camera the Future of CG Animation?
In creating computer generated imagery, reference photographs of real-life objects may assist modeling, texturing, and animating a 3D object. In animation, this practice translates into something called motion capture, or ‘performance capture’ when facial expressions are the focus (see: Avatar). Fixed reference points on an object or surface help artists recreate something virtually, but Microsoft XBox 360′s Kinect technology is actually able to recognize shape and motion on its own, turning you into a full-body video game controller in real-time. The new Lynx A Camera looks to take this a step further. Meet the world’s first ‘point-and-shoot’ camera that can model and capture the geometry, texture, and motion of anything you aim it at, right before your eyes. More »
Another DIY Bullet-Time GoPro Rig (This One's Handheld!)
We recently featured several practical but effective techniques for creating the (by now) famous Matrix-esque ‘bullet-time’ effect — accomplished, in more than one case, by using an evenly spaced array of GoPros and some post-processing elbow grease. Clearly, the availability and portability of such cameras is catching on beyond conventional ‘action cam’ uses, and inspiring creatives of nearly any budget to create shots only A-budget Hollywood productions used to be able to pull off. GoPros make sense for such arrays, because they are forgivingly frameable (and decently affordable as far as rentals go). Now, another project has demonstrated what’s possible with these simple but adaptable cameras — in this case, built into a rig that can also be handheld. More »
How to Make Your Own Portable DIY Bullet Time Rig
When you hear the term “bullet time,” you probably can’t help but think of The Matrix. And if you’ve taken a gander at the behind the scenes footage from that film or similar productions, then you know that’s it’s an effect usually done in large warehouse studios, with a multitude of cameras on a huge rig, and run by a sizable crew, which all adds up to being quite expensive. Even renting a bullet time rig will more than likely be cost prohibitive, but with some elbow grease you can put together your own portable rig at a more indie friendly price: More »
Get 40% Off All Red Giant Software for the Next 24 Hours
They hinted at it when they introduced their new short Tempo, but Red Giant (thanks RED for always making me want to capitalize anytime I see the word red) is now offering a giant sale (couldn’t help myself) on all of their products. Each and every piece of software in the store is now 40% off for the next day or so (less than 24 hours as of this writing). Click through to check out the details and some of the major deals. More »
It may seem so obvious that it generally skips the mind, but the shape of the frame is one of the most basic qualities governing visuals. Traditionally speaking, we’re locked into this pretty successful sort of rectangular thing (no complaints), with some variability brought to us by the likes of format spec limits and the option of shooting anamorphic. Rarely do we have a reason to even want to break out of this box — but as visual creators, the power to do so is there should we require it. The yearly Fête des Lumières (or Festival of Lights) in Lyon, France has recently provided one such opportunity for a group of art Masters students — given that their animation would be projected on the side of a building, they chose quite the interesting shape for the frame of their vibrant and charming CG short. More »
Time Warp as a Weapon in Red Giant Short 'Tempo,' Plus a Super Secret Sale (Soon)
No one’s doubting the impact that time-play can have in motion pictures. This, you’d think, would generally refer to things like time-lapse or slow-motion — but what if some scientific breakthrough could invoke slow-motion upon real life objects, like some kind of time-warp weapon? Post-plugin powerhouse Red Giant has just released an original sci-fi/action short called Tempo that explores this possibility, and then some. It’s exciting whenever a hard-concept type of film sets its premise, proceeds to meet each and every hopeful expectation you might have given that premise, and then goes even further than you could hope for. This is the case with Tempo — check it out below. (Also, a Secret Sale soon-to-be… Shh, secret!) More »
The cinema of 4K is happening. And why not? I always say, the sooner we hit the ceiling of detail resolvable by the human eye on a display of x size at y distance, the better, right? Storage and hardware are getting cheaper and more powerful by the moment, acquisition options are already in place (and expanding), 4K home media is on the horizon — and with all this comes more and more tools for producing content at that level. Mike Gentilini, founder of multi-faceted video resource VidMuze, has recently brought one such offering to the 4K table — in this case, aimed at those heavy visual effects creators and enthusiasts. If you don’t have the budget to stage and shoot Michael Bay-style eye-poppery, war scenes, or any other combustible sort of excitement, you’ll want to give VidMuze’s Damage Pack a look. More »
Elijah Wood's Bio-Mechanical Arm in Flying Lotus 'Tiny Tortures' Music Video, Plus VFX Breakdown
Elijah Wood must be best known for his starring role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and less so for some of his darker work (Sin City, Eternal Sunshine, and my personal favorite alien-takeover teen-angst movie, The Faculty). His work in FX’sWilfred rounds it all out, proving that he’s an artist capable of a wide range of roles, in pieces of any tone. Recently, experimental electronic/hip-hop artist Flying Lotus released a music video for his new album Until the Quiet Comes featuring a special effects-amputated Mr. Wood — as well as a found-item prosthetic arm that engenders itself around him. Read on to check out the video as well as an effects breakdown posted by director David Lewandowski. More »
We live in a world, or very close to it, where our every moment can be documented and archived for future posterity. When you go to a show, long gone are the days when a sea of lighters would be held aloft, now you can be sure that the band will instead be captured from every conceivable angle and uploaded so you don’t miss a thing. Francois Ferracci’s melancholic short Lost Memories questions what we might be missing in the now, while we’re obsessively preserving the moment for the future: More »
It’s possible that you may not have seen The Dark Knight Rises, but since most of the world saw it, I won’t feel too bad about spoiling this little bit of the film (especially since it was also in the trailer): Bane blows up a football field. Obviously destroying a football stadium would be out of the question (though they did implode a real hospital in the second film, The Dark Knight), so the final shot could only be completed with some CGI. Christopher Nolan always prefers to do as much in-camera as possible, and this scene was really no different, as it blended both practical effects and CGI together. Here’s visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin as he explains how they accomplished one of the bigger effects in the franchise’s history: More »
Aliens, Spaceships, and Google Earth: a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the VFX of 'Prometheus'
Even if you haven’t yet caught one of this past year’s most hyped science fiction films, you’re probably still somewhat familiar (thanks to nearly inescapable tv spots) with the stark visual presence found in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (just released on Blu-ray). Scott’s no stranger to vividly-realized landscapes, and after a brief (ahem, 30 year) hiatus from the realm of sci-fi, he’s once again brought us that flavor of striking imagery — but not without the help of some seriously special effects teams. More »
With the advancement of computer generated animation, many effects are no longer done on set where safety and cost are priorities (though it seems CGI ends up costing just as much, if not more). I personally have always been a fan of real effects, and it’s one of the reasons a movie like Star Wars, made back in the late 70s, still looks as good as it does today. A recent example is the practical effects used in the movie The Fountain, where organic fluid effects were filmed on a microscopic level to help make the film feel timeless. A new PBS Digital show created by Joe Schenkenberg (also known as Joey Shanks) gives some practical examples of visual effects that anyone can create at home on a budget. More »
Pre-Sales Have Begun for the Kessler CineDrive, an All-In-One Motion Control System
If you’ve ever wondered how moving timelapse, complicated visual effects, and stop motion animation are executed, more often than not the filmmakers are using a motion control system of some kind. Usually these systems have been prohibitively expensive at the higher-end, but we’re now starting to get more affordable options that are just as fully featured. Kessler, who is well-known for their sliders, has now moved up to a fully electronic motion control head called the CineDrive. Check out the walk-through video below. More »
Timelapses Just Got Easier: DitoGear Announces the OmniHead and LensDrive
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itoGear, maker of the OmniSlider, already has a following among “Timelapsers” and visual effects folks, but now they’ve cemented that following with the addition of a motion control head and lens motor: the OmniHead and LensDrive. If you haven’t already seen it before, here’s the OmniSlider in action: More »
Amidst folks judging the authenticity of Natalie Portman’s ballet form in the outstanding Super 16mm/DSLR-shot Black Swan, it turns out that even some of the head-to-toe shots of Natalie dancing were in fact performed by professional dancer Sarah Lane. If the mark of good CGI is for the audience not to notice it, Darren Aronofsky’s gritty, grainy feature is a prime example of good visual effects. Watching the behind-the-scenes video, I’m sure you’ll see a lot of elements that you didn’t perceive as CGI: More »
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