Tuesday, January 31, 2012
For the semester, I've decided to take a different approach than where I was going in the first half of this class. I'm exploring the capabilities of After Effects with effects on footage. I've always been interested in how certain special effects are done. The effects on footage can look pretty cheap if one doesn't take their time. One of the main elements one would use in After Effects would be motion tracking. I think that's probably one of the most important things when it comes to footage. At this point, I'm not sure where I will be going with my larger projects, but I'm very excited to get started on more effects.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
3D Motion Tracking
Today im watching tutorials that i found last week for motion tracking in 3D.
So this process took a lot longer than i thought, and there are limitations to after effects with this technique. I wasn't able to motion track and rotate the text at the same time (which is what i was most interested in). There is a way to rotate and motion track the 3D text in After Effects, but it gets ridiculously complicated because the 3D text isn't one object - it's about 40 layers of the same text layed on top of one another and all synced together. So today was a learning experience. I probably wont use the second half of this process (the motion tracking), but learning how to make my text 3D in after effects was useful so im going to try some more things with that. I just couldn't figure out how to cast the shadow.
For homework:
Record shots for a small motion tracked project.
Import, edit, track, and prepare a presentation to show the class.
So this process took a lot longer than i thought, and there are limitations to after effects with this technique. I wasn't able to motion track and rotate the text at the same time (which is what i was most interested in). There is a way to rotate and motion track the 3D text in After Effects, but it gets ridiculously complicated because the 3D text isn't one object - it's about 40 layers of the same text layed on top of one another and all synced together. So today was a learning experience. I probably wont use the second half of this process (the motion tracking), but learning how to make my text 3D in after effects was useful so im going to try some more things with that. I just couldn't figure out how to cast the shadow.
For homework:
Record shots for a small motion tracked project.
Import, edit, track, and prepare a presentation to show the class.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Motion Tracking Practice
Today I had a little practice with motion tracking. I have the hang of it pretty well now. The most important part is making sure that the item being tracked is trackable. This was a lot of fun. I will be shooting some footage tomorrow for practicing 3D motion tracking on thursday.
My next step is coming up with a cool idea for using these techniques.
My next step is coming up with a cool idea for using these techniques.
Monday, January 23, 2012
What I will be working on
January 24
1. Motion Tracking
Practice this technique in class. viewing tutorials. complete two or three test files.
I did some practice with motion tracking last semester. I don't think I completely had it working correctly so, I thought this was a good place to start since most video effects in after effects require some kind of motion tracking.
Jan 25-26
2. 3D Motion Tracking
film test shots and complete two test files
allowfullscreen>
Week 2
3. Matte Painting
Week 3-4
Create short project combining the Motion tracking and Matte painting
Week 5
4. Cinematic Color Correction
I downloaded about 8 color correction settings for after effects. Not sure how to install and use them yet but this tool will come in handy.
5. Advanced Depth of Field
1. Motion Tracking
Practice this technique in class. viewing tutorials. complete two or three test files.
I did some practice with motion tracking last semester. I don't think I completely had it working correctly so, I thought this was a good place to start since most video effects in after effects require some kind of motion tracking.
Jan 25-26
2. 3D Motion Tracking
film test shots and complete two test files
allowfullscreen>
Week 2
3. Matte Painting
Week 3-4
Create short project combining the Motion tracking and Matte painting
Week 5
4. Cinematic Color Correction
I downloaded about 8 color correction settings for after effects. Not sure how to install and use them yet but this tool will come in handy.
5. Advanced Depth of Field
Let's get started!
Starting with a review
Since I just went through the first half of this class last semester, most of Adobe After Effects CS5 is still fresh in my mind. So basically, I want to pick up where I left off and learn a bit more about 3D layers. There's a lot more in the area of effects that I have not explored. I did some research and here are a few things that I would like to try my hand at mastering. I would also like to use after effects to try some effects with video. I did one small asignment with video last semester ( it dealt with motiion tracking and what-not). This is something i really want to revisit because im more fascinated with the cinema aspect of AE right now. So I want to take everything that I learned last semester and crank it up a few notches to include video rather than just animation. However, I do have a nice animation idean in mind for my final project.
My favorite site at the moment is videocopilot with Andrew Kramer. He has the most detailed tutorials (however LONG).
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/magic_tracking/
3D Light Casting
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/3d_light_casting/
MATTE PAINTING
im especially interested in this video because i've always wanted to know how to do this
honestly there are so many things i want to try, I don't even know where to start. I dont have any particular large projects in mind for these effects; I simply want to know as much as possible about these effects. But i think i may start with some simple 3D work as a review.
Since I just went through the first half of this class last semester, most of Adobe After Effects CS5 is still fresh in my mind. So basically, I want to pick up where I left off and learn a bit more about 3D layers. There's a lot more in the area of effects that I have not explored. I did some research and here are a few things that I would like to try my hand at mastering. I would also like to use after effects to try some effects with video. I did one small asignment with video last semester ( it dealt with motiion tracking and what-not). This is something i really want to revisit because im more fascinated with the cinema aspect of AE right now. So I want to take everything that I learned last semester and crank it up a few notches to include video rather than just animation. However, I do have a nice animation idean in mind for my final project.
My favorite site at the moment is videocopilot with Andrew Kramer. He has the most detailed tutorials (however LONG).
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/magic_tracking/
3D Light Casting
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/3d_light_casting/
MATTE PAINTING
im especially interested in this video because i've always wanted to know how to do this
honestly there are so many things i want to try, I don't even know where to start. I dont have any particular large projects in mind for these effects; I simply want to know as much as possible about these effects. But i think i may start with some simple 3D work as a review.
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