Posts in Category Post Production

+++ Where is the "ON" button?!?
10 March 2014, Author: Pierre,
Category: Post Production

I have watched many movies in my life and am a big Sci-Fi fan. I must admit though, that I never really wondered “How did they do that??” - I just immersed myself in the show and willingly suspended my disbelief! So.. when, a few years ago, I was approached and offered a position in VFX (although at that time, we did not know enough to call it that – it was more the “Make it look pretty” department, I said to myself ... ”Self!, ... how hard can this be?”

If time-travel becomes a reality (and I am not saying that it isn’t yet) the first thing I will do is go back to that young whipper-snapper and give him a smack around the ear! Post production is by far the most challenging, complicated, brain-bending and yet incredibly wonderful position I have ever been in (exploding server room included).

My first few weeks were taken up with online research and getting to know the basics of the software – although, thinking back, I believe I spent most of that time searching for the ever-elusive “One-Click-Key” button. I stumbled upon the Adobe Forums, CreativeCow.net, VideoCoPilot.net, Mamoworld.com and a whole host of After Effects gurus – and the journey began ...

Very rarely have I been in contact with a group of strangers that are as helpful as the Adobe bunch. From giving tips on how to do specific effects to giving advice on specific shots, these guys form a “Team” I am very happy to know. The level of tutorials available from sites such as VideoCoPilot.net, CreativeCow.net and Mamoworld.com are incredible, and the fact that the people presenting the tutorials are so friendly, funny and easy to relate to, make the journey to understanding After Effects an absolute blast.

Looking back at my experience so far, the first piece of advice I would like to impart to our readers and anyone new to VFX (Especially using After Effects) is this – “Jump in freely, but keep both eyes open” - Start with the basics, read, watch, listen to everything you can get your hands on and be prepared to start the journey of a lifetime!

Test Scene created with the help of a VideoCoPilot tutorial:



Pierre

+++ Life, the Universe and Alieons
28 February 2014, Author: Pierre,
Category: Post Production

Having been an I.T. Professional for many years, it was quite a scary move to become a VFX supervisor. Working in a server environment certainly toughens you up, so grabbing the bull by the horns seemed the best thing to do. Laying my hands on After Effects for the first time was quite an experience. sLearning all about compositing, layers, key-frames and all the other terminology was at the same time extremely fun, and rather nerve-wrecking. Now, a few years down the line, I can't imagine a day without compositing.

We use a mixture of live sets and characters, with VFX added in post through Adobe After Effects to bring it all to life. We had some challenges at first with lighting and shooting the characters, as working with miniatures has its own inherent challenges, but hard work and hours on the forums saved the day.

Looking back on the last two and a half years all I can say is this:
What a journey this has been, Flares, Lip-Synching and camera-tracking ... and life is too short to name layers!

Pierre