Creating a Short Film: 09 VFX Environments

Learn how to create compelling visual effects for your short film. Get insider tips on how to make CG scenery, add or remove objects from shots, and more.

Introduction

• About this training series
• The Assurance
• Introduction to this course
• About the third-party plugins used
• Dealing with the exercise files

1. The World of VFX

• Understanding compositing
• An overview of creating computer-generated (CG) images
• Approximating believable realities
• Making things perfectly imperfect

2. Creating a Great Key

• Intro to keying: Keylight
• Intro to keying: Primatte
• Tips for pulling a great key
• Keying fine details
• Creating a luma key
• Keying impossible shots
• Getting perfect edges
• Painting the alpha channel

3. Motion Tracking and Other Core Skills

• Combining takes for the best performance
• Tracking in After Effects (AE)
• Tracking in Mocha
• Removing blemishes digitally
• Removing objects with After Effects, part 1
• Removing objects with After Effects, part 2
• Removing objects with Mocha Pro

4. Creating CG Worlds

• Making CG scenery
• An overview of VUE xStream
• Creating canyons in VUE xStream

5. Creating the Aerial Shot

• Creating a plan and shooting the footage
• Making the campfire elements
• Creating glowing embers
• Cleaning up the footage
• Combining the elements, part 1: Assembling
• Combining the elements, part 2: Compositing
• Making the smoke trail in Trapcode Particular
• Changing the time of day

6. Creating the Helmet Shot

• Why did we create this shot?
• Using normal maps on Golhatn's helmet
• Modeling the candlesticks
• Creating the melted candles
• Adding materials to the objects
• Lighting the scene
• Preparing the Cinema 4D file for AE compositing
• Creating flickering candlelight with Particular
• Adding depth of field in After Effects
• Enhancing the smoke in the scene
• Adjusting the mood by changing the color

7. Rotoscoping Out Characters

• Creating a strategy
• Finding or making a clean plate
• Rotoscoping out the characters
• Polishing the composite

8. Creating the Finale Scene

• Examining the plan for the scene
• Editing the VUE renders
• Creating matte paintings
• Art directing footage of clouds
• Understanding focal length and lens properties
• Compositing with smoke and fog
• Anatomy of shot 13
• Animating Golhatn in Cinema 4D and After Effects
• Animating subtle camera moves in post

9. Shooting Visual Effects (VFX) Shots

• Should you shoot VFX outdoors or indoors?
• Shooting an even green screen
• Using practical lights to supplement VFX
• Shooting with an awareness of post
• Using a VFX supervisor

Conclusion

• Getting better at visual effects
• Previewing the next course
• Final thoughts