Very thorough and professional tutorial. Excellent - no details missed. If people can't get a good result following these instructions, there's truly no hope for them.
Very, very, very well done. I'm an instant subscriber. I can not say enough good things about your videos this is the second one I've watched. Awesome, very detailed, very well thought out, very good step by step instructions. You have one of the best channels on youtube in the FX community easily hands down.
why the long lens? so the model looks far away? depth of field issues with a wide angle (meaning the fore of the model is in focus while the back of the model is blurry)? I've seen professionals use wide angle lenses specifically to make the model look larger, like the beauty shots of the Enterprise in Star Trek the motion picture, and the stretched perspective can do that nicely
This brings me back to the behind the scenes footage of STAR WARS and there use of models. Excellent quality video, as always vary professional and keep me coming! Cheers
Dude, this is AWESOME! thank you so much for putting these tutorials on youtube! Do you think that you could do a video on how to make realistic blood hits?
Hi there - weve actually had that request a few times. It will get added to our list of things to cover.... but it might be quite far down the line in the future. Thanks for commenting!
I can't help but feel unnatural with the blades, perhaps a more painstakingly way to make them natural is to blow a high speed wind through the model blades then add them in on the correct spots. Probably not worth the effort in a full length indie film but if you're going for quality it might be worth it.
Your video is the only one on youtube that had realistic looking blades with motion blur. That video I'm talking about is years old, then one day you made another video showing an even better version with the promise of a tutorial soon, finally, after almost 3 months of waiting there's a tutorial, thanks.
a roughly 5:00 you don't need to carefully mask out the whole edge if your heli is goin' to be in one part of the frame (e.g. you don't need to carefully mask out the right hand side if heli will rise to the top-left hand side)
Subscribed! Seriously though, I can't thank you enough for this little miniseries. I'm no master of 3D animating, but there is so little on RU-vid about working with real, physical models. Hats off to you good sir.
@akaREPTILIAN - no, Im not implying that at all. Most VFX in films are entirely computer generated. There are some that still make use of miniatures and then enhance or add to these shots using digital techniques.
Are you implying that most FX production actually uses real models, and then somehow incorporate into 3ds max and animate it? I thought they build the 3d model from scratch.
+IndependentVFX Thanks for the tutorial! Would it be a similar process to do this with a plane? I want to do a Dr.Strangelove type effect like they did with the B-52s Thanks!
Great video :-) Can i do this with a spaceship model and space backdrop. Should i then try to do the shooting in front of a green screen with daylight or indoors? i am a newbie and wanted to try your example first before going on to space but since my short movie i am aiming to shoot, will contain many different miniature effects, including this one, since Star Wars and nearly every good one has them. It saves costs aswell. Would be great to know where to get more infos on the subject to really know about lighting, shadows, scale and compositing it together, perhaps even forced pespective and what other tricks are involved, like a dolly and different camera techniques- Sorry for so many different questions but i hope i can get some answers, even over private message :-)
+mark jon Davies To do a spaceship miniature, it might even be better to shoot against black (depending on what you need to put in the background). But you might be able to do a 100% in-camera effect. I would recommend you check out the work of the Skotak Brothers www.4wardproductions.com they did some amazing miniatures work on the ALIENS film. I woudl also recommend getting the special edition box set for ALIENS and watching all the miniatures featurettes on there.
shooting on a longer lens helps the colour key because you see less of the "chroma" background, or a smaller section of your blue or green screen. This means that there is less colour variation when it comes to keying. A wider lens would see a larger portion of the chroma background and would capture more variation and makes keying more difficult if your chroma background isnt perfectly even. I hope that makes sense
Thanks so much for your feedback! Yes, I agree getting realism out of a digital 3D model takes a LOT of crafting and setup time. A scale model can really help you get the basic parts of the image together and then you can enhance and do the rest with digital techniques. Downside is miniatures dont always give you the animation flexibility you want... requires very careful planning for each shot.
Hi David... no course availabel yet, but please check out the rest of my channel and share it with people in your circles. The goal is to turn the channel into a more regular full time activity, so the more support I can get the sooner that can happen! Thanks for the kind words
Thanks Robert, and thanks for the great suggestion on set extensions with miniatures. I must admit - I am no expert on miniatures, but that would be a great technique to try out. Im always blown away by the miniature work and set extensions that were done on the James Cameron "Aliens" film back in the 80s. Truly inspirational stuff - and I hope those techniques dont get lost in this current age of digital film making.
Absolutely brilliant tutorial, i loved it! Really great work IndependentVFX, im really glad you put so much time and effort into making such a clear tutorial. One thing though, I think it might be better to do the matte painting in Photoshop, its much more precise than just masking in After Effects and there are a lot of handy tools to get the image extracted nicely. But yeah, thank you for the awesome tutorial, ill be subscribing :)
Absolutely LOVE your tutorial style!! Everything you need to know is explained, yet you manage to keep everything simple in a way that the info can be absorbed. I've been messing with using 3D Computer generated models in live footage, but was not very pleased with the results. There was also the issue of having to learn how to use a 3D package as well!! Will definitely be looking forward to the other tutorial stages!
Excellent tutorial. Very clear, concise and to the point. This type of tutorial structure should be noted for all new tutorials. With the number of tutes on the net, how come there are very few that are this good?
SCOTT NEWMAN: My new personal filmmaking hero-! Thank you to the Nnnth Degree for sharing your know-how in order for the regular folk to create visual 'moments' ... and it is said moments that people are striving to be part of in their cinema experiences. The proverbial 'water that you've put back into the well' is serenely appreciated, amigo. Keep at it and keep dreaming at 30fps. What you're doing MATTERS for many generations to come ... BRAVO-! D.A. (a fellow filmmaker)
+IndependentVFX Thanks, Scott ..! I'm a commercial director of over 600 spots & a produced screenwriter ... and seeing your outstanding work reminds me of the many times I went to the old ILM when working for 20th Century-Fox and later, worked for Douglas Trumbull in my mid-20's as an assistant editor on an in-house 'SHOWSCAN' piece in the 1980's. In short, I've been in the business my whole working life ... and seeing your realizations in old & new techniques is ever so energizing. I still sing out a hearty BRAVO-! for your work and contributions. It matters -- keep at it. D.A.
Nor was either war ... but -- wait, Afghanistan has a $1 TRILLION MOTHERLOAD of raw Lithium & Gold ... www.mining.com/1-trillion-motherlode-of-lithium-and-gold-discovered-in-afghanistan/ ... and don't forget the Poppy Fields (Heroin) that our own U.S. MARINES are GUARDING for their betters. (FYI: 90% of the world's Heroin comes from Afghanistan. Go figure.) www.corbettreport.com/exciting-investment-opportunity-in-afghanistan-record-returns-expected/ Then of course, in IRAQ -- free oil for the Big Oil / Bankers ... www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2005775/Iraq-demands-return-17bn-missing-oil-money-stolen-US-2003-invasion.html So, forgive the comment in this outstanding effects tutorial -- but it ALWAYS comes down to MONEY. Period. Through thousands of years. What one rich man can steal from another rich man and get away with it. How-? WAR, baby. Always WAR. D.A.
Great choice of topic. Most people don't realize how often practical models and miniatures are still actually used in the production of VFX still today. This video outlines just how relevant they still are. It also makes it clear how accessible it is to the small indie film maker. Would love to see you make a tutorial on matching a miniature for a set extension. Keep up the great work.
Thanks DarkDigitalFilms, thats a good suggestion. The reason I like to do it inside After Effects is for flexibility - one can make changes in a comp and immediately see how it looks in another comp. But perhaps Photoshop would offer more precise and organic options. Thanks again!
