Assignment 2 - Combined

Title: Aftermath

We have filmed the video in the evening at around 3 - 7pm instead because we are worried that it will not look good or cannot really see our face if we film at night. Thus, we did some color corrections by adjusting the brightness & contrast, auto levels and creating a vignette. All of the scenes have different values for color correction because of the different lighting due to the sunlight.

Below are the links of the tutorial I have used.

1. Title Sequence:
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/smoke_screen/

2. Orbing/Teleporting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlhM-RY_y4Q

3. Force Field:
http://vimeo.com/6833954

• Explosion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6MrB-ltmxQ
  

4. Light Saber:
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/light_sabers_v2/

• Blue Fire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAUgxX6dHDo
  

5. Illuminating Light Painting:
http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/vfx/create-an-illuminating-light-painting-effect/

Assignment 2 - Individual Storyboard

Assignment 2 - Final Storyboard

There are some changes in the camera angles compared to the draft storyboard.

1. Environment: We have rotate the camera from left to right to film and introduce the environment.
2. Carol appearing: Full body view of carol appearing by ground burst jump to "surprise" the audience.
3. Zhen Hong appear: Long shot of zhen hong appearing because he is appearing through orbing and walking/moving forward.
4. Camera filming carol's foot and moving up to her head to give a "powerful" or "evil" look.
5. Same goes to Zhen Hong, to give a "powerful" look.
6. Extreme close up of carol's face to focus on her serious expression.
7. Extreme close up of zhen hong's face too, to focus on his serious expression.
8. Half shot of zhen hong and to also show the sky because he will be absorbing the lightning from the sky for powers.
9. Close up on Zhen hong's face in order to allow audience to pay attention to the eyes (with eye replacement effect)
10. Camera moves from left to right to show zhen hong's lightning attack towards carol.
11. [Continuous shot from previous] To show the lightning moving/attacking carol and carol dodges it
12. Same camera view as previous, showing Carol dodging and shooting a fire ball.
13. [Continuous shot from previous] Showing the fire ball reaching zhen hong and zhen hong defends with force field and fire ball explodes in front of him.
[Transition] So that it will not look so weird because of the sudden changing in camera angle/position.
14. Long shot of zhen hong attack carol with energy ball. Long shot because the camera will have to move/rotate to the right to show the energy ball travelling towards carol.
15. [Continuous shot from previous] Carol dodges the energy ball .
16. [Continuous shot from previous] Carol counter attacks with airbender. It is a continuous shot so that it will not look draggy but carol's fast reaction.
17. [Continuous shot from previous] Zhen hong is unstable due to carol's airbending.
[Transition] To slow down or give a pause so that the video will not be too busy because everything is continuous and quick.
18. Long shot of Zhen hong taking out his wand and lighting up as a light saber.
19. To film in a different view, we have decided that the camera will be back-facing zhenhong and showing him charge towards carol.
20. Long shot of zhen hong still charging and very near to carol. Carol then use hancock fly.
21. Close up of zhen hong to show his blur expression.
22. Camera positioned with Zhen hong on the right and quite a big empty part on the left to show/give more focus of carol landing there, behind zhenhong. And also, audience can see zhen hong's blur expression and also that he is looking for carol.
23. Camera nearer to carol to focus on her shooting a blade at zhen hong.
24. Close up on zhen hong's face with wound and healing of the wound.
25. Long shot and camera is nearer towards carol because she is squatting down while zhen hong is charging towards her once again.
26. Long shot showing both of them with carol's laser eyes and muzzle flash effect and zhen hong's protego shield while holding on his light saber. There are more spaces on the right so that audience will also notice the light saber that zhen hong is holding.
27. Half shot of zhen hong's protego shield fading out, light saber's light also fades out and he took it up, pointing towards carol. Nearer view so that audience can clearly see the protego shield effect.
28. Side view and half shot Zhen hong swinging his wand and shooting an energy ball. This can show the audience, the direction he is aiming.
29. Another camera view of the energy ball travelling or shooting out from his wand.
30. Front view of carol cloning or double image and explode after being hit by the energy ball. It will look better if carol clone out to the side.
31. Half shot of zhen hong looking proud and the camera is filmed with more space on the right so that the audience will know that something is going to happen there.
[Transition] It will look better if a transition is used and carol appearing later on.
32. Same camera angle as the previous and showing carol appearing from the back. Because this is a half shot, we can clearly see carol's facial expression too.

Assignment 2 - Illuminating Light Painting

This is a tricky effect to do because I do not have the "Particular" effect and if I use a trial version, there will probably have a watermark or X mark which will not look nice. Thus, I have used the CC Particle Systems II effect and I tried to create a similar effect/look. I am quite satisfied with the result and it looks like Zhen Hong (the actor) is casting a spell as the light is following the wand/pen that he is swinging.

The Particular effect and CC Particle Systems II effect have different effects control. From the tutorial, I have to parent the "Position XY" to the null object(finger track) which was not found in the effects control for CC Particle Systems II so instead, I have parent the "Position" to the null object.

For the position of the null object(finger track), I have dragged/shift all the keyframes forward by 1 frame because the light did not really follow the finger but appears after the finger have move to the next position.

I have changed the displacement of the turbulent displace effect to "Turbulent smooth" instead of "Turbulent" (from the tutorial). This is because the CC Particle Systems II effect does not show the effect/line smooth like the Particulars effect.

Displacement: Turbulent

Displacement: Turbulent Smooth (what I have used)

I was also once stuck when creating the glow for quite long but after that I found out that the visibility of the black solid at the bottom was not on. So the black solid is actually connected to all the other layers and if I turn the visibility off, I will not be able to see the particle effect.

Tutorial link: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/vfx/create-an-illuminating-light-painting-effect/

Steps (what I did):
1. Layer> New> Solid.
2. Go to Effect> Simulation> CC Particle Systems II.
3. Layer> New> Null Object.
4. Alt + click on position, delete away the expression.
5. Click and drag the circle or parenting icon and drag it to the "position"(hit "p" to reveal it) of the null object.
6. Set keyframe by clicking on the stopwatch beside "position" of the null object (finger track).
7. Re-position the null object so that the edge of the null object follows the finger (frame by frame).
8. In the effects control,

• Gravity to "0"
• Velocity to "0"
• Longevity to "0.3"
• Change the birth rate to "1000"
• Radius X and Radius Y to "0.1"
• Size variation to "20%"
• Birth size and death size to "0.1"
  
• opacity to "25"
  

To create glow:
9. Duplicate "finger track" layer select it with the "particles" layer and pre-compose.
10. Go to layer> new> solid to create a new solid layer (choose black color), place the layer at the bottom.
11. Create a new adjustment layer, Layer> New> Adjustment Layer.
12. Apply fast blur effect for the adjustment layer (Effect> Blur & Sharpen> Fast Blur) and set the bluriness to "5".
13. Change layer mode to "screen".
14. Duplicate for 3 more adjustment layers and change bluriness of:

• 2nd layer to "20"
• 3rd layer to "40"
• 4th layer to "200"

15. Go back to main composition.
16. For the lightswirl pre-comp, change mode to "add".
17. Hit "T" to reveal opacity and change it to "80".

18. Go back to pre-comp.
19. Select particles layer, apply turbulent displace effect.
20. Change displacement to "Turbulent smooth" and reduce the size, amount to about "30".
21. Select the particles layer, hit "T" to reveal the opacity and set keyframe for the opacity so that the light painting will disappear/fade out (at last frame, change opacity to "0").

22. Create a white solid layer, Layer> New> Solid.
23. Use eclipse tool, at the start point, hold shift and drag to create a circle.
24. Change the mask feather to "10".
25. Reduce mask expansion.
26. Duplicate another layer, feather to "2", expansion to "-2".
27. Apply motion blur for both layer, and also change mode to add.
28. Parent both layer to finger track layer.

Assignment 2 - Light Saber Effect

I like the light saber effect, it looks really cool. In the video tutorial (link below), it shows a saber being lighted up but I would prefer to light up a wand/pen so that it looks really magical (set the "extend" from "0" to "100" to show up the light saber effect). For enhancement, I have added/used a fire footage to create a blue fire around the light saber.

Light Saber

Tutorial link: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/light_sabers_v2/

Steps (what I did):
1. Drag out the "Light_Saber_V2".
2. To make the light appear, in 1st frame, key in the value of "0" for extend and further down the frame, change it to "100".
3. Change the thickness.
4. To dim out the effect/intensity, choose a darker color.
5. Make sure to turn on the motion blur (the icon beside ur layer).
6. Set keyframe for start position and end position, and adjust the position.


So that the light saber is behind the actor:
7. Create a new solid rename as "mask".
8. Mask out the actor with pen tool.
9. Change the blue saber to "alpha matte inverted" and turn off the visibility of "mask".


Blue Fire

Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAUgxX6dHDo

Steps (what I did):
10. Drag fire footage in.
11. Change mode to "Add".
12. Hit "s" and scale it.
14. CC Toner effects (highlights: choose a bright blue color, midtone: choose a darker blue color).
15. Effects> Glow, bring down intensity, adjust radius.
16. Duplicate another layer of the mask and place it above the fire footage layer.
17. Change the TrkMat to "Alpha Inverted Matte" so that the fire footage will also be behind the actor.
18. Hit "p" to show position and alt + click on the stopwatch beside it.
19. Delete the expression and parent it to the light saber's end position.
20. Set keyframes for the scale and rotation of the fire footage so that it follows the light saber.

Assignment 2 - Force Field Effect

This is the most complicated effect I did (there are a lot of steps to do) and also the effect I like a lot. I have also added an explosion footage and did some adjustments so that the fire ball (the effect that one of my project group member, Carol, will be doing) will be "bounced" onto the ground and explodes. The footage is not long enough because I have just thought of adding the explosion so I have duplicate another footage, freeze frame for last frame and extend it longer.

Tutorial link: http://vimeo.com/6833954

Steps (what I did):
1. New composition name it as "Hexagons" with the width "70" x height "100" duration "5" secs
2. Double click on the polygon tool, change poly path point from "5" to "6".
3. ctrl + d to duplicate layer
4. Effect> Distort> Offset, shift center to "0,0"
5. Go to composition settings, change the width to "64" and height to "110"
6. Scale both layer, change to "0%" in 1st frame, insert keyframe
7. In the 20th frame, change the scale to 100%
8. Select both layer's 2nd keyframe, Animation> Keyframe Assistant> Easy Ease

9. Create new composition, name it as "Hex Grid", width "800" by height "400"
10. In Hex Grid composition, drop in the Hexagons composition
11. Scale the Hexagons composition to "60%"
12. Go to Effect> Stylize> CC Repetile
13. Change the values:

• expand right "700"
• expand left "700"
• expand down "400"
• expand up "400"

14. Drag Hex Grid composition to create a new composition
15. ctrl + k name as "Hex Transition"
16. Create new solid change color to white
17. Select solid layer, Effect> Transtion> Iris Wipe
18. Change the value for Iris Points to "32" and feather to "400"
19. In 1st frame, set keyframe by clicking on the stopwatch beside the outer radius, in the timeframe go to "2"secs and change the outer radius to "650"
20. Layer> New> Solid, change color to 50% grey with R: 128, B:128, G:128
21. Place grey solid layer below white solid
22. Select both layer, Pre-compose, name it as "TD Map", disable visibility for TD Map layer
23. Select Hex Grid layer, go to Effect> Time> Time Displacement, set Time Displacement Layer to "1.TD Map", Max displacement to "-3"

Texture:
24. Drop Hex Transition composition to create new composition , press ctrl + k and name as "Shield Texture"
25. Create solid, Layer> New> Solid
26. Go to Effect> Noise & Grain> Fractal Noise and change,

• Fractal Type to "Strings"
• Noise Type to "Spline"
• Complexity to "1"
• Contrast to "150"
• Brightness to "-5"
• Transform> Scale to "20"

27. Alt + click on stopwatch beside Evolution
28. Type in the expression, "time*150"
29. Drag the Fractal layer below the Hex Transition layer, change TrkMat for Fractal layer to "Luma Matte"
30. Turn on the visibility for Hex Transition
31. For Hex Transition layer, set mode to "Multiply"

32. Drop Shield Texture composition into the Main composition, rename the Shield Texture as Shield Back
33. Go to Effect> Transition> Linear Wipe, Wipe Angle to "0", Transition Completion to "30%"
34. Go to Effect> Perspective> CC Sphere, set Radius to "110"
35. Change the Offset Value for CC Sphere so that it will sits on the ground nicely, set Rotation X to "-7", Rotation Y to "-90", Shading Ambient to "100", Diffuse to "0"
36. Change the Render to "Inside"
37. Move the Shield Back layer below the Actor layers
38. Go into Shield Texture composition, select Hex Transition layer, go to Effect> Distort> Offset, shift center to "200"
39. Ctrl + d for Shield Back layer, rename to "Shield Front", place the layer in front of the Actor Layers
40. In the CC Sphere properties, change Render to "Outside"
41. Ctrl + d for another Shield Back layer, rename to "Shield Glare", disable the visibility

Create ripple effect:
42. Select Shield Back layer and Layer> Pre-compose
43. Select Shield Front layer and Layer> Pre-compose
44. Turn off the visibility for both layers
45. For the BG layer, go to Effect> Distort> Displacement Map,

• Set displacement Map Layer to "Shield Back Comp 1"
• Max Horizontal Displacement to "0"
• Use for Vertical Displacement to "Luminance"

46. Turn on visibility for Shield Glare layer, select layer and set:

• light direction to "40"
• light height to "20"
• shading ambient to "0"
• diffuse to "100"
• turn on Internal Shadows

47. Change the opacity for Shield Glare layer to "30%", change the Mode to "Add"

Make the shield look like glass:
48. Ctrl + d for the Shield Glare, rename it to "Shield Outer Highlight"
49. Turn on the solo switch
50. Effect> Generate> Ramp, set ramp shape to radial ramp, place the "start of ramp" crosshare near the center of the sphere
51. Effect> Color Correction> Levels, Input Black to "164" and Gamma to "0.49"
52. Turn off the solo switch
53. Hit "T" to reveal opacity, change value to "100%"

54. Ctrl + d for "Shield Outer Highlight" layer and rename as "Shield Bottom Highlight"
55. Turn on the solo switch
56. In the effects panel, delete the Levels effect
57. In the Ramp effect, change Ramp Shape to "Linear Ramp"
58. Move "Start of Ramp" crosshare down to create highlight at the bottom
59. Turn off the solo switch

60. Duplicate Shield Outer Highlight layer and rename to "Shield Color"
61. Turn on solo switch
62. Delete the Levels effect
63. Change Start Color to dark blue, End Color to pale blue
64. move the "start of ramp" crosshare up a little
65. Hit "T" to reveal the opacity, change value to "30%"
66. Change the Mode to "Soft Light"

67. Duplicate Shield Glare and rename to "Shield Floor"
68. Place the layer below the Actor layers
69. Turn on solo switch
70. In effects control, turn off Linear wipe effect (disable the "Fx" beside Linear Wipe)
71. In the CC Sphere, set Shading Ambience to "100", Diffuse to "0", Rotation X to "-90"
72. Turn on 3D Layer
73. Rotate X axis to 90degrees and move it down and position on the floor, scale it to about "77"
74. Set Mode to "Multiply"

75. Select Shield Bottom Highlight, Shield Color, Shield Outer Highlight, Shield Glare layers and go to Edit> Copy
76. Select all the layers in the Main composition except Shield Front Comp 1
77. Layer> pre-compose

78. Edit> paste
79. go to each layer, change the CC Sphere Render to "Outside"
80. go to Shield Bottom Highlight Start of Ramp to "400,310"
81. go to Shield Glare, in timeline at around 1 min, set opacity, go to next 20 frame, change opacity to "0%"

To create a reflection:
82. Ctrl + d Shield Glare layer, rename to "Shield Specular Highlight"
83. Hit "T" to reveal Opacity property and delete the keyframes, change opacity to "30%"
84. Turn on solo switch
85. In effect controls, change Shading Diffuse to "0", Specular to "100", Roughness to "0.102"
86. Turn off solo switch
87. Change the CC Sphere light height to "0"

88. Select Scene Elements layer, go to Effect> Distort> Displacement Map
89. Set the Displacement Map Layer to "1.Shield Front Comp 1", Max Horizontal Displacement to "0", Use For Verticle Displacemet to "Luminance"

Impact on force field:
90. Create new composition name as "Particles"
91. Create new solid and go to Effect> Simulation> CC Particle World, turn off Grid, change Gravity to "0"
92. Go to Effect> Perspective> CC Sphere
93. Change Mode to "Add"

Assignment 2 - Orbing Effect

The tutorial (link below) only teaches me how to create the effect (by doing adjustments in the effects control) and not how to apply it on a footage so I have to keep trying/experimenting to get the result I wanted.

Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlhM-RY_y4Q

Steps (what I did):
1. Layer> new> solid, pick "Black" color
2. Change Mode to Screen
3. Effect> Simulation> CC Particle System II

• Change Gravity from "1" to "0"
• Change Animation to "Twirly"
• Particle type: faded sphere
• Change the death size to "0.20"
• Change Longevity to "0.1"
• Transfer mode to "Screen"
• Birth color to "white"
• Death color to "blue"
  

4. Create a solid (Layer> New> Solid).
5. Change mode to screen.
6. Change the TrkMat of the particles/effect layer to "Alpha Matte"
7. Draw an oval with the eclipse tool.
8. Mask Feather to "30".
9. Place/position the mask on top and outside of the stage.
10. Set keyframe by clicking on the stopwatch beside Position.
11. Go to the next few frames, drag and hold shift to position it will vertically down.


12. A few frames before the current frame, set keyframe by clicking on the stopwatch beside Mask Path.


13. Go to the frame of the 2nd position and adjust the width of the orb/mask a little.


14. Select the particles/effect layer and in the effects control, set keyframe for Birth Rate and change it to "100".
15. Go to the next few frames and change the birth rate to "0" so that the particles will fade out.

Assignment 2 - Title Sequence

I have chosen this title sequence because it gives a mysterious and cool look/feel which is more suitable for our story, compared to other title sequence tutorial. This tutorial is also interesting because I can create the smoke effect with just an image by rotating it and it looks like it.

I do not have the background as seen in the video tutorial (link below) so I have used or created a dark blue solid background instead. I have also added glow for the title/text to make it look nicer.

Tutorial link: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/smoke_screen/

Steps:
1. Create a composition with the image "Smoke Element.jpg"
2. Create a white solid (Layer> New> Solid)
3. Create an adjustment layer (Layer> New> Adjustment Layer)
4. Color correct the Adjustment Layer with "Colorama" (Effect> Color Correction> Colorama)
5. In the effects control

• under the input phase, change Get Phase From to "Alpha"

• under the Output Cycle, change Use Preset Palette to "Ramp Grey", back color to blue and bring the transparency down (alpha)

6. Apply Turbulent Displace for some movements (Effect> Distort> Turbulent Displace)
7. In the effects control

• set size to "10"

• alt + click on stopwatch beside "Evolution", type in the expression box "time*100"

8. Create a new composition, "Main Comp"
9. Drag the "Smoke Element" composition in
10. Create a new background (Layer> New> Solid), drag it below the Smoke Element composition
11. Select the "Smoke Element" composition, hit "r" to reveal the "Rotation", alt + click on stopwatch beside "Rotation" and type in "value+time*5"
12. Hit "f4" and turn on the 3D layer switch
13. Create a camera (Layer> New> Camera), presets "35mm"
14. Create a new dark blue solid background
15. Duplicate for another "Smoke Element" composition, rotate, scale and position it (repeat/duplicate for more smoke layers)
16. For the background, go to Effect> Color correction> Curves, RGB down to darken it, Red down and Blue up a little
17. Create a null object (Layer> New> Null Object)
18. Parent the Camera to the null object
19. Set keyframe in the 1st frame and at about 4 secs in the timeline, change the position (so that the clouds move to the left)
20. Duplicate another "Smoke Element" composition and move it closer to the camera
21. Create text/title, turn on the 3D layer and i would prefer to add glow to it to look better (Effect> Stylize> Glow)
22. Create a new adjustment layer and do an overall color correction, red down abit and blue up abit (Effect> Color Correction> Curves)
23. For the Null object, 2nd keyframe, hit "f9" (For easy ease)
24. Go to camera and set keyframe for position and point of interest, drag the keyframes to the front
25. Move to the next few frames/ around 1 sec, use the "Track Z camera tool" and push in a little so that it will zoom in, select the keyframes and hit "f9" and now the camera will slowly zoom in
26. Select all the "Smoke Element" composition layers and change the mode to "screen" so that it will look nicer and with more depth

Assignment 2 - Draft Storyboard

Assignment 2 - Storyline

A total of 4 effects and 1 title sequence:

1. Title sequence: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/smoke_screen/

2. Orbing/teleporting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlhM-RY_y4Q

3. Force field: http://vimeo.com/6833954
Explosion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6MrB-ltmxQ
(To enhance on the force field, but i am just going to use the explosion footage so i will probably not consider it is an effect.)

4. Light saber: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/light_sabers_v2/
Blue fire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAUgxX6dHDo
(I feel that the light saber is a little plain/simple so I have decided to add blue fire as an enhancement.)

5. Illuminating light painting: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/vfx/create-an-illuminating-light-painting-effect/


Story title: Aftermath
(I will be doing the effects in blue.)
1. Show/shoot environment

• Lightning effect with thunder sound
• Fog effect to enhance the environment

2. Carol appear by Ground Burst Jump effect
3. ZhenHong appear by orbing/teleporting effect
4. ZhenHong gain lightning from the sky
5. ZhenHong’s eye changes to blue color due to absorbing lightning from the sky
6. ZhenHong attack with force lightning
7. Carol shield and counterattack with fire ball
8. ZhenHong defends with force field and force field reflects the fire ball and explodes when reach the ground
9. ZhenHong attacks with energy ball
10. Carol jump/dodge the energy ball and attack with airbender
11. ZhenHong step back due to the force of airbender
12. ZhenHong takes out the wand/stick from his pocket, light up the wand/pen and attacks with light saber
13. While ZhenHong charge towards Carol with his light saber, disappears with hancock fly
14. ZhenHong looks blur
15. Carol appears back-faced behind him with thor hammer effect and she attacks with flying blade
16. Zhenhong turns around when he heard the impact of the landing behind him
17. The blade went across his cheek and cause a wound, he turns with a stare and the wound heals
18. Zhenhong not willing to give up, he charged towards carol with his light saber once again
19. Carol attacks with Cyclops effect with muzzle flash
20. Zhen hong shield with protégé shield with water ripple and put aside his light saber (glow fades out)
21. While the wand/pen is on zhen hong’s hand, he cast a spell (light painting) and shoots out an energy ball
22. Carol clones (double image) and explodes
23. Zhenhong gained victory
24. Carol appears behind zhen hong

Assignment 1 Final - Combined

This is the combined/my final video. I have also added in some text/captions.

Assignment 1 Final - Destination

I think that it would look weird without showing that I have reached my destination. Thus, I have decided to have another scene and to film this footage in school as my destination.

The steps to create this effect for this scene is almost the same as the Magic Portal scene, except that my mask expansion is from a value of -80 to 0 pixels.

Likewise, I have also used the "CC Particle World" effect (Effect> Simulation> CC Particle World) when I walk out from the magic portal to look more magical. After walking for a little distance, I stop to look at my watch/the time and smiled because I am not late. After that, I continued walking to my final destination.

Assignment 1 Final - Magic Portal

I have filmed and used another footage in a different camera angle and it is more close up compared to the previous version.

The have set 2 keyframes for the mask expansion, from a value of 0 to -80 pixels so that it will look like I walk into the wall/magic portal.

I have also enhanced this scene by using/adding on the "CC Particle World" effect (Effect> Simulation> CC Particle World) when I am walking into the magic portal so that it will look more magical.

Assignment 1 Final - Magic Pen

I have filmed and used a new footage because the previous version is a little too shaky. I have done this video in the same way/with the same steps as the previous version that I have posted.

Assignment 1 Final - Teleport

I am not too sure where to enhance so nothing has been enhanced from the previous teleporting effect video that I have posted. But only edited the brightness & contrast.

Assignment 1 Final - Waiting for bus

This is the second scene. In my previous version, I have showed my watch which I think that it does not really give the mood/feel that I am going to be late. Thus, I have filmed this version of me looking very impatient and stretching my neck to see whether the bus is here.

For this scene, I have done some editing and cutting of the footage and also changed the brightness & contrast.

Assignment 1 Final - Cloud Text

There are some changes made. Firstly, I have filmed and used a new footage because I think that the length of the previous footage is a little short and a little too rush.

Secondly, rather than dissolving in the cloud title and do motion tracking so that it will stay in that position even if the camera moves, I think that it would be better if the cloud title dissolves in and dissolves out before the camera moves.

Furthermore, the length of showing the cloud title should be appropriate so that people will notice or have more focus on the cloud title.

Assignment 1 Final - Storyboard

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Teleport

I have used the disappearing effect from the tutorial (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcF_I_OT480) to create this teleporting effect. I find that it doesn't look like a teleporting effect if I didn't use any additional effect.

I have watched some tutorials on the internet for the orbing/teleporting effect but it seems like I have to create the effect with Adobe Photoshop which can be a little difficult. I wanted to create something like this -> (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeN-rrC0qY4).

Hence, i have explored the effects available on Adobe After Effects and I have decided to use the effect "Scribble" (Effect> Generate> Scribble).

I actually had fun creating this teleporting effect as I get to explore and figure out how to enhance/make it look more like a teleporting effect rather than just following a tutorial.


Steps (for the disappearing effect):

1. Create a new solid and apply the fractal noise effect (Effect> Noise & Grain> Fractal Noise).

2. Set keyframe by clicking on the "stopwatch" beside Evolution (under the Fractal Noise Effect) in the 1st frame. Then go to the last frame and change the Evolution value to "5x" so that the effect will have some movements.

3. Also, set keyframe by clicking on "stopwatch" beside Brightness in the 1st frame. Change the brightness to a negative value (-90) so that it is pitch black and a positive value (90) so that it is completely white in the last frame.

4. Change 'TrkMat' from "None" to "Luma Matte" for the layer/footage where I have to appear and change it to "Luma Inverted Matte" for the layer/footage where I have to disappear.

5. Masking
-Using the 'Pen Tool', mask out myself in the footage where I have to appear/disappear.


Additional steps (for the Scribble effect):

6. Angle
I have changed the value from "60" to "0" so that the lines are vertical.

7. Color
To a brighter blue so that it will have a teleporting feel.

8. Stroke Options
"start: 0%" and "end: 100%" for the part where I will disappear in the video and with opposite values for the part where I will appear later on.

9. Wiggle Type
From the default "Smooth" to "Jumpy".

10. Opacity
Use the value of "50%" so that it can also lower the brightness.

11. Composite
From "On Transparent" (default) to "On Original Image" so that I can still be seen in the footage but just with an additional effect in front of me.

Before applying "Scribble" effect:

After applying "Scribble" effect:

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Combined

I am not really satisfied with this because I think that my story is a little too short and the story doesn't really flow well. Thus, I have thought of a longer version. So my story goes like this:

1. Camera showing the sky
-Cloud writing effect-
-Title: "Magic"
-Tutorial link: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/writing-with-the-clouds/
-Camera continue to move down, showing the bus stop

2. Change camera angle (still video)
-i walk towards the bus stop and sit down

3. Looking impatient as the bus still haven arrive
-neck stretching out, checking out if the bus has arrived
and keep looking at my watch

4. Teleport towards nearby wall
-Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcF_I_OT480

5. Raise my hand to make my magic pen appear
-Camera: Full body view

6. Making my magic pen appear
-Camera: Zoom in my hand/palm
-"Abracadabra!"
-Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcF_I_OT480

7. Draw/cast a magic door/portal with my magic pen
-Walk into/move towards the wall
-Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhSXn8v5F0
-Inspiration from chalk portal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNGgLpx46uA

8. Walk out of the magic portal from a wall at the destination
-Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhSXn8v5F0
-While walking, look at my watch to check out the time and smile to show that I am not late

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Cloud Text 2

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Magic Pen

Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcF_I_OT480

This tutorial teaches how to create a disappearing effect. It can also create an appearing effect as well by applying the "Fractal Noise" effect and setting the brightness as "-90" for the first frame and "90" for the last frame. I have set the values as 90 or -90 so that the pen will not take a long time to appear or disappear.

Steps:

1. Create a new solid and apply the fractal noise effect (Effect> Noise & Grain> Fractal Noise).

2. Set keyframe by clicking on the "stopwatch" beside Evolution (under the Fractal Noise Effect) in the 1st frame. Then go to the last frame and change the Evolution value to "5x" so that the effect will have some movements.

3. Also, set keyframe by clicking on "stopwatch" beside Brightness in the 1st frame. Change the brightness to a negative value (-90) so that it is pitch black and a positive value (90) so that it is completely white in the last frame.

4. Change 'TrkMat' from "None" to "Luma Matte" for the footage where my magic pen appears.

5. Masking
-Using the 'Pen Tool', I have also mask out my magic pen.

6. Lastly I have done motion tracking for my footage so that my magic pen will follow my hand movement and look like it is staying on my hand. (Edit Target: Pen)

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Cloud Text 1

Tutorial Link: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/writing-with-the-clouds/

I have intended to use another tutorial to create a cloud title but it seems like I need to have the "Particular" effect. (link: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/quicktip-fast-and-easy-text-writing-with-particular/) I have explored other effects that is available in my Adobe After Effects and tried using effects like "Particle Playground" (Effects> Stylize> Particle Playground) and tried parenting but it does not work. I guess changing the "Emitter Type" to "Light(x)" in the "Particular" effect is an important step. Hence, I have decided to use another tutorial to create the cloud writing effect (tutorial link above).

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Magic Portal

Tutorial Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhSXn8v5F0
The tutorial teaches how to create a "walk through wall" effect but I have enhanced it by creating a "magic portal".
Inspiration for "magic portal" from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNGgLpx46uA
I think that this effect is fun and I have enjoyed doing this effect!
*For this effect, do not film the foot.

Steps (summary of tutorial):

1. Masking
-Using the 'Pen Tool', mask out the person at the frame where he/she starts to "disappear".
(For my project, I have to mask myself out in the footage.)

2. Adjust the 'Mask Feather' to "3" pixels.
-Press "mm" to show Mask Feather.

3. Set keyframe by clicking on the "stopwatch" beside 'Mask Path'.

4. Apply radial blur effect (Effects> Blur & Sharpen> Radial Blur) and change type to "Zoom".

5. Set keyframe by clicking on the "stopwatch" beside 'Amount' (press uu to show Amount).
(make sure in either first or last frame)
-Go to the first frame, change 'Amount' to "0".
-Go to the last frame, change 'Amount' to "55".

6. Set keyframe also for the 'Mask Expansion' at first frame and change the 'Mask Expansion' to a negative value at the last frame so that the person will totally disappear. (For my project, i have changed it to -45)

As I have mention above, I have also create a "magic portal" for enhancement. I got the inspiration from a youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNGgLpx46uA). I actually have a rough idea of how to create the "magic portal", tried it out and it works!

Steps:

1. Firstly, create a new solid (layer> new> solid)
-For the color of the "magic portal", I thought that yellow would be nice but in the end I find that it is more suitable to have it in white.

2. Resize the solid to the size of a door.

3. Turn on the 3D layer.

4. Change the 'Y rotation' to have the same angle as the camera so that it will look like it is on the wall. (Shortcut key for rotation, "r")

5. The "magic portal" is now covering me so in order to have the "magic portal" on the wall with me (myself, in the footage) facing it, I have duplicated another footage named as "Me 3" and place the "magic portal" layer below it.

6. Mask myself out for the layer "Me 3" and change the 'Mask Feather' to "3" pixels so that it can blend well.

7. In order to have my "magic portal" looking more natural and realistic, I added a box blur effect
(Effect> Blur & Sharpen> Box Blur) and used a value of "30" for the 'Blur Radius'.

8. Motion tracking (steps 9 - 10 below)
-The footage is a little shaky in the last few frames so I have done motion tracking to get the "magic portal" to look like it is on the wall and following the camera movement.

9. Create a null object (Layer> New> Null Object)

10. Select the footage, "BG" layer, and track motion
-Enable motion tracking also for the 'Rotation'

11. Pick 2 good track points, analyze forward and apply to the 'Null Object' (Edit Target).

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Toy Town

Tutorial Link: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/vfx/living-in-toytown/
I have tried out this effect as I think it looks really interesting and cute! I have actually stuck for quite a long time to get the toyish effect. At first, I thought that the problem lies with my color correction and I need to adjust for the brightness, contrast and etc. In the end, I found out that I have missed out an important step, which is to change the Depth Map Layer to "2.focal plain" for the lens blur effect on my adjustment layer (lens effect).

I have noticed that missing step only after I had summarised the tutorial, which is why I like/enjoy summarising video tutorials into simple steps. I think that by summarising video tutorials can also help me to better understand how the effects are created too! :)

Steps (summary of the tutorial):

1. Create 2 solids and rename it:
-upper
-lower

2. Apply the "RAMP" effect to both of the 2 layers.

3. For the 'Upper' layer, I have done some adjustments:
-start color: black
-end color: white
-end ramp: 500.0, 500.0
-start ramp: 500.0, 0.0

4. Adjustments made also for the 'Lower' layer:
-start color: white
-end color: black
-end of ramp: 500.0, 750.0
-start of ramp: 500.0, 0.0

5. Change the mode from "None" to "Multiply" for the 'Upper' layer.

6. Select both 'Upper' and 'Lower' layer, go to pre-comp and rename it as "focal plain".

7. Create new adjustment layer, rename as 'lens effect'.

8. Apply the lens blur effect (Effect> Blur & Sharpen> Lens Blur).
-Adjust iris radius to "15"
-Change the Depth Map Layer to "2.focal plain"

9. Go to 'focal plain' comp, select both 'Upper' and 'Lower' layer and adjust the rotation.
(to show only rotation, the shortcut key is "r")

10. Create new adjustment layer, rename as "Color Correction".

11. Go to "Effect> Color Correction> Curves" and adjust the curve to flaten out the shadows and show more whites/highlights.

12. Go to "Effect> Color Correction> Brightness and Contrast"
-Reduce contrast to around "-10"
-Increase brightness to around "22"

13. Select the footage and posterize time (Effect> Time> Posterize Time) to reduce frame rate to "6".

14. Lastly, go to "Composition> Composition Settings" to preserve the frame rate.

Assignment 1 Progressive Work - Generating Ideas

VERSION 1:

camera showing sky...
-cloud words effect-
"magic town"
http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/writing-with-the-clouds/

Oh no! i am going to be late...
*camera showing my watch*

Should i...

Draw a magic door?
*takes out my magic chalk and draw on wall...*

Or... teleport?
*teleport effect...*

i have reached my destination!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VERSION 2:

camera showing sky...
-cloud words effect-
"magic town"
http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/writing-with-the-clouds/

camera moves down...
showing the town (road, people etc)
-toytown effect-
http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/vfx/living-in-toytown/

Oh no! i am going to be late...
*camera showing my watch*

Draw a magic door?
*takes out my magic chalk and draw on wall...*

i have reached my destination!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chalk portal idea from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNGgLpx46uA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tutorial for disappearing effect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcF_I_OT480
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tutorial for walking through wall:
-part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfo3TIysJCw
-part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKGwX39v_IY

OR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhSXn8v5F0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the end, my story goes like this:

1. Camera showing the sky
-Cloud writing effect-
-Title: "Magic"
-Tutorial link: http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/motion-graphics/writing-with-the-clouds/
-Camera continue to move down, showing the road

2. Camera showing my watch/the time
-"Oh no! I am going to be late!"

3. Making my magic pen appear
-"Abracadabra!"
-Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcF_I_OT480

4. Draw/cast a magic door/portal with my magic pen
-Walk into/move towards the wall
-Tutorial link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhSXn8v5F0
-Inspiration from chalk portal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNGgLpx46uA

5. Showing that I have reached my destination
-Walk out of the wall to show that I came out or reached my destination
-"The End."

Landscape

This exercise is a little difficult in achieving the exact color as the reference image but I have tried to get the colors as close as possible to the reference image. I have applied the techniques learnt from the primary and secondary color correction tutorials.

Before:

After:

Using the full interface of Color Finesse 3, I have done some editing in the 3 tabs (the HSL, Curves and Secondary tab).

1. Some adjustments were made in the master control

I have the adjusted the Hue, increased the Gamma and Pedestal:

2. Editing of the curves/points

Curves > RGB:

3. Select the colors in the footage with the color picker for some specific parts

4. Show preview to check if you have picked the right color
5. Adjust softness, hue offset, saturation, gain and gamma

Secondary > A (for the land):

Secondary > B (for the sky):

6. Lastly, in HSL > Hue Offsets, i have adjusted the shadows to make it look more natural.

Before adjusting the shadows:

After adjusting the shadows:

Bleach Bypass

Tutorial link: http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/simple_bleach_bypass/

This tutorial is useful, as it has taught me how to create this type of contrast look without increasing the saturation. I have used my rendered video for the "Children" exercise, in this exercise because the little girl on the right is just too cute!

Before:

After:

1. Go to Effect > Color Correction > Levels
- Edit the input black and input white
2. Go to Effect > Color Correction > Brightness & Contrast
- Adjust the brightness and contrast
3. Duplicate the layer and delete the effects
4. Change the mode for layer 1 from "Normal" to "Color" and it will overlay the color of the bottom layer
*Another method (instead of having 2 layers):
-Go to Effect > Channel > CC composite
-Change the Composite Original from "Regular" to "Color"

Children

This exercise had its footage deliberately messed with and I am required to correct the color so that it will look like the original footage. I took quite a long time to finish this as it is a little hard to get an exact color as the reference image.

Before:

After:

1. I have selected the black point (darker points near their clothes), grey point (their faces) and white point (the white background) and adjusted the curves.

2. Some adjustments in the Hue Offset for the Master, Midtones and Highlights.

3. Secondary Color Correction (A) for the yellow part of her hat to make it look a little brighter. (Increased Gamma)

4. Secondary Color Correction (B) for the blue part of her hat to make it look lighter/softer. (Increased softness and gain)

5. Secondary Color Correction (C) for their clothes. (Increased the softness, pedestal and decreased the gain)

Overall, I have enjoyed doing this exercise and got to play spot the difference between my work and the reference image.