Daily Inspiration - Graphic Animation, Subaru Style

180-degree shutter angle is the rule of thumb when shooting film & video. It almost always makes your images look better…unless you are a pro and you understand just when to break the rules. The following amazing Subaru spot is a great example of how to use knowledge of shutter angle/degrees to your benefit. It is all kinds of awesome! Watch below.

Martini QuickShot Creator puts pre-viz directly into FCP

Just watched the demo for Martini Quickshot Creator, and must say that this $199 software package looks AWESOME. Check out the demo here...you can quickly build pre-visualized scenes for a project from a library of characters and scenes. All from within Final Cut Pro. This software looks simply brilliant.

Daily Inspiration - Coldplay’s Strawberry Swing

Strawberry Swing is a visually stunning stop-motion video starring Coldplay’s Chris Martin in the lead role as a flying superhero fighting giant squirrels, sea monsters, and ultimately, getting the girl. It was created in collaboration with the group Shynola, and utilizes an overhead stop-motion animation style that has come into vogue in recent years. But this video takes it to a whole new level, using perspective and live elements in a way that hasn’t been done before. You’ll no doubt watch this video a few times over, trying to solve the inevitable “how did they do that?!?” questions. Enough talk, watch below.

Strange mix of high & low tech in The Mill’s “Apples”

Since the iPhone 3GS came out with video recording features, a small subset of people have been pushing the limits of what is the accepted norm and using the device in actual production work. When the 3GS came out, Alex Lindsay put out a humorous video in which he attached the phone to a full Redrock Micro shouldermount stabilization rig. We all had a good laugh, and then suddenly Zacuto and others started making professional grade accessories for the device. There are handheld rigs with wide lenses, and even an iPhone stabilizer in the works. For the most part, iPhone video seems to be limited to quick and dirty video blogging, and the occasional music video. But by far the most professional use to date has to be the following spot courtesy of the geniuses at The Mill…

Avatar - The Making of a VFX Scene

So unless you’ve been under a rock for the past 3-6 months, you are probably aware of Avatar, James Cameron’s latest film. It’s been hyped as a visual effects masterpiece, but why exactly? If you aren’t familiar with the unique VFX processes they used to create this film, the following video should help. Watch below…

Research software automatically de-shakes video

Here’s a sweet little bit of research in the works…Adobe and some folks at the University of Wisconsin have come up with a software solution to automatically remove shakes and wobbles in amateur video footage. Their solution automatically 3D tracks the footage, then selectively distorts the frame to compensate for wobbles and shake. Watching the video demonstration, it appears that this technique might also be effective at removing CMOS skew and jello/wobble as well. Read on below…

Two Creative Stop Motion Videos

The following two stop-motion videos are quite visually engaging and well-executed. They’ve been shot on a floor from overhead, the perspective and attention to detail is a striking effect. Be sure to watch the credits of “Sorry I’m Late” for a behind-the-scenes peek at how it was accomplished. Inspiring stuff.

Beautiful Compositing Reel from Coraline

Compositor and VFX artist Adam Sager has posted his personal reel from the work he did for the 3D stop-motion film “Coraline.” It’s a beautiful collection of clips that show the before and after comparisons. Anyone with an interest in compositing and the VFX arts should really dig the video embedded below.

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