This week's tutorial on how to make a fish swim. Tutorial 2

By far, I found this tutorial to be the most helpful and it seems to produce the most realistic result.

http://cgswot.com/tutorials/vfx-tutorials/116-07-underwater-scene-in-after-effects-part-1.html#disqus_thread

In details, the video talks about the way we can make objects move more or less realistically. In an example of the fish, the first step is to divide a fish on several areas that are going to be moving. So, the head and the body, tail and back fin. Then we create a mask over a fish and set mask settings to none. then we copy the mask and move it to the next area of the fish, by dragging only one side of the mask. This way masks stay together and we do not see any stripes on the fish. After we make all four masks for four areas of the fish, we copy the fish four times, and delete extra masks on each fish, so that each one has different mask on it.
Then we set all of the masks on add, and set the spindle centers on all of the masks on the left edge if the fish is facing left.
The next step is to set up the parenting. The head is the parent of the body, the body is the parent of the tail and the tail is the parent of the back fin. After that we can set up the movement of the fin, tail and body and place a looping expression on the frame.

In Praise of Dissent. Process 10-18

Untitled from Natalia Zinser on Vimeo.

In Praise of Dissent (10-16)

Revision 2 11-15 from Natalia Zinser on Vimeo.

Motion Video Critique #9

A Very Vimeo Valentine from Doug Chang on Vimeo.


This time I chose a student work that talks about valentine day on a student's budget. I thought that the plot is pretty interesting and explicit.
Vith this video, I feel like the author starts out pretty strong, and even though there are some strange alignments (0:3, 0:23, 0:24) it started out pretty interesting. At the end, the transitions somehow faded.
I think that the transitions at the beginning of the video were pretty interesting, and dynamic.
I am not sure about the stylistic part though. Aesthetically, the colors are mostly pretty quiet and pastel. It is almost a Martha Stuart valentine day and not necessarily a student. The typeface choice is questionable too. Slab serif looks quirky, but it is also very stable and gives the video some scrap-booking feel.
I think that this video has a lot of potential, but it needs more work.

InPraiseofDissent(progress 10-12-2010)

Untitled from Natalia Zinser on Vimeo.

How to create a rotating sphere in After Effects. Tutorial 1

I had a need to create a rotating globe for my project and since I am not yet familiar with 3D software I researched the internet looking for a right solution for After Effects that would enable me to create a sphere that would rotate in space like it is three-dimentional. I have found the following solution and I think it should be pretty good for any situation when we need to create a rotating sphere with an image or type on it. So here we go.

First, we need to find or create a map. My video is going to be all ink drawn, so I drew an earth's map. If you want something realistic, you can take any of the realistic photographs and import them in illustrator. Your picture/photograph should be the same size the composition is. So, if your composition is wide, consider a wide map.

Then open a new composition and import your illustrator file in After Effects

Then select the layer with your map in AE and go to Effects/Perspective/CC Sphere

After that your layer should turn into a nice cute sphere. Do not turn a continuous rendering mode, as for some reason it overwrites 3D settings and the object gets locked in the middle of the page. Also, I found that it is much better to change scale and and an angle in the effect menu. It also gives you different lighting and shadowing options.

So here is the small trial end result. On the side of the globe, somewhere around Pacific Ocean, you may notice a vertical white line. It means that my hatching is not even and I would need to go and add lines to  my map.

Rotating Earth Demo from Natalia Zinser on Vimeo.

Motion Video Critique #8

Kinetic Typography - Idiocracy from Nathan Campbell on Vimeo.


I have found this nice video to talk about. I though it is an interesting video because it presents a dialogue of a person with a machine and presents two completely different tones of voices. I find the video pretty funny, but I also like the anti-untopia feel of it.
Nobody really knows anything about the movie Idiocy, but the introduction gives you a pretty clear idea of what it is about.
I have not noticed any major typographical or alignment problems in the movie. The text part appears to be well made and thought throughout. The ending with a TV screen turning off, appears to be somewhat questionable, but at the same time I think it is working. On the 2nd second, words, please speak your name as it appears on your current" turns upside down. I have not noticed anymore turned type throughout the move. And on the 13-14th second where the person is saying, "no it is not correct", "no it is not" is clearly on the circular path, and "correct" may be out of that alignment.
The color scheme is questionable. It seems to be a little too warm inviting and maybe it would be better if it was more mechanical.
Aesthetically it is a nicely executed video. I enjoy it for the well-delivered and clear idea.