RED. came to fruition because I came across a series of shots I shelved more than a year and a half ago. I knew I had sumptuous footage at the time, but I did not have the skills to conjure the visualization in my head to life. After a year and a half and many hours crafting my compositing and visual effects abilities, the time and circumstances were appropriate to start a new project. I dusted off the old footage and went straight to work!
Premise and Goals
Compared to my prior projects, RED. contains little to no substantive essence to the story. RED. is simply a fun visual display. I wanted to focus on the aesthetics of the project, and build upon my ability to execute proper compositing and visual effects techniques.
My top priority was to execute well produced compositing within the video. My earlier videos contained compositing but not to the scale or importance present in this project. I gained extensive knowledge in Nuke's 3D tracking features. I was absolutely impressed by how well Nuke tracks shaky camera footage. Not only was I impressed by Nuke's 3D tracking abilities, but After Effects has 3D tracking capabilities that are no laughing matter. I used After Effects' 3D tracking for particle elements in the video. I did have instances where After Effects had difficulty tracking shots, and I had to manually animate the camera in those circumstances.
Final Shot In RED.
Although I wanted to pinpoint compositing and visual effects, my roots within computer graphics stem from motion graphics. I believe in myself enough to think I can be versatile enough to become a well-versed compositor and motion graphics artist. In this instance, the audio track implanted the concept of the motion graphics outro. I envisioned a high level of contrast, and a dream-like sequence with a simplistic aura. I experimented with text transition animations, and settled with a combination of an altered preset layered with a displacement map effect, and lastly, I chimed in a shallow depth of field with an animated light to further make the scene more dynamic.
Final Thoughts
I find myself gaining more knowledge after each project, and this project is no different. I am finding that I am grasping the concept and execution of compositing after each successive project. I encounter less roadblocks and spend less time asking "How can I do this?". I am now confident I can complete any basic and/or routine action within Nuke. There is much more I can learn in the realm of compositing. I still have little to no experience with Nuke's particle systems, and I have not explored the ability to directly manipulate 3D surfaces' material attributes. Within the span of six months, I am more than happy with my progress integrating industry standard compositing within my projects.
