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• DVXuser.com – The Filmmaking Community
• The Digital Video Information Network
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• Photo.net
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• CineForm Software Showcase – The Digital Video Information Network

Action Essentials 2 features:

• Over 250 HD elements
• Many elements shot in slow motion
• Diverse angles
• Wide and close shots
• Pre-Keyed & Pre-Matted
• Most diverse collection ever made
• 95% Live action footage ( including: real fire and real explosions!)
• Shot primarily on REDs with a special high speed camera
• No one got hurt… maybe a few feelings here and there

Action Essentials 2 will be available in 2 HD Versions:
720p High Definition [1280 x 720] $99.95
2k Film Resolution [2048 x 1152 ] $249.95 (beyond 1080p)

Andrew Kramer has posted a video talking about the two different versions. Action Essentials 2 compare video

Credits:
Directors: Andrey Mudrov, Yaroslav Kemnits (Director of Special Effects)
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky

VFXWorld published an interesting article about the VFX (Visual Effects) in the movie Wanted. You can find
Wanted: Bending VFX for a Killing Machine on vfxworld.com. The movie includes more than 800 visual effects shots.The article covers many aspects including the climactic train crash

Other coverage:

• Wanted a new VFX & DFX rich movie (www.StrongMocha.com)
• Russian Wanted Trailer! (www.StrongMocha.com)
• World Exclusive Wanted Featurette (empireonline.com)
• www.wantedmovie.com has more on the story, pictures and some trailer.

Creative Cow together with Aharon Rabinowitz, Pete O’Connell and Eran Stern has released three new After Effects Video Tutorials.

1. Advanced Rotoscoping Techniques for Adobe After Effects by Pete O’Connell
2. After Effects: The Next Level, vol, 2: CS 3 Tips and Techniques by Aharon Rabinowitz
3. Motion Design with Adobe After Effects by Eran Stern

Film compositor Pete O’Connell shows you the secrets of advanced rotoscoping that will save you hours, even days, on your toughest jobs. Eran Stern has quickly become one of the Cow’s most popular authors; here he presents tutorials for real-world motion graphics that you can start using right away. And Aharon Rabinowitz, one of the world’s true AE masters, leads you through AE CS3

Andrew Kramer did release the long awaited “The Bullet” training.  Before you read on buy The Bullet right now.

This new DVD will take you from your favorite 3D program to After Effects and back, including compositing multi-pass renders and importing camera data.

“The Bullet” training is designed to show you how to create large-scale visual effects in an organized and powerful work flow.

What do you learn about After Effects:

• Creating elements from scratch
• Working between AE and 3D, integrating camera data
• Multi-Pass exporting and compositing
• Advanced color correction techniques
• File management and work flow tips such as pre-comp proxies
• Displacement effects and other creative uses for common plug-ins

What do you learn about 3D Software:

• Model a realistic bullet and shell casing
• Texturing and lighting with reflections
• Animation with Null objects and groups
• How to render multiple elements for compositing

The Bullet Video Training:
Over 5 Hours. If you continue with a single 3D program training time is about 3 hours.

01. Introduction / Organize
02. Preparing Footage and building 3D Scenery
03. Building Assets: 3D Muzzle Flash & Smoke
04. Building Assets: Perspective Slide Action
05. Work-Flow Tips & Building Proxies
06. Compositing the Elements
07. Final Compositing
08. Finishing Touches & Advanced Color

Andrew Kramer sells “The Bullet” for $49.95 available on a DVD or through download.

Andrew Kramer from videcopilot.net did release another great After Effects Video Tutorial. This time he is guiding you through the creation of smoke on a footage and how to stabilize it. Andrew was inspired by the book Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional Studio Techniques (Author Mark Christiansen) that we at StrongMocha.com recommend as well.  I did buy the book myself some weeks ago and learned a lot from Mark Christiansen’s book, of course not as much I learned from Andrew Video Tutorials or products videcopilot.net sells.

From Andrew’s announcement at videocopilot.net:

“In this new 2-part tutorial you will learn a great method for stabilizing footage in After Effects that smooths the result rather than freezes the tracking center. We will also create smoke flying behind a police car, which is as fun as it sounds.

This one tutorial has many great tips and techniques including, rotoscoping, expressions and matte blending.”

“I’d also like to thank Mark Christiansen for allowing me to demonstrate his stabilize technique in this tutorial. For more information about his great After Effects book” Click the book below

Some day’s earlier the same week videocopilot.net did release another useful Video Tutorial. The After Effects Video Tutorial “Smoke Screen” which teaches you how to use various compositig techniques to create these smoke designs in After Effects.

Please do not forget to support the work Andrew is doing. One great way to support videocopilot.net is to buy their products like Twitch. Twitch is available as a download version, buy Twitch here. Twitch from Videocopilot is a awesome After Effects plug-in. StrongMocha highly recommends this great plug-in.To learn more on Twitch you can read more here:

New Twitch (Vines) Tutorial @ videocopilot.net

Twitch – a “must have” After Effects Plug-in

Twitch After Effects Plug-in promotion video

Alternative you could start to stabilize and/or track footage with monet or mokey both from Imagineer Systems, however these products come with additional costs you may do not want to spend. View the product overview chart to see how Imagineer Systems products compare and what you are missing in your toolbox: Chart

Trapcode did release three new short clips showing work two of their clients did produce.

The new clips are made by Barbecue Mediendesign GmbH and Crew Creative Advertising

Barbecue Mediendesign GmbH did create two great clips “Lexus” and “Lexus LFA” (car). Crew Creative Advertising created the trailer Life Before Her Eyes Trailer

Life Before Her Eyes Trailer (quote from trapcode)
Trapcode plugins have always been a staple product in Crew Creative’s motion graphics pipeline, so we were excited to get our hands on Form. With a mixture of Particular, Starglow, Form and 3d Stroke (driving the Form map layer), Lead Motion Graphics Designer, Adam Franklin, achieved the visual look and feel desired for this trailer.

All three clips show the powerful results you can achieve with the fine plugins from trapcode.

Gareth Edwards did produce the 250 HD effects shots all by himself. Gareth was using Premier Pro, After Effects, mocha-AE, PhotoShop, 3D MAX and some more tools. Gareth spend almost 5 month on the post production.

fxguide did publish a great background story on the making of “One Man Against Attila the Hun”

“Every once in a while we get a story at fxguide that indicates just how far and how fast the industry is moving. The post on Attila the Hun, directed by Gareth Edwards, is one of those stories. Edwards produced the 250 HD effects shots by himself in five months using After Effects and Photoshop. Averaging 2 shots a day, it was one man against the armies of Attila the Hun…. Read the rest of the story on fxguide”

Make sure you watch the Quicktime movie that is on the page click on “Edwards prepared a shot breakdown QuickTime movie which you can download from fxguide.”

CGSociety and 3D World present a rundown of the Top 100 3D Movies as selected by the CG community. 50,000 individual user votes did decide which are the 100 greatest 3D movies.

One of my favorites vfx and dfx movie from 1999 made in to the first place. The Matrix introduced new and so far unseen special effects like bullet time (Bullet time Walk through here). John Gaeta and his team is the genious behind the visual effect.

Some Top 100 3D Movies DVD on Amazon: