This project is another good example of taking poor quality 4:3 vision, making it 16:9 and giving it some polish. The tools included Adobe After Effects, Zaxwerks ProAnimator, Trapcode Horizon and Shine, and Maltaannon’s Screenify effect (featured in MILG 5). The vision was treated with the Screenify effect— which adds a realistic jumbotron style and disguises the poor quality of the footage. This was then applied as a layer map to the ProAnimator wall (created from a simple Illustrator rectangle). Notice how the movie is split up into separate monitors which make up one big wall of video, this was done using the Grid effect and Bevel Alpha. The Bevel Alpha effect adds a subtle highlight to the edge of each grid block, giving a more realistic look.
The K1 logo and the video wall are reflected in the floor but this is a fake, since ProAnimator 4 doesn’t support reflections. To create this look in ProAnimator requires duplicating and flipping the object you want to “reflect”. First I set up the look using one ProAnimator, then duplicated the ProAnimator layer leaving the wall and logo in one and the reflections in the other. Having the reflections as a separate layer allowed me to drop the Opacity of just the reflections.
The logo uses the footage comp as a reflection map. Notice how the bevels are also reflecting the map, which looks cool but a problem is that the right hand side of the logo is also displaying the reflection, that’s because the reflection map is applied to the object and there is no way to control where the reflection will appear. This wouldn’t happen in a real scene as because the bevels on the right side of the letters are facing away from the screen. This won’t be an issue when ProAnimator eventually supports true reflections.
None of this would have been an issue had I used Cinema 4D and the only reason I didn’t use C4D for this project was time. This was a 2 day job and had a feeling I would spend too long experimenting in C4D to make the deadline.
Three After Effects lights illuminate the scene and the After Effects camera (controlled with a null object) does a simple dolly in to the wall. The sky (a large stock image) moves believably with the camera thanks to Trapcode Horizon.
The music is only a rough placeholder and obviously doesn’t start early enough.
Check out the intro to the promo below and grab the modified project file to see how it was put together. Nothing earth shattering but video walls are still a great way to make bad footage good again.
40 Responses to this post
December 6, 2008 at 10:50 am |
WOW
It looks great.
but you can’t make this scene @ C4D only….or you can…..?:):):)
Good job John….& Thanks for posting
December 6, 2008 at 10:52 am |
Gr8 gift From an Experts leader ..
Sorry my English so bad …
Thanks alot JD
December 6, 2008 at 11:42 am |
Hi JD,
But 2 things I am wondering:
not bad at all
- Aint it possible between C4D and AE to exchange scenes and cameras ? So you could have done the Text and his reflections in C4D.
- wouldnt it be possible to fake the Horizonreflections the same way you did the jumbotronreflections?
Cheers,
illd
December 6, 2008 at 3:34 pm |
This would have looked better all round had I used C4D that’s for sure, but it’s a good example of what’s possible in ProAnimator if you don’t have a separate 3D application. I’ve almost completed the “Heroes” graphics, done using C4D and AE, with some really sweet results. As far as the sky reflection goes, take a look at the large image and you’ll see I did actually do a sky reflection.
December 6, 2008 at 10:14 pm |
Are you hinting that ProAnimator WILL at some point be supporting reflections? Have you tried Zax’s Reflector plugin yet.
December 7, 2008 at 2:52 am |
Version 5 of ProAnimator will hopefully include a bunch of great new features. I have Reflector at home but not at the office so couldn’t use it on this job.
December 8, 2008 at 8:32 am |
Hi John,
Would you have achieved the same great final result if you had not used Horizon?
How much of a difference did Horizon make to the final result?
Best,
J
December 8, 2008 at 3:02 pm |
Very nice JD, I really like your work since you made that Making Look great 1
December 8, 2008 at 8:42 pm |
Hey Jim, Horizon makes it quick and easy to get the background to move as part of the 3D scene, it also wraps the image around a sphere rather than leaving a simple flat image, which looks more realistic.
December 10, 2008 at 11:52 pm |
Beautiful work John!
December 19, 2008 at 5:02 am |
Hi John, great time efficiency considering it’s a two days job. I’m only curious ,how were the light rays coming out of the wall made, using Shine? I have never used it but I ‘m suggesting that also gave you the highlights on the 3d title from the video too, right? That looks good. thanks.
December 20, 2008 at 1:46 am |
Yes the light rays were created using Shine, but no Shine was used on the 3D title.
December 25, 2008 at 2:28 pm |
I know but I thought the reflections (in colours of the video) on the 3d title…
December 25, 2008 at 3:11 pm |
The highlights on the 3D title are a reflection map applied to the material. The reflection map is the same video footage comp that is used on the front of the wall.
December 27, 2008 at 8:03 pm |
John this is my first comment ever in ur site mate! I really admire your work , i have a tremendous respect for your work , i have been inspired by you and i’m proud of what i have accomplished so far even there is a long way to go . I have learnt a lot and i will keep learning. Thank you so much for your help and support to the whole MG community. Wishing you and your family the best on the upcoming new year!! God Bless mate!!
P.S.: Amazing Tut!!
February 10, 2009 at 2:25 pm |
oo my god
February 17, 2009 at 7:36 pm |
Wow thank you so much for all your work. Can way for MLG6.
I been trying to take apart the comp and i get must of all it. What I don’t understand is that I can’t change the 2008 text in to some other text? in ProAnimator
February 17, 2009 at 11:50 pm |
Andy, the 2008 text was created using an Illustrator layer.
February 20, 2009 at 8:10 am |
Got it thanks sweet wall dude I love it.
March 11, 2009 at 8:30 am |
I don’t have shine or horizon effects, but I do have proanimator.
Can I have a version without these effects – so I can tinker.
or what do I delete. Thanks. Not an After Effects expert – so I
need a little more guidance. Thanks.
March 11, 2009 at 5:04 pm |
Reggie the project will still work without Shine or Horizon, just open it up. You’ll get a message telling you they are missing but ProAnimator will work just fine.
April 7, 2009 at 10:21 am |
Hi, John Dickinson, great job. I launch the projectin after, but the sky dont’t have a reflect… why? TKS
May 18, 2009 at 6:41 am |
i don’t have Shine, Horizon and ProAnimator. Where can i get plugins?
May 18, 2009 at 6:16 pm |
red giant has demos for all of these plugins.
June 10, 2009 at 6:44 am |
Hey, when i try to save scene i have monit that is invalid key. ;/
June 10, 2009 at 3:32 pm |
JQB do you have licensed versions of all the plug-ins used in the promo?
July 24, 2009 at 6:23 am |
Dear JD,
First of all: great promo
I tried to open the project file with AE CS4 on Windows, but I only get a white screen. I have put my own footage in the composition but I don’t see anything. What do I do wrong? I have all the plugins, except the one from making it look great.
August 25, 2009 at 2:48 am |
Hi Thijs, you need Zaxwerks ProAnimator to use this project.
August 23, 2009 at 5:01 am |
John,
I recently revisited this tutorial, and upon further exploring I noticed how you created the monitor wall in AI.
Couldn’t you have created the same type of wall effect in ProAnimator?
Why did you go the Illustrator route?
August 25, 2009 at 2:47 am |
Hi Jim, this could have been done using a primitive I guess. The Illustrator technique was something I learned before Invigorator had Primitives. Best, JD.
September 16, 2009 at 10:28 am |
great, but better if you done without ProAnimator because is not popular !
September 16, 2009 at 1:10 pm |
Hi Stunt, How would you have done it? Regards, John.
September 16, 2009 at 12:13 pm |
I love the Shine effext you put on the screen. I think it really adds to the reality of the scene you’ve created!
September 17, 2009 at 2:15 am |
Hi Benjamin, good old Shine heh! Wouldn’t be without it. Best, John.
February 10, 2010 at 8:07 am |
Hello John
great work
can promo with this quality done using only AE or i must use 3d program with it?
February 10, 2010 at 3:04 pm |
Hi Shimo, it was all done in AE but I did use third-party plug-ins. You definitely need some 3D such as ProAnimator…
April 16, 2010 at 1:42 pm |
This project is jus AMAZING, but i’ve got a question, how can i edit , or remove the “KI Worldmax 2008″?
April 20, 2010 at 8:38 am |
Hi Pablosoccer, It’s an Illustrator layer placed inside ProAnimator. You simply replace it in ProAnimator… do you know how to use ProAnimator? Best wishes, John.
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