VFX Lessons List

If you wanted to learn how to do many of the VFX Animations & Motion Graphics I Did in my Recent Films (2018-2019) I will list them HERE.

I also use some 3rd Party Plugins & Scripts, Especially Red Giant/Trapcode & Video Copilot, and Cinema 4D here & there.... After Effects CC already comes with A LOT OF STUFF including: Cinema 4D, Raytrace, Particles, and 3D Extrude, as well as a variety of options for masking,  track-mats, and camera tracking goodness! I also love the multi-plane camera styles which uses 3D cameras and Layers as well as 3D lights, cast shadows, blurs, and motion blurs as well as blending options, and layer styles! ^_^

It took me a LONG time to wrap my head around "Precompositions" (Precomps) and "Nesting" since I often like to use particles & mats. 

Other things to focus on, if you have the patience are Curves animating (which I HATE but often need to use)  as well as F9 Easing in & out for Keyframing. 

Most teachers of After Effects have a limited area they understand of the software, which comes with biases n personal preferences such as VFX, Video Editing, Motion Graphics, Vectors, 3D, Videographer, VS a Traditional Animator, or Text animator. NOBODY EVER sees eye-to-eye, they all often act like they're an expert BUT ARE NOT, and they ALREADY expect that you understand everything LIKE THEY DO.

Like, DO YOU KNOW what a Precomp is? It took me 3 years to wrap my head around that. 
Did you know there's different ways to use masks, masking, and mats? 
Most people only use 1 or 2 ways, and have no idea about the others. 

Also, the updates n the software can change drastically in just a year or 2. Don't give up, and u can always ask people at Adobe's website. 

Also, on 1 hand you need to be open minded, and open to different things. On the OTHER HAND, if you HATE the way someone is doing it or teaching it, IT'S TOTALLY OK TO DO WHAT YOU LIKE. Give yourself permission to be ORIGINAL. 

AND, many teachers are from foreign countries, so dont; get frustrated if you can;t understand their English. I often have to rewind to be sure I understand too, and I'm good with langauges. 


Here's a list of the Tutorials, Demo, and Lessons I referenced my VFX Animation & Motion Graphics From:

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WIP Succor Forlorn Animation N Stuff

I would REALLY prefer it if LIVE would just function at a pace that works much better for me.

Unfortunately, this film, which I assumed would be done in just a few weeks, is taking much longer than I was expecting. I had a really bad bout of fatigue starting in March, and it didn't clear up until May, but THEN I got to contracts to shoot hockey games and that set me back quite a bit. I also found out that I ate too many plant based foods which is not good for you. So, I had to eat more products from animals. We also had several power-outs, internet went out several times in the past few months, and I had QUITE A LOT of job offers which ate up my time. (No, nothing went anywhere yet.)

Here is a compilation of the rough animation:

I actually had so many problems due to fatigue, which might have also been a mix of malnutrition and mono. It caused me to have several cognitive function impairment, and I couldn't even talk right, let alone think right. It was pretty embarrassing. I thought maybe I was getting old people brain diseases.... but I wasn't. I just needed to have bone broth, fish oil pills, and B vitamins.

So, I redid my animation multiple times. I was just VERY unsatisfied with it.

At some point, after dozens of animation re-dos. I just said that was enough.Otherwise I'd NEVER GET IT DONE.

I am STILL working on the cleanup, n I try to get about 10 frames per day, but ever since my kid had her birthday, things haven't always gone smoothly.
I've also been working opn the composite. So, here's a frame from that:

I was also producing 3 TV shows n contributing to my friend's. The scheduling was frustrating n annoying. Things git rushed, or screwed up. It wasn't all roses.

A lot of the stuff I was already working on for THIS film also got reworked n repurposed for a show I've been doing with my friend Roland. I crammed together some stuff for it within a limited abrupt time, so it wasn't perfect at all. I'm also THE ONLY PERSON in this entire region that knows how to use After Effects to do ANY of this stuff. So, there's no one to help or assist me at all. I'm all on my own. PLUS, the summer heat FINALLY HIT THE AREA. So, my video card won't work above 80F+ degrees for anything beyond a basic edit.... and the hotter it gets it might not even work at all.

Here's the show we rammed through:

The first Episode we threw together in a few days, and I'm shocked that the video graphics rendered out at all.

I re-worked the background graphics multiple times, and even tho we shot 3 MORE episodes, ONLY the first 2 have been edited, with one more that's not done yet. AND those have the old video graphics on them, but some of the new reworked graphics in the intro which we edited.

Not my most IDEAL version of how I wanted it to go.... but I DO have some NEW graphics for future video episodes.

BTW: We're NOT just going to be discussing Star Trek, but other content as well. We're STILL working out the kinks, and since I'm ONLY person who knows how to do most of this stuff, it takes time. Also, Ana is still learning to be a Control Room Director, so she's working on it.

As you can see, its a significant improvement... and, also a repurposed & reworked version of stuff from my film: Succor Forlorn


Something I'm been tossing around in my head, also, is this idea of making another brand of my own (another one), and calling it "Oppressed By Purple" ©2019 and/or "Oppressed By Violet" ©2019! So, I'm gonna copyright that right HERE! MINE!!!

Oppressed By Purple TM ©2019 Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman

Oppressed by Violet TM ©2019 Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 

OK! BOTH are MINE now! Yay!

The OTHER stuff I also managed to squeeze to get done was THIS Final Edit:

(I STILL need to do the INTRO graphics FOR THIS, because I have enough content to make an episode or 2 for that. THAT show is called "A Spirit To Be Free".)


AND, THIS SHOW:

I'm GENERALLY happy with my intro graphics on THIS.... HOWEVER, on SHOOTING DAY several things went wrong. I had insomnia the night before, it poured all day, and getting students to show up for the painting class didn;t go smoothly.

ALSO, I was VERY unsatisfied with the footage, the shots, the angles, and people were often impatient with me. I also didn't know how to explain why it wasn't right, and how it OUGHT to look. So, that was MAJOR learning experience on ALL SIDES. 

ALSO, the head TV Station Producer BOTCHED the first half of the shoot SO BAD and we lost EVERYTHING! ALL OF IT! 

We did shoot the episode. and I DID have to edit EVERYTHING, and CROP like almost EVERY SHOT. People were not always great at taking direction either. I had to just LET IT GO, and just ALLOW it to go badly, because if I DIDN'T I'd blow a gasket... NOT WORTH GETTING UPSET OVER. Everyone needs to learn... so, once it was all shot, I had to explain WHY the shots were bad, ineffective, and didn't help to TEACH anyone. and NO ONE could FOLLOW and actually learn anything JUST because they were shot wrong.

I do HAVE that episode, and it DID actually air on TV, but after my assistant producer finally understood what was wrong with it, we've been trying to get arrangements to shoot at a different TV Station because we can shoot at THAT one at night and weekends.

I haven't uploaded THAT episode yet. Because I kind of HATE IT.

But, HEY! At least my Intro Graphics are BANGIN'! ;) 

Anyways, I wanna get through all my Cleanup animation stuff.

MAYBE I can get it done this month or next month. I try to reach a quota of 10 frames of cleanup animation PER DAY.

There's OVER 200+ and I'm already at 130 frames done. It's also SHOT ONE ONES at 24FPS.


I JUST signed a contract for another Hockey gig which is NEXT weekend. So, THAT will set me back. I might have 1-2 more, and I MIGHT have a job interview coming up in Boston for Animation/Motion Graphics. MAYBE....

I also try to do Life Drawings EVERY DAY at the Dog Park in South Field w the kid. AND, I just made a Bulbasaur/Ivysaur Sculpey planter. AND, the pool still didn't open, but MAYBE Monday... }:(

I also play Pokemon Go HARD CORE!

Animated Short Film WIP: Succor Forlorn

Concept Art Color Mock-Up

HOW THE HECK DID I GET HERE????

Well, THIS is HOW; It started LIKE THIS:

I'd already gone through all the trouble of blogging my goals out on my Main Art Blog when when my #ArtVsArtist/#ArtVArtist/AnimationVsAnimator

Meme videos were still charting on Twitter, plus the fact that Pokemon Go suddenly hit an all time HIGH in user-ship and my Pokemon Go Tweets were also charting still, so my friend Roland & I were discussing stuff, and I had been wanting to re-cut the stuff in my #AnimationVsAnimator meme video into an actual animation/artist/Filmmaker/Dirctor's Demo.

I never got to actually do my final After Effects VFX final edit because the program kept vetoing the clip no matter how compressed I made it, but had no problem importing other videos... this is an issue I often get with Adobe CC and Windows updates, the updates also screwed up my entire iTunes, and my audio/sound card in my computer which was already going bad. (I litterally just started to sort that out FINALLY since last night and all morning today, for the ba-jillienth time trying)

So, not only had I done things like spruce up my Vimeo, portfolios on ArtStation, but I felt this desire to work on JUST a Demo that was a Director's Demo but as a DP (Director of Photography for Cinema).

Here's the HD version from my Meme Clip:

So, I'd started going through my video clips & B-Roll I shot Spring, Summer, and Fall. I wanted it to be a "Video Portrait" but a "Self Portrait" style as a Director/Filmmaker but with just regular camera work and maybe a few VFX thrown in, or some fancy edits.

I found a number of clips I shot of myself, experimental stuff... and at the time, I hated all of it, but, I'd ALSO hated the stuff I actually ended up using in Self Portrait clip I used in my Meme video. So, I decided to try some VFX experiments with the video clips I had. It actually went incredibly well, and was much easier than I'd thought. I'd been so frustrated with After Effects for a week on my Animation/Artist/Filmmaker Demo that I had no expectations for anything to work....

But, THIS is what happened in the 1st one:

Then, I figured, what if I tried this with Trapcode? SO, I did. I did a number of experiments with my B-Roll using Trapcode form...

I had also been suddenly on a 90s/Y2K/2000s Techno kick, and kept finding all sorts of goodies there, with another uptick in my tweets & follows just for THAT stuff on Twitter.... So, I posted more....

Then, a few Techno/Eurodance oldies came up:

Anyways, those were just a FEW of the things that I'd dug up on YouTube, or in my own archives... I'd also even found out that there's a NEW Winamp, and even spent a about 1-2 days making my own Winamp Skins, which ALSO made me VERY interested in 90s & Y2K EVERYTHING all over again! I also got a Skin maker program. If you want some of the Skins I made you can pretty much download ALL of them HERE.

And, since I had been doing VFX Animation Experiments with my B-Roll, I kept stumbling into other things I'd originally wanted to try doing using After Effects CC so then THESE happened:

(BTW: These clips are Creative Commons if you want to rip them n use them for ur own projects)


We had also been hit with so many kinds of weather, and despite this Pokemon Go was going crazy with events, so I often wanted to participate in as many as I could even tho all the PokeStops & PokeGyms are a long walking distance in both directions from my home. Some days I went out, and other days I was stuck inside. Either too cold, too windy, too much snow up to my waste, floods, road construction, power outs, you name it. Not a fan of living in New England AND NEITHER IS MY BACK.

But, it just so happened that on a Thursday evening I was outside playing Pokemon Go trying to do these Pokemon Go event tasks and it was, really cold, I had all the music in my head.... and, I started to realize that maybe a Demo wasn't really the way to go with what I had just made...

I mean, LOOK at all of that stuff!

So, as I was walking around that night I started to have these concepts come into my mind, and it reminded me of some things I had done as a teenager... only more EMO. I didn't usually do EMO sad stuff.... except THIS: (-and maybe some other stuff I no longer have, which I don;t have this one either... )

Fathoming Oubliette

It's titled "Succor Forlorn"

I started to have this concept for a video art piece, the themes, and all of that... so, I sketched up a rough Concept Art which I am hoping to animate starting within the next day or 2:

Also on DeviantArt: Sketch & Color Mock-up

I also wrote a Poem of how I wanted the themes to go. I spent an evening writing it in my paper notebook, then reworked it the following day, and then I also typed and reworked it on another day for about half a day.

The Poem is called "Stargazed Yearning"

You can read the Poem texts HERE.


Then, I wanted to record the audio of myself reciting the poem, but also acting it out... it was a very frustrating endeavor because my spouse was on Spring Break from MASS ARTS Boston, and my daughter also kept having days off, or half days, and I can ONLY record it with NO ONE AT HOME.

I was REALLY feeling it when I 1st wrote it, but couldn't record it due to all the home/house noise. My friend also kept making & breaking his plans with me as well... so, I finally just gave up trying to re-record it after the 3rd day of trying because I just couldn't into the right groove again to connect with the FEELINGS I wanted... and I mean, I tried EVERYTHING like digging up old songs that used to make me cry after a teenaged break-up, dug up photos of ex-boyfriends, or dudes that rebuked me... but, I was just so fed up with wasting time, and since I had recorded at least 7 full long takes, and multiple spot takes of certain segments, I just spent 1-days just chopping & Frankenstein'ing everything until I fore-fit it to work... hopefully it sounds LESS like a hack TRYING to read word-for-word out-loud, and MORE like someone actually abandoned on a planet.

But, anyways, the feedback I got was pretty positive. 

I wanted it to be this kind of fantasy theme, because she mentions she's been stuck on a planet for "1000 orbital planetary years".... So, how long is a year on that planet's orbit? And, how long is 1000 of those years???? So, u start to get a sense that she's not "normal".... as far as Earth goes.
Is she a ghost? 
Is she an alien humanoid? 
Is she an immortal?

So, it's open to interpretation...

The Audio Version is called 
"Stargazed Yearnings" (plural)

This Final Audio Design version took me about a whole day and evening alone:

Also on NewGrounds for Free Download HERE

The short film will be called "Succor Forlorn".

There's a number of discrepancies about the pronunciation of the word "succor". When I was in high school we were taught this words as sounding similar to Olde French and Lantin original pronunciations like "soo-kor" however, online a number of dictionaries tend to list the pronunciation as sounding like "sucker" and is the origin of a baby's pacifier and lollypops & hard candies which were originally all called "suckers". The word originally means to soothe or comfort, but also can mean solace, safety, haven, help, aide, relief, respite, assistance, etc.

But, it's also a pun for "sucker" as in being gullible, mislead, or duped.

She keeps on hoping that when she was left on the planet by someone to save her that they would come back for her, so she keeps on calling out for him to return. 

Anyways, I want to start animating it, hopefully within the next few days. I'm really tired from working on the audio this week, so I didn't work on anything today.