Recent VFX Articles

10 Great Films to Watch for Cinematography

Whether you're a filmmaker, videographer, or just a stills shooter, there's a lot that can be learned from some of the greats of cinematography.

3 Great B-Roll Transitions That Are Easy to Shoot

There is almost no area of videography that won't use B-roll at one point or another. In this video, add three great B-roll transitions to your arsenal that are quick and easy to learn.

A Complete Guide for Creating High-End, Cinematic Time-Lapse Videos

The time-lapse has been a fundamental technique in filmmaking and videography for some time, and the methods and results have simply improved consistently, year on year. Watch this comprehensive guide by the time-lapse photographer known for works like the intro sequence to the hit U.S. remake of "House of Cards".

Filmmaker Creates Inspiring Shortfilm by Himself During Quarantine

This year has forced many photographers and filmmakers to take an extended break from their day jobs and stay home. The newfound stresses that come with quarantine have left a lot of us uninspired, while others have used this time to pursue projects they couldn't find time for before. One professional filmmaker used his time during quarantine to create a beautiful Sci-Fi short film, from the comfort of his own home.

Video Editing Plugins That are Worth Buying

Plugins for both photography and video are plentiful nowadays, and the quality of them varies hugely. Here are one cinematographer's favorite video plugins that he is glad he invested in.

How to Shoot an Ad in Your Dining Room

Daniel Schiffer is a YouTuber who started off as a guy making videos for restaurants. Now, he's got more than one million subscribers, and it's because he can get a lot done with very few resources. In this video, you can see how he does it.

Footage From Victorian England Enhanced to 4K and 60 fps

If, like me, you have a love for history, being able to see footage from Victorian England in 1901 is a real pleasure. Using neural networks, we can now see previously grainy and fuzzy video from the era upscaled to 4k, 60 fps, colorized, and significantly improved image quality.

How Do You Make A Movie Look Like One Long Shot?

How do the big movie production companies get us to believe the scene is taken in one long shot when memory cards get full and film runs out? This video shows 4 ways of making the viewer believe it's shot this way in movies such as Academy Award Winning "1917," and maybe you could use it too.

Vimeo Is About to Add Some Useful Tools to Their Service Offering

YouTube has become the go-to space for video. We have famous video creators that earn a good living doing so. And then, we have Vimeo, the professionally orientated video-sharing platform that many professionals use to host their projects and productions in the best quality possible online.

Get This Free Pack of Dynamic Video Transitions for Davinci Resolve

After getting familiar with the general interface of your chosen video editing software, and perhaps after your first few simple edits, the next step for most aspiring editors or YouTube creators might be to start learning a few fancy transitions to flex those creative muscles and spice up your new videos. This YouTuber has just made your lives a little easier.

How They De-Aged 'The Irishman' Cast

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. In this video Rodrigo Prieto, the DOP of the movie, discusses how they used three cameras and infrared markers to make it possible to de-age them in post. He also talks about using different LUTs in different eras of the movie to emulate the most popular film stock colors used in these different times.

BTS of John Wick 3: Bike Fight Scene

Every well-known movie has specific scenes it is famous for. This is the case with the bike fight scene in John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum, where we take a glimpse behind the scenes to see how the production team made that action choreography.

Real-Time In-Camera VFX: Next Generation of Filmmaking

Visual effects (VFX) are a great way of achieving spectacular results when the budget doesn't allow filming for real or it's too risky for the actors. Up till now, these were achieved mostly by filming on green or blue screens. This new way of filmmaking presents a way for shooting scenes with VFX directly in camera.

'Game of Thrones' Behind the Scenes: 'The Long Night'

55 nights of shooting. Your favorite characters fighting for their lives, some never to be on the screen again. How was “The Long Night” episode shot to keep us in suspense for the longest battle scene ever created for television or film? Spoilers ahead.

This Budget Bullet Time Effect is Simple and Impressive

When the new technique called bullet time debuted 20 years ago with the movie "The Matrix," the effect was so different and mind-blowing that it raised the bar for outside the box camera effects. A couple practice runs, a group of boys playing basketball, and a clever cameraman was all it took to pull off this big budget effect without even opening a wallet.

See Every Oscar Winner for Best Visual Effects Ever

Of the many categories in the Oscars, perhaps one of the most interesting for photographers and videographers is the award for Best Visual Effects. This awesome compilation shows a clip from every winner from 1929 to 2017.

Fstoppers Reviews the Trapcode Suite 15 From Red Giant

As a freelancer, I find myself taking on different roles in both production and post. I can do some modest animations, but any major work, I outsource to an animator. With plugins like the Trapcode Suite though, even a simpleton like me can make some eye-catching graphics.

Check Out This Unreal Iceland Short Film

There is no doubt that Iceland has become an incredibly popular travel destination for photographers and filmmakers in recent years. One filmmaker has taken his footage to the next level to create a stunning Iceland short film.

Adobe Rush Video Editing: Is It Any Good?

I spent a Sunday in Paris with a friend, Jason Boone, who's made a video about Adobe Rush and what makes it such a good video editing tool. It has been presented as being easy, syncs over Adobe Creative Cloud and has a lot built in to make you a more productive editor. This video shows whether that's true.

Adobe Sneaks Shows Amazing Tech That Might Be Coming Soon

Every year at Adobe MAX, and sometimes in between, we are treated to the Adobe Sneaks: a series of presentations of what Adobe is doing at the most advanced levels technology can take us in order to help creators save loads of time, such as Project Fast Mask, which makes masking out any subject in a video as easy as using the Magic Wand selection tool.

Can You Use Your Talent and Acquired Skills for Good? Yes, You Can

Sam Kolder is one of the prolific YouTube creators who has gained viewership because of his editing skills, the transitions he is able to make, and style of narration and cutting footage to fit the story. In this video, he tells a story about animal conservation, and for any photographer or video producer, it should be inspiring and motivation to use your skills to do good.

How a Videographer Shot a Short Film on His iPhone For a Film Festival

Moment is a company who makes lenses for iPhones. They recently introduced their Anamorphic lens, and started a festival where some videographers got the opportunity to shoot whatever they wanted to. JR Alli made Disconnected on his iPhone, and this video shows how he did it.

It’s UltraWide Time!

For all you creators out there! LG understands there’s more to the final output. There’s also the “process.” All the hours spent working, toiling, creating, that no one ever sees. The endless brain-strain and ideating a creator dedicates to their goal is what makes up their UltraWide Time. Few will ever see or understand the process, where all the work and magic happen. But LG understands.

Real Is Always Better Than Simulation

Mission Impossible III was recently launched, and what makes it a special movie to go watch is the fact that most of the stunts were done by Tom Cruise himself and that they were done in real time and space, on location, and without much CGI. His movies are revered as some of the best action movies, and it's because of this reason it's worth noticing that the real thing is often better than the simulation.

Video Transitions Pushed to Their Finest

After doing video work for a few years now, I am finally starting to look more into all these interesting transitions. In this music video, they did an incredible job using transitions as a theme throughout.

How to Make a Double Exposure Video

In this tutorial video, Caleb Pike shows us how to make a double exposure video. It's as simple as it is to do it with digital photography, and it can be used for wedding videos, documentaries, road trip vlogs, or just for fun as a profile GIF.

Critical Thinking and Planning Your Video's Editing Style

We're sure to find videos on YouTube that will show you how to accomplish certain transitions or edit better, but what we rarely get, is the pre-production know-how, or the critical thinking about what you want to achieve when shooting a video. Chris Hau and JR Alli show us how they do it.

Behind the Scenes of My Short Film 'The Letter'

If you think this is a sci-fi horror thriller film with Transformers-style VFX you'll be disappointed. In fact, the action takes place in the 50s as a young man turns unfortunate obstacles into a romantic outcome.

A Hundred Filmmaking Tips and Hacks in 10 Minutes

This video covers a wide range of tips and tricks to make your set runs smoothly, things occur as you planned, and small items don’t go missing. I’ve seen some of these used by YouTubers mostly, but there are a hundred of them, so use what you think is best suited to your shooting style.

Add an Orbiting Hyperlapse to Your Videos

You can make it look like two people are sitting with their backs to opposite sides of the same wall. It allows you to transport your audience to a different place in a fun way. This video from Mango Street shows how they did it and shares a tutorial on how you can too.

It Was Practical Effects, Not CGI, Behind Apple's 'Welcome Home' Ad

Earlier this month, Apple released a new Spike Jonze-directed ad titled “Welcome Home” that featured FKA Twigs dancing through shapeshifting apartment. Today, AdWeek shared a revealing behind-the-scenes video where we learn that almost all of it was practical effects. It’s almost unbelievable.