Recent VFX Articles

Casey Neistat Reviews the Rylo 360-Degree Camera

Casey Neistat's latest vlog is a review of the Rylo 360-degree camera. What makes this different than the 360-degree cameras currently on the market is that it comes with software that makes it easy to pick your shot (in other words, the frame that'll fit your 16:9 or 4:3 frame) and compose your video like that. Rylo is a start up, and although Neistat can distinguish which market it is for, I think it definitely can become something many videographers, especially YouTubers, and travel shooters will use.

Mad Max: Fury Road Without Special Effects is Still Pretty Outstanding Movie Magic

The recent remake of Mad Max: Fury Road has to be one of my favorite examples of both CGI and practical effects in modern day movie making working perfectly together. The way they created this world for which these characters live astounds me every time I see the film and truly set itself apart from other movies. Thanks to behind the scenes access and places like Gizmodo for the latest BTS footage.

'Chromaticity' Video Is a Magical Flight of Practical and Digital Effects

I'll be the first to say it, smoke bombs are usually too Tumblr for my taste. Generally you see them with a moody girl looking off into the distance in some backyard forest. I never got the point of those images. But I found myself mesmerized by "Chromaticity"; the smoke bombs were alive, more like wayward spirits hovering above the big blue. I was so entranced it took me half of the video to realize they were attached to drones, and the drones were nowhere to be seen.

7 Cinematic Gimbal Moves You Can Create Without a Gimbal

When it comes to videography and cinematography, the gimbal has risen to a staple of the craft, whether you're an amateur or a professional. However, if you don't own one or don't have one with you, there are plenty of substitutes that offer similar results.

Building a Futuristic San Francisco in Star Trek: Into Darkness

Follow Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) as they explain how they created the design for the city of San Francisco in the year 2259 for the film Star Trek: Into Darkness. They also go into depth over the creation of the visual effects for the scene where the USS Vengeance crashes into the city and exactly how large some of the files ended up being.

"Inspired Light" Combines Light Painting And Automotive Photography

Patrick Rochon is a world-reknowned light painting photographer who recently produced a project with Infiniti, where he used their cars as paintbrushes themselves, in a manner of speaking. This video shows off what is possible when a skilled artist is given the reigns to create compelling images of vehicles, and has the support of a technical and creative team. And to top it all off, the really cool part is that everything was done in camera– there was nothing digitally added.

Making The Most Unbelieveable Basketball Trick Shots With After Effects And Some Creativity

This video reminds me of my college days– spending time working with a friend while having next to no budget, but coming up with a fun idea for a short video that would allow us to flex some creative muscle. Corridor Digital may have a (small) budget for these, but what I enjoy about them is that the fun and creativity feels authentic, which you often only get when no agency or corporate sponsor is pushing creative decisions. In this video, you'll see the final clip, with the behind-the-scenes video inside the full post.

13 Tricks to Master Your Gimbal

Consumer-level gimbals have changed the quality of videography for smaller productions for the better. Now, everyone from indie film enthusiasts to vloggers can have smooth, dynamic footage in their work. However, using a gimbal is more of a skill than it might first seem.

Using a 4K UHD Projector for Cinematography

As all facets of technology take large, confident strides forward, there are many unintended synergies and applications between them. One example of this, which is still relatively new to being viable, is using a projector as a background for photography and videography.

What a Music Video Using the iPhone App Prisma Looks Like

Drive Like Maria just released a music video for their song "Deep Blue." What makes this unique is that every frame has been rendered with the "Dreams" effect using the Prisma App. This app uses AI to create effects that make your images look like paintings of famous artists. It has many effect options, and it really looks as though a lot of time, knowledge, and effort has been put together to create it. It looks like Waking Life, but instead of drawing each frame by hand, Drive Like Maria has taken every frame of their music video and run it through the app.

How to Add a Sweet Freeze-Frame Effect to Your Videos

Some of my favorite video editing tricks and tools are quick and subtle edits that have a lot of impact on the final piece. This tutorial from videographer Casey McPerry is definitely one of those tools that I will be adding to my bag.

Game of Thrones Season 4 - Visual Effects Behind-the-Scenes

The hit TV show on HBO Game of Thrones has some stunning practical and visual effects. Season 4 was no exception, and the team has behind the VFX just released a behind-the-scenes video showing what they did. If you haven't watched the season yet, be aware, it contains SPOILERS.

Cloak Is Where Video Footage Is Going, and It's Amazing

Photo editing, retouching, and removing something from the shot isn't easy to do especially if it's a complex part of the hair, but it's common practice for a professional photographer to be able to do it if the shot and client requires it. It involves masking the new hair refining tool brush over and selecting the best feathering to make this selection as true as possible. Have you ever thought about removing something from a video? This is what Adobe is working on and this video shows a sneak peek of what Cloak will be able to do.

How Did Flight of the Navigator Create Its Amazing Visual Effects?

Released in 1986, children’s sci-fi adventure classic "Flight of the Navigator" was one of the first movies to use computer-generated effects, but many of the practical visual effects used are equally mind-blowing. Check out this in-depth insight into how the production team created a movie that still looks good 35 years later.

A Tribute to Blue Screen Photography and Compositing

Beyond any doubt, the effects and compositing techniques used in the first three films of Star Wars trilogy were the game changer in VFX world. Although there has been a rapid improvement in the VFX technology for the last 40 years, we can say that Star Wars was one of the pioneers. So, how was that possible to achieve realistic results in a movie produced in 1980? Mark Vargo explains the mathematics, optics, engineering, and software behind the blue screen photography and compositing in detail.

Breaking Down the Visual Effects of Brett Ratner's "Hercules"

Earlier this summer we saw the release of Brett Ratner's "Hercules". The movie was a mild success despite critics' anticipations. Recently Milk VFX and Double Negative VFX houses have both released breakdowns of how they created the visual effects for the movie. Mike Seymour of Wired walks you through a detailed featurette on how Double Negative created the numerous creature effects for the film. In the second breakdown we get to see how Milk expanded the world in the movie with set expansions, matte paintings and other special effect touches.

Behind the Scenes of the 'Game of Thrones' Ship Battle [Spoilers]

I'll start with a rather obvious warning: this video and article may contain spoilers for anything that happens up to and including episode 2 of season 7 of "Game of Thrones." With that out of the way, we can look at how the incredible fight scene of that second episode was created.

ReelSteady Software Can Make Your Shaky Videos Look Amazing

Normally I don't promote software based on their promo video alone but this video was so compelling I had to share it. The ReelSteady plugin for After Effects appears to be made of pure magic, taking cheap looking footage and making it look like Hollywood CGI.

Red Giant Plugins Get Updated - Magic Bullet Looks, PluralEyes, And More

Software company Red Giant has been making the plugins that video editors have been using to sweeten their edits since the days of MiniDV. Fan favorite Magic Bullet Looks has long offered stylized, preset looks for its users. It has just been announced that Red Giant will be updating Magic Bullet to version 2.5, along with updates to PluralEyes and BulletProof.

BTS Video Describes Process of Creating the Human-Like 'Ava' Robot In 'Ex Machina'

Hollywood's latest A.I. thriller, "Ex Machina," promised to take viewers on a fascinating and thrilling philosophical, ethical, and human journey. The Turing test, man's domination over machine, artifically intelligent machines' potential and perhaps inevitable self-awareness and domination over man, and an eccentric Silicon Valley-like billionaire-type leading the helm... how could this not be a great film? More on that later, but to make all of this happen, director Alex Garland and VFX supervisor Andrew Whitehurst had to create a robot that would connect so well with audiences that we would treat it as any other human character.

Behind the Scenes and VFX Breakdown of Summer Blockbuster 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'

With 2014 nearly behind us and the list of this year's summer blockbusters almost forgotten, we have a treat from the incredibly talented team at Industrial Light & Magic that takes us back in the form of this behind-the-scenes video of the CG that went into "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." What never gets old about these badass behind-the-scenes videos are how they blow away the background of big-budget movies, essentially revealing the digitally constructed landscapes surrounding our beloved actors in films.

Watch BBC Explain CGI in 1982

How far had computer graphics come in the early eighties? "Tomorrow's World," an old show on BBC, shows us just how far the tech had come – and how far it was going to go.

Get Started with DaVinci Resolve 12.5 in Less Than 35 Minutes

When getting into video, filming may not be the biggest issue. Post-production plays a significant role and can be quite overwhelming. There is tons of software out there, and it’s difficult to know which is best for what. Learning how to use these programs is even worse when you are a photographer. The interface looks totally different than what we are used to with Photoshop, Lightroom, or even Capture One. So it’s always nice there are people such as Casey Faris producing comprehensive videos to help us out in getting started. If, like me, you can’t seem to get a perfect grading with Premiere or Final Cut Pro, this crash course on DaVinci Resolve is exactly what you need!

Learn How to Collapse Time: 20 Minutes of Kite Flying Compiled into a 1 Minute Video

"The San Diego Studies", a series of short videos that collapse time to reveal otherwise unobservable rhythms and movement in the city is the product of filmmaker/photographer Cy Kuckenbaker. Shot in Tijuana Slough, San Diego County, this series showcases some impressive imagery/effects that Cy has been gracious enough to share with us. To see how this was done be sure to check out his "Making of Notes" video.

Joey Shanks Explains to Fstoppers How He Re-Created the Black Hole from the Movie Interstellar

If you’re interested in getting big budget looks in your low budget indie film, then you should be very familiar with the Shanks FX channel on YouTube. If you’re not, you should get acquainted with it… like now! Joe Schenkenberg aka Joey Shanks is the man with the know-how when it comes to creating Hollywood effects out of simple household items. He teamed up with PBS Digital Studios to bring you quality behind-the-scenes content online and has recently partnered with Red Giant to explain how he created a black hole effect very similar looking to the one in the recent movie Interstellar – all captured in-camera.

Stunning Stop Motion Film Is Out of This World With Handmade Cosmos

Lately, I've found myself watching lots of stop motion films. It's something I've always wanted to try (I've tried very simple things thanks to Vine), but never really dove into. Now, after watching "Infinitude," my head is spinning at the possibilities of what you can create with stop motion.

Create Realistic Lighting Effects Using Knoll Light Factory

Flare has become a huge part of modern photography for how it can add both depth and excitement to an image. Many of us have resorted to manually creating lighting effects using Photoshop or by layering pre-made textures above our photos. Red Giant, however, looks to replace and augment this rather tedious process with Knoll Light Factory.

Planetary Motion: Photographer Creates 3D Motion From NASA's New Moon Photos

Canadian Designer, Photographer, and Cinematographer Tom Kucy doesn't sleep. Less than two days after we reported on NASA's huge release of over 10,000 never-before-seen photos from the Apollo space missions, Kucy decided to work them into a project that involves taking these almost half-century old two-dimensional film images and converting them into moving, stereoscopic 3D photographs.

Using Aerial Video To Re-Create A Classic Videogame Look

If you've played a few shooter video games in the last two decades, chances are you've seen at least one with a point of view that is looking from the top-down. The team over at Corridor Digital wanted to recreate this style in a video short (which also meant doing it all in a single take!) so they partnered with DJI to make it happen. This video takes you behind the scenes on their shoot, but check the full post for the final video and a second BTS piece.

Google and VFX Studio The Mill Release 360-Degree Film 'HELP' for Mobile

The era of 360-degree filmmaking is upon us. Google, in collaboration with The Mill and production company Bullitt, has released the 360-degree short film "HELP" for free on Google's mobile storytelling platform Spotlight Stories. The film is full of explosions, aliens, and action all within a beautiful 360-degree world.

Surreal Drone Video Blends Time-Lapse and VFX in 'Korean Mirrorworld'

Always looking to try something different with his aerial videos, Vietnam-based Filmmaker Rufus Blackwell recently shared with me his latest project. His techniques combine motion control through planned waypoint missions, and then manipulating the footage in a visual effects software to mirror the ground in an almost "Inception"-like effect.

Audi's 'Duel' Ad Spot Provides Interesting Case Study for Sound Design in Reverse-Playback Clips

Audi took advantage of Monday night's presidential debates with its "Duel" ad spot. Nearly the entire clip plays in reverse, allowing the chronology of the true story and how the action unfolded to the point at which you began to unravel itself in an action-packed scene. The rewound clip -- fit for a 007 film -- features quite the production, complete with excellent, blockbuster-born sound effects to sell every punch and shattering glass shard. But it doesn't take much studying to see this was hardly as easy as rewinding an otherwise-normal action sequence: it took great audio to create this spectacle.

'HASHTAG NOFILTER' Plays on Instagram Clichés Just in Time for Halloween

South Africa native Matthew Rycroft creatively combined creepy music, a creepy-looking dude, and some dark, chiaroscuro lighting techniques to create a video that brilliantly mocks the cliché Instagram accounts with which we're all too familiar. The final result is a well thought-out piece that's short and sweet and definitely leaves room for more.

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.

From Photographer to Videographer: Using Adobe's Motion Graphics Templates

We’ve noticed the trend. Video is becoming the way most people communicate online these days. How can you as photographer use video as a tool to influence the personal brand you are constantly building, and how can you expand your product offering to clients? There are various types of videos you can focus on to produce, and the aim should be to make videos that you would like to make for a client. Therefore, it needs to be professional, and something clients might actually use as their marketing and advertising materials.

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.

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.

A Brief Look at What It Takes to Create a CGI Character

We see computer-generated effects every day of our lives, but very few of us fully appreciate the amount of time and talent they take to create. It's easy to believe that these effects and characters are "computer-generated," but in reality, very talented artists are the ones creating this photo-realistic content; computers are simply the tool.

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".

Comicbookgirl19 Interviews Practical VFX Artist, Alec Gillis

Comicbookgirl19 has to be my favorite channel on youtube at the moment. She and her trusty side-kick, 'Robot', review the latest shows, movies and comic books. Recently she interviewed one of the greatest practical special effects artists of our time, Alec Gillis. They discuss why practical effects seem to be losing traction in the film industry and how it will affect future filmmaking.

Behind-the-Scenes Video for the Amazing Squatty Potty Commercial

If you've been on Facebook or hopping around YouTube's popular videos lately, chances are you've seen the video advert for the "Squatty Potty," a step stool used to make, well, going poop much easier on your body. Sound like a tricky concept to sell? See how a team of creatives turned an ad about a dookie-easing product into an Internet sensation.

How to Create an Iron Man Heads-Up Display Effect

The Hitfilm crew, Kirstie Tostevin, Josh Davies, and Simon Jones take over Film Riot to bring you a kick-butt tutorial on how to create an Iron Man heads-up display effect with their free HitFilm 4 Express software.​ This eight-minute video takes us all the way from pre-production to post-production.