FEATURE: Rise of the Beast-the new feature from STARS Pictures

Also AE does so much more. The Airsoft guns eject shells but that's it. The better value is AE and the cheaper Airsoft weapons or battery powered blowback guns.

-Nate
 
Also AE does so much more. The Airsoft guns eject shells but that's it. The better value is AE and the cheaper Airsoft weapons or battery powered blowback guns.

-Nate
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Amen to that! (no pun intended). One of the things that shocked me the most a few weeks ago when I started learning it was just how much it did. I mean the scope it encompasses is jaw dropping! Another exciting part is that if using AE to master a film becomes more common place, the so called NLE debate will be over. ANY software that has the ability to do straight cuts and output an EDL can be used to cut a picture. The features they offer won't matter to the filmmaker. An editor will truly be able to use what he/she is most comfortable with and it won't matter. There will always be people who insist on doing it all in the NLE (much like I used to-- I was an NLE only fanboy) but for filmmakers, you can't beat what AE offers in terms of coloring, effects and export options.
 
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I'm still a big fan of doing everything in the NLE, especially with FCP having so much available and even iMovie can do basic greenscreen effects, but After Effects goes so beyond that it's mind blowing. And those Video Copilot tutorials help so much. But there is a lot of crossover. Like I learned keyframing in FCP so I understood it, I just needed to know how it was doing in AE. Like the explosions and light stuff. I learned that by accident. (Using keyframing and the exposure you can simulate bright flashes and moving light, I'm sure there's different ways but that's how I learned it).

Like Photoshop, once you learn the basics, the rest is up to you as to how creative you get with it. What I'm anxious to try is things like green screening, then using dollhouse furniture in the background or foreground versus simply using flats as backgrounds.

-Nate
 
By the way what camera are you using. With my HG10 I can convert my AVCHD files to Quicktime files via Toast. They play very well in Quicktime, but with some strobbing, which I believe can be fixed by playing with the shutter or using the 24p and TV mode. I'm trying to find out would this be good to edit on a G5. What is your workflow in Vegas and are you still thinking Red now? What's up?

-Nate
 
I am undecided at the moment about which camera I want to use. All I know is that I can't use a CMOS camera (and that includes RED). I played with a Canon 7D (weighted and everything like a big camera), and I get the jello effect with the style I'm looking to shoot. Since 24p isn't that important to me, I'm actually considering the FX1. I'm hoping to buy my own, but if I can't, I can probably borrow the one I used on the teaser. I really need the focus and zoom rings to get the effect I'm going for, so any of the hand held cams are out of the question.

My Vegas workflow will consist of capturing/importing the HD clips into a timeline, creating regions for each clip, then batch rendering into an offline quality for cutting (my computer is seven years old). I will use straight cuts only, and when the picture is locked, I'll bring the HD versions online. Then I go and take care of any effects shots, import them into the master timeline, and I'll save the EDL. From there, I can open the film in AE CS4 and complete the color correcting and grading. I'll then create an image sequence of the entire film to be my master. I'll also render an uncompressed avi for my DVD and blu-ray. Back in Vegas, I'll complete the sound work, recording ADR, foley, effects, and backgrounds. All of those will be mixed into 5.1 surround tracks. I'll render my final mix as an ac3 and from there go into DVD Architect to create my DVD and Blu-Ray menus. Add my extras and I'm good to go!
 
Dude, seriously? I mean jello cam? That's what's stopping you. Everyone else manages so can you. You shot the last thing SD for goodness sakes and Jello cam is your big whoop. That's like the split screen issue with the old JVC HD100. I'm not sure that was ever really solved, but people sure as heck made "Gabriel" and a heck of a lot of other movies and TV shows. My friend even shot a short on one.

You're doing action, I'm doing action I have an HG10, you should too or something comparable. End of story. The HF10 and HF100 should be real nice or the HV20 or 30 (DO NOT GET THE HR10 DV camera). And I'm a Mac user. You're on a PC in Vegas. I have to do an extra step, if anyone's worried it should be me and even I've found a great workflow and your problem is Jello cam? That was an issue people had last year. You shoot, pan slow and if you really want to do shaky cam, do it post. You can shake it all day with no jello cam. The focus and zoom effects you can do in post too.

And if you're going to buy, don't buy the F/X. I know, it looks hot, I had that same thought, but buy something does 24p because it's all cheap now, versus buying the FX1 with it's faux modes. I just think you're worried too much about something that's nothing and many people have found out the same thing. I was worried about doing 16:9 with the original DVX (which had no squeeze mode or 16:9) so I found a way to do it and actually make it work like real 16:9. There's no reason not to get this thing going.

-Nate
 
You shoot, pan slow and if you really want to do shaky cam, do it post
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When I find a good way to do the shakey cam in post I'll look into it. Until then, shooting style takes top priority.

The focus and zoom effects you can do in post too.
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I'm sure they can be, but again, it's one of those things I'd rather get in camera.

If I break down and go CMOS, I'll probably get a T2i. I've seen some great kits with lenses on ebay, and minus the rolling shutter, I love the image.
 
T2i is nice. That's got a mic jack right. You can get a Beachtek for that and jack it in then you can use an XLR mic with it.

-Nice
 
I'll be elaborating more in my production journal, but just wanted to post that I had another training session today- the best one yet! My lead is really starting to look clean, and I met two other new traceurs today as well who picked up everything very quick. They also have a film background and may end up being recruited =)
By the way, added a temp poster to the first post per the guidelines. I need to change the date though. I'm guessing that with the work I'll be putting into the film(effects and 5.1 mix, all of which I'm doing myself), March or April is more reasonable. I also put together a 5.1 for my logo and it sounds AMAZING!
PRODUCTION JOURNAL #25
 
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Also I think if you can find an acting coach to help with the delivery that would be good. I liked the story but sometimes some of the deliveries took you out of the story. The lead was good and the guy would played the pastor. The chick that played the lead's girlfriend was a great looking gal, but I would've liked her to have a tighter delivery. Also, I hope to see some worthwhile people of color in Leap 2 (some who live to the end, that would be nice). And are you sending Leap to get reviewed on the various movie sites?

-Nate
 
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LOL! Spokane isn't exactly known for being diverse as far as the population goes. We'll see... Acting coach-good idea, I'll have to see what we have available here. No, I haven't sent it out. All my attention has been on ROTB so marketing the last one is on the backburner. I'll look into createspace like you mentioned though. Thanks!
 
I added some concept pics to my second post. End credits idea, and the two overlays I created based on Andrew Kramer's News template
 
Nice news runner. Looks just like CNN. I did one in my first film. My mom was waiting for me to turn the film on because she thought she was just watch news. LOL. Hey, you ever watch Key of David with Gerald Flurry? Some great insights on that show. It'll do you good to take a look.

-Nate
 
Spent the day on VFX for the opening of the film (since it's all CGI from logos to bible verse to satellite to "zoom"). It's coming along!
 
Chris, have you thought about CGIing the whole film? I mean like greenscreen backgrounds and set extensions to change the location to a big city and maybe even some PK off CGI buildings. I only bring this up because in the last film the PK wasn't very exciting because of what they were doing PK off of. I think you should find locations that allow for better handling of PK and martial arts. I liked the alley you used in the proof of concept.

For our film we'll be using a lot of CG and clean plates (Of course with vampires dusting all over the place) so I think you may want to consider that. Like you can get several tables, paint them green and place several tables in front of one another and have people leap from one to another then CG them into rooftops. Or you can buy or find wood and build platforms of various sizes and do the same. This isn't for everything, just on or two set pieces to make the film look like a million.

Make Leap 2 look like you spent some $$$$ on the film. When I did The 4th Beast people thought I spent at least several thousand on it, but it was all free locations and action choero that mainly made people think I'd spent more. Get creative. From what I've seen I can see you're already upping the ante with the CG. It's looking really pro. But also look into color grading, Andrew Kramer's Film Magic Pro would do wonders for you're look. You can move away from the "not video" look to something closer to cinematic between that and Magic Bullet which I think you already have. I plan of getting that and Action Essentials 2 (which I'm pleased to say he used some of my and probably many other's suggestions in that pack). You should also list the goals for your film.

-Nate
 
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No, Leap 2 needs to be as real as possible. As a traceur, I want other traceurs to be able to watch it and say "I can do that". I have much better locations this time around, so it'll look pretty good. Also, the pk isn't as much of a center piece this time, which will be nice. The fights are a mix of Krav and Keysi so they're looking extremely brutal and raw. Grading: I have Mojo which I'm really liking, as well as Stu's Rebel CC plugin which is Colorista without the interface (my graphics card isn't supported by Colorista). Plus, I've learned how to use the Curves in AE to really tweak the footage. I've done some studying up on grading and my new tests are looking spectacular. I'll post some examples soon!

Also, I'm actually sold on the T2i believe it or not. I took a memory card to Best Buy today (a class 2 card at that) and recorded a few minutes of footage of my friend trying different things. We shot 24p and it looks great, plus the overall sharpness is so much better than the FX1. The best part was that I didn't notice any jello issues this time. I have some flickering due to the exposure being set to auto, but other than that, I loved it!

Yep, I have the action essentials 2 collection-good stuff! My goals-meaning my reason for making it?
 
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