New cmiVFX tutorial: Blender 3D Compositing

Hi!

My new tutorial “Blender 3D Compositing” is now available at cmiVFX.com.
Originally I just wanted to do the follow-up to my previous tutorial about camera-tracking with Syntheyes and create a tutorial about inserting CG elements into some HD footage. But when I started recording I realized that you already need a strong foundation of compositing knowledge to be able to follow the required steps for CG integration. That’s why I decided to do the whole show and create a complete and extensive compositing tutorial that not only shows you how to integrate CG into film and add some nice effects but also goes into a lot of details of the technical side of compositing. So be prepared for more than 5 hours of nodes, renderlayers, renderpasses, pixelmath, filters, masks and colorgrading!

Watch the teaser here:
http://www.vimeo.com/15994859


Here’s the official press-release text:

http://img.skitch.com/20101019-dw4rhh1met2usety5yqwd4e8hx.jpg

Princeton, NJ (10/19/2010) cmiVFX releases New Blender 3d Compositing Training Video.
In this in-depth Blender training video, you’ll go through every step of the compositing process, from working with 3d and rendering, to tracked data from an external tracker like Syntheyes, to color correction and grading, it covers the gamut! When you walk away from this class, you’ll have been introduced each of the core concepts needed to be a successful compositor, seamlessly integrating fully 3 dimensional CG into real footage. cmiVFX breaks down each tool one by one with fast and easy chapter references designed for even faster muscle memory. cmiVFX continues to deliver the training and content you need, quickly, efficiently and affordably. When it comes to high end CG and VFX training, there is only once choice… cmiVFX!

http://www.cmivfx.com/productpages/product.aspx?name=Blender_3D_Compositing

One tool to rule them all!
One of Blender’s key features is the tight integration of every tool that you need for a complete production pipeline in one single package. A node-based compositor with a built-in feature-complete 3d modeling and render pipeline is really a godsend for anybody who wants to integrate CG elements into film. You can perform every task from modeling and animation, to rendering, compositing , and video editing in Blender without ever having to leave the application. No pre-rendering, no exporting, no hassle!*
Integration Because of this versatility, Blender is the perfect companion for match moving applications like Syntheyes. Once you have exported the tracked camera from your camera-tracking software it is only a matter of seconds to import the data into Blender. In a step-by-step example, I will show you how to setup world, and render settings, layers, passes, filters and curves to achieve convincing CG integration. With Blender’s render layers and multi-scenes, we will set up a versatile masking system that can be used for secondary color-correction, re-shading and light improvements. The color-grading tools of Blender and effects like glow, diffusion and vignettes give you a lot of artistic freedom to create a great look and atmosphere for your CG projects.

Total Control
Naturally, the whole concept of nodes, render layers and render passes may look intimidating first, but it is well worth the effort to explore the vast array of possibilities they offer. Not only do they allow to create some nice effects like glow and depth of field, they will likely change the way you think about light and shading. The complete*control over each and every single render pass, combined with the power and elegance of a node-based compositing workflow, will take your renderings to the next level. Use layers and passes to create beautiful and flexible lighting setups that would require hours of tweaking and re-rendering if done in the parameters of the actual lights. With nodes you’ll render once and tweak the rest in the compositor. It’s as simple as turning on the lights with a switch.

All you have to know
In these 5 hours of online video training, you will not only learn how to integrate CG into film, but all of the essential skills that you need as a 3d compositing artist. You will learn how to setup multiple render layers in a multi-scene workspace with individual render settings, how to deal with AlphaOver, premultiplication and the different blend modes, and how to recombine all available render passes into one final image and enhance them with curves and color-balance tools. We’ll cover the essential effects and filters like glow, DoF, motion blur, diffusion, vignette, displacement-maps and glare/ghosting. And while we’re at it we’ll round off our CG-workflow-tour with a trip to Blender’s video sequence editor to add some nice sound effects to the finally rendered image sequence and output an h264 quicktime-movie.

An open environment
What makes Blender so attractive is its ability to open up tools to the general public while still maintaining research and development during its course.

I already own the Syntheyes training video and will definitely buy this one as well.

Cool, thanks!
This one is 5:15 hrs.

That’s looking fantastic!
I’m gonna head right over and purchase it as well. I hope it is as complete as it looks, but with a length of 5:15 hrs and your presentation style, I have no doubt.

Still want to write a quick review about the Syntheyes tutorial. Probably gonna do that soon.

MD

Wow, a lot of great Blender training is coming up lately :smiley:

Hopefully even more will come as Blender continues to develop.

Thanks a lot!
And a review would be very cool! If you find the time to write one, please let me know, I would be very interested in it. That’s one huge disadvantage on cmiVFX: no comments, no forum, so it is not very often that I get feedback, critique or suggestions what to do better.

Is this product downloadable or not?

Thank you.

No, as always, cmiVFX offers only online streaming, sorry for that. But they have a new HTML5 Player. Maybe that improves things a bit.
Btw, the tutorial comes with 3 different shots in HD for exercise, already with a ready to use camera-track. The sample files are of course included too. And of course these ARE downloadable…

Wait… you can’t download the training once you buy it? That seems like kind of a rip-off. Guess I won’t be buying it… and it looked so good too.

EDIT:
I bought it any way and I’m glad I did.

The way you made that comment seemed like he’s trying to rip off people. Kinda unnecessary negative comment to this thread. Have some consideration for the OP and future professionals viewing this forum.

Also there is no problem with viewing this online. The old days with modems is over.

Yeah, it was too negative and I realize it’s not his fault downloading isn’t available. I ended up buying it in any case - it was just too good to pass up.

Viewing online isn’t an issue unless: I want to go mobile and am without internet, server goes down, company goes out of business, etc… The customer ought to be better supported is all and I didn’t find anything on the cmiVFX site that says videos are streaming only. Nothing against the OP.

i have no idea why this was moved to off-topic… my brain hurts when trying to rationalize it

Yeah, i was kinda surprised too. Sure, it’s advertising in a way, but not that off-topic…

I know that there are in fact issues with the streaming-only solution. But as already mentioned it’s common practice. Look at digital-tutors or lynda.com - all streaming AFAIK.
They do it to fight piracy, which I somehow find understandable.
And besides, aren’t there ways to somehow save an embedded stream? I’m not sure, i never tried it. And if not, just screen-record it? :wink:

Nice! I already have Andrew Price’s Wow Factor book, so I doubt I’ll need this at the moment. Looks great though, nice work :slight_smile:

Hi, I too just brought this product and am about to sit down and watch it :slight_smile:

I am also disapointed that CMINVFX do not allow you to down load a copy of a product that is paid for to watch offline. I was planning to watch it on the plane when on holiday and learn as I rest (cant allways have access to broadband and ISP does control/band width/downloading limits!!!) Especially that they do not inform you of this until after you have paid for the product! Looks like I will have to just trust that it will not get taken off line, shame we are all tared with the same piracy brush and that trust does not work both ways!! :frowning:

I understand that the creators rights/material needs to be protected and strongly agree with this BUT, If I was the type to make illegal copies and illegally download software I would not be using Blender!! (i would be using a cracked copy of something like 3Ds Max or Maya!) Still…

I hope to get alot out of this content and am sure I will enjoy the creators hard work. I also will write a review after watching it fully. At the moment I just wanna sit back and soak up all the valuable info the creator has to share with us :wink:

I by no way mean ANY disrespect to the artist/creator and am sure that I will get my moneys worth from his hard work and be pleased to have paid for this in the end. Just feel a little let down by CMIVFX (if not a little pre judged also!) I look forward to viewing your work sabastian, warmest regards :>

PS, left it running in the back ground and now it wont let me rewind!!!

It’s understandable that they try to protect themselves from piracy, however online streaming hurt their customers way more than it hurt the pirates.

I do not mean any disrespect to you Sebastian_K, it is not your fault in any way. If it was any other reseller than cmiVFX I would buy it. Sorry man :frowning:

Good luck with the sales though.

This is my review of two tutorial videos by Sebastian_K. I am by no means a pro in either department, this is simply a review by a learner (at 1st base) who has purchased both of Sebastians videos to get himself started with Blender & with Camera tracking. I don’t know a lot so please keep this in mind and correct me where needed.

I will start by saying that I am completely happy with my purchases of Blender Compositing & Tracking with Syntheyes. Sebastian has a fluid method of teaching which is clear to understand. He is easy to follow which makes his tutorials fun when interacting with the video and programs. While getting to the core of the programs he does not over load you with information that is not needed. Paying key focus to typical scenarios he guides you through various processes from start to finish. More to the point, he brings your attention to situations that may arise and educates you on how to deal with each problem in an effective manor that gets the job done, with out any loss in quality or unnecessary waste of time.

Sebastian has an almost endless well full of knowledge and I strongly urge people to take advantage of this. With his high level of experience with Blender (and various other programs) he is a warmly welcomed provider of educational content to the world wide web, a true breath of fresh air.

There was only one let down for me, and this is not to be held against Sebastian himself. At no point when purchasing these tutorials from CMIVFX was I warned that I could not have a copy in some kind of digital format for offline viewing ! While I completely agree that all artists work should be protected ( I can not express this strongly enough), we are NOT ALL in to piracy in the real world and the method used to VIEW online only hinders the honest buyer of such material. In no way does this effect pirates that are savy enough to breach security and re publish digital media via the many methods available to them. All it does is hurt the honest buyer. Impacting band width/download limits by ISP`s. Lets be honest about this, not everyone has 24 hour access to the internet. I was directly effected by this as my intention was to watch the media on my laptop while on holiday in a location that does not provide internet access. As stated before, IF I was the type to use illegal software/breach copy right on material, why would I be using BLENDER instead of other high end software such as Maya or 3Ds Max??

Anyway, enough of my little rant, back to the amazingly talented creator of these tutorials…

I recommend you Google this guy and take a look at some of his work, his Blender work is out of this world. Such detail (a strong eye indeed) and creativity. Having viewed a fair few examples of his work and these two tutorial videos, I can confidently say that I would not hesitate to purchase more work from Sebastian, not even for a split second. The length of his tutorials are perfect, you get your moneys worth in respects to not only duration but relevant content. Example files were provided at great quality and there was no bulk files that simply made it look like you were getting your moneys worth, you actually was getting your moneys worth.

I simply, I cant recommend this guy enough. Save your self hours (or even days!) trying to resolve a problem that he could expertly guide you through in a matter of minutes, leaving you feeling like you actually learnt something rather than just duplicated his steps. This is one guy to keep your eyes on folks :wink:

Thank you v-much Sebastian, keep producing such amazing work and who knows where you might find yourself in the future. Just don’t forget to drop a wad off cash off at my place as you pass by in your top of the line sports car that I am confident you will be able to afford from all your hard work, If you don’t have one already! :wink:

wow, thanks orion_uk for such a nice and flattering review!
it’s great to get such nice feedback! :slight_smile:

FYI… the reason why I have not bought this (and several other) product(s) is that it appears that I cannot get delivery on a made-to-order DVD. (I admit that I have not looked too closely.)

Oh, go ahead and call me an old phart :wink: but … I still buy my music on CD’s, too, because I have lost paid-for downloads through no fault of my own. “If I bought it, I want to hold it in my hands.” I still re-read books years after I bought them. The first music CD I ever bought, I still have, and its sound is unchanged. I want intellectual property to arrive on tangible media, sent to me by overnight post, and I am perfectly willing to pay the overhead associated with doing that.

Yeah, it’s true, there is only online streaming available, and I can understand that not everybody likes that. :wink:
But I cannot do anything about it, sorry.