Today I am proud to announce a new multi-part series of videos called ‘FLOW’ that will showcase a Cinema 4D & Nuke workflow.  FLOW will explore that workflow experienced in a real life motion graphics & visual effects project.  Artist Craig Whitaker will guest host this series along with myself and we will discuss both the “how” of getting through a project as well as the often more important, “why”.  We will begin at the early stages of art direction, script review and initial client requests. As we move through the project, various software techniques and choices will be explained and demonstrated – with the focus being on why each step of the project was completed in a certain fashion. Topics will include but are not limited to: art direction, addressing client demands and changes, matchmoving, when to get out of 3D, and much, much more.

Part 01: Overview

Please enjoy Part 1 where guest host Craig Whitaker Jr. will give a brief overview of the project we will be breaking down and more about what we want to accomplish in this FLOW series.  Stay tuned for more videos in this series!

Part 02: Camera Tracking in Nuke

Please enjoy Part 2 where guest host Craig Whitaker Jr. will take a look at how to get a camera track inside of Nuke.  Then, he’ll uncover the problem spots you could run into and how to resolve them in order to refine the track.  Next, we’ll look at setting up cards in 3D space as well as exporting out a FBX camera for bringing in the camera data into Cinema 4D.  Finally, we will go over how you can place objects into the 3D scene space by utilizing the Point Cloud node.

Part 03: Creating the Data Flow in Cinema 4D

Please enjoy Part 3 where we will take a look at how I created the data flow in Cinema 4D using the 3D tracking data Craig created in Nuke in Part 2.  First, we’ll go over the importance of using reference images to help open visual conversation with the client on pinning down an approved concept.  Then, we’ll look at some of the R&D we went through to come to a polished data flow style.  Finally, we will go over how to handle client feedback that can force you to scrap your original concept and how to stay on track despite large scale client changes.

Part 04: Building the Composite in Nuke

Please enjoy Part 4 where Craig will pick up where EJ left off in Part 3 by taking the particle flow animation created in Cinema 4D and bringing the renders into Nuke.  First, we will look at some of the initial look development.  Then we will dive into how we can use fresnel passes as RGB passes to drive color and glow in composite.  We’ll follow that up by discussing how you can build an art direct-able script and we’ll wrap it all up by showing how you can work with tools such as Vector Blur, iDistort, and much more inside of Nuke.

Part 05: Working With 3d Objects In Nuke

Part 05 – Exploring 3D objects and lights inside of Nuke’s powerful 3D environment. We’ll examine the Displace Geo node and how it can save you from needing to roundtrip to a dedicated 3d package. We’ll also add a light to our scene to enhance the look of our object.

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