System for VFX

[Steve Kalle]

Nothing major and nothing for films. My passion is making TVCs, partly because I have such a short attention span. I mainly use AE CS5 and Cinema 4D but I am also learning Nuke. I doubt that I will ever go work for someone else so no chance of becoming a Flame artist, and Nuke is the next best thing; although, I kind of wish I had a Mac Pro so I could learn Smoke and Resolve (but then again, I hate Apple).

Speaking of AE, I am working on a 30s spot for a college and I am trying to make a shot through a microscope and make the school's name appear as pieces of liquid and then form together - just like Terminator 2 or 3. I have been trying the Mr Mercury effect but it has not worked like I want. Do you have any idea how to do it or where a good tutorial might be?

Or, I wonder if it would be easier in Cinema 4D....

On a side note, what are your favorite plug-ins for AE CS5? I just bought The Foundry's CameraTracker for AE and I absolutely love it so far. It is so easy to use and now I don't need to buy Syntheyes. I also like Trapcode Particular and Form. Did you see that Particular is now available for Nuke - that should be a sweet combo. I haven't used Kronos yet but it might be my next plug-in purchase as its only $100.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

If the CC plug-ins don't work try VIDEO COPILOT | After Effects Tutorials, Plug-ins and Stock Footage for Post Production Professionals

The tutorial covers spherical drops but the same principal can be applied to particles. Keyframe each particle to simulate a 'crawl' back into the main shape. However, if realism is what you're after, I would assume that creating it in 3D would be faster and easier than in after effects, but I have no experience in this. I have friends/freelancers do the 3D work for me. Sorry I couldn't be of much help.