elephantvfx posts
Posts: 145
Files: 102
Deep compositing, going deeper - trailer
Hello patrons,This is a continuation of the intro to deep compositing, where we go deeper into compositing workflows using depth.I will show you how to properly use deep information in a flat composition, to work fast and efficient with all the benefits of depth data but none of the caveats.The video is more than 3 hours long and we will explore:- Quick recap of pros and cons of using deep comp.- Quick recap of basic deep tools.- Setting up render passes in a 3D software for deep.- Deep holdouts.- Organizing deep comps.- How to use AOVs in deep...
Quick question about deep comp.
Hello,People have been asking a lot about deep compositing since I published my introduction video about deep, so I think it is fair to do a follow up video about deep compositing as soon as I can.Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions about this subject or something that you would like me to cover and I will try my best to address it.Thanks,Xuan.
Mix 04 - videos
Video in English: https://youtu.be/k7cNpNf4c3cVideo in Spanish: https://youtu.be/P3AFg6b6abcNote: Videos are recorded in 4k but they are still being processed. It will take 24/48 hours to be available in 4k. HD1080 is already available.
Mix 04 - trailer
Hello patrons,First video of 2022 will be a mix of topics.The first part of the video will be dedicated to talk about face building and face tracking in Nuke. Using these tools and techniques will allow us to generate 3D heads and faces using only a few photos with the help of AI. Once we have the 3D model, we should be able to track and matchmove a shot to do a full head replacement or to extend/enhance some facial features.In the second part of the video I will show you a technique that I used while working on Happt Feet to generate foot prin...
Scan based materials on a budget - videos
Video in English.https://youtu.be/pbZHWIMFRhkVideo in Spanish.https://youtu.be/ml74ouO1M24
Scan based materials on a budget - trailer
Hello patrons,Last post of the year!In this two and half hours video I will show you my workflow to create smart materials based on photogrammetry. A technique wideky used in VFX and the game industry.But we won't be using special hardware or very expensive photographic equipment, we are going to be using only a cheap digital camera or even a smartphone.In this video you will learn:- How to shoot photogrammetry for material creation.- How to process photogrammetry in Reality Capture.- How to bake textures maps from high resolution geometry ...
What would you like to see in 2022?
Hello patrons,I would like to hear your opinions and thoughts about what you would like to see in 2022 on this channel.I have my own ideas already but at the same time I wouldn't mind some input from you guys so I can provide some of the content that you need the most.Here are some ideas but feel free to comment and add other topics.Thanks!Xuan.
Dealing with lidars - videos
Here are the links to the videos.https://youtu.be/FohxFc0WtY8Aquí en link en castellano.https://youtu.be/Gly9RRVM-Dg
Dealing with lidars - trailer
Hello patrons,We haven't talked that much about lidar scanning, and it is time to say a few words about it. Lidar scans are a fundamental piece of the VFX pipeline, used by every single visual effects studio on the planet and counted by dozens on every film or tv show.Sooner or later you would have to deal with lidar scans, that's why I have recorded this video, more than 3 hours of professional vfx training about how to use lidars scans.In this video we will learn:- What is lidar scanning.- How we use lidars in VFX.- How lidar technolo...
Detailing digi doubles using generic humans
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AkPCxS4tVo---Video en castellano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHy0jgYUjsc
Detailing digi doubles using generic humans - trailer
Hello patrons,This is probably the last video of the year, let's see about that.This time is all about getting your concept sculpts into the pipeline. To do this, we are going to use a generic humanoid, usually provided by your visual effects studio. This generic humanoid would have perfect topology, great uv mapping, some standard skin shaders, isolation maps to control different areas, grooming templates, etc.This workflow will speed drastically the way you approach digital doubles or any other humanoid character, like this zombie here.In...
Deep compositing
Here is the deep compositing video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib47KgBsPBI---Video en castellano.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JenGlP90vg
Deep compositing - trailer
Hello patrons,In this 2 hour video we are going to be talking about deep compositing workflows.I will show you how to use deep compositing and why you should be using it for most of your shots.I will explain the basics behind deep rendering and compositing techniques and also we'll go through all the deep tools available in Nuke while comping some simple shots. From volumes and atmospheric effects to solid assets.Video and downloadable material will be included in the next posts.Thanks for your support!Xuan.---Hola patrons,En este video de ...
Unity rendering cheat sheets
I made some cheat sheets for both Universal Render Pipeline and High Definition Render Pipeline in Unity, always from a VFX point of view.You can download them here as PDF.https://www.dropbox.com/s/tw3vnr9kcjdijxh/unity_urp_cheat_sheet_v01.pdf?dl=0https://www.dropbox.com/s/owztagw8va4x83d/unity_hdrp_cheat_sheet_v01.pdf?dl=0Cheers,Xuan.
Lookdev rig for Houdini - video
Here you have the video: https://youtu.be/Vi1I6h2w0Gg---Video en castellano: https://youtu.be/T6du0kd1ilM
Lookdev rig for Houdini - trailer
Hello patrons,In this video I show you how to create a production ready lookdev rig for Houdini, or what I like to call, a single click render solution for your lookdevs.It is in a way similar to the one we did for Katana a while ago, but using all the power and flexibility of Houdini's HDA system.Talking about HDA's, I will be introducing the new features for HDA's that come with Houdini 18.5.633 that I think are really nice, specially for smaller studios that don't have enough resources to build a pipeline around HDA's.By ...
Photogrammetry pipeline in macOS?
I'be been experimenting with some photogrammetry tools that come with RealityKit, shipped with the latest version of macOS.This video is free of charge and available for everyone.Downloadable resources here: http://www.xuanprada.com/blog/2021/7/3/full-photogrammetry-pipeline-in-macos
Small dynamic clouds
Hello,I don't think I will be able to publish a video this month, let's see, but in the meantime here you can download five caches of small dynamic clouds that I simulated in Houdini.They are a 1000 frames simulation and should work pretty good to create vast cloudscapes.They are .bgeo caches, feel free to convert them to .vdb if you want to use them in any other software.The videos below are flipbooks of the animated clouds, not renders.https://vimeo.com/544008666https://vimeo.com/544008985https://vimeo.com/544009232https://vimeo.com/5...
Mix 03
Here is the video Mix 03, enjoy!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lszC1WQa8os---Aquí tienes el video, disfruta!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIlyY0xFfPM
Mix 03 - trailer
Hello patrons,This month I have another mix video for you. In this case I'm talking about two different ways of using the camera frustum to optimize your scenes. The first method is using the camera frustum to control the amount of subdivisions, a very common practice when dealing with large terrains that need a lot of displacement detail. We will use Houdini and Arnold, but this technique can be used in any DCC that supports Arnold. Other renderers have similar features.The second method will use the camera frustum to blast parts of the sc...
Mix 01 and 02
Here you have the two videos.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2KRaJqc6d8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51GSa96BiZc---Aquí tienes los dos videos.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AscQNe5d5b8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epAjeVEgDd0
Mix 01 and 02 - trailer
Hello patrons,Today's video is not part of any series, it is just a bunch of things that I consider important or relevant for this channel. More of these videos with mixed topics will be published more frequently.I actually recorded two videos, almost 4 hours of training, and will be available as usual in the next post, only accessible to patrons.Today's topics are:- New features in Katana 4.x- Katana new render queue.- Multiple rendering using graph state variables.- Improvements in catalog and monitor.- USD viewport with Hydra.- New l...
English only from now on?
Hello,If you are an English speaker you can totally ignore this poll. This is mostly for my Spanish-speaking audience.Given that most subscribers are not Spanish speakers and that it takes me twice as much to record each video in two languages, I was thinking that I should stop making videos in Spanish in order to be more productive. So far this year I haven't been able to make content for this Patreon (hello full-time job?).Just wanted to ask, would you keep your subscription if the videos will be offered only in English? Thanks,Xuan.---Ho...
Camera projection masterclass, episode 03
Hello,Here you have the two videos (around 5 hours) for this episode.More info about the content in the previous post.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GX6A16hl5I&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9fSlLqWMzo---Hola,Aquí tienes los dos videos (unas 5 horas) para este episodio.Información sobre el contenido en el post anterior.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwl9E5eWSMA&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJeJR9RYIM0
Camera projection masterclass, episode 03 trailer
Hello patrons,I'm about to post "Camera projection masterclass, episode 03".In this episode we are going to create a nested projection setup, where the camera is moving from far away at the begining of the shot, to end up closer to the subject by the end of the shot. A very common setup that you will see a lot in matte painting and environment tasks.Then, we are going to take a look at the concept of overscan for camera projection. I will show you different ways of creating overscan, I will explain why overscan is extremely importan...
Houdini scatterers 2/2
Here you have the video, enjoy!Thanks,Xuan.---Aquí tienes el video!https://youtu.be/8GcvAZOHIYMGracias,Xuan.
Houdini scatterers 2/2 - trailer
Hello patrons,This is the second (and last) part of Houdini scatterers. We are going to take the tools that we made in the first video and see how we can use them to create complex and efficient scattering systems for your VFX shots, specially useful when dealing with huge environments.I will show you some of my favourite worflows and share some techniques that I've used in the past in combination with the HDAs that we created in this series.For those of you in tiers with downloadable material, you will have access to another post with some...
Schedule beginning 2021
Hello patrons,Just a quick thought about what I'm planning to reslease for the next 3 or 4 months.Maybe I will publish a couple of videos in February if we all feel like it, otherwise I will stick to one per month.Remember that we have two on going series "Camera projection masterclass" and "Real time rendering for VFX". I will be alternating these with some random videos about different topics (as I usually do). I won't introduce a new long series before finishing one of the current ones.I am open to suggestions, if you...
Real time rendering for vfx, episode 04
Happy New Year!Real time rendering for vfx episode 04 is here!This is a long one, around 4 hours split in two different videos, both of them available already for you.In these two videos I cover a lot of things related with lighting and rendering in Unreal. We will cover all the rendering methods, rasterization, raytracing, hybrid rendering and path tracing.Some of the topics covered in this video are:- Rendering methods in Unreal.- Lightmass.- Type of lights.- Volumetric lighting.- Modulate lighting.- Global illumination.- Mesh lights.- Reflec...
See you next year.
Hi Patrons,Just wanted to give you a quick update on my Patreon activities.I'll be travelling soon for a few weeks, then we have Christmas holidays, plus I'm also quite busy at work, so unfortunately this means no more videos for the rest of year.Early in January I have some work commitments that will keep me busy as well but hopefully I can manage to prepare something.Remember that this Patreon charges per post not per month so please keep your subscription if I don't post anything, it is totally free!At some point this year we man...
