Friday
Jun112010

ASCENSION by Chris Lavelle

View on Vimeo

Breathtaking piece by Chris Lavelle. It has many parts with totally different looks and feelings. Uses Trapcode Sound Keys to drive Trapcode Particular. The integration between Particular v2's new shading and Lux is shown well.

UPDATE: Chris Lavelle interview regarding this piece on Directors Notes

Friday
Jun112010

Chew Lips "Slick" by Gregory de Maria / Resident Creative Studio

 

Chew Lips 'Slick' from Gregory de Maria on Vimeo.

 

View on Vimeo

Chew Lips "Slick" music video by Gregory de Maria / Resident Creative Studio.

A wonderfully mystical psychedelic all-CG music video.

Greg notes "My team and I used a lot of Particular FX to achieve the look".

Sunday
May302010

Your weakness is your strength

I heard this many years ago in an interview on TV:

"Your weakness is your strength"

I didn't understand it, it just sounded like nonsense. But the phrase stuck with me for some reason, and after a long time I began to understand it. And in looking back, my weakness is what has defined my work all along. The parts I didn't know, the parts I had to work-around is what came out the most rewarding. Most times we do not know we are compensating for some weakness, we just work until we are happy with the result. I'm suggesting that what really goes on when we are working is weakness being transformed into strength. Here I'd like to take this idea a step further and suggest using "not-knowing" as a creative tool.

Let me take a practical example. When I was developing the original 1.0 version of Trapcode Particular I wanted to add shading from composition lights. But I didn't know how to implement shading, so I started to investigate it. I realized that to understand shading I needed to understand light. Fully. In trying to understand the maths of light I "accidentally" created Trapcode Lux. Without my "not-knowing" of how light worked mathematically I would never have created that plug-in. Had I just looked up in my old CG textbook the formulas of shading, I wouldn't have gone there. 

There is in fact great value in "not-knowing", investigating and experimenting. I totally understand that with looming deadlines this is just not possible. But I want to encourage you, when you do have the time, to make your own investigation of the subject matter. You never know what great stuff may come out of it. 

And regarding copying: that is how we naturally learn new things. We see things that resonate and we try to replicate, to mimic. But it is the failure of copying exactly that becomes the personal touch, the original part. In this sense, weakness becomes strength.

So, in essence, I want to suggest this method as a creative tool at your disposal; that when you need to do something, rather than looking for a formula or tutorial for it, you can try on your own. But when you don't have the time to experiment, or feel lost or uninspired, or just don't want to, there is of course nothing wrong with using a formula.

Peder Norrby / Trapcode

 

 

Monday
May102010

VITAL EP x 2 - by Adrien Dezalay and TAKCOM

View on Vimeo

The VITAL EP

Directed by Adrien Dezalay adriendezalay.com

Use headphones. Play loud!
Pre-Download The Vital EP for free:
THEVITALEP.com

Sound Design & Music Producer: Chris Clark

Executive Producer: Frank Alioto Jr.
A&R: Mathias Sorum
Copyright ©2010 
Black Sky Recordings LLC.

Here is another lovely piece with VITAL's music:



View on Vimeo

VITAL "Airport"
Directed by TAKCOM takafumitsuchiya.com

Use headphones. Play loud!
Pre-Download The Vital EP for free:
THEVITALEP.com

Music Producer: Chris Clark

Executive Producer: Frank Alioto Jr.
A&R: Mathias Sorum
Copyright ©2010 
Black Sky Recordings LLC.

Booking:
frank@blackskyrecords.com mathias@blackskyrecords.com

For more projects featuring Vitals music.

Check out keithloutit.com and listen to VITAL "Going Back" with great new footage from Keith!

Monday
May102010

Bcco Particular Grid by Jesse Nikette



Lovely piece by Jesse Nikette. View on Vimeo

"An experiment using Trapcode Particular particle grid for use in live visuals."

Music Track: SebastiAn - Ross Ross Ross Distributed by Tubemogul.