Jean-Marie Marbach for La Casa Azul

Really stunning work in this music video for La Casa Azul by Jean-Marie Marbach.

Jean-Marie notes: "I've recently directed a music video for indie Spanish band La Casa Azul (Elefant Records), in which Particular and Form were used for various VFX shots :

Stars, 3D Nebulae and weird space energy ribbons were done with both Particular and Form.

Particles emitted from the characters' hands were done with Particular (I would have loved to try the new motion vector input for this scene, but the shots were already completed when V 2.2 was released).

The flock of birds in the sky was done with particular, with footage of real stabilized birds as custom particles.

The android's transformation was done with Particular, and the footage as a layer emitter, so that the particles could inherit all of the girl's different colors.

The trail behind the crystal ball was done with Particular. Several layers were generated : The main visible particles, and more geometric particle trails used as displacement map, in order to get a more organic look.

Finally, the Earth shot was done with Form. The base Form was set to "Sphere - Layered" in order to get a real 3D Earth. 12 different layers of particles (main land, shore lights, cities, etc…) were generated using 16K Earth maps as layer maps. Additional layers of clouds were added with Particular.

Full video:

Inside the Nebulae

An imagination of flying in the gas clouds of space. 

Actual images of nebulas taken with the Hubble space telescope were combined in After Effects with CG gas clouds and stars made using Trapcode Form and Starglow.

Music: We Own The Sky by M83

The image in the first and second part is from the Eagle Nebula. Image by NASA / Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen. The third is the Horsehead Nebula. Image by NASA. The fourth is the Omega Nebula. Image by NASA, ESA and J. Hester (ASU).

Tutorial Available! And AE project file for download.

DreamWorks Animation - Kung Fu Panda 2

Po Finds the Truth – Image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

This post was written by Sarah Wise for Red Giant's Blog. See original post.

When Kung Fu Panda first hit cinemas in 2008 we fell in love with martial arts misfit Po the Panda and the Furious Five as they fought and defeated the evil Tai Lung. But this year the challenge for the teams at DreamWorks was how to create the second installment and build on the successes of the first film.

In Kung Fu Panda 2, not only have the characters developed, but the film itself has upped its game with more explosions, more chases and more visual excitement – all thanks to the dedicated VFX teams at DreamWorks.

Lead After Effects animator at DreamWorks, Daniel Hashimoto and his close-knit team of AE artists have brought amazing impact to some of the film’s most memorable sequences, using Trapcode Particular and Form. 

Po Finds the Truth (2) – Image courtesy of DreamWorks AnimationDaniel told us: “One of the film’s most dramatic sequences – “Po Finds the Truth” – pulled out all the stops. In this sequence, which involves a village on fire near the snowy woods, Form and Particular were used to create snow, embers, smoke clouds, and a highly-stylized flame effect. The customization and versatility of Particular made it a very powerful tool to have at our disposal. Our Visual Development Artists painted the stylized effects which we wanted to bring to life in the 2D sequences, but not just in 2D, but also in stereoscopic 3D**. And since Particular, Form and Horizon all work within a 3D environment, they were ideal for the look we wanted to achieve.

** Check out Episode 59 of Red Giant TV to learn about using Trapcode Software to create Stereoscopic 3D effects.

Learn more about DreamWorks Animation HERE.

Check out this amazing downloadable preset that tries to mimic this effect.

Maintenance release: Form 2.0.2 and Lux 1.2.2

A number of fixes including better OBJ import. More info and downloads

Also, here is a new tutorial on C4D OBJ to Trapcode Form.

Maintenance release: Form 2.0.1 and Lux 1.2.1

We've fixed some bugs and added an "Invert Z" option for the OBJ's in Form 2.0. Read more and download the update here.