Robot Eyes in Blender 2.8

(Robot Eyes Result)

In this Video, we will be recreating a familiar VFX Tutorial, Robot Eyes. 

Watch the preview here.

Keen viewers of my channel will already be aware of the "Robot Eyes" Tutorial we have done previously. Since there are many changes from 2.79 to 2.8, I thought it would be interesting to recreate this VFX shot within Blender 2.8. 

We will utilize the new VFX workspace (which helps optimize our workflow), though you can always create your own Workspace. 

First we will track our footage and though some things have changed, it feels very similar to 2.79. I did have some trouble though, I couldn't find the option to "Show Search Size". We can see (and change) the search size as a Value but there was no representation on screen. 

Now maybe I am missing something (If I am please be sure to let me know in the comments) or this could be a bug but many of you know, I like to use that option a lot. 

We then use the "Masking" section and then rotoscope the eye (and more importantly the blink). We did a tutorial on Masking. If you are having trouble with masking, you can check out there Tutorial here. 

Now we are ready to add our tracking information to the 3D Scene. This can be done with the click of a single button. Though when I tried this the first time, I encountered a bug. (When you add the tracks to the 3D scene. If your Markers do not move when you play through the timeline, simply move to a random point on the timeline then press Ctrl + Z. Your Markers should now move).

Remember, 2.8 is in Beta and some bugs will occur. So if you encounter this bug or another, be sure to report it. 

Then in the 3D scene, we can add an "Image as Plain" and add the Robot Eye Texture. If you want to use the same image, you can download it here (CC-0). 

Then we need to change a couple of settings to make the Alpha Transparency work (it would be nice to make these changes as we import the image but it take only a couple of seconds to make the changes). 

Duplicate your plain and Parent each of them to the Trackers and now we can move on to the "Compositing" section. 

For the compositing, we look at adding the Robot Eyes to the Live Action Footage we have been working with. I decided to brighten the "Whites" of the eyes to add some more "Surrealism" to the shot (Though having robot eyes may be surreal enough?). As we do this we create some pretty useful custom Masks. 

I also wanted to add a nice shadow on the eye to add depth and to try and make the shot look more realistic (since in the real world, the top eyelid would naturally cast a shadow on to the eye). 

Then we can finish it off with some glare, glow and color grading. I took some screenshots of my node set-up. I tired to tidy things up and make it look cleaner (though it still looks a mess).

(Robot Eyes - Node Set-up)

(Section One)

(Section Two)

(Section Three)

Once you are happy with it, make sure you set the output, the correct video resolution (also make sure the % slider is at 100%). Also make sure you change your file type to FFMPEG video. 

For the encoding, you can select the preset tab and choose "H_264 in MP3". 

Then go ahead and hit Render (or you can use the shortcut, Ctrl + F12).

So, I hope you found this video helpful!. If you did be sure to give it a Like! and as always, 

Thanks for watching..