In this video we will be creating more fireflies. With the help of the Boid Particle system and a bit of tracking we can easily create a surreal fantasy scene.
We have done tracking and have used boids in the past, though there are some differences.
I am using Blender 2.8 (release candidate 3) though this tutorial can be done in previous versions (there may be some differences). If you want to download blender 2.8 then click here.
Tracking the shot was not too difficult and considering the motion of the camera, I only added 10 tracking markers.
If you are using your own background footage then be sure to remember the focal length that you shot in.
The background footage I used was downloaded (download here) so I had to let blender work out what my focal length should be.
Once we are happy with the Average solve error, we can then setup our 3d scene.
With the click of a single button, Blender has set up our 3d view along with creating the necessary nodes that we need to compose the shot.
In this example I remove the background layer (but you may want to keep it and have reflections).
Then using a particle system, we change a few settings to get the effect that we are looking for.
When it comes to rendering, you can render with either Cycles or Eevee. I decided to render with both. I'm not sure if it's a bug but when we activate motion blur in Eevee it doesn't seem to work.
One of the benefits of rendering with Eevee is the Speed. It took me about 1 hr and 15 mins for Cycles to render this whole animation. Whereas Eevee took only 20 mins.
I also considered adding a light cast to the water but in the end I decided that the Glow from the flies probably wouldn't reach the water.
If you did want a reflection in the water, you could add a mix node and connect the render layers to that mix node. Then add a translate node and move the position of the new fireflies to be below the original fireflies (I would also add a scale node and scale them on the Y axis a little). Then play around with the blend mode and factor to get something that you like.
You can then add your color grading and finalize your shot.
Hopefully you enjoyed this video and as always,
Thanks for watching!..
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| (Blender 2.8) |
Today we will be taking a look at Blender 2.8. (Download 2.8 Beta)
Watch the Video here.
With the new version getting closer, I wanted to check it out and try out the Beta.
In this video, I talk about 2.8, change some settings, look at the start-up presets and we will look at an example Eevee Scene "The Tower" (created by Dominik Graf).
As I mention at the start of the video, there is nothing instructional in the video. Only my thoughts and opinions. I will link to some 2.8 Tutorials which I like and think may help you with your 2.8 journey.
There are so many new updates coming with Blender 2.8 it would take a while to cover everything. What are you excited about using or doing in 2.8? Let us know in the comments below.
At first, I was taken aback by the changes. I felt exactly like I did when I first started using Blender. I couldn't find things, shortcuts were different and there were Icons I had never seen before.
However, I started to play around with everything and things became simple. It was like Blender had changed, only not really.
The Icons have been updated and now actually represent what they do. Windows have been optimized and we have less distractions. We have better start-up presets and so much more!.
For full details you can check out the Official Release Notes.
If you have already started using Blender 2.8, what do you like/dislike about it?. Let us know in the comments.
The biggest change coming to Blender 2.8 is Eevee.
It would be wrong of me not to include the new real time render engine Eevee.
Eevee is a physically based renderer. It can be used for your Final renders or your realtime Viewport.
This is incredible, not only do we get to see our work in the viewport but we can render things much faster than Cycles.
I did a tutorial on "How to compose a Matte Painting in 2.8" and I mention how Eevee rendered my test much faster than cycles.
I also did a VFX Eyes Tutorial you can see here.
Have you used Eevee yet?. Here are some tutorials on Eevee.
Eevee 5 Tips you should know - (by Tutor4u)
Eevee Environment Design - (by Ducky 3d)
Create a Modern Bedroom in Blender in 35 mins - (by CG Geek)
I think these are a good selection of tutorials to get anyone started using Eevee. If you have any suggestions for 2.8 or Eevee let us know in the Comments.
Brightwall
[Digital Matte Painting]
In this video I wanted to use Blender 2.8 and more importantly, Eevee to create a Digital Matte Painting.
Brightwall Preview
Digital Matte Painting Tutorial
I would have liked to have more time to spend on this Matte Painting and really make it look a lot better but unfortunately I was short on time.
The idea behind it though was to show how awesome Blender 2.8 and Eevee is.
(so I guess it doesn't really matter how crappy this example is, ;))
Using Eevee for our Matte Paintings will not only save us a whole bunch of time with rendering but also with many other improvements we can optimize our process even further.
I opened up the last Digital Matte Painting we did "Castle Rock" and rendered the same thing. In 2.79 it took around 38 seconds to render one frame but in 2.8 and with Eevee, it was rendered in a fraction of the time.
I hope this video shows you how cool 2.8 is and more importantly, how its possible to create a Digital Matte Painting in Blender 2.8
Now get out there and create something awesome (and something better than this example :D). If you do create a cool Digital Matte Painting, be sure to post a link in our Facebook group!.
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this video and thanks for watching!..
Links -
Facebook Group
Blender Download
Background Image 001
Background Image 002
Fortress
Town
Face
Waterfall
Smoke Elements
