I was thinking of getting it since I hear all the great things, but I talked to someone who is in film school, and she says that AE and all those programs that can create explosions, and bullet effects, are a joke, and most producers will not go for a movie that used it, as oppose to realistic looking explosions, etc. Is this true? Maybe people are very devided on this.
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Is using Action Essentials acceptable?
- Thread starter harmonica44
- Start date
Action essential does have real explosions and real smoke. It's filmed against black background Ao you can insert it into ae and adjust the color.
Im all up for cgi bullet hits and explosions, but it needs to be done right, not YouTube video of 16 year olds playing swat/ terrorists
Im all up for cgi bullet hits and explosions, but it needs to be done right, not YouTube video of 16 year olds playing swat/ terrorists
Yeah, there's a few of the muzzle flashes that I avoid because the scream "13 year old" but other than that it's solid stock footage. Like any other stock, use it well and it's great.
Sorry I wasn't sure which forum to put it in.
In the Shatner commercial I thought the explosion looked fake though. It's the one where the bus explodes right? The explosion happened around the bus, rather than from the inside out.
In the Shatner commercial I thought the explosion looked fake though. It's the one where the bus explodes right? The explosion happened around the bus, rather than from the inside out.
you get what you pay for...
pay $200 for some stock footage, dont expect it to look like a million dollar pyrotechnic extravaganza! If you put in the time (time = money) you can make it look dang good.. but not a million dollars good.
Regarding your friends comments.. well, he IS in school, not in the industry so .. meh.. he knows as much truth as you do.
The key to GREAT looking post is GREAT looking production. Muzzle flashes on a plastic gun.. meh.. muzzle flashes added to a Gas Blow Back Air Soft gun with an actor who cares to get it right much better.
sparks and bullet holes added to a blank wall in post.. meh.. sparks and bullet holes added to a shot with REAL dust and REAL derbies flying around.. much better..
pay $200 for some stock footage, dont expect it to look like a million dollar pyrotechnic extravaganza! If you put in the time (time = money) you can make it look dang good.. but not a million dollars good.
Regarding your friends comments.. well, he IS in school, not in the industry so .. meh.. he knows as much truth as you do.
The key to GREAT looking post is GREAT looking production. Muzzle flashes on a plastic gun.. meh.. muzzle flashes added to a Gas Blow Back Air Soft gun with an actor who cares to get it right much better.
sparks and bullet holes added to a blank wall in post.. meh.. sparks and bullet holes added to a shot with REAL dust and REAL derbies flying around.. much better..
Okay thanks people. Does AE also come with explosions that are shot at a high shutter speed to give it that 'Saving Private Ryan' look?
Its great because you don't have to go blow stuff up and get your own elements. Your friend is sort of right in that a lot of AE explosions/bullet effects are a joke. But this is mainly because the people using the elements have no idea how to use them. I saw a short film recurrently that had tons of AE explosions and they were just tracked, and stuck on... that's it and that's what a lot of people do, this makes the result look totally wrong.
I did a comp using all this stuff for a short I did quite awhile ago now, it takes time and understanding on a basic level of what happens when and explosion goes off and a camera captures it. AE also isnt perfect because each shot will require a different look for each shot and it cant cover it all... but its good enough most of the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zorb-IQdsBE
The end of this video is the explosion I did, not saying its perfect but there are some key things to do, raise the black level of the footage a bit during the explosion, lighting the surrounding area, colour is difficult, debris vs explosion (getting the ratio right), camera shake etc etc. Also look at reference, the results can be very good if you know how to use the elements as they only get you 40% there at best, not 90% like a lot of people think.
Hope this helps.
No, AE does not come with any stock footage.
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by the "Saving Private Ryan" look, because I'm pretty sure most of the explosions in that film are real explosions.
Maybe your friend is referring to Hollywood Blockbusters, in which case, yes, they wouldn't use Action Essential II. With that said, It's a neat set of stock footage, widely used by indie filmmaker and commercials.
Sorry I meant does Action Essentials come with stock footage, I did not mean After Effects. Didn't realize they were the same initials, back when I typed that. Yes Saving Private Ryan probably was real explosions but they were shot at a high shutter speed, giving the explosions a unique look. Was wondering if Action Essentials came with explosions like that.