VFX Shot Creation from Scratch with Maya and After Effects

Vicki spends her day at the beach, a monthly activity she does every month. This time however, things would turn out a little differently.

Something out of the ordinary is spotted at the beach by the shore. Is she the only one seeing this?

This lesson will explore how to understand your subject or character and the environment of your production, including things to look out in the environment for when creating a visual effects shot with limited resources.

This lesson will explore what to keep in mind when shooting live-action footage for post-production editing, focusing on current resources and the visual effects to be achieved in post-production. An emphasis on the story being told is also key.

After a dismissive phone call with her friend, Vicki decides to take it upon herself to prove what she had saw.

Vicki's first diary entry on the project, in her video blog.

For new Autodesk Maya users, this lesson goes through the basics of the default interface of the software as well as my own personal preferences and set-ups, in preparation for the 3D tasks ahead. If you are a seasoned Autodesk Maya user, feel free to skip this class.

This lesson will explore basic 3D modelling from scratch using polygons, including best practices and common 3D terminology.

This lesson will explore basic concepts of curves and surfaces in 3D modelling, as well as the comparison of the use of surfaces, polygons and subdivisions, including best and common practices.

This lesson will explore the creation of modelling nuances and details of a character and the techniques and tricks to use to do so, including understanding the character's form and knowing what details to model or not.

About to start texturing, Vicki receives a phone call.

This lesson will explore basic 3D materials and texturing in Autodesk Maya, including basic materials and understanding how to apply materials and textures to the character.

This lesson will explore the concept of UV mapping and projection techniques in Autodesk Maya, as well as how to customize the UV maps to fit parts of the character for more detailed texturing.

For new Photoshop users, this lesson goes through the basics of the default interface of the software as well as my own personal preferences and set-ups, in preparation for the design tasks ahead. If you are a seasoned Photoshop user, feel free to skip this class.

This lesson will explore how to use Photoshop to design your textures for your saved UV maps, including things to note when working with different types of UV projection maps.

This lesson will explore how to add the final polish to your textures and materials on the character, including additional tips and tricks to add more realism to the character.

A mysterious stranger knocks on the door of Vicki's home.

Vicki's fifth diary entry on the project, in her video blog.

This lesson will explore the basic concepts of 3D animation, including workflow, keyframing and setting the correct playback frames per second. Understanding the behavior of the character is also key.

This lesson will explore basic 3D animation and rigging in Autodesk Maya, including the use of a simple skeletal rig and pivot points, and understanding how the character moves.

This lesson will explore the final setup for animation and using real-life references and footage for proper animation of the character, including step-by-step keyframing and animating to the end of the shot footage.

Vicki continues working on the project as days roll on by.

This lesson will explore setting up a basic 3-point lighting setup and understanding how to match the lighting on the character to the shot footage, including the comparison of all the different lights offered in Autodesk Maya.

This lesson will explore the different aspects of the Autodesk Maya render settings and how to adjust these settings to fit your rendering purposes.

This lesson will explore setting up multi-pass rendering in Autodesk Maya and what each pass would be used for, including how to set up batch rendering for all these passes.

Vicki leaves her room to get some snacks from outside.

She returns back to her room, with her webcam turned on, ready to get back in the project.

For new After Effects users, this lesson goes through the basics of the default interface of the software as well as my own personal preferences and set-ups, in preparation for the compositing tasks ahead. If you are a seasoned After Effects user, feel free to skip this class.

This lesson will explore how to create a 2D track based on the shot footage, including things to look out for when integrating the 3D rendered sequence's embedded track with the 2D track created in After Effects.

Vicki waits for the track to finish calculating.

This lesson will explore basic compositing in After Effects using basic techniques to create simple effects, including tips and tricks to composite effectively.

This lesson will explore how to complete multi-pass compositing, as well as the matching of shadows and highlights in the 3D rendered sequence to the shot footage, among other tricks to blend the 3D and live-action together (Part 1).

This lesson will explore how to complete multi-pass compositing, as well as the matching of shadows and highlights in the 3D rendered sequence to the shot footage, among other tricks to blend the 3D and live-action together (Part 2).

This lesson will explore how to include basic sound effects into After Effects and how to place them in the right sections using After Effects' internal tools.

After some more disturbing and mysterious occurrences, Vicki knows that she has to quicken up the pace and finish the project quicker.

This lesson will explore how to set up your render in After Effects to export your composition as a whole, to be played back on your computer.

Vicki zips up her USB with the video clip in a packet mailer, ready to be mailed.

One final phone call reaches her phone as she returns back to her room.

Incident of Record end credits and bonus scene.

BONUS: A thank you to students for trying out the instructor's new, innovative and experimental style for this course; if you like this style for the instructor's future courses, do sound out in the discussion board.