Pandemic Film: The Queen and COVID

Posted on by Thor

Working on a quick shot of the queen for the COVID film.This shot uses the portrait mode of VoluMax Pro 7 to add some dimensional to her portrait. I also added a few masks to help make the throne and statue more dimensional. It all worked fine and the shot was added to my Premiere Pro timeline.

A problem arose at the end of the workday where the edit I was working on reverted back to a version from two days ago. All files I had added for the last two days disappeared from Premiere Pro and I had to re-add them at the end of the day. In all I had to re-add 12 shots, and I was blurry eyed before I went to bed. I checked the playback to be sure everything worked and re-saved the project. Then I closed it down for the night.

The next morning all my changes were once again lost. This is the type of infuriating issue that can drive a person insane. If I had more hair I would be tearing it out. I searched forums for anyone having a similar problem and it seems this is a known issue and had been happening for years. From all my reading I didn’t see a solution.

I managed to find a version of the film in the auto saved files. I simply opened the file with the largest file size. I am disheartened to work on it more until I figure out what he  issue is so it doesn’t happen again. Pam advised me to save the file on my desktop. When I did that all the auto saved files also moved to the desktop.

I am maybe a third of the way into the project and need to move forward. Unfortunately I suspect that before the end of the day my work may again be lost. Adobe has certainly managed to loose my confidence. Should there be an expert in file management out there, I certainly need some help.

Pandemic Film: Camera Set Up

Posted on by Thor

After three days of messing with this shot in After Effects, I managed to get the layers arranged in deep space and the camera set up. Once this critical set was working right, I could focus on just adding animation key frames for the beginning and end of this zoom in shot. Once I had this shot complete I could import the finished composition in to the Premiere Pro video editing program.

Once in the video editing program I could see how this shot compared to the other shots which zoom in at the start of the film. I decided that the zoom was too slow and not extreme enough, so I returned to After Effects and changed the camera position at the end of the scene. The great thing is that the footage then automatically updated in the video editing program and I could quickly view it in sequence again.

With this shot complete, I then worked on the other shots to perfect the camera moves for those as well. What had taken days because I couldn’t locate the tools, was now taking hours. Each day I continue to watch tutorials during lunch to learn new keyboard short cuts. I might now understand  maybe 20% of the interface and there is 80% left to learn before I really start cooking with gas.

The shots I am trying to complete are far more complex than the simplistic tutorials I am watching, so I am trying to find ways to push the limits of what can be done with what I know so far.

Pandemic Film: Snatched up all the Chicks

Posted on by Thor

By day five I was getting close to finalizing the overall edit of the film in Premiere Pro. There were still two gaping holes in the timeline left to work on. I color coded all the clips so I could quickly identify each stanza and refrain. This makes it easier for me to go into any particular area when I decide to change out a shot. I also organized all the shots in the project window so I have a better idea which shots remain on the proverbial edit room floor.

I like the concept behind this painting because I realized that the hands of Jesus would make a horrible mask since he has those huge nail holes in them. This scene will be a good test of the 2.5D depth effect since it looks down a hallway.

Learning After Effects is proving to be a bone grinding process, so you may see me working on the same shot for multiple days until I work out a quick workflow. I know what I need to accomplish, the whole problem is finding the tools needed. The technical stuff doesn’t stick in my memory banks at first, so I have to write everything down.

Each day is filled with learning new tools and hot keys…

Layer > New > Camera

View > Switch 3D View

Layer > Blending Mode Menu

Escape – Switch Active View and other view