Looks brilliant! I’m gonna start doing that, thanks for the tip! Mr. Kramer

Your kung fu is the best sir….

if i have one critique…the blade looks too close to camera. But who am I to say :D.

Awesome work mate.

jeez - cant tell the difference!

Wow that is great and could easily fool a trained eye nice work. That is a really great practice. To me the only thing that looks a little off is maybe the reflections on the window. Of course without that reference image I would have never caught that. I hope my comps will eventually turn out that great.

not wanting to pick flaws, because it looks fantastic - but the major difference between yours and the real still is that your virtual camera is a much wider lens.

Also the reflevtivity of the glass seems slightly off, and perhaps your shadows are sliiiightly underexposed compared to the real one.

lets see some tut’s like this though! proper high-end stuff - it’s awesome!

yes for first time im 7th.

And it was awesome, i didnt knew wich was real and wich was CG before i read

Not 100 % perfect but still amazing, and I think that’s enough for “just a test”

Pretty nifty, Kramer!
It’s a great idea for compositing.. But not all of us are as ungodly skilled as you. :p

As long as you guys are thinking about the training concept, I’m happy! Otherwise, what the heck are we trying to save?

Real advice,, thanks alot!

I think its a great training concept and one should always try to do this before they finalize the comp.

You are quite the night owl aren’t ya? I work best when the sun goes down.

nice work! i hope you’ll have some tuttorials like that andrew! ASTIG!

really nice color, grain and blur match.

Now where is your tutorial about it and how to best do this ?

Cheers,

Thorsten
http://www.StrongMocha.com
(
DFX (Digital Effects) VFX (Visual Effects) Photo Food Travel)

“chops…” no pun intended Andrew?

good work.

Why do you need a tutorial to try this?

It’s encouraging to see that you are still aggressive about expanding your skills.
The reason I come to this site is to become better, so it’s good to know that you’re also growing.

Go for it!

c

Cool. Thanks for the helpful information.

nice！kramer
there will be a new training product come out!
(just kidding~~~):p

it’s awesome! cool for Compositing and cool man
Andrew Kramer!

Be our master Andrew ( any tutorial about this one? ) :D:D

very cool kramer!
why you do not make a tutorial of track with boujou?
would be very interesting!

@Andrew

“Otherwise what the heck are we trying to save?” Whats up Andrew? Is everything alright over there in California?? Surely Final Image is roaring with work, or is that the prob??

Great Andrew!

@Vidvillain:
I didn’t really get the “Otherwise what the heck are we trying to save?” part either - I thought it’s me being German and therefore perhaps not understanding some figure of speech. But if it surprises you, too, I’m even more puzzled.

Wow, awesome how it maches… the only thing which i think could be better is that these rotorwings of a flying helicopter are curved up, not down.

“Otherwise what the heck are we trying to save?” didn’t get it too… but i’m German too,so…

hey, but it’s really great what you’re doing Andrew! you and your team should be very proud…

greets

Question is…-how would u remove the original chopper?
u just animate the CG chopper above it, as u cover it above the real one? or u somehow remove the old one off the frame?

amazing! u r genius )))) best ive ever seen

This is really amazing! Only two things I dislike, which were already mentioned: the wide lens and the rotor blades should be curved up. But I guess it’s OK for just a test. The rest looks great. I can’t wait to see more 3D tutorials and stuff!

Looking good! Well done!

looks awesome, only the cockpit glass i think lets it down a bit, but you wouldnt notice if it wasn’t next to the other pic

@elad

just take Photoshop and edit the picture. Because its a still frame and the chopper is in front of the sky its not a big deal to remove it.

i like your weapons better… =D

Hey Andrew,

Its a good exercises, so, can you give us the pictures and let us try too?
I think I must practice in CCing, since I still don’t know it well…

Thanks,
Ori Lahav.

Nice job. Did you build the Heli yourself or just composite the model?

Leroy, Who is the MASTER?

i think ‘what the heck are we trying to save’ is supposed to be a quote from armageddon.

if so, i think the standard of movie that is being quoted should be questioned…

Great composite! I used to fly in Army Choppers, I saw one other mention of this… when a helicopter is in flight the blades bend upward (because the heavy fuselage is hanging from them!) and forms a shallow cone (when seen dead on with all the motion blur). A spinning rotor system is often called the rotor disk since the blades visually and aerodynamically behave like one solid shape.

Wanna know about translational lift??!!!

Yeah.

I think the real helicopter looks more CG’d than the actual CG shot. The guns on each side just look too simple, compared to the awesome destructive machines on the CG helicopter.

Love the blades, too! I noticed someone saying that they appeared too close to the camera, but I think it’s a cool effect.

I can’t wait to see more!

Now that I’m done geeking out, Great work and thanks for the idea (to comp over reference material) simple and brilliant, I don’t think I’d have noticed the blades if I hadn’t been told that was CG.

P.S. I like the new website header!

Sho-NUFF!

To answer the question on how to remove it , you can notice the sky was replaced . It isn’t hard as long as you know what you are doing when replicating a scene, just the question is usually what you need to remove first and how you are going to match it like Andrew has explained.

Realy nice job, i know the pain it is to try to composite a 3d object into a real scene. Lighting, GI, caustics, etc, etc… And you get it done perfectly. Just one advice on physics, blades should be bending up, and not down.

I hate criticizing your work Andrew, but one thing which ALL people miss is the fact that the propeller blades are bent upwards when a chopper is in the air! Other than that it’s awesome.

Man, now that someone’s mentioned it, I can’t help but notice the fact that the blades on everything but your chopper are bent upwards when I look at the pics. It’s still a nice composite, but that small discrepancy does bug me a bit.

wow! looks cool… though i would have scaled down this strange… bulb-thing on top of the rotor blades. looks like you have to push it in order to get the blades going

i’d love to see how the composite looks in motion.

how did you track that footage? obviously not the ground or the other helicopter… did you 3D-track the main helicopter itself?

oh wait haha, AK you got me. it mixed up the pics! so it must be an AWESOME composite

without the text i never would know wich one is real and wich “fake”. looks nice…thanks for the tip!

Hee, nice man. Cool tip!

You got a famous last name too.. lol

stop mumbling bout the chopper…maybe andrew didnt even make it? and its a pre-made one? …so many complaints :]
guess no one wouldve noticed all that if it was a video, and not a still frame :]

Hey Andrew,
Brilliant work, as usual. I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on taking a model (for instance the chopper), and show how you make it from being the 3d model, to the final product. I’m in 3ds Max, but I’ve been having a hard time with lighting, rendering, and the final output….things aren’t coming out as good as I’d like them, so a tutorial would be brilliant. It probably would be pretty simple for you to shed light on this.
Thanks for considering. I really appreciate it.

I want that tutorial.. VC product VC product !!

Solid work. Can barely see the difference.

stop teasing us and lets get to work ,i want a chopper too to blow up my house ,so show me how i can make one.

well, i bet in the next scene the chopper transforms into a Machine-Gun-Wielding-Robot which fights against an army of Ninja Monkeys…

Andrew, your composite (lighting, blurring) looks dead-on! The only thing is that the modeling of the AH-64 Apache is not too great. That being said, it’s still a great composite and will many who may not have an aviation/military background. But accuracy and continuity is still important. But this isn’t Andrew’s fault at all - just the person who modeled the helicopter. But I agree, the rotor blade “disk” should be flexed upward in flight, just like wings of a commercial jetliner/glider are flexed upward in flight - another thing that annoys me about movies that uses CG aircraft with unflexed wings - very unrealistic.

VC PRODUCT! We need a tutorial on advanced compositing like this. And especially in video. Make one that’s like a robot warrior in a place. It would be a great tut.

You’ve got the photos backwards (on purpose?). The CG model from the previous composite had the radar bulb on top and now the one labeled as CG does not (and the one labeled as real does). Or wait, did you remove it? Because the one labeled CG does have the incorrectly curved downward rotor blades…

Shenanigans!

Andrew, you have to play with the lightning a litle, and the rotors curve… look the original, the rotors is going up, and need a little ambient light on the CG chopper

The small helicopter in the left is just perfect, identical. I am trying a similar effect in an amateur movie I am editing, if anyone can help me in the forum…

Andrew,
Have you ever dabbled in landscape generators like vue 5 or terragen, or is there a cooler one?

Man, this is sweet! I really wish that we could see the real thing. Where is this going to be published?

andrew,
looks very spot on!

there is one thing that i really notice though. the blades. in the real choppers, due to the spinning, the blade tips RISE out from the linkage point. in the CG chopper, they are showing weighted down on the ends it looks like they are static blades sitting on the ground with blur added.

other than that, looks great.

He’s probably working on Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Haha…. that would be amazing.

Hey Andrew,

Question… How exactly do you get the blades to rotate with a blur with out making the chopper blur too? I have 500 .3ds Models of Tanks and Choppers and bunch other stuff, And I am trying to figure out the blur for one part and not the other part of the model. Maybe it’s scripting, but I am not at that level yet.

very cool, ur an inspiration to the community andrew! Thanks for sharing soo much cool stuff!

Looks Real… Thats Great Andrew Your the Best

I’d be more afraid of your helicopter……..It has rockets. but no radar.

Andrew, your forum is awesome. I got my answer in 5 minutes.

AK, creating a new composite over the original is a great way to develop real world chops! Thanks for the reminder!

To all the naysayers and nitpickers, until you post a version of your own work that is as good or better, you have no valid opinion, so shut up and get to work!

Are yu working on Transfromers 2?

I knew you could render out and composite better than you previous post. Good job Andrew. Hopefully my final shots come out this good.

Images and real video are great exercises. I am have a hard time with over doing it sometimes, and references come in handy.

He’s playing a trick on us all. Both of them are CG! Well probably not. But I wouldnt put it past him. Great tip Mr Kramer. Thanks.

Amazing work. What are you doing the composite in?

“Otherwise what the heck are we trying to save?”
This is a line from the film Armageddon

That looks brilliant.

Just was watching TV earlier and came across this advert and though something looked familiar. Well the Evolution product was used. Brilliant stuff Andrew your products being used everywhere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmFT3EGAsNs

Hi Andrew. First: Your work is absolutely fantastic! The tutorials and everything. Second: I have a question about this composition. You`ve replaced the old(real) chopper with the cg one but how did you do it more exactly? Thanks!

Great idea! Only one thing I can tell by looking at the two shots…….the chopper blades need to bow up a bit like the real chopper. Other than that the lighting, shade, color and motion blur look good!

It´s all about the chopperblades…(?)
I really like your compositing advice!

I’m studying CG and Live Footage a lot lately, and you are
absolutely correct Andrew
( as we already didn’t know that)
“The key was matching the lighting, color, blur, and grain of the original shot” This is the defacto of the Industry for Compositing CG and Live Footage!

Anyway it looks fantastic Andrew, Excellent Job!

SIGGRAPH was awesome!

Sony even had a “Bullet” demo but I didn’t stay to watch it. All the big companies were there except Apple (and Video Copilot!… where were you guys?)

Anyway, if you are in the Los Angeles area you should definitely check it out. It’s worth the time. The only downside is that parking cost $12!

i have one Question what program are you useing andrew?

I think Andrew is working on
Armageddon II: The Aftermath

I can say for sure the Apache model is stock (if no one else answered this). Go to page 123 of the latest Cinefex (114 Iron Man). You’ll see this model in the upper right corner.

Andrew’s looks better!

How long would it take to model the entire helicopter by hand?

Looks awesome!
I don’t know if anyone’s said this (I haven’t read all the comments), but to be nit picky, but from the centrifugal force and life from the spinning the weight of the copter, and the prop blades should look like they’re curved slightly upwards.

-Andrew

……that should say “lift” not “life”

dang.

You lie Andrew.. the first one is the real chopper =)

hey i need help in how importing 3d scenes in to AE
if we can

thnx alot

Brillant work.

http://www.fubiz.net

Andrew, and you have planned in the near future lessons on Digital Fusion?
And then you already seem to go composing

Very good, but your chopper still looks a little ‘toonish’ , i think its just the shape of the windshield and that its a little fatter

Hey Andrew….The chopper looks good, but the focal length is not correct. And the rotor blades are hanging down. In the original, they are bend to the top. But Anyway….looks pretty good.

Andrew,

That is a great comp.

I think you need to alter the metal of the chopper with a tiny bit of a bump map or displacement map, so it reflects less like plastic.

Yes, sorry to get down on your work. Consider that my evil personality.

This is some great composition advice, I love how animation forces you to scrutinise the minor details and behaviours of the way things move and interact and reflect light.

@ Chris, that point about the blades pointing up into a cone is fascinating, you’d never notice usually but makes great sense. I shall be boring my friends with that little gem in the near future.

Great example, cheers

Andrew,
I like your version best. Yeah, the blades may be bigger and hang lower than the original, but if it’s for a movie, then bigger is better and your image definitely impressed me more than the original. The original looks kind of wimpy compared to your mean-machine. Yours has the WOW factor in it.

I am definitely going to toy with creating things like this. After seeing your version done on a computer, I am anxious to test the waters and see if I can do it too. Thanks for being a superb inspiration to us all Andrew.

Hi !
Do somebody know which song is used in the promo of video streams hd (videocopilot)
thx a lot

I think the glass should be a little more transparent and shiny. Its kind of giving it away that its CG…

I think your amazing son!

Hi Andrew, I love your site and you are my hero. You mentioned that you made the background with a photo and using an interesting technique, I thought you might like this tutorial I found for making a photo into a 3D background in C4D: http://www.3dfluff.com/cameramapping/cameramappingtut.htm

Also, I noticed in your new banner header, it says, “Tutorial Hosted by Andrew Kramer.” Shouldn’t that be “Tutorials”?

Good Job

this would give a great tutorial

i agree. your kung fu is the best.

i also have this experiment

but its not good enough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ_FHE8y54k

i want to learn motion tracking..

need help

YOu give and give and give and we love you for it. As for my critique… are you kidding this is ninja and so is everything you do. But I guess critiquing a master is tempting. Peolpe should send you cookies not critique your awesomeness.

Wowwwww !
unbelievable .
Thanks.
But can you please answer this question ? [ we are all confused !]
This Topic: http://www.videocopilot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1113
-=-=-=-=
http://After-Effects.Blogfa.Com

Stop criticizing it guys.. I don’t even think he made the CG helicopter because it looks completely different to the real one. He probably downloaded a similar one for this.. hes only making a point.

i model it from scratch dude, its just a simple box modeling

I personally think that Andrew is pulling our chains…. I think the TOP photo is the real chopper and the BOTTOM photo is the CG chopper!

good work…

im excited with de track thing

Hi andrew & co, thanks for everything, products, tutorials, blogs, the website, its so full of great stuff!!
My only question is how do you find the time to do everything??? Writing blogs, doing projects for clients, reading these comments, learning new techniques, recording tutorials, creating new projects and looking after the family.. I’m amazed if you have any spare time at all!!

Looks astounding. My only critique is that the chopper blades in the photo bend so blade tips go upwards. Your CGI blade tips bend downwards, which is always the way I see them while sitting on the ground not rotating, and bending under their own weight.

They should bend upwards when in flight like the tips of a bird’s wings.

Zvi, I also thought so at first, now I’m just not sure,

the thing that is making me wonder is if you look at the top chopper, look at the blades, looks like the are making a downwards arc, would a real chopper in the air have it’s blades do that? I doubt it. could be wrong.

- Derrick

@Derrick
+ I think it’s a bad thing if the tail rotor doesn’t spin while it’s in the air

Andrew where did you purchase your Apache model?

Is Truth, to back him vane of lacking a bit of blur of movement to be original.

Although if it comes to judging, my nickname is not very original jeje! Excellent work.

Speedbreaker, read what I said again, downwards arc, the faster something spins, the more it tries to be “on top” of the air, thus providing lift. A chopper does really fly, it’s a question of beating the air.

so if you have the blades hanging down, it means it’s not beating the air, thus the chopper could not be off the ground.

- Derrick

sorry SpeedBreaker, so I go and read you wrong, yeah, even the tail rotor is not spinning, and that as we all know is not good.

- Derrick

Nice Job Mr Kramer…
I wish we could go back to those movie visual effects tutorials you used to teach us…

I presume that the tail rotor rotation is at another frame in motion..Andrew’s render just has it as still in that frame..after all it wouldn’t be realistic otherwise.. it’s just a dropped/stilled frame at that point of the composite.

-Darren

Great Work Andrew and “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing”

mr kramer sir i have a question
in your evolution promo what track do u use from
video helper, i know you use it and i have it and
i would to know, email me please it would help greatly

Hello ANDREW

I was looking for a tutorial but atm i couldn’t find it anywhere

Look at this fire effect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLpUTZLV2is&feature=related

he haven’t used particle… it’s a VERY COOL EFFECT
I think many guys would learn it

can u help us?

same guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmD7ysB62P8&feature=related

ps: u make cool videotutorials

hi,
leave all,
WORK IS GOOD & GOOD & GOOD
but
i really like your Tutorial so Dear make a compositing Tutorial.

Nice job Andrew…
speaking of composition, what do you think of red giant software new key correct pro, seems ok…
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/community/tutorials/
Charl, Nigeria

wow that looks great, just wondering, what program did you use. I’m trying to decide if i should buy C4D or 3DSMax. Again i can only hope that I’m someday as good as you at this stuff.

Hey Andrew,
Where did you get that model from?

ben, check out turbosquid.com

they’ve got free and to purchase models for many 3D apps.

- Derrick

Ok thanks derrick

Kramer pooped his pants.

Fix the windows

Here is a nice little website were you can download 3d models of diffrent WW2 vehicals for multiple 3d programs. Some are even free.
example - Look under American tanks, you can download the M1 for free!!
So start practicing you animation and compositing skills!
Fyi, I don’t think they are all rigged for animation. But there is always time to learn how to do that too!
Holla

thank you AK

I think Heaven must have programmed you.

this is great but isn’t it about time for a tutorial or at least blog update its hard waiting for the next update

@ Pizza Rolls:

You didn’t give a link.

free download helicopter model.

http://www.specterworld.net/elmasry/3dsmax-stuff/3dsmax-models/apache-(hr-model)-max,c4d,lwo%2b3ds/

i love Andrew.

coooooooooooooooooooooooool…. looking 4ward to see dat chopper in AE.. keep it up the gud wok sir.

Nice Andrew!
Screws a little upwards rise when the helicopter flies!

andrew… that was so… amazing… your chopper looks more realistic than the real:P… i really didn’t catch that… but i hope u did:D

a tutorial for such a great exercise would have helped many people

p.s. including me

hi,

I think this is a great and fun exercise. I would love to try it to, but I’m stuck on the search of usable photo’s.
I would like more exercises like this!

As always Andrew you are a star, excellent exercise and great looking result.

Best Regards
Marko Los
Delirium Productions

pls cld u give us a tut (or reference if exists) on video grading. think i know bt seeing wt u do……. i can learn a little. merci

Mr. Kramer i think you know you are amazing but i was hoping you gonna make a tutorial about how did you built this chopper so that more people gonna know more.

Stupid question propably!!!
Is this a composition or a plain pic?

How did you do it?
Nice.

U keep inspiring me.