ALL DESIGN TOOLS
76. 3D Crater p3
• Composite 3D render and 2D elements in After Effects
• Add grunge and Smokes to final composite in 3D space
• Add grunge and Smokes to final composite in 3D space
Posted on Oct 27, 2008
685,837
TUTORIAL NOTES:
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180 Comments
Angello Montejo
11 years ago
hi Andrew my name is ANGELLO MONTEJO, I'm from Peru Latin America, I have not studied animation but your blog has helped me to improve my work, I congratulate you because really you are very good at his job, I admire very much friend, always stays that way, hope to meet you in person one day.
Greetings
Greetings
Benjamin
13 years ago
Hey, I'm having the same problem with the alien jumping up into my scene after I solve the 3D camera tracker with Boujou. Is there a fix for this yet?
Santhosh kumar
13 years ago
Man... Can you make a tutorial on 3d max too. Not the whole thing. Only for this particular tutorial
pravin.vitekar
13 years ago
PLEASE
GIVE ME THE ANSWER
I CANT OPEN THE "CRATER SCENE" MAX SCRIPT IN MY 3D MAX VERSION 2010, WHY IS THAT.
GIVE ME THE ANSWER
I CANT OPEN THE "CRATER SCENE" MAX SCRIPT IN MY 3D MAX VERSION 2010, WHY IS THAT.
Krlos Arjona
13 years ago
Hey, man, I´m from Cuba. Here is very hard tio access to the internet, but when we the chance we useit to get your website and download all your turorials. Thank you very much for your time and videos.
pkfogrupa
14 years ago
PLEASE
GIVE ME THE ANSWER
I CANT OPEN THE "CRATER SCENE" MAX SCRIPT IN MY 3D MAX VERSION 2011, WHY IS THAT.
GIVE ME THE ANSWER
I CANT OPEN THE "CRATER SCENE" MAX SCRIPT IN MY 3D MAX VERSION 2011, WHY IS THAT.
Cyan3D, Bangladesh
14 years ago
Great work man. i downloaded all your tutorials. I really want to thank you that, you've done so many vfx tutorials & shared & still sharing with us for free. You are great man.
Greetings from Bangladesh.
I love 3D and VFX.
Greetings from Bangladesh.
I love 3D and VFX.
TeZo
15 years ago
Here is mine work : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAtZM-PP2iw .. Greetings from slovenia ......
Wery good tutorial..XD
Wery good tutorial..XD
Andrew
15 years ago
The alien joke and your "What the heck?!" made my day. And I also learned a lot. Thank you very much!
Kraig
15 years ago
POGS! WHAT THE F***! Dude, honestly, I'm writing a song about being in school in the 90's and I'm thinking of as many crappy 90's things as possible. Anyway, I just thought "Pogs!" wrote it into my phone as a note, imediately opened up Firefox to do a new tutorial, loaded this up and BLAM! Pogs... I'm off to play the lottery.
sanil kumar
15 years ago
thank you verymuch for the wonderfull training
thank you Andrew sir and videocopilot
thank you Andrew sir and videocopilot
Charles Hennegrave
15 years ago
Dear Andrew, master of all masters !
I need serious help and I hope you’ll be able to help me… Here is the situation :
I’ve been asked to make a music video with a very short deadline (25/03/2010)! So far so good but where it gets complicated and real time consuming is that they’ve delivered me the footage shot in PAL HDV and, most of it was shot on a poor quality green screen with poor lighting making it very difficult to make a good keying job. That’s the first problem!
The second problem is that it was shot not using a stand resulting in a quite shaky footage with quite a lot of motion.
Here is what the band would like knowing that the budget is close to €0:
- Me to create a virtual rehearsal studio set (done with After Effects)
- Me to create a virtual office (done with After Effects)
- Render the whole video in Full HD (not difficult)
Here are my problems:
- The keying is not great so I opted for quite dark rehearsal and office 3D sets
- As the band what shot with a lot of motion, I end-up having to key-frame every frame to match the movement of the camera. This is the opposite of what I usually do, in this case I have to animate the background according to the foreground and it is taking ages to get it right.
My questions:
- How can I get a better keying?
- Is there any way I could track the foreground in order to match the movement of the camera and apply it to the sets in After Effects respecting perspectives…?
Here are the software I’m using :
- Adobe Master Collection CS4
- Boujou 4.1 (only started learning it though)
- Moka for AE
I could send you a sample (15 sec. or so) of the footage if you’d like in case my English is not good enough for you to understand my problems… I’m French, nobody’s perfect.
Thank you very much in advance for your answer and respect for your tutorials and work!!!
Best regards,
Charles
I need serious help and I hope you’ll be able to help me… Here is the situation :
I’ve been asked to make a music video with a very short deadline (25/03/2010)! So far so good but where it gets complicated and real time consuming is that they’ve delivered me the footage shot in PAL HDV and, most of it was shot on a poor quality green screen with poor lighting making it very difficult to make a good keying job. That’s the first problem!
The second problem is that it was shot not using a stand resulting in a quite shaky footage with quite a lot of motion.
Here is what the band would like knowing that the budget is close to €0:
- Me to create a virtual rehearsal studio set (done with After Effects)
- Me to create a virtual office (done with After Effects)
- Render the whole video in Full HD (not difficult)
Here are my problems:
- The keying is not great so I opted for quite dark rehearsal and office 3D sets
- As the band what shot with a lot of motion, I end-up having to key-frame every frame to match the movement of the camera. This is the opposite of what I usually do, in this case I have to animate the background according to the foreground and it is taking ages to get it right.
My questions:
- How can I get a better keying?
- Is there any way I could track the foreground in order to match the movement of the camera and apply it to the sets in After Effects respecting perspectives…?
Here are the software I’m using :
- Adobe Master Collection CS4
- Boujou 4.1 (only started learning it though)
- Moka for AE
I could send you a sample (15 sec. or so) of the footage if you’d like in case my English is not good enough for you to understand my problems… I’m French, nobody’s perfect.
Thank you very much in advance for your answer and respect for your tutorials and work!!!
Best regards,
Charles
jkghjgh
16 years ago
Great tutorial, but when i'm exporting the camera tracking from Boujou, I can't choose for After Effects (.ma). (only maya .ma) Do I need an extra plugin for this?
chux
16 years ago
thanks man. i really appreciate all you've been doing for us learners or beginners precisely in this game of grafix. im an african, NIGERIAN 2 be precise. down here we got no school on grafix and stuffs. its kinda tough for us who wanna do this stuff 2 find a way to achieve em all. pls andrew, you must have seen the videos of T-Pain. Can u pls give us a hint on some of the skills used there and how we can achieve them all. i've been thinkin abt them 4 a long time nw. plssssssss. ps. i appreciate. kp it up
Stalmation
16 years ago
Thank you Andrew for amazing stuff. I try created 3D part in Maya, here is result
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfHI4LJH_4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfHI4LJH_4M
adam
16 years ago
hi
wow that tutorial is exellent because have much tecnique 3d and effect for compositing
thank you ANDREW KARMER
wow that tutorial is exellent because have much tecnique 3d and effect for compositing
thank you ANDREW KARMER
caives
16 years ago
I just laughed my head off when you said "What the heck" when that alien jumped out of the hole. 
misterl
16 years ago
Excellent work! You can't get any better teacher!
Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Josh Ortolaza
16 years ago
hey andrew, i was wondering, since i really don't have access to the internet like i used to (I used to have your tutorials opened on the browser and watch them while i worked in after effects), maybe you could set an option to download your tutorials, and maybe in like an AVI format (my computer is funny with quicktime movies) thanks and nice tutorials.
Xylolixus
16 years ago
Great tutorial, but when i'm exporting the camera tracking from Boujou, I can't choose for After Effects (.ma). (only maya .ma) Do I need an extra plugin for this?
Rudi Media
16 years ago
Hey Andrew nice tutorial. Here is my version (http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=294rSFwXwtA), rendered out with V-Ray.
hoteldebotel
16 years ago
the alien scrared me!! 
nice tutorial! i am going to have a go with it too!
nice tutorial! i am going to have a go with it too!
Jacque Dupree
17 years ago
Dude u are crazee, (sense of humor) the one about the neon lights..friends not wanting to take the guy to strip club because of all the trouble he starts, haha lol, memories...but not of me of course..good wrk guy
Rick
17 years ago
I used this tutorial to create a intro for my portfolio. Combinded with the "twitch" tutorial i used the wires to create the carrots comming out of the hole. Result:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=970F8U1rgfA
Thnx for al the info Andrew. Keep op your amazing work. Verry inspiring!
Greets from the Netherlands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=970F8U1rgfA
Thnx for al the info Andrew. Keep op your amazing work. Verry inspiring!
Greets from the Netherlands
dom
17 years ago
flippant tant que ces tuts sont remarquables, encore bravo "j'en veux pleins d'autres"
encore merci
encore merci
Joe
17 years ago
Hey tats a really cool tutorial... could you please make a tutorial to do the same with Maya?
shan
17 years ago
gr8 work cramer,it help me alot to learn, it's also helps in my projects.
thanx man
thanx man
G.S. RAJU
17 years ago
THATS YOUR KINDNESS... GOD GAVE U A GIFT, THATS YOUR KNOWLEDGE.... YOU ARE SHARING THAT KNOWLEDGE TO THE OTHERS.. PLS TEACH OTHER POOR PEOPLES. IAM ALSO YOUR TUTS FOLLOWING THANK YOU
Chris
17 years ago
Thank you so much for the Project Files for this uber awesome tutorial. Who's the man?... You da' man... Sorry for sounding cheery. Just back from an Adobe Conference.
Can't wait for the Pro Scores. Santa better have enough fuel to make his delivery to the UK.
Anyway, just want to say thank you and to praise your awesomeness. Hope everyone is o.k. at VideoCopilot to, Tino, Tahna, and Sam - the entire VideoCopilot Clan... haven't seen them for a while.
Want to wish you all though a Happy Thanks Giving for next week.
Many thanks again. You not only spread your well founded knowledge but teach how to better ourselves through your work.
Can't wait for the Pro Scores. Santa better have enough fuel to make his delivery to the UK.
Anyway, just want to say thank you and to praise your awesomeness. Hope everyone is o.k. at VideoCopilot to, Tino, Tahna, and Sam - the entire VideoCopilot Clan... haven't seen them for a while.
Want to wish you all though a Happy Thanks Giving for next week.
Many thanks again. You not only spread your well founded knowledge but teach how to better ourselves through your work.
Gabriel M.
17 years ago
hell I liked the demon coming out from the crate!
Andrew is a lot funny!
I laughed a lot with the car hit-and-catch Sam in the advanced car hit tutorial too, thanks man!
You and all your team are doing a very nice work here!
so, huh... thanks again!
(from Brazil)
Andrew is a lot funny
!I laughed a lot with the car hit-and-catch Sam in the advanced car hit tutorial too,
thanks man!You and all your team are doing a very nice work here!
so, huh... thanks again!
(from Brazil)
Chase
17 years ago
@Joe
Yeah, but that doesn't contain the AE Composition and he even says in part 3 "project file coming soon"
Yeah, but that doesn't contain the AE Composition and he even says in part 3 "project file coming soon"
michael
17 years ago
hey andrew very nice tutorial
very cool rocks
Im just wundering how to take pixels
out or how can you bring a 3D model from Cinema 4D?
ok cheers
michael..
very cool rocks
Im just wundering how to take pixels
out or how can you bring a 3D model from Cinema 4D?
ok cheers
michael..
Joe
17 years ago
Chase, it in the 2nd part of this tutorial
and one question: what program Andrew uses to capture video?!?!
and one question: what program Andrew uses to capture video?!?!
Joe
17 years ago
wow, it's great.....eeeee
ps: can somebody help me? i need a converter from mpeg2 (Sony) to .mov for AE
thanx
ps: can somebody help me? i need a converter from mpeg2 (Sony) to .mov for AE
thanx
Chris
17 years ago
Please, please, please oh awesome one, please may we all have the Project Files to this magnificent tutorial finally...
On another note, truly fantastic tutorials. can't wait to find out more regarding your new product(s). Christmas soon so hopefully Santa can deliver them.
On another note, truly fantastic tutorials. can't wait to find out more regarding your new product(s). Christmas soon so hopefully Santa can deliver them.
Josvo
17 years ago
Incredibly cool tutorials!
Andrew, do you have an idea when you will upload the smoke movie? I can not find anything usefull to use instead.
Kind regards,
Jos
Andrew, do you have an idea when you will upload the smoke movie? I can not find anything usefull to use instead.
Kind regards,
Jos
Sai Tai
17 years ago
thank you very much because I have never been like that and I have no a chance to learn after effect. I try to by myself I have to edit the vdo in NGO organization if possible. U donate some education from u. and I have no a chance to join the school and no training about it.
if u have any question from me please send some message to me at sai_tai@hotmail.com
good luck
if u have any question from me please send some message to me at sai_tai@hotmail.com
good luck
SAHIL
17 years ago
great tutorial...i tried it n d result was awesome
not every1 is so generous to share their knowledge with every1
thank u mr kramer
n when do we get the project files.???
not every1 is so generous to share their knowledge with every1
thank u mr kramer
n when do we get the project files.???
claire
17 years ago
wow, that's awesome tutorial for 3d after effect,great, i love your voice, very stunning and sexy, great men
mad max
17 years ago
great job AK.
a quick tip! instead of making debris chunks again why not merge them from the previous max tutorial. saves time and they look the same as the explosion
a quick tip! instead of making debris chunks again why not merge them from the previous max tutorial. saves time and they look the same as the explosion
Kevin
17 years ago
Well here's my meager attempt at this wonderful effect. Thank Andrew. You are the man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNusy1lgGsw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNusy1lgGsw
Rough Cut
17 years ago
So awesome... especially you laughing at the alien 'that was a terrible idea...'
R-CANE
17 years ago
Pogs ? we call them Flippo's in Holland.
Great tutorial Andrew, always with a sense of humor.
I'm gonna try and have some toast ejecting out of the crater, maybe with some eggs and bacon.
Thanks for the inspiration and guidance
R-CANE
Great tutorial Andrew, always with a sense of humor.
I'm gonna try and have some toast ejecting out of the crater, maybe with some eggs and bacon.
Thanks for the inspiration and guidance
R-CANE
susan rostoni
17 years ago
I was watching your wonderful video, but it was twice as big as my monitor and I found myself having to use the slider to find your mouse.
How do I make your video smaller so I can see everything your doing on one screen without adjusting it constantly.
Best,
Susan
How do I make your video smaller so I can see everything your doing on one screen without adjusting it constantly.
Best,
Susan
Alex Tavener
17 years ago
thanks for all these tutorials andrew,
i dunno if my email earlier on in the year got to you but - this answered everything that i wanted and requested so, thanks =] even if unintentional.
i dunno if my email earlier on in the year got to you but - this answered everything that i wanted and requested so, thanks =] even if unintentional.
fred
17 years ago
thanks andrew for your work
and you are a great man
i need to be like you learn and help some one.
and you are a great man
i need to be like you learn and help some one.
Daneboe
17 years ago
Dude...the alien jumping out of the hole made me laugh so hard. What was even funnier was you kind of laughing and saying "that was a terrible idea". Oh man, I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Good show!
Shahrooz
17 years ago
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhh !!!
This is Wizard !!!!
Andrew,You are my best teacher
Tanks for everey thngs
Gaand ka Dakkan
17 years ago
Madarchod andrew!you are genious.How do you do such kind of things.Teri ma chod doonga main.Thanks a lot gandu.
Tarik
17 years ago
Thanks a lot for this tutorial, particulary for make compositing find camera setting with Boujou, we learn a lot with you 
PS : sorry for ma bad english
PS : sorry for ma bad english
Thomas AL
17 years ago
Wow ! Awesome ! Many thanks for this third part ! I wait the project files :p...
Teri ma ki choot
17 years ago
Teri ma ki choot,ben ke launde...itna badhiya tutorial bhonsad ke jane kaise bana leta hai tu re.You are simply great and maadarchod no 1.Greeting from India.HAPPY DIWALI.
Mustafa Demirkilic
17 years ago
this is a serious compositing pro quality. i loved it.only one things is catching my eye which might be my bit of a vision impairment!.asphalt where all small pieces and hole is after all things done in 3d max don't get the same amount of light or same tone of color like background.the hole area where on asphalt looks like evening time after or just before sunset.we should see more light comes through and more sharp shadow.basically with all this experience and knowledge it could b better look, like what we see in good Hollywood movies.I hope it will be fixed in next part of tutorial.
Flubber
17 years ago
aliens.... who doesn't love them?
great tutorial, awesome what you can do with 3d tracking and stuff like that
thanks again and... keep up the good work
i will see you....... NEXT TIME if aliens won't eat us...... .............. heh.... not
great tutorial, awesome what you can do with 3d tracking and stuff like that
thanks again and... keep up the good work
i will see you....... NEXT TIME if aliens won't eat us...... .............. heh.... not
k12anime
17 years ago
i always say this...and i'll say it again...all of your tutorials are cool and very awesome! keept it up man!
greetings from makati city, philippines!
greetings from makati city, philippines!
dashmaldives
17 years ago
GOD GAVE U A GIFT, THATS YOUR KNOWLEDGE.... YOU ARE SHARING THAT KNOWLEDGE TO THE OTHERS.. THATS YOUR KINDNESS... I REALLY APRECIATE..
Ian
17 years ago
omg thats so cool!
And I hope the Pogs thing wasn't a joke becaus my brothers told me about them and I've always wished they were still around.
And I hope the Pogs thing wasn't a joke becaus my brothers told me about them and I've always wished they were still around.
vfxworld
17 years ago
At first:
Thanks for the tutorial series, it helps a lot!
Second:
The way you edit the mask for the crater in this tutorial is good, but there are better... In 3ds Max, you should turn the self illumination of the material to 100. In that way, you'll get a very clean white, which can be used perfectly as mask.
Because if you would have some more shadows in your scene, the white wouldn't be clean, if the self illumination is 0...
btw: your tutorials are great!
Thanks for the tutorial series, it helps a lot!
Second:
The way you edit the mask for the crater in this tutorial is good, but there are better... In 3ds Max, you should turn the self illumination of the material to 100. In that way, you'll get a very clean white, which can be used perfectly as mask.
Because if you would have some more shadows in your scene, the white wouldn't be clean, if the self illumination is 0...
btw: your tutorials are great!
Max
17 years ago
Aliens is killing me!!! 
)))))))))))))
lol
Thanx a lot! Im having fun in hard working day on my job!!!)))))))))))))
Greatings from Russia. West Siberia, Tyumen City
)))))))))))))lol
Thanx a lot! Im having fun in hard working day on my job!!!
)))))))))))))Greatings from Russia. West Siberia, Tyumen City
MikeS
17 years ago
Hello Andrew !
Thies Toturial is very cool !
i Have a question in the third part of thies you have not Projekt file to Download .
The Smoke or so .
can you do thies in a Download area or so ???
nice great !
CyA Mike
Thies Toturial is very cool !
i Have a question in the third part of thies you have not Projekt file to Download .
The Smoke or so .
can you do thies in a Download area or so ???
nice great !
CyA Mike
Shavkat
17 years ago
Hi Mr.Andrew Kramer. That was great thanks a lot. please keep making tutorials. Thanks again. I'm from Tashkent
MARS
17 years ago
You've done it again master a.kramer
Are you visiting australia soon...
I would love to have you as a guest speaker at a conference at which I am part of...
BTW...loved your tute.
Are you visiting australia soon...
I would love to have you as a guest speaker at a conference at which I am part of...
BTW...loved your tute.
Joraph
17 years ago
waited so long for part3.It's really cool cos I've never seen any free stuff of this type....
nice work......
nice work......
phil
17 years ago
well good that actually someone who owns a website actually subscribed to its own forum!
thats one of those things that make you out of this world
or of course if you are an alien, from this world
one of the best ones i've heard today
thats one of those things that make you out of this world
or of course if you are an alien, from this world
one of the best ones i've heard today
DILLY_THE_ DOUCHE
17 years ago
hmm... "cardboard graphic card" i thought you were talking about my PC ...lol!!
JumboPhat
17 years ago
Great tutorial!
I did my 3D elements in Maya, which was a little harder because maya doesn't have a noise modifier to make the mesh have that busted look. Although the render layers made rendering super smooth. I'll post up my version soon. I used my own HD footage too.
Two thumbs up for these series of tutorials. It shouldn't have been free though. Too much work Kramer. I would pay you for these tuts.
I did my 3D elements in Maya, which was a little harder because maya doesn't have a noise modifier to make the mesh have that busted look. Although the render layers made rendering super smooth. I'll post up my version soon. I used my own HD footage too.
Two thumbs up for these series of tutorials. It shouldn't have been free though. Too much work Kramer. I would pay you for these tuts.
Arnold Soko
17 years ago
I SCREAMED like a Girl. when the goblin jumped out... and there was a hot girl next to me..thanks Andrew my chances of ever being manly to this girl are ruined. haha
Kevin Sheppard
17 years ago
Wow! Great turorial, i'll do some practice runs, steps seem a bit complicated. I'm using Cinema 4D so it's gonna involve a lot of translation in my case, but the end result is worthy of such an effort.
Thanks Andrew! God bless...
Thanks Andrew! God bless...
Nikan Ansari
17 years ago
Kinda knew that an Alien was somewhere name the Layer Diffrent next time
great tutorial almost dug a hole in the street but you know the cops cant dig a hole in your street without them showing up
great tutorial almost dug a hole in the street but you know the cops cant dig a hole in your street without them showing up
Tuffey
17 years ago
hey mr kramer, love the new tut's. you r helping me alot. u gt any new competitions coming up?
Brian
17 years ago
Pogs or no, that was cruel of you to make us wait so long for part 3!!! I always love the wrap-up section of any tuturials and part 3 was the wrap up of this series!!
Nothing's going to top this except maybe the finale of Battlestar Galactica!
Nothing's going to top this except maybe the finale of Battlestar Galactica!
Rob Neal
17 years ago
Whoa. At last, part three! I was beginning to think it would be quicker to dig a hole in the road...
Sorry Andrew, great job as ever, and I know you got a business to run!
Sorry Andrew, great job as ever, and I know you got a business to run!
UBERNERDFACE
17 years ago
OMG WTF OMG WTF OMG WTF IU SHAT MYSELF WHEN THE GOBLIN EJECTED IN THE HOLE HAHAHA LOL
Leonardo
17 years ago
Hey Andrew....you are only the best!
Thanks so much for sharing your knowlegde!
Ciao Ciao from Italy
Thanks so much for sharing your knowlegde!
Ciao Ciao from Italy
foebea
17 years ago
Fantastic! I am absolutely percolating to see this new tutorial. This is exactly what I bought all my gear for.
Fotis
17 years ago
This was indeed a great series of tutorials! well done! quick question: if I'm working with video with PAR=1,3333 what number should I type in the expression to make the 3d camera match the real camera? thanks...
Seth
17 years ago
Yeah baby, been waiting for a while on this one. Thanks Andrew!!! You're the best!
rdfilms
17 years ago
Man andrew you dont want to mess with me and pogs. I will take all your pogs and leave you crying. awesome work dude keep it up.
awesome work dude keep it up.
Ziran(Joe)
17 years ago
I ask this alot and it never gets answered. Why do you prefer 3D studio Max over Maya? What are the pros and cons? Or is it simply personal preferance?
