i found a great open source normal map generator... with cuda enabled...

http://ssbump-generator.yolasite.com/

The new campaingn:
Oscar of best actor for Andrew Kramer!
Thanks Andrew, always a good way to pass time! Learning at Video Copilot, and listening the Andrew jokes!
Nice way you use to explain, and very nice effect! I never think that 3d lights could be so realistic at a 2d program! You're the man!

sorry i fixed my last problem i just mixed up twist and not sorry but i am curios what happened in the LA meeting?

adrew kramer is awsum but there is one thing that i find annoying when you download the project you cant just open the project and the names are diffrent wich makes it hard to follow along to in the tutorial

Most underestimated tutorial ever, this is great!

Greets from Germany

looks like the technique used in the terminator.
It is pretty sweet though, for movie FX anyway.

Andy,

Rob again...I figured out the problem. There were two actually. In case anyone has the same problems I did, which made me pull most of my hair out:

First if you are using CS4, you will need to download the plug in to export AE projects for CS4, which you can get from Maxon's Website.

You will also need to check the "All frames" (duhhhhhh) button in the render settings. I only had "current frame" selected and didn't realize it. I came really close to throwing a coffee cup through my iMac! Anyway, problem solved and thanks again for the great tutorials on here!

Andrew, I have been watching all your tutorials and learning a ton about AE, which I just started using. I have a question though:

I watched this tutorial and another I think from here or maybe somewhere else, (I don't remember. it's late and I'm tired) but anyway, I am trying to figure out how to bring in an animated 3D object from C4D and add the shininess and reflection like you did to the "liquid glob thing" in this tutorial.

I am having trouble figuring out how to do multi pass renderings to multi-layer files from C4D. Don't suppose you can help or at least point me in the right direction? It's driving me nuts. Only thing I can figure is to do each frame individually and that is just too much for me to deal with, in terms of what I am trying to accomplish.

Thanks in advance for any assistance and also for all the great tutorials here on your site.

Rob

you have the best tutorial ever , tnx tnx tnx a lot.
yacine from morocco

I am not able to download the plugin please help me

This man is genius :)) Thanks for your sharing your tutorials.

take a look at my screenshot as addition to the last post:
http://tenji.de/max.jpg
best
tom

great tutorial! thx!
but there is a better way to create nice, clean normal passes in 3ds max.. using mental ray...
just change the type from 0 to 2 in occlusion/reflective rollout

This is probably one of the most complex tutorials ever. But the result is most definitely outstanding.

Damn I love your stories Andrew! And thanks a lot for providing the way most exciting AE tutorials!

Stefan Minning added a normal map generator plugin to his website 'generator' very handy!!!

la tizaaaaaaaaa...this mean wonderfull

Great tutorial. Great software to normality. Thanks a lot for sharing this knowlegde. I would love if you make a tutorial on the Toon features of normality.

Thanks.

Seems like a cool way to possibly create a T-1000 effect from Terminator 2 or even The Invisible Woman effect in the recent(ish) Fantastic Four films

Nice Job Anyways!

Hi guys my name is yunus from Kampala- Uganda in east africa, I love your tuts, i have seen one after agreat hustle becuase of the bad internet connections we have this side of the world, Im requesting if you can also provide tutorials in txt in plane images, that way, with our messed up internet, we can also have achance of learning from the pros.thx

thanks so much andrew this tutorial is awesome

IT`s a Good Think All Graphic Workers so Do more
projects and tutorial to us

Can u make a logo to for me??

I want it to stand "Dream pictures" and some cool effect.

Please send it to på Email : Smekarn_80@hotmail.com

I am a new user of AE and i have to say all of the features displayed were so cool!!!

i will look into the basic tutorial being that im new but just wanting to say great tutorial and hopefully i will be at that kind of level when using AE in the not too distant future

I completely agree. Imaginary friends are completely normal. Mine ride pink elephants that fly and squirt shiny bubbles out of their snouts :o Awesome work man. I usually render my fill lights separately, I can see this cutting my render times in half. Less time rendering, more instant control, my imaginary friends and I are very happy. Thanks dude.
Joel

Andrew...u are the best..no doubt...Goog Luck.
if u can please make tutorial"How To make Transforming Robot"

THANKS A LOT. THIS TUT HELPED ME A LOT. I was able to create some sweet stuff thanks to this. U DA BOMB

grandioso tutorial desde colombiaa un abrazooo¡¡¡

You just rocked my world! I've recently been incorporating C4D in my mo-graph/compositing work and any level of lighting/refraction/texture sends my render time through the roof. Can't wait to incorporate this and have maximum flexibility post-C4D.
Thanks!

Andrew me gustaria ver algunos tutoriales aun mas basicos que los que tienes aca, si fuera posible te lo agradeceria............
saludos

awesome

thank you so much andrew, for this cool tutorial.
Greetings from greece.

i'm from India and you rock man!!!!

looks good can u make light sabers from it?(the tutorial seems to go on foreever)

Amazing tutorial Mr. Andrew, we like your site and your things. Also the favicon is fabulous! The V is for Video. Any Corel tutorial to come? Danke!

Thank you, Andrew.
But when we'll see new tutorial? =)

Hey great tutorial but, what ever happened to the Death Man lighting tutorial. I saw it in the blog from Febuary 2008, and it really looked awesome. Just wandering.

Andrew

I have been a faithful tutorial follower for a long time. This is the most ABSURDLY AWESOME TUTORIAL you have ever made.

Many thanks!

hey andrew thanks very nice tutorial
lots of info and follow up but
cool saw how can I export from Cinema 4D to after effects?
wath kind of formats?
jpg or quick time or photoshop file

let me know

thanks
michael.

Hi Andrew ! I'm French and my english is pretty bad.
I just wanna thank you for this tuto. I understood every words you said...

Continue like that
Best Regards

totally mind-boggling!
How insane is that!

As always....very informative!

Andrew you're great.

I would like to ask, is it possible to exract the velocity channel of an RPF rendred from 3ds max.
I used to work on combustion wich has this feature, and it was really great to make motion blur in very less time.

heyyy thnx for that... realy it's very usefull and it help to improve my skills on aftter effrct :)

"my wife said the same thing" LMAO!!!!
Dude! wait til you see how I'm going to use what you taught in this tutorial!!! Sick!!!
You did some things in this tutorial that I don't think some people realize how it can be used!!!
wow!!!
maybe it's because this tut was "not very good" LOL!
that's actually the dumbest thing I have ever read my whole life! not to say how funny it was! LMAO!!!
Thanks AK!

Great tutorial. BTW You can export as an RLA opposed to the RPF. It has a much smaller file size.

Cheers!

Very good tutorial, thanks for these clear explanation.

Bur I've got a question: my "normality channel" (the layer with the normality fx applied) appears to be shifted on the right once I turn on the overlay mode. There is a problem with the effect or i my fault?

thank you

hi, awesome tutorial, one question, are you planning to make any basic tutorials for 3ds max? it would be really helpfull

Hey andrew you are full of surprises do you sleep?

Incredible tutorial!!!!
sssssoooooo sweet~!!!
thank you so much~!

Hi Andrew, yet again a great and amazing tutorial.
But I was wondering if you knew and would find it interesting, in making a tutorial about adding real time reflection to a 3D object. I know you touch on it briefly in this one. but a more serious 3D object like a car driving on a street or smilar scene with precis recreation of reflection. I have nothing against that sweet family of blobs in this one? :o).. But I have been searching the net for tutorials on this matter, But have never come across one with live moving footage reflection. every time someone mention it, it is with a HDRI still images and then using that for lighting and reflection in the 3D programs. I have always be curios on how they do it "at the movies". SO is there anyone else that would find a tutorial on this subject awesome and helpful, if Andrew would do it?

Anyway Thanks for all the inspiring and helpful tutorials on this site. video Copilot rocks.!

Thanks
from a Dude in.
Northern Europe

just wanna tell u that i love your stuff... bought every package. love your work. and alos might wanna track this kid down Andrew...he is giving free products from video copilot..........here is his website.

http://www.youtube.com/forsakentutorials

Would this technique work with Zaxwerks Invigorator?

Hey, altough I really apreciate what you are doing and you've been doing this really well all the time.
I would recomend you to at least add a difficulty level or an annotation how long the video is going to be.
This would help beginners like me very much. Thank you for taking the time to read my comment.
:)
greetings from germany

I love this feature thanks for not only presenting it at DMALA, but also for making a tutorial and multiple blog entries.

So, I understand this will work with what you have shown, but is it also correct to assume that you could use it for textured 3d models and not just flat surfaces like the wall.

Would you bump map your normal pass and layer it with your actual texture for that to work?

hey Andrew thanks allot
saw is the normality plugin is it only for SC4 or does it work with
AE? saw in Cinema 4D how were I export a 3D model
to after effects? because I try many times but it recognize
it as 2D? do you think you could help me with Cinema 4D

I really wanted to know how to make the blobs :/ But a good tutorial none the less, that plugin is amazing.

Wicked! Saw the first fifteen seconds of this and I've already decided to make use of this technique to help automate lighting in a short animated film I'm working on.

The set and character animation is all hand-painted (in Illustrator). I figure I can create normal maps for those elements pretty quick in Illustrator too, using a quick render of a normal-mapped sphere as a color palette, and with that I'm hoping to light my characters right in AE-- it's a tech puzzle I've been working on for several weeks. Thanks for all the great tips, and wish me luck!

Hey I was wondering on that blob thing you imported at the end of the tutorial how did you render it as a .mov format and still have a normal?

Andrew, this was fantastic! I didn't think I'd be interested but it really roped me in. Last year I worked on a show that combined 2D animation and 3D animation and had I seen this tutorial back then it would have had a dramatic affect on the look of the show. Good work!

Yes, Cinema 4D can export a normal map pass with .rpf's.
Thanks Andrew, you've taught me so much.

You gonna love me, hahaha

Here is a normal map generator for mac, and it works!!!!

http://www.smart-page.net/smartnormal/fl10.htm

OOOOh YeaH!


Thanks again for the wicked work Andrew!!

Thank you so MUCH TO PUTTING THIS UP~

Thanks for such an informative tutorial. These are the ones I like best: when you cover detailed basic usage of a standard feature or compositing concept that can be applied to a vast number of projects.

oh this one was very usefull. i like it!!!
ofcourse there are some detail question.
are there some experiences for OS X open source normal generators?

Very Very useful tutorial!!!!
Thanks!

Lol @ myu. guess you where in a pretty bad mood or you just need to follow the basic tutorials for AE... But don't say at anytime that AK's tutorials suck, cause then you need some serieus Basic Training lessons or just go somewhere else...
I haven't watched this one yet, but will do soon. I've already donwloaded the Normality Plugin and inserted into my folder, can't wait to start this one!

Quality of tutorials expression - (thisSite.AndrewKramer/eachNewLesson) (time 100)*2
In short excellent work and thanks for the years of great tutorials every increasing in their greatness!

Hello Andrew... u're the greatest... but can u do a tutorial about RPF sequences (z depth, fog, id mattes etc...)

From Colombia whit love jajajaja

Can you make a tutorial for the HUD from the movie Gamer?

@Matthew Grunau

Stefan explains everything you could possibly want to know about Normality in his own in-depth tutorial on YouTube. Find it via his website http://www.minning.de

Cheers!

u are the best of the best thank u andrew for this tuto...

sorry, the link is
http://www.videocopilot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4

hi andrew,

please make a tutorial about rain, lightening and thunder strom.

@ myu

it doesnt suck at all. YOU are just too dumb to understand it...

Thanks 95 great tutorials!

I have a problem that is been bugging me for a while, Whenever I import a file made in after effects to Avid MC, the colors seems a bit "milky". I work on a mac, So I usually export as uncompressed Quicktime. What is the best way to export from AE to Avid ?

holoo.i love you andrew.please tutorial morph: morph car to robot(movei transporter) pleaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss andrew.

this tutorial sux

thx...AK

I don't want to be a smart ass and maybe it would take to long, but I think it could be helpful for many people if you show how to blur or maybe blur and sharpen the stuff, which you composite into footage.

this was great! very useful

This is my new favorite tutorial. The amount of possibilities for practical purposes as well as VFX is staggering.

I hope it will work with Lightwave. Yes, some of us still use it. Yes, I am ashamed.

Andrew, in the last part of this with the blobby thing I noticed the reflections of the cab and trash can were backwards. Cab was on right, trash can on left. Is there a way to flip the reflection only, and not flip the object?

This reminds me of the underside of the ship in Phantom Menace as it was cruising over the desert. It wont work if the ship/blob is moving towards the camera or if the camera itself is moving in relation tot he object, but for a static shot, even one from the back of a truck where the object stays in place, this would work wonderfully. Again though, I think the reflection may need flipped on the horizontal.


Anyhow, a fantastic tutorial with tons and tons of applications and possibilities.



M

Bien fome el tutorial, el mas fome de la pagina, se nota que andas con poco tiempo.

Saludos y Suerte

Love your site! We were really digging your tutorials at work, thought you might get a kick out of the fact that the government is now blocking them on their network! They got afraid we might learn too much!

first and foremost.....i truly appreciate the work you do. i have purchased every product, except the bullet...sorry...but was more than pleased with every disc/download. i will continue to horde all your elements until you die. i simply love them. anyway...you prob get a lot of these...but i would love to see a depth charge of a tut about matching camera movement between cinema4D or 3DS, and aftereffects...if any expressions exist. thanks again, and for the love of pete, whoever pete may be....MAKE A FREAKIN MOVIE ALREADY!!!!

great stuff.

you man very very nice

one question Andrew.....are the things you've shown us in this tutorial any similar to what you did to create the initial blob in the Fringe intro? i'm assuming you've created it in 3DStudio Max using Vray Renderer, could you give us some info on how to create that extraordinary scene, maybe in AE :P hehe? you're a myth to all of us :P

That's a cool tut, but me wasn't very new, because a few weeks ago Maltaannon made a similar tutorial with his own plugin. It wasn't so long, but I've seen this first in that tutorial.

so guys check out his tutorial also:

http://maltaannon.com/
It's Youveelizer

I found Maltaannon's page on the VC blog, when Andrew showed us the 3d text

These guys are fantastic and they are helping us a lot!

Thanks Andrew and the other people who are making tutorials.

(And why don't you upload tuts on creativecow? I can see only what you a long time ago made.)

the best. period.

Indeed very interesting! When I was wathing it, i though, couldn't you use this to make som pretty cool fake-3D inside AE? I acually made a short tutorial about a thing i came up with.

Would be cool if you watched it. :)

http://www.videocopilot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33

just wanted to confirm that, yes, with c4d you are able to include the normal map in your render. then you just extract surface normal in ae. great stuff!

what version do you use andrew i think its cs4 but isn,t it black not white ?

Brilliant tutorial Andrew Kramer.
I really love the humor. You certainly know how to make informative and compelling video tutorials.

I seriously laughed when I saw this comment in the movie "not very Good" :))))
Thank you, Andrew! You give not only a lot of knowledge, but also to charge a good mood!

Very interesting FX!

This is a decent tutorial... I have a question, Could you show how you would combine two different title sequences from your set seamlessly? (Without just cutting from one to another.)

Andrew,

I like twhat you've done with the particles in the upper banner of this page. Just wandering how did you manage to effect the trapcode particles with the normailty plug-in? (everytime I drag and drop the normality onto trapcode i get a blank screen.)

Help!!

C

Very exciting indeed! Love your lessons! Cheers from russia!

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