New Tutorial: City Destruction!

February 25th, 2015

In this massive tutorial we’ll be adding some realistic city destruction without extra plug-ins! The tutorials is filled with killer tips and advanced compositing solutions! If you’re in the Visual FX, don’t miss it!

Watch Now on Youtube in HD

Watch Now at Video Copilot in HD

Techniques:

3D Camera Tracking and Compositing
Build Dimensional Destruction
Integrate smoke stock footage from Action Essentials 2
Create 3D Track Mattes
2D Planar Tracking for Matte Painting
Optional Tips for Adding 3D Jets with Element 3D!

Download City Footage & Assets

To create the Freaking Blue-Thing, checkout our Sci-Fi FX Tutorial!

Andrew Kramer

POSTED:

5 years ago

226 Comments

RECENT POSTS

SHOWTIME: Slime VFX! FREE Slime PACK: 3GB of Stock FX!

A new Video Copilot show has splash-landed! We showed an early version of the SHOW at VC LIVE in January so we are excited to show it to the world! We made a mess so you don’t have to! Just download the FREE stock footage collection and use in your own projects! Watch on Youtube […]

PLUG-INS

226 Comments

jameh24

3 months ago

very nice

ali

7 months ago

thx
I was wondering if it okay to allowing me to use this "CITY DESTRUCTION" footage for my film which I will be submitting to my film festival. Also, Im currently a high school student.

unknow

9 months ago

could you make a text tutorial seeing thru a video, something really cool like the existing tutorial 147, you have already of light rays, the same concept but the text now see thru a video of something else there. I really liked this tutorial. It got me started into fractal noise. But hey one thing. That expression you put on the cc sphere made the sphere rotate away from the camera, not towards the camera

pcmate

3 years ago

it looks so nice

????? ?????

9 months ago

yes , thats good really

Rens van de Roer

3 years ago

Hi all. When I open my save file and analyze camera the tracker does not detect my previous 3d camera which is already in the composition instead when I click track points to add solid the option says to create new camera and solid. this messes up with my current composition and makes a 2nd camera when I click. Please help.

NokhostinSabt

3 years ago

Great, Tnx

Kim

3 years ago

Hi,

I was wondering if it okay to allowing me to use this "CITY DESTRUCTION" footage for my film which I will be submitting to my film festival. Also, Im currently a high school student. I was wondering if you could be able to give a license for allowing me to use your footage and I will pleased to write your name in my credit ending.

Thank you so much and Have a great day,
Kim

Brands in Iran

3 years ago

I love videocopilot

ثبت برند و ثبت شرکت

4 years ago

Game is good...

خرید سریال کره ای

4 years ago

Great tutorial Keep sharing tutorials like this. they are helpful. thanks

rent home tehran

4 years ago

so good thank you

Philipp

4 years ago

YOU ARE AMAZING ! :)
I just finished school, and I want to do things like you. But what exactly is your job called , better what did you learned ? I would appreciate if you, or anybody who knows about it , reply to me :)

zeeshan ali

4 years ago

hey andrew... i really love your work and effort you're the God of after effects now i was wondering if you could teach us how to make that damage texture it would be real nice

لوازم جانبی موبایل

4 years ago

"And i'll see you next time", he was never seen again

Heather

4 years ago

Your work is amazing, I am studying media and game design just now and I have been following your tutorials for the past 6 months adding my own personalisation to the work, I have managed to skip a year and become one step closer to my dream job. So thank you and I hope to see some more tutorials soon :)

Sreeraj

4 years ago

I like your works and plugins i want to join your VC Account please help me to join your site

VICTOR

4 years ago

Brother I am excited about what you learn with you and hope you please continue to rise more tutorials am a student of audio-visual and I like the part of edicionb but I would like profundisarme in special effects editing

ثبت شركت

4 years ago

Thank you for this wonderful tutorial you are very very talented Visual Effect artist. I love the way you teach people. Anyway can this be possible in element 3d?

Yedidya

4 years ago

where can i find some shots like the one in the tutorial?

Randall

4 years ago

Hello there Im really new in editing and film making,
I saw some of your effect. WOW!! I was mind blown!!
I want to stay at your channel for life!!!
I want to follow your foot step and be a good video editor and help other people just like that just had started :) I hope you could help me all the way, by the way can we talk? Please Email me on my Email

hany

4 years ago

"And i'll see you next time", he was never seen again

chris

4 years ago

To replace the object push down the ALT key and drag it..try that.

salman

4 years ago

thanks by being so helpful and useful for the entire world u r the legend of vfx really appreciable am really proud of ur vision.

طراحی وب

4 years ago

I am form chaine,I like you vrey much.

پنل تلگرام

4 years ago

Thanks for this awesome post and the opportunity to discuss this important subject ,

????? ???? ???? ??

4 years ago

thanks realy is very good

saeed ahmed

4 years ago

thenk you man you ar agood gay

Tim

4 years ago

Hey Andrew what version of Adobe After Effects are you using, can this be done on an older version?

Fabio

4 years ago

Hello, I can not replace the solid by the image. I select the solid, and then I drag the image, but it does not replace it.
I used cc 2014
help me please

Hany

4 years ago

Make sure to hold down alt.

ko phyo

4 years ago

Thank you. Very interested in after effect but I don't have any plugin. 😩

چت روم شلوغ

4 years ago

very good dude thx.....

Mawanda

4 years ago

Ayyayayayai...... This thing is on point. Now that's how we roll

خرید و فروش خودرو

4 years ago

thank you for sharing this post

Petr

4 years ago

Hello, I can not replace the solid by the image. I select the solid, and then I drag the image, but it does not replace it :( Please help me :/

Yusha

4 years ago

hey Petr I'm having the same problem, Andrew please help us I have Adobe After effects CC 2015.

Kennedy Kingsyley

5 years ago

I am loving your work so much. Please, how do i have an account with you on this site?
Is there any demo packages or free trial package?

Radit

5 years ago

thank you so much, I can learn something from this vid.

hope you make another more tutorial like this/ like in the movies.. hehe

btw, thanks andrew.
#from_Indonesia

Chris

5 years ago

When i create the hole in the building it is shaky, why is this?

lds

5 years ago

I am form chaine,I like you vrey much.

Gerald

5 years ago

Hi Video Copilot,

I'm from Philippines, Thank you for this wonderful tutorial you are very very talented Visual Effect artist. I love the way you teach people. Anyway can this be possible in element 3d? Time 0:01 - 0:25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSR0Xady02o

Thank you very much Andrew.

Sattawad

5 years ago

I don't understand 08.30 mask 1 you delete?

08.32 No have Mask1 and You changed name Top Solid be Track Solid 1 ?

Sattawad

5 years ago

02:57 I no have menu set ground plane Original.

sattawad

5 years ago

AF CC it have. Sorry Sir.

Sattawad

5 years ago

Ok know. ^^

TThiagoOliveira

5 years ago

Hello Andrew, I'm Thiago Oliveira, Executive Director of a small production company called REC HD PRODUCTIONS in Brazil in Brief, Marajó island, I'm a big fan of your work watching all your videos, dese the beginning of his work, summarizing vo see is a big and important reference for me, I would humbly that you could record a video saluting our people of brief on Marajó and indicating our audiovisual producer HD PRODUCTIONS, REC, perform my dream recording this video I will be very greatful, congratulations on your work and success for you and your family.

felipe

5 years ago

thank you for this tutorial and for your site in general. That is my result in mi city....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op-nIfwSLAk

ثبت شرکت

5 years ago

great post thank you admin

seerat

5 years ago

hey Andrew !
could you create on of the sense of the AVENGERS for us ?
please let us know and share it. please

and thanks for the awesome tutorial.

ثبت برند

5 years ago

you know when I see your tutorials I think to change my job :P

ثبت شرکت

5 years ago

this is great job. thanks alot

Fafi

5 years ago

i can't believe this,, I thought it's another 3ds max techniques

Mareyus

5 years ago

Thank you for this awesome footage and tutorial. That is my result done in Maya, Nuke, 3ds Max: https://vimeo.com/125714576
:)

Canahan

5 years ago

What do you do if you get bored in easter vacation?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhbEThqQLKk

....let Andrew inspire you :-)

Drehstrom

5 years ago

your tutorials inspired me to make this music video using Action Essentials 2, Element V2, Motion Design 2 and Optical Flares:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKX-ImCLp2M

R-CANE

5 years ago

https://youtu.be/debIyWS6Byc this is some inspiration for chroma key lovers

ZFR S

5 years ago

Andrew you are cool and your tutorials are cool .you are the only person that brings that much Possibilities in after effect ,but Andrew with today is technology we have to use a 3D program i know that they are very expensive but we have to if that is motion or visual effect ,
so why don't you try to make tutorials with a 3D program such cinema 4D ,3Dsmax , Maya ETC, you are an intelligent person .bye the way that was just a suggestion .thank u very much for everything. sincerely Zafar

Lorenzo

5 years ago

Hi Andrew!First of all thanks for the tutorials,ur awesome!
iv'e got a problem with my element 3d,i extrude the model,then i press "OK"and my model disappears...What's wrong?If you read this please reply...Thanks!!

5 years ago

where did you find the damaged buildings textures ??

Binnieproductions

5 years ago

Anyone know where to get that 3D Camera tracker? I dont have it in my AE it seems...

Lendon Bracewell

5 years ago

I really liked this tutorial. It got me started into fractal noise. But hey one thing. That expression you put on the cc sphere made the sphere rotate away from the camera, not towards the camera. Haha, I had to watch that part over and over to figure out what the expression was doing, because in my logic it wouldn't work if the expression told the sphere to rotate towards the camera. Haha you probably already figured that out, but anyway I loved the vid!!!

Ido

5 years ago

Hello.
I saw your tutorial and it is crazy!!!
How did you do the jet flying into the comp?

Steffen

5 years ago

http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3d-scifi-fighter-model/715318

Hi
how it looks with a new 3D Model Pack
Sci fi 3D Model Pack

RadioControlled

5 years ago

Nice one Andrew, Gr8 tutorial as always......just wondering,where have you been up to recently?........can i smell.........Star Wars!!! :)

I New hope so

"May the force be with you".

Marius

5 years ago

Amazing Andrew, thank you for this tutorial and for your site in general, I've learned alot

Mickeditor

5 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxHSbfIury4&feature=youtu.be

Mickeditor

5 years ago

My amazing homemade video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxHSbfIury4&feature=youtu.be
I've done it on Blender and After Effects, with 2 wonderful tutorials from CG GEEK (a very cool guy) and videocopilot (Andrew Kramer, the AE master) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxHSbfIury4&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxHSbfIury4&feature=youtu.be

I hope you like it !

Enjoy and share !

Thanks

MickA from France

Vaclav

5 years ago

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Wanderer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io9ivuo4r6Q&feature=youtu.be

it´s everywhere!

Ikibo

5 years ago

I would love to see tutorial on replacing hand and making cyborg hand all done in elements 3d2 or using motion design pack 2

Or at least on tracking and green screen hand or leg and replacing with object file. need to make acyborg

Alex

5 years ago

The borders are blue, buttons are different. Is this some update od after effects or what? By the way, great tutorial.

DIHEGO

5 years ago

FIZ ESSAS IMAGENS COM UMA CÂMERA DIGITAL QUANDO ESTAVA VINDO DO SERVIÇO E ALGUMAS NO FIM DE SEMANA EM CASA HEHE OS NOMES SAO FICTÍCIOS MENOS O MEU DIHEGO HEHEHE ADORO FILMES POR TRAZ DAS CÂMERAS PENA QUE MINHA CONDIÇÕES FINANCEIRA NÃO DA PRA PAGAR UM CURSO MAS SEMPRE ACOMPANHA A VÍDEO COPILOT A ANOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS6lJGfTSG4

DIHEGO

5 years ago

ANDREW VOCÊ E SENSACIONAL NÃO SEI FALAR NADA DE INGLÊS MAS ESTOU SEMPRE ACOMPANHANDO SEUS TUTORIAS,VOCÊ E SUA EQUIPE ESTÃO DE PARABÉNS

ERICK

5 years ago

Like the San Andreas Movie. Awesome

Joshua

5 years ago

Andrew! Are we going to see an Element 3D model pack soon??

Jeremy

5 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ovLgsDzL0

it seem every one is using video co-pilot products. is it action essentials and element 3D i see in this vid.

shiva kumar

5 years ago

hi sir super awesome work

George Laird

5 years ago

Great Tutorial as per usual, Andrew is quite the Rock star of the After Effects world. He teaches people so much in a highly entertaining way. I have learned so much watching his tutorials. I especially like this one as it is loaded with so much information.

Mital

5 years ago

So I get about halfway into the vid (finishing the first building) and then Andrew says pre comp those specific layers. Every time I do that, my tracking data messes up and I can't place a later on the back buildings without having to make another camera, and that will just ruin the first building. Tips? thx

Wayne Heywood

5 years ago

I have a tip: Watch the video for at least the next 30 seconds AFTER Andrew precomps his own footage... The answer is simple

Christian

5 years ago

Very great tutorial, Andrew.

One quick question: on 18:14 you go to the "camera data" layer and the tracking points appear. In my case the tracking points not appearing after clicking the layer and the Camera Tracker effect.
Any idea?
Thanks

aws almola

5 years ago

you can close the AF program and open it after that,i think it will work i tried it and worked

Olivier

5 years ago

press ctrl+shift+h

Had the same problem myself and had to redo the whole tutorial 5 times until i figured it out

decor gradina

5 years ago

This is very interesting tutorial.

Wayne Heywood

5 years ago

I would like to mention (to people looking for damaged stock footage etc) that I understand some people will look at pics and think, "Damn! The perspective isn't right, I wish I could use it but it just wouldn't work"... Well... Andrew (I hope you're reading this you mother lover) made a tutorial called 3D City (linked below) which explores the process of taking an image and manipulating it with corner pins to 'build' a flat texture.

The reason I hope you're reading this Andrew, is, I've noticed a lot of your tuts have great potential to expand on, via a quick description and/or links to related tutorials, which could/would be valuable resources used in conjunction with the 'current' tutorial. Not only expanding the communities knowledge, but also generating more hits per visit on your site... Maybe that's something you could do in future posts? :)

Valuable resource below ;)

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/3d_city/

felipe

5 years ago

hello,I trak the footage and use the track points to create solids but suddenly the trak point disappears ?

John

5 years ago

Hey Andrew! This tutorial is awesome. I think you have to need create more VFX Tutorials... It's need all of us. And you're best!

Harlem

5 years ago

Andrew Copperfield, the ellusionist.
This tutorial is huge man.
Three letters: W.O.W.

yacine

5 years ago

thanks so much andrew....You are stunning

charles

5 years ago

I've seen this tutorial last night. When Im came home today after the work i've think about have to do some calm thing. So I chose to watch the Horrible bosses 2... and... WOW. In 41 secund we see exactly the same place like in this tutorial :D Just from the highway. :D

5 years ago

I love watching your tutorials, they are like watching a gameplay, they are so interesting for some reason.

5 years ago

how to realese helicopter model pack

kip joe

5 years ago

just to play around with, you could grab a obj or c4d model at thefree3dmodels.com.

anyway good job Andrew,
i think not many have seen this yet, but it has very cool tips

decor gradina

5 years ago

Very interesting this tutorial and ... funny.

henry

5 years ago

pls i need help in knowing the right system or desktop that can quickly render or help me in my learning process in this, the systems have used so far, are not cut out for it

Jamie

5 years ago

Worst. Tutorial. Ever. Not one thing about how to make a video of a cat playing chop sticks with chop sticks.

Achmad Abitia Prakoso

5 years ago

what that's a trick used for vfx like transformer went they are destroyed the city?

however thanks so much andrew you're very very inspire me, & my best teacher on the website :)

adnan

5 years ago

Checkout my video "City Destruction Test" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIektTxhOE

Bobomet

5 years ago

I did notice Andrew saying in this tutorial "... I thought I was going to have to add some traffic ..." to the roads.
I'm wondering if he was offering a subtle hint of the coming release of the long awaited "Vehicles Pack" .....
Anyone else hear it?

Christian Micael

5 years ago

I like the way you think Bobomet :0)

Christian Michael
https://vimeo.com/118937790

Richard

5 years ago

what's the music of the trailer? it's great!

Dpstudio

5 years ago

Very nice tutorial! I recently did it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1BrkFLHD74

pavele

5 years ago

Super cool this tutorial.

A.Harper

5 years ago

Where are Optical Flares?
Pretty straight forward, indeed!
Please, make another blog show about VC studio. Wanna see your stuff=)

anass haidar

5 years ago

can you repeat this tuto with orange color grading

just kidding ;)

Rahim Ebadi

5 years ago

Andrew Really grateful I love it - rahim ebadi - iran city tehran

Freddy

5 years ago

Hello, Andrew

could you make a text tutorial seeing thru a video, something really cool like the existing tutorial 147, you have already of light rays, the same concept but the text now see thru a video of something else there.

that would be nice
thanks so much in advance

have a wonderful day
I really appreciate your great work of tutorials.

Freddy

Chris Glavan

5 years ago

Andrew,

Thank you for another fantastic tutorial! I read below that this was footage you shot yourself, which leads me to a multi-part question:

Do you have other aerial footage you might be willing to share with us in the near future?

For those of us without access to an aerial photography helicopter, can you recommend a stock footage site that might have similar fly-thru-style footage?

Thank you!

mickeditor

5 years ago

good question !

Wayne Heywood

5 years ago

Hi Chris,

Andrew has mentioned in the past that artbeats.com have aerial footage. I should imagine there are many others as well.

Chris Glavan

5 years ago

Wayne-- good call, thanks!

???? ???????

5 years ago

thank you bro ;)

mickeditor

5 years ago

Hi Andrew's Team,

THIS IS A MAGIC TUTORIAL FOR A MAGIC EFFECT !!!

I love it !

I want to damage buildings by myself instead of always using the same damage layer that Andrew gave in the file. but i don't know how to find other damage jpg. Can you help me please in order to make my own damaged city ?

Thanks a lot Master !

Wayne Barron

5 years ago

Hello MickEditor.
To get your own stock footage is rather simple.
Do a quick Google Image Search for "building damage"
Find some buildings that might match your scene. Download the image, and bring it into Photoshop.
Mask around an area and then copy and paste it into its own layer.
Then Add some feathering to it, and save it out, and then bring it into your AE project.
Wa-La instant stock footage.
(Watch out for copyrighted images)

Good Luck
Wayne Barron
Dark Effects Production
http://www.youtube.com/darkeffectstv

mickeditor

5 years ago

HI Wayne,

Thanks for your help.
As i am french, i was wondering which english key words i could use in google to find a bank of pictures with building damage. So i tried "damage" "Demolished" "hole" building... i've found interesting things. Not many, but a few.
thanks again !

Wayne Barron

5 years ago

Hello Mick.
I wrote it in my original post.
>> Do a quick Google Image Search for "building damage"
Building Damage
That is what you want to do a search for.
There is a LOT of buildings that come up.

Check out my channel here on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/darkeffectstv
I am going to be doing a lesson on how to do it later on today.

Good luck
Wayne

Wayne Barron

5 years ago

Here is the lesson, just in case you need it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMx3naOiYKk

mickeditor

5 years ago

Waou !
Thanks a lot Wayne for making this video especially to help me and other people who will need it ! on Google, i've also found very pics with "destroy building" and "destroyed building". It could help too.
Thanks again !
Great community than Andrew's one !

Wayne Barron

5 years ago

Glad that it helped you Mick.
The AE community is huge, I love it.
Good Luck with your project, and post it here after you are done, and also post it on my video on YouTube as well. That way we all can see what you was able to come up with.

Wayne

cloclo

5 years ago

check out cgtextures.com
they have free textures - the limit is in the resolution and downloads per day ...

http://www.cgtextures.com/textures.php?t=search&q;=damage

cheerio!

ثبت شرکت

5 years ago

great post thank you for sharing

Belal YS

5 years ago

What if the pilots were drunk ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSgNrT

Belal YS

5 years ago

http://youtu.be/RSgNrT-7msM

David

5 years ago

LOL

Wayne Barron

5 years ago

That is cool.
Very good job Belal.
Keep up the awesome work.
I had to watch it a few times, in order to see the plane explode on the streets below.
Super great work!!

Belal YS

5 years ago

Thanks so Much Wayne :D

SKELATORRR

5 years ago

Hey Andrew,

I was wondering about when you precompose the first building elements. when you collapse transformation to fix all the postions, how are you supposed to make future edits if needed inside the precomp?

CIADESIGN

5 years ago

Very nice !
I'm a french guy who learn by your tuts.
If a day you to translate them, ask me !

Continue to do this tuts and your awesome work(s)

czdodo

5 years ago

hehe
Bottom Hole
hehe

Lasse Bauer

5 years ago

Btw for those interested in using destroyed buildings, there are quite a few models out there.
Here is one in OBJ format that might be useful:
http://3docean.net/item/3d-destroyed-building/164425

Lasse Bauer

5 years ago

Very nice tut!
Question:
How do I add E3D models to the footage?
E.g. have an extra building in the front or similar.
Do I tie that model to a null, and tie that null to the tracking data or similar?

Lasse Bauer

5 years ago

If others are interested, I found the solution:
Select 3 points or use the red target plane, and then right-click to create a null.
Then use that null as parent to a new solid, and add E3D to that solid as normal. Voil�.

Lasse Bauer

5 years ago

If others are interested, I found the solution:
Go to the Tracker effect on your footage layer.
Select 3 points or use the red target plane, and then right-click to create a null.
Then use that null as parent to a new solid, and add E3D to that solid as normal. Voil�.

Serdar

5 years ago

only i can say inspirational !!!
So Cool Andrew and thank you so much

pixo videos

5 years ago

great tut guy thanks a lot VC

Ryan Tan

5 years ago

I wonder how you achieved that sound changing effects in your trailer. Can you make a breakdown for it?

Ryan Tan

5 years ago

Question Solved, thanks.

Kraig Winterbottom

5 years ago

Levels?! You've changed man.... you've changed :/

manohar jha

5 years ago

sir you are awesome but i want a 3d destruction from you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE this is good example of mat painting ...Hats of

5 years ago

I am using CS5.5 with camera tracker but when I create the null object from the scene, the image is still moving when I hit RAM preview. I parented my object to the null value. Any thoughts on this?

5 years ago

User error.

Erik

5 years ago

This was a great tutorial. Would it be possible to do a mini-tutorial on the road matte painting, because I would love to get some more tips on how to remove objects from a scene.

bobomet

5 years ago

I'm using AE-CS6, and everything in this super tutorial is working except one thing (boggling my mind).
I cannot make the "Damage' layer use the Foreground Building Mask for the 'Alpha Inverted' Track Matte for the obscured building in back.
Is this perhaps a CS6 vs CC issue?

Eddy

5 years ago

Awesome tutorial!

I'd like to know, would you create like an overall color correction tutorial?
I'd really like to imitate the "orange and teal" look you see in movies.
I don't know if it will be doable in AE, but maybe you, the master of vfx that you are, can figure it out somehow.
Or just use Resolve or smth.

A. David Shaw

5 years ago

I posted a question but do not see it here.
"Any suggestions for where to find assets for doing more destruction or post apocalyptic world scenarios. I notice these look like they came from an old building so I assume start looking for images like these but, any more advice on creating this in a greater scale?"

VFXGATE.com

5 years ago

Hi VC and Guys !
This is Amazing Tutorial
Thanks a lot

Christian Michael

5 years ago

Great tut, thoroughly enjoyed it. Almost makes me want to upgrade from CS5.....Almost :0)

Christian Michael
https://vimeo.com/118937790

Brandon

5 years ago

I'm in that same boat... the ONLY person who can sell me on the latest Adobe CS is Andrew Kramer!

Christian Michael

5 years ago

I hear you Brandon,

I actually had the full suit of CS6 with the company I worked with a few years ago and truth....I found its work flow too... off. Because of that I stuck to my own copy of CS5 and could produce faster.

Christian Michael
https://vimeo.com/118937790

glory simwanza

5 years ago

thanx andrew 4 the good tutorial, now am jst wondering how did u come up with that voice over its sounding nice

JuxtRefined

5 years ago

My favorite tutorial to date. Thanks for all your hard work Andrew, it's much appreciated.

bobomet

5 years ago

Hey Andrew ... I'm getting a little jitter in my camera solve, and some points coming in and going out. I didn't notice that in the tutorial.
Is there a solve setting I might have missed?
I'm using CS6 .....

Nicolas

5 years ago

So Cool.
Great work.

GreenScreen

5 years ago

Tyler A... Yes, you could be right. Thanks for the tip. I have CS5 so I have Mocha. Getting the parallax visible in the "destruction" layers would be easy. Not sure how you'd get the "destruction" jpeg to change its own perspective with the camera movement, though.

Only one way to find out, I guess.

Ayush Bakshi

5 years ago

Earlier I used to use Ae for small projects. I thought one day I'll make things like this. Soon I understood that this kind of amazing work can only be done in Very good PCs (workstations):\ If I try to make this {my brother have ActionEssentials 2(it's awesome)} then it will take months to make and years to render.
But one day I'll definitely make these kind of things (more awesome than these).

Akash

5 years ago

Nice but too much work... :(

Rafael

5 years ago

F**k man!!! When I don't believe anymore you get even better.

Thanks!

Abdul Rahman Al-Saigh

5 years ago

Great Job Mr.Andrew Kramer i hope we be contact each others soon
i'm looking for your Email to discussion some stuff!!

Regards,

Steve

5 years ago

Yay we're now in 1080p! Great video too :-)

Sir Jon

5 years ago

Nice... Waking up to this really made my day!! Always wanted to know how to make fire in my bottom hole ;) Awesome tutorial, as always! You are an inspiration to us all Andrew. Thanks!

Chris

5 years ago

Been eagerly awaiting this tutorial since I saw the teaser post. :D

gaurav

5 years ago

awesome work andrew thx for sharing lots of cool tricks

GreenScreen

5 years ago

Oh, it needs CS6... dang.

Tyler A.

5 years ago

Not really. You don't need to solve a camera to do this tutorial. You can use planar tracking and basic rotoscoping and just a little extra tweaking to get the perceived parallaxing between layers for the depth in the holes. There's several routes you can take to achieve the same result. Mocha for AE is a great option.

Danilo

5 years ago

158 tutorials in videocopilot's website and Andrew still duplicating layers with "edit - duplicate" kkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Everybody already know the shortcut, Andrew

Andrew Kramer

5 years ago

It helps slow me down some.

Wayne Barron

5 years ago

I agree with Andrew.
Also, doing lesson's myself on a regular basis, I have found where a LOT of people do not know all the shortcuts. Heck I do not know them all, and have them written down, so when I use them in my lesson, I tell people what I am doing, as so lot to loose them in the process.

Have to slow down a little, makes it a lot nicer for the students, when a teacher is willing to take the time to show them where everything is at.

Keep it going Andrew, you are, and always will be, the best!

Wayne

X12P

5 years ago

Thanks for the exciting one

play_edu

5 years ago

Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome Awesome

Jeremy Abbott

5 years ago

At long last, the first VC tutorial in 1080p!!!

Dan Barry

5 years ago

I've been through 6 seconds of it and already know this is the coolest.

TheMightyThor

5 years ago

I dont want to sound like i am suggesting anything but i am suggesting something. How awesome would Destruction be as an Element 3D Add on Like aircraft and guns and schtuff? love this tutorial but kept thinking, man if that was an element 3D kit with moving parts? it would sell like hot cakes in a all girls prison...hmm well it would sell good anyway, i mean destruction kit? chicks in prison? pancakes, you know what i'm talking about :P

5 years ago

Awesome tutorial. You make it look effortless!

I was wondering how you come up with the damaged pics? Was it from real pics of old buildings? Or did you make them in Photoshop? Or?

Evil Dave

5 years ago

Fantastic Tutorial. As always. Thanks for sharing.

Column... perhaps that's the word?

Phil

5 years ago

Hey Guy
Awesome Guy !!! Many thnaks to share thoses tricks of yours !!
Thanks to create those awesome plugs ! ...an also to develop a practical and easy way to "vfx" our life and minds.
Peace and may god keeps you still the same.
Phil From France

Anthony

5 years ago

The master is back. Thank you for helping me set this year April Fools joke.

Marlon Ladd

5 years ago

Andrew, you're great!! On behalf of indie filmmakers, I can't tell you how much your products and tutorials have helped bridge the production value divide. I have been waiting and waiting for a destructive city tutorial since the metropolitan pack came out, so that I could apply it to our web series, Bad To The Jones. Check us out if you ever get a chance: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1sfkhewJt7s

bobomet

5 years ago

Thanks Andrew and VC for the free education .... totally awesome. I feel this is not just a "tutorial" --- this is a curriculum.

Ronaldo

5 years ago

Muito bom esse tutorial.
Obrigado pelo seus tutoriais

Luka

5 years ago

i like to watch your tuttorials while i'm drunk because i can watch them all over again tomkmorew!

Marcos

5 years ago

Excellent tut !

Question: how did you make the shot? I assume a quadcoper. Any model, suggestion you could share?

Saludos from Argentina, Marcos.

Andrew Kramer

5 years ago

From this Helicopter: http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2013/10/aerial-photography-with-jetstrike/

Yousif Khalil

5 years ago

Thanx so much andrew :) awesome tutorial!

Joe F.

5 years ago

Love the tutorial.. Although, my jets never look right when moving them through this 3D space from one point to the other with the camera movement. Thanks!

Nino

5 years ago

Thanks for the tutorial! And a tip for you Andrew if you did not know (probably did but maybe others do not) i sometimes see you copying position of one object to another to get them to match or other workarounds. If you hold SHIFT while you parent one to the other, it will move the child to the location of the parent, along with adjusting all the keyframes as well. Then you can unparent (if you don't need it actually parented) and it will retain its place in space. Works with both the dropdowns and the "pick-Hwhip".

Thanks again for the great tutorial!

Kawa-VFX

5 years ago

just waiting for tomorrow bcs now i dont have a good net in my house but im sure ur works awesome thanx andrew

Daniel

5 years ago

I've been wanting a tutorial like this for a long time! Thanks for this -- really awesome job. You're the man.

Jeff

5 years ago

Thanks for this tutorial!

M Steele

5 years ago

"Let's call this layer 'Bottom Hole'..." Haha! and "Select from the 'hole' all the way to the 'cracks'..." You missed so many pun opportunities! That's very unlike you, Andrew... ;)

Luca

5 years ago

Hey Andrew,
I am trying to recreate the tutorial in blender and I was wondering if you have the camera meta data?(Focal Length/Sensor Size)

Michael O’Connor

5 years ago

Dear Andrew,

I could use your help on a short film. Would like a quote.

Thanks!

Best regards,
Mike

Adam

5 years ago

Just Amazing!!! Thanks so much, this is awesome!!

Shayne Cantly

5 years ago

This is great Andrew...your teaching technique has changed a little for the better....nice and measured, allowing me to see more of what you are doing, and explaining the little things in more detail. I found this easier to absorb than other tutorials. I like this style a whole lot better. Keep it up for future tuts.

John

5 years ago

Geez. Amazeballs. Really humbling.

Amigo Productions

5 years ago

Superb tutorial Andrew! So much info in less than 40 minutes. Simply put - Wow! :)

Ricardo Elliott

5 years ago

If I can, I'd like to make some additional suggestions to people for really pushing the realism of these effects.

He covered a lot of things in a very short amount of time, all of the techniques he went through will get you through shots like this quickly and effectively. For those occasions when you need/want to put in some more realism, remember one thing: it isn't enough to match COLOR to footage. If you want it to look like the shot was FILMED in-camera you have to match a couple other things.

Blur is important. Notice how sharp and crisp the destruction holes are on the buildings, both int he foreground and in the background. The buildings aren't in sharp focus like that though, especially aerial footage, that's never really the case because of the nature of how it was shot. Put a fast blur on your pre-composed destruction layers, and just make an educated guess as to how much is enough to match the blur amounts of the footage. It'll REALLY help sell it as something filmed, but even more so you should add:

Noise. The benefit of adding the blur before is two-fold: you've not only matched the blur levels of the footage, but now you've kinda blurred out the noise from your stock pictures or clips. Now you can go back after matching blur to matching the noise levels and intensity. Depending on your shot, you may have more filmic noise or grain than something more digital, but you'll be able to get away with a lot depending on how big or small your visual effect is. But again, once you get the noise to where you think it should be: add another blur. Add like a .3 to .7 pixel fast blur on top, so that your NOISE isn't completely sharp either. It's all just about looking at your source footage and then your effect, and getting them to a middle point.

One last thing I would suggest is matching chromatic abberation/color fringing. Ideally, this should be done BEFORE you add the noise, because if you do it afterwards you are going to be affecting the noise itself, which isn't realistic. You may even want to put this BEFORE the initial fast blur, depending on how blurred out it is. Always think about noise/grain as the final layer that goes on top of your effect (with final color correction being the exception). There are a couple plug-ins that'll do it for you, check out aescriptsDOTcom for some, or google tutorials on achieving the look in Ae manually.

Thanks Andrew for another great tutorial! It's the ones like this that are going to help take a lot of people's skill to the next level of quality, and also hopefully get some people to be more creative in their visual effects; have more fun with the work and not just see it as a chore to rush through. Many people see things like this in films and think: "Wow, I have to master Maya and Rayfire for three years before I can do that!" There's so much you can do with what you have, you just need to think outside the box. Visual effects can still be fun and imaginative!

Andrew Kramer

5 years ago

Great Tips! Thanks Ricardo!

Impaczus

5 years ago

A chromatic abberation tutorial would be new :D

Koz

5 years ago

Great tips Ric...

jaseem

5 years ago

Thank you very much recardo and off cource andrew kramer.

John

5 years ago

Lots of food for thought there Ricardo, many thanks!

Cameron

5 years ago

Could you recreate this tutorial but make everything Gold?!?!?!?!

Awesome work as always, you inspire me to push the limit and grow as an artist.

5 years ago

you are KING OF VFX and We Love you man ;-)

David

5 years ago

Massive tutorial covering so much stuff. So cool that it's all done with simple layers as well, who would have known? :)

So I'm off to recreate the end of the Avengers movie now. Thankyou once again for another exciting tutorial \^^/

korotovool

5 years ago

It's really cool and helpful about 3D track mattes ! Thanks Video Copilot for this tutorial

Andi

5 years ago

At 10:50 when you show your website, when you scroll down the top nav bar does some fancy animation and fixes in place. That doesn't happen on Firefox.

Tushar Deshpande

5 years ago

Hi Andrew,

Great tutorial and many helpful tips on post production side.

Thanks,
Tushar

quadoner

5 years ago

Thanks for the Tutorial..

Shiv

5 years ago

You are awesome ..! and that was funn the golden guy ring ✌️

Tyler A.

5 years ago

Great tutorial. I love how these basic concepts can produce such incredible and convincing results.

Tom

5 years ago

Thanks for showing this composition. Even though you've shown these techniques before, it's really inspirational and appreciated to see how you can apply these techniques to different applications so I can envision different uses. I actually love trying to guess how you are going to do a certain effect before you do it to see if I'm thinking the same...my kids find it funny to listen in..."alpha inverted...pre-comp and MOVE all attributes" etc Thanks for what you do!

David

5 years ago

why didn't the teach me this is school? thanks buddy.

Julioandrs

5 years ago

Pretty Good! An easy way to do amazing VFX!!!

kkehoe5

5 years ago

Tutorials like this are the reason I love VCP. Motion graphics, while ok are not what I come here for. More of this please.

Vikram sharma

5 years ago

Love u Andrew.... Ur the Man

Jason

5 years ago

Hehe... Bottom Hole. Great tutorial! As per the usual, this... This is going to be very useful.

Dan

5 years ago

Bottom Hole...I'm glad I wasn't the only one ;)

MrAurora

5 years ago

Hey Andrew, i think you're better than alfred hitchcock at building suspense, my friend. Just when we thought the tutorial was forgotten about - **queue earie music here ** BAM - the knife slashed thru curtain !!

Alldaron

5 years ago

SENSATIONAL!!!!! You guys are seriously incredible.

Darren

5 years ago

Thanks, Andrew. I think this tutorial is really going to really push people's abilities further than any that have come before! Really eye opening.

vladimiRRedzhepbaev

5 years ago

WOW!!!!!!! Its nice work!!!

william

5 years ago

Nice!!!!!! It was time!!

Andy dominique

5 years ago

Yeah... nice but please Andrew could you fix the link to download project files cause i can't have it... about 5% and the download failed...each time...i'v tryed to down other pjct files from other tutorials and it's works but here... noy at all...
Thanks
Andy

??? ????

4 years ago

so good thank you

rent home tehran

4 years ago

good job

karait

3 years ago

thankks

Tutorials

Sci-Fi Weapon FX

Create a variety of futuristic weapon FX

Cinematic Title Design: Fantasy FX

Customize the Bevel and create endless variations

Blog Show

Search & Destroy

Using various roto and split-screen effects we transformed a two-man SWAT team into a full squad for this demo scene. Sam Loya reprises his role as the “guy who probably gets killed”, in this exciting industrial saga. The main goal of this scene was to film everything as if we had a dozen guys instead […]

View All Blog Shows

Plugins

Stock Footage