New Year Greetings

Hey Guys,

Wish you all a happy and wonderful new year.Also i would like to express my gratitude to my friends for being supportive in all my ventures.You guys rock! Thanks a lot.Also 2009 will be a big year for paperbird.Lot of plans,coming on to light.See you all in 2009.Enjoy!

regards,
mahesh

3D Art: Hot Chocolate

Hey guys,
A new 3d max render and a fine tip to make one good cup of Hot Chocolate.Enjoy!

Download the hi res wallpaper here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/78317771/73fa1678/cup.html

Tutorial: 3D Max+Photoshop: [Z]Depth of Field

A tip to all my 3D Max buddies.While working on a 3D shot,our first priority is to make it look as much real as possible.You could spend minions oh hours inside the 3dpackage itself or could be smart and save some valuable time.If you really want DOF [depth of field] effect for a 3d scene and if you are only aware of using the tragically slow post-prod effects in max, this might be useful for you. Note,this tip is applicable to both still and video.

1.After lighting up your scene and rendering it out.Do another render,this time with a few changes.Go to render settings>render elements and add a ZDepth element.Render the scene out.You will get a greyshaded version of the scene.That is the depth map of the shot.





2.Now if you want to apply this to one shot.Open up photoshop.open the original render.Go the the channels tab and add a new layer.Now open the depth map.Copy it then paste it to the new layer in the channels tab of the original render.Turn off the visibility of the new alpha 1 layer.

3.Now switch back to the layers tab.Select the image layer and apply a lens blur to it.In the settings,pick the Alpha 1 layer.Now you have the depth data in that layer applied to ur original render. You can tweak the value slider to get the desired effect.



PS: if you want this effect on a video and u are using after effects, the steps are pretty much the same.I will be doing a video tutorial on that soon.Till then enjoy the Static version! ;)

Merry Christmas to you all

Mock Up: XBOX PORTABLE

Hey guys,
Was just tweaking on my PSP when this creepy idea got into my head.An xbox portable.Made a mock up in 3D.And finally, gave it a name.Presenting the Brand New XPORT!

Wallpaper: Christmas Time Paperbird

Hey guys,

A small gift to you all. Dont get ur hopes too high. [Face it! Anyway its a free blog] .A brand new christmas wallpaper for your desktop.Yeaaah....

Check it out
http://www.4shared.com/file/76051705/3d96b449/christmas-time.html

3D Art: Cactus

Hey guys,
A lot of things going around as Christmas is always the busiest of all times! Got a few minutes to spare today and i came up with this.A brilliant way to waste a couple of minutes.All you need is 3D Max, Photoshop and a really non-creative moment!

Will be back with new updates soon! Enjoy the holidays

Download HQ version of the image here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/75918913/591faf28/xcxcx_copy.html

Content Aware Image Resizing

SiGGRAPH came up with this amazing technology,content aware resizing, also known as Retargetting.The algorithm resizes images non-uniformly and, well, somewhat magically. This alters the dimensions of an image not by scaling or cropping, but rather by intelligently removing pixels from (or adding pixels to) the image that carry little importance.The algorithm is called Seam Carving.

You can find an implementation of this [Content aware scaling] in the latest Photoshop CS4

watch this video to know more about Content aware resizing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qadw0BRKeMk

Photoshop Tutorial: Vintage Photo Look

A set of tips which will help you to give a vintage look to an image.

1.Open the original image. Image>adjustments>Desaturate

2.Go to Curves and manipulate the channels separately to give an old color spill to the image.


3.Open the dust and scratches image.Drag it on to the original image and change the blending mode to 'Screen'





4.Now select the image layer and apply a Gaussian blur.



5.Select a soft brush.Choose the color black and a low opacity.On a new layer,paint out random smooth spot to create some dark patches and vignette on the image.



6.Select the image layer.Reduce the brightness a bit and apply some Noise.



You now know what i know!

3D Art: The Bomb

Hey guys,

A small render from a project I've done, while in University of Wollongong.Did this in lightwave3D.

Nine Miles: Teaser Pic

hey guys,
Here's the new teaser pic from the upcoming indie film 'Nine Miles'. A short prequel to this movie will be going in for the Insomnia 2008 Film Festival.

Wallpaper: P

Download the latest high res wallpaper of the paperbird.

Click here to download the 1920 wallpaper
http://www.4shared.com/file/70511041/9d45a198/Pwallp1920.html

Digital Art: Go Fish

Hey Guys,
Did this using Photoshop. Its all vector art. Used the Pentool to create the shapes.Pretty Basic stuff ,but with the help of a LOT of layers!

Download the Hi Res Image from here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/69813077/10aec976/gofish.html

Wallpaper: Set it Free

Download the new paperbird 'Set it free' widescreen wallpaper here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/69430905/a18739e7/setfree1920.html

Video: WaterMan Test 2

hey guys,
Right now i am working on this 'water man' effect to use as a variant in an upcoming production. The actual character will be a blue-screen actor,but here i was testing the effect with a 3D character. This is the second level of testing with the global reflection and distortion,but using a still image as the background.Will soon be testing on a real footage.

Watch the video here:
http://www.vimeo.com/2069950

Update: The 'OH-MY-GOD' Movie Shot

Also Known as Dolly Zoom or the reverse tracking forward zooming shot,This over-used shot is now a cliche for hollywood horror flicks.Introduced in 1958.But haven't seen this effectively used in the indian screens yet,Though a couple of unsuccessful attempts.

The effect is achieved by using the setting of a zoom lens to adjust the angle of view (often referred to as field of view) while the camera dollies (or moves) towards or away from the subject in such a way as to keep the subject the same size in the frame throughout. In its classic form, the camera is pulled away from a subject whilst the lens zooms in, or vice-versa. Thus, during the zoom, there is a continuous perspective distortion, the most directly noticeable feature being that the background appears to change size relative to the subject. [wikipedia]

An Example:
In Jaws, The "track forward, zoom out" shot where the background narrows as Brody realizes someone has been attacked by a shark is a reverse of the "zoom in and track backwards" shot to make the background suddenly widen. It was originally used by Irmin Roberts to represent the dizzying heights in"Vertigo" (1958).

CONSTANT FOCUS
is a new update where both the background and foreground are in focus,like in a cartoon.
Click here to know more about constant focus

Nine Miles: Website

The website for the upcoming indie movie 'Nine Miles' is up and running now. Check for updates. The movie is still in the pre-vis and hopefully will be complete by mid 2009. I would like to thank all my friends and colleagues who are now working on this venture with me.

Dont forget to visit the website to get a taste:
www.ninemiles.co.nr

Nine Miles: Teaser Poster 2

Tip: Fixing issues while shooting a TV Screen

Here's a quick tip. You might've experienced this issue,when u tried to shoot a TV screen playing.Random lines going across the tv screen causing the screen to flicker too much.You might've seen this glitch in movies as well.What's happening here is the mismatch of Frame Rates.Usually a movie camera shoots on 24 fps and the tv playbacks on 25 fps.So when we are shooting the tv using a 24 fps camcorder,it wont be able to capture all the frame-data and it will have to skip some of the frames and that will cause the unusual flickering. You can totally get rid of this.While shooting a tv screen, switch your camera to 25fps [most of the movie cams has this option].Revert it back to 24 Fps in post-production [You can do that with almost any of the movie editing applications].Now that the Camera and the TV are in perfect sync in terms of frame rates,there wont be any flicker at all and the tv will play smoothly on your video!

PS:Another application of this.To give a "movie-look" to your home made digi-cam movies,Just convert the video to 24FPS [in aftereffects/premiere/fcp] and see the difference!

Update: A R Rahman teams up with Danny Boyle

News update on my favorite musician of all time,A R Rahman.This time he joins with an acclaimed Hollywood director and the movie is a sure shot at the academy awards.Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionare. Danny Boyle previously directed critically raved movies like The Beach,Trainspottin, Sunshine, A lifeless ordinary etc.

Watch this small clip from the movie.The BGM is amazing.
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=1115RRGCv40

Trivia: What's the WILHELM SCREAM?

For all the aspiring movie makers out there.Here is a term u are likely to hear a lot when you are in movie editing studios.The WILHELM SCREAM. Its [literally] a sound effect, of a scream,which was recorded in the 50s and is still the most widely used sound effect in movies.I have a version myself ;)

Watch this video.Interesting trivia!
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=_PxALy22utc


Read this to know more about WILHELM SCREAM
http://hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/

Nine Miles :Teaser Poster

Video: Digital Set Creation

hey guys,
An example showing you, Digital Set creation and compositing.

PS:Not the perfect example.As BG is a still image,the water is not moving :)


Click this link to see the final video composite:
http://www.vimeo.com/1927499


Click here to read the step by step breakdown of the process:
http://www.geocities.com/maheshravi1980/digitalset.htm

Video: Mock Trailer: Curious + Fall

Hey guys,
I was checking the iMovie software that came with iMac. Being an FCP guy, i always thought of iMovie as an amateur video editing software and it is! BUT we can do pretty cool stuff with it.The interface is a bit confusing for a beginner. But you will get the hang of it soon.It has got a pretty cool color-correction system.Its fast and there isn't much quality loss.There isn't much you can do with the video though.For starters,It doesn't support clip speed adjustments.Anyway, i made this Fake movie trailer mixing up two much awaited movies[The curious case of Benjamin button and The Fall].Took only 15 minutes to make the final cut.The exporting too was quiet fast.BTW took the music clip from Yuvvrajj by AR Rahman.Then i thought of uploading it here!Have'nt done any post production on this one.Just Editing.I will be uploading a remastered version soon!

Watch the Fake Trailer here:
http://www.vimeo.com/1896819

Update: Extract Audio from YouTube Video

Hey Guys,
Here's an easy way to extract audio from a YouTube video.
First you need to download the video to your pc.Check this site to know how to do that.

Now open the flv-extract.You can download it from here

Drop the flv file into the application window.You will get the video and audio extracted as seperate files.Its all free! So its worth checking out!

Video: AfterEffects: Predator Effect

The transparency effect like in the movie Predator.[According to me,that's the scariest Alien i have ever seen till date!].I dont have a green screen setup yet,so i used a Biped rendered out as TGA sequence as the displacement map over the static background.

PS:The biped is actually doing a ballet,but comeon,there are pre-cogs,hunters,breeders and eccentric "ballet dancers" in predator world!

Also FYI,This is how the effect was done in the original 1987 Predator movie:

The invisibility effect was achieved by having someone in a bright red suit (because it was the farthest opposite of the green of the jungle and the blue of the sky) the size of the creature. The take was then repeated without the actors using a 30% wider lens on the camera. When the two takes were combined optically, a vague outline of the alien could be seen with the background scenery bending around its shape.[From Wikipedia]

Watch my video here:
http://www.vimeo.com/1887851

Digital Art: Ruins 2 Mock Poster

Hey Guys,

Another application of the Luft Algorithm to generate foilage. Also did use Ambient Occlusion technique to give accuracy to the lighting details.

Watch the image here: [Click to see the full size]



I also made a short video with this.Check it out
http://www.vimeo.com/1880751

Wallpaper: Poison Ivy 1920x1200

Hey Guys,
Rendered out from 3D Max via Mental Ray.Did use the thomus luft algorithm to create the foilage.

Download the hi-res wallpaper here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/65516800/83781232/poison1920.html

Update: 3D Match Moving a.k.a 3D Motion Tracking

I've been in this field for a while but its just now that i got a chance to get my hands on a 3d matchmoving application..PFTrack.Though, its a learning edition and cant use it on any commercial projects,I got an opportunity to understand the concept.It was an exciting experience which [i hope] opened up a wide range of visual FX possibilities for me.

Basically,the process is pretty simple to understand.Its an advanced method of compositing a 3d object onto a realworld scene and matching up with its 3D Data so that the viewer gets the feeling that the object is a part of the actual scene.Usually many of you might be familiar with 2D Tracking.We are able to do that inside almost all the compositing softwares.There we are only playing with the X and Y data but the Z data,i.e the 3D Data is not readily available.Watch these sample videos i found on you tube and you will get a better idea..

2D Tracking Sample:
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=GmKYLDOMYJc&feature=related

Now as you've noticed,the castle is a 2d object composited on to the scene but there is no 3d data.We wont be able to rotate the camera to see another dimension of the castle,coz its just not there.Now watch this...

3D Tracking Sample:
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=-LfNcwBgVzg&feature=related

I guess now you got it.You can see all the 3 dimensions of the biped as the camera rotates.BTW this clip is not done in PFTrack,but in Boujou.There are many 3d tracking softwares in the market now,but all of them works on the same principle.

Now about the process.The application analyses the footage and then tracks it with 3D camera solving.We can then export the camera data to a[ny] 3d application where we can setup the scene and render out the animation with the tracked camera data in it.Now you can composite the two layers in a regular compositing software and it will perfecly match.Great Technique. Do some googling and you will get more info on this topic.

Video: Green Screen Test

Hey guys,

A small video which i did today. Shows the breakdown of a basic keying technique. Footage courtesy: Getty Images. Its a preview video,so the color data needed for proper keying was not fully available.

Take a look at the video breakdown:
http://www.vimeo.com/1840417

Composite Test: Layer BreakDown

A Pre-Production screen test done for an upcoming video production of a friend.This is just the still image in the testing phase.Need to add a lot of elements to enhance the image [like debris falling down,smoky ambiance etc] The actual scene is gonna be a video with human characters added to the building.Have a look.

Note: This is not the actual building i am gonna use in the final version. :)




Layer BreakDown:

Video: PaperBird [Viral] Title Animation Ver 1.0

Hey guys,

Watch the ver1.0 paperbird [Viral] title animation in HD Quality on Vimeo.

Click the link to view the video:
http://www.vimeo.com/1824950

Wallpaper: Its in your blood

The brand new high-res wallpaper 'Its in your blood'. Did model the cell in 3d max. Used a PArray and linked the mesh on to it to generate multiple cells.Created the Background in Photoshop. Rendered out using Mental Ray.Check it out

Download the wallpaper:
http://www.4shared.com/file/64419700/bd6c9d48/itsinyourblood1920.html


Know about red blood cells:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_blood_cell

Video: Digital Set Extension in 5 Steps!

A very useful technique.Too simple that this doesnt even require a tutorial. ;)

Well, lemme put this in 5 steps.

1.From AfterEffects,Export the frame of the footage you want to extend as a PSD

2.Open it in photoshop and paste the elements you want to add.Save it back again.

3.Open it in aftereffects as a new comp.replace the background still layer with the footage.

4.Motion track the footage.Apply the tracking data to a null object.

5.Parent[pickwhip] the elements to the null object.That's it! You are 'Extended'!


Watch the low-res sample here: [really low-res! sorry!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mng9fIq6E_o

Digital Art: $-Dollor

Hey guys,

Did this in 3D Studio Max. Post-effects in Photoshop. Another Time-Killer!

Download the Hi Res wallpaper here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/63590529/b6817a60/dollor.html

AfterEffects: Curtain/Text animation: AE file included

hey guys,

Was just playing around with the new After Effects CS3.Trust me,Its 'the' best tool that you can ever use in your video/multimedia production.I made an animation showing a curtain in the background and some text in the foreground doing a fall down trick! Its so easy.Created the curtain with the fractal noise filter with the evolution parameter animated and the text was animated in the Z Space,with some motion blur added to it.[Note: MotionBlur is the key word!!]

watch the sample video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL5oSBGF3Gk

download the AE work file here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/63573695/f3004056/text_falling.html

Digital Art: Boat Race: PSD Included

Hey Guys,

New digital art. Did this as a holiday greeting. Later,added some modifications & one CG Fish.Check out the PSD file attached.


Download the wallpaper here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/63315587/7a21e703/wallpaperfinal.html



Download the PSD File here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/63315796/17b932ba/wallpaperbot.html

Video: Dont 'Think' when you are on road!

Hey guys,
Its been a while.Went to visit my folks for the 'Onam*' holidays.Had a blast! one wonderful feast, my best friend's wedding and a short road trip with my brother! Shot this in my bro's DV while we were there.Used a tripod to match the shots.Then used aftereffects to composite the shots [thanks to the 'Masks' feature]. I will be putting up a tutorial on this soon.Its pretty simple and straight forward.

PS: Special thanks to Girish Ravi for the 'Steady shot without a tripod' technique! ;)

Enjoy the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVgkggZE3nA

Know about 'Onam' :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onam

wish you all a happy onam

Video: Using 3D Objects in video to create a dramatic shot

Now this is an interesting technique.For creating this video,I have used my 3d Pipe Model,rendered out as a png.Imported it along with the footage onto after effects.Then moved the layers in Z Space.Added some camera motion and a fake depth of field.That's it! Got a dramatic shot.At first the focus is on the person.Then it slowly zooms/tracks out,like someone is doing a walk-back with a hand held camera and the focus shifts on to the pipe.I used the lens blur filter to fake the depth of field shifting.Check out the video.

Tip: You will get better results if you are using a tripod/Dolly shot.

Download the video here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/62197569/72dcce7f/yazid_in_pipeshot.html

Video: Compositing Test 3: Explosion

I was working on this last night.We shot this at the same terrace.Had to do 7 takes before yazid did at least this! [Hmmm, i really need to do some acting tutorials for him..Just kidding.Thanks Yazid,for all the free acting!]. Anyway,I've created the plane in 3DMax and the explosion from particle illusion.Composition done in aftereffects.Used CC Particle world to create the debris falling down.Did motion tracking and parented the key frames to link multiple instances of animation.Also added some digital camera shake using wiggler to boost the impact of the explosion.Sounds added in IMovie.Watch it and let me know your comments!

cheers,
Mahesh

Disclaimer:I would never want something to happen in real like this. Just created this to showcase the effect.Remembering all victims and thier family who lost their lives & hopes in the 9/11 tragedy.

Download the 720p HD Video Here:[Note:Download & Unzip to view in Full HD]
http://www.4shared.com/file/61912796/bc6a384c/Yazid_Sees_Explosion-Full_HD.html