The hurricane passed, leaving manageable damage. I and every human/animal associated with me are fine. If you were in the path of the storm, hope you're okay too! Here are some aftermath highlights:
2017-09-14 14:04:39 +0000 UTC
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Dear Patrons,
Due to the largest-hurricane-ever's path projected to travel directly over glamorous Disillusion Studios (aka, my parents' house) this weekend, we have boarded the place up as best we could.
Meanwhile, at my own home nearby, where post-production is typically conducted, I will at long last have the opportunity to test my landlord's claim that we have storm-proof windows.
Empty gas stations and grocery stores aside, the current weather is sunny, quiet and beautiful. It...
2017-09-07 21:28:52 +0000 UTC View Post
To set a different mood for the VFX videos, I figured it would be fun to have everything focused around a sci-fi looking table that can project whatever visuals are needed or serve as a surface for physical demonstrations. There wasn't a lot of time, so I had to use what's around.
I've had this little black, retro-futuristic round table and chair set for a while (in fact I've used those chairs before in the "Rush Hour" episode). I took measurements and made a Photoshop image of the surface des...
2017-09-01 14:30:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe video link in the early access was briefly down as I re-uploaded a small correction. Sorry for the inconvenience, if you tried to watch during that time.
But good news! It's back up, perfectly viewable in the original post:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-video-early-14138774
2017-08-31 13:10:24 +0000 UTC View Post
And now for something completely different.
Tell me what ya'll think...
2017-08-31 10:54:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Well, my workspace is pretty Howard Hughes-y at this point and although I didn't think it was possible, my LEGS are experiencing carpel tunnel from the edge of the chair because I haven't left it much in the last couple weeks, but I will get you the new episode for early viewing by the end of the day!
Working on music and a few minor visual fixes now.
Boy, I thought the basketball stuff last month was tough to film, but strangely, I found this month's simple sit-and-talk to be an even more exhausting shoot! It may have something to do with my decision to use a CRANE for nearly every shot. But I think we got some good stuff.
New kind of stuff...
Captain Disillusion can be summarized as "skepticism + VFX". Sometimes I've done just "skepticism", but I've never really done just "VFX". Well, I'm finally giving it a try! The next video will...
2017-08-19 02:58:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Okay. Okay. It's... finally done. Sorry it took so long. This was very hard. Very exhausting. But here it is! Please enjoy!
2017-08-04 04:56:09 +0000 UTC View Post
The next video is a little more ambitious than average. After filming for 2 days in searing heat and rubbing my temples at the number of VFX shots I have to complete, I can already see that, unfortunately, this ep. will end up coming a few days late, after the last of the month.
Wish there were two of me to speed up the process :/
But rest assured, I'm working all day, every day to get it out to you as soon as possible!
Hello!
Here's an EXCiting new motion graphics tutorial, which I have decided to release at a lower pledge level just because... I'm still being a bit slow with the behind-the-scenes content.
Hope those of you who work in After Effects find this 42-min step by step guide useful. Please let me know if I didn't cover something well enough or if you have any questions.
LEARNING!
2017-07-08 21:51:17 +0000 UTC View Post
So yesterday afternoon I did a Reddit AmA - a sort of open, written Q&A session with Reddit users, talking about my videos. Lots of people asked interesting questions and I tried to answer as many as I possibly could, as thoroughly as I could. It was enjoyable! And it remains available for viewing here: http://bit.ly/2sK9Rwh
Upon finishing, I was alerted to the fact that my AmA post was not only on the Reddit front page, but was...
2017-07-05 01:11:25 +0000 UTC View Post
This was another densely mixed video, so I thought you might enjoy hearing it without my voice - just the sound design isolated.
I generally use a combination of original music and royalty-free stock tracks, but in one part of this episode, I briefly play the classic arcade Mortal Kombat theme music. HOPE I DON'T GET IN TROUBLE!
Pop on your earbuds and enjoy!
2017-07-01 23:45:44 +0000 UTC View Post
To make life easier for whoever is available to help me film a Quick D video, I set up a little station to the side of the greenscreen. It has a laptop that runs the teleprompter and a remote handle that can start/stop the camera. There's also a video monitor near the camera, angled so that both I and the operator can see the shot at all times, to make sure things look ok.
Because it's a static shot of me standing... statically, I don't bother wearing a lav mic. Instead there is a boom mic abo...
2017-07-01 17:02:08 +0000 UTC View Post
I did it. I got this finished. Please enjoy! Before anyone else starts to!
2017-06-30 03:39:42 +0000 UTC View Post
So the idea of this month's Quick D episode went from analyzing that card vanish GIF I posted previously (which you guys so swiftly and accurately identified as Will Tsai) -> to deconstructing the effects of all the videos on his YouTube channel -> to a study of the coin matrix trick he performed on America's Got Talent -> to an overview of Will's work in general, the validity of revealing magic trick secrets to illustrate critical thinking and the ethics of using visual effects in film...
2017-06-28 03:31:17 +0000 UTC View Post
I've been using the same audio interface for over 10 years, since way before the first episode of Captain D! Finally, last week, after upgrading to the latest OS, I found out the trusty old M-Audio FireWire 410 is no longer compatible at ALL. It just kept crashing my computer on startup.
So I've finally upgraded to a new interface (Focusrite Clarett 4Pre) and while I was at it, got a new studio mic for recording voiceovers too. Hopefully it can add just a tiny bit more presence to my shallow, ...
2017-06-10 14:31:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi all,
I want to base the next Quick D episode on this Reddit post. But I wish I could find the GIF in video form and in slightly better quality.
Are any of you great at finding sources of things that are probably not keyworded in English?
Thanks!
2017-06-02 21:23:44 +0000 UTC View Post
As I mentioned, during the Mandela Effect shoot, I accidentally kicked the Mr. Flare Lamp (which has been there since the very first video) really hard, shattering it into pieces. I've searched every inch of the Internet and couldn't find another copy of this particular desk lamp. I don't think they make it anymore.
So I painstakingly glued the lamp back together to have it in the latest episode. It still works so when we began filming I turned it on. But the heat quickly melted all the g...
Hello!
Here's this month's episode before it is unleashed unto the world on the 31st.
Please enjoy and, as always, let me know what you think... or if you spot any terrible typos or visual errors.
Happy Memorial Day, Americanos.
2017-05-29 21:27:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey there,
It's been quiet due to the BIBLICAL amount of compositing I've had to do on this month's episode. It will be ~12 minutes long. A good old-fashioned shot-by-shot breakdown of the effects in a popular viral ad.
I'm rather proud of this one!
Finally finished the visuals today. Now to make my voice sound audible and plaster everything with sound effects and music...
2017-05-28 03:18:58 +0000 UTC View Post
This one's for eeeeverybodyyy. I figured I'd cover something basic that any user of After Effects could benefit from.
2017-05-07 20:56:06 +0000 UTC View Post
The monitor I normally use to see myself as I shoot Quick D green screen stuff broke unexpectedly so I had to quickly find something that would work with the SDI output of the camera. I ended up rigging a little viewfinder (with the loupe removed) on a stand. The screen was tiny but at least I could see the framing.
Gotta think on your feet during filming!
...cats. Because it's 2:00AM and I'm just not able to finish this video for early access. I'm so close though! It will come out at the scheduled time and I'll get you guys something else as an alternate reward, promptly.
Thank you for being patient. And awesome. And good-looking.
My traffic dodging video by itself. I'll publish this following the release of the new episode on Thursday.
Approximately half the work on the episode was creating this thing. The part where the camera pans over to follow the tumbling car was actually filmed on a separate day.
2017-03-28 13:16:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Please enjoy this brand new Quick D episode! It actually is relatively quick for once.
2017-03-27 06:09:30 +0000 UTC View Post
...is all about re-examining the creative choices you've made.
2017-03-20 19:08:57 +0000 UTC View Post
This portion was edited out of 'Advanced 3D Tracking - Part 3' because it was a bit off topic, but it might be useful as reference.
2017-03-10 19:57:19 +0000 UTC View Post
The exciting* and long overdue conclusion to the tutorial I began a while back as an overview of 3D camera/object tracking in visual effects.
We create some CG elements in Blender and composite them in AE into the footage we initially tracked in Syntheyes.
Parts 1 & 2 are here:
https://youtu.be/dcQj7wl-vJ0 2017-03-09 17:37:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Ahead of the "Mandaellah Effekt" shoot, I texted Lauren a quick sketch (drawn on phone with finger) of how I imagined the neck makeup would be placed. On the day, she applied the silver herself and then we helped her with the black lines.
The concept behind the makeup revolved around finding something to torture Lauren with in lieu of the green contact lenses she normally has to wear for the part.
2017-03-05 04:13:00 +0000 UTC View Post