The rain was coming down today and I thought I’d try out a few techniques that I had seen in some After Effects tutorials recently. These aren’t high quality renders or finished animations. Just enough for me to try some new techniques.
Displacement Maps & Sky Replacement
Original photo
For this photo I added some movement to the water with a displacements map. I also masked out the sky using the very cool Refine Mask option in Photoshop CS5 trial. It can certainly help when working with more complex masks. The Sky was animated in 3d space and then used as a reflection in the river.
I also added a light leak to the right side and experimented with some interesting colour options. There is a lens grime layer in there too.
Liquify and Particles
Original photo
In a nod to Andrew Kramer’s recent ‘Animating a Still’ tutorial I thought I’d try something a little similar by animating an eruption of Mt Ruapehu.
I found a suitable photo and sliced it up into various layers which I arranged in 3D space. I added a camera and a really basic move that was supposed to resemble someone running (I should have got hold of some actual footage with someone running and motion tracked it .. but I was being lazy).
I Used the liquify tools to animate the mountain smoke and After Effects built in CC Particle World plugin to create some basic dust floating around.
