最近看了兩部電影

《色，戒》原文轉載

After Effects CS3 國外專業新書上市

如果你使用After Effects製作Motion Graphic方面應該不要錯過我老師Chris Meyer/ Trish Meyer寫的兩本新書
(1)After Effects Apprentice適合剛進入After Effects領域的Motion Graphic入門書.


(2)Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects/ 4th Edition with AECS3: 這是延續他們的Creating Motion Graphic系列的第四版而且針對AECS3編輯.


利用After Effects製作VFX, Mark的書算是非常不錯的, 他所出版的After Effects Pro Studio Techniques系列從6.5/ 7.0到目前最新的CS3, 內容大致相同但CS3中的Color management部份是相當新的部份(我猜想..., 因為我還沒有機會好好翻它看看..)

Adobe CS3的Vanishing Point功能去模擬Camera projection效果

在舊版After Effects的Camera projection功能是蠻多限制的(比起Flame/Inferno或Nuke...etc), 在新版的Adobe Photoshop CS3/ After Effects CS3互相配合的Vanishing Point功能,似乎有不錯的Camera projection效果, 最近Adobe Design Center公佈一個新的教學就是關於這方面搭配運用, check it out....

Oh! 這讓我想起我的偶像Stu之前的一篇文章,Stu利用AE的Camera Projection發揮到極限所做出的一個搞笑VFX..., 我的下巴好久合不起來...

104搞笑求才帖子

日前Pei寄給我一個104搞笑求才帖子
check it out...

EB works on Motionographer

介紹一個Motion Graphic online source叫motionographer.com
不定期介紹新的Motion Graphic作品,
之前我在上海工作期間共事的talented motion graphic/ 3d artist: EB Hu (目前在UK) 最近在motionographer也有作品發表Off to lalaland. check it out...
不自覺的想起好久以前的主要online motion graphic resource : designinmotion 有許多新創意可以看到,甚至還有許多OuickTime mov可以下載, 兩年前不知甚麼原因作品變得很少, 只報導一些design business news...

電影: 明日的記憶

從天上掉下來的放假,冒著風雨的星期二,做完熱瑜珈,就近到附近戲院看一部日本片：明日的記憶...
看後有啟發,有感動,有思考....如果這事發生在我/我的身邊...我應如何面對??
老弟Rex在以前閒聊說過,生命中遠行旅遊是為了明日的記憶, 我很同意, 雖然行動上可能很累, 但我每一次的旅行記憶是我大腦裡算是最重要的一部份, 某晚與Maggie聊起1997到紐約後所遇到的每一個人與他們的事情, 是如此歷歷在目, 好像昨日才發生, 似乎那段時間裡的記憶有不同的意義....心中想著, 我是否要開始寫我的回憶筆記....

lackcolor.com

New TVCF from the Mill studio

最近the Mill更新一些新完成的TVCF, Check it out...
Motorola/ Bond

Wrigley's 5 Gum(三系列)

Guinness/ Music Machine

oh! 另外the Mill podcast搬家了,裡面可以看到上述TVCF的幕後製作...

chair chair chair...................

中國俗語/成語 in English!!

Chinese Proverbs

Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it. / 畫蛇添足.
An ant may well destroy a whole dam. / ?
A book holds a house of gold. / 書中自有黃金屋.
Butcher the donkey after it finished his job on the mill. / ?
A crane standing amidst a flock of chickens. /鶴立雞群.
A camel standing amidst a flock of sheep. / ?
Crows everywhere are equally black. / ?
A dish of carrot hastily cooked may still has soil uncleaned off the vegetable. / 欲速則不達.
Dismantle the bridge shortly after crossing it. / 過河拆橋.
Distant water won't help to put out a fire close at hand. / 遠水救不了近火.
Distant water won't quench your immediate thirst. / 緩不濟急?
Do not want others to know what you have done? Better not have done it anyways. / ?
Donkey's lips do not fit onto a horse's mouth. / ?????

A dog won't forsake his master because of his poverty; a son never deserts his mother for her homely appearance. / ??

Dream different dreams while on the same bed. / 同床異夢.

Even a hare will bite when it is cornered. / 狗急跳牆.

Fail to steal the chicken while it ate up your bait grain. / 偷雞不著蝕把米.

A fall into a ditch makes you wiser. / 不經一事不長一智.

Fight a wolf with a flex stalk. / ??

A flea on the top of a bald head. /???

Flowing water never goes bad; our door hubs never gather termites. / 滾石不生苔.

A frog in a well shaft seeing the sky. / ??

Flies never visit an egg that has no crack. / 事起必有因.??

A good fortune may forbode a bad luck, which may in turn disguise a good fortune. / ?????

Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger but a heart as soft as tofu. / 刀子嘴豆腐心.

Have one's ears pierced only before the wedding ceremony starts. / ???

A horse cannot gain weight if not fed with extra fodder during the night; a man cannot become wealthy without earnings apart from his regular salaries. / ????

How can you expect to find ivory in a dog's mouth? / 狗嘴吐不出象牙.

How can you put out a fire set on a cart-load of firewood with only a cup of water? / 飛蛾撲火.

If you do not study hard when young you'll end up bewailing your failures as you grow up. / 年少不努力, 老大徒傷悲.

If a son is uneducated, his dad is to blame. / 子不教父之過.

If you have never done anything evil, you should not be worrying about devils to knock at your door./ 不做虧心事,不怕夜半鬼敲門.

An inch of time is an inch of gold but you can't buy that inch of time with an inch of gold. / 一寸光陰一寸金, 寸金難買寸光陰.

It is easy to dodge a spear that comes in front of you but hard to keep harms away from an arrow shot from behind. / ????

A Jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good-for-nothing until he is educated. /

Kill a chicken before a monkey. / 殺雞儆猴.

Kill one to warn a hundred. / 殺一儆百.

Like ants eating a bone. / ??

Looking for the ass on its very back. / ???

Lift a stone only to drop on your own feet. / ???

The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be. / 夜長夢多.

Mend the pen only after the sheep are all gone. / ???

No wind, no waves. / 無風不起浪.

Of all the strategems, to know when to quit is the best. / 急流勇退???

Once bitten by a snake, he/she is scared all his/her life at the mere sight of a rope. / 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕草繩.

Once on a tiger's back, it is hard to alight. / 騎虎難下.

One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked. / ???

One monk shoulders water by himself; two can still share the labor among them. When it comes to three, they have to go thirsty. / 一個和尚挑水喝, 兩個和尚分水喝, 三個和尚沒水喝.

Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire. / ???

An overcrowded chicken farm produce fewer eggs. / 人多嘴雜.

關於色彩調色在After Effects的相關資源...

回應kayo先前討論的色彩調色在After Effects的相關資源
首先推薦 Mark Christiansen的After Effects 7.0 Studio Techniques書中有一特別章節Chapter 5深入討論Color Correction in AE, Mark的AE CS3雖然快要上市了,但調色工具與調色概念是一樣的.
老實說AE的調色介面實在是糟透了, 不像非線性剪接軟體的3 way color correction/ Shake color correction直覺操作介面來的好用. Stu的Prolost blog/ 3 way color correction in AE 文章中很克難的也很聰明的利用expression整合出一個animation preset for AE CC, 參考看看!! 相信會更有效率在AE中進行CC程序.



當然厲害的人絕對不會因此滿足或善罷干休, Stu日前在Red Giant發表一個支援32bpc float的超贊的AE調色plugin叫Colorista 參考看看,更加有效率在AE調色, 我個人使用心得還不錯, 只是Colorista會占用顯示卡硬體加速資源, 在較弱的顯卡調色時會有頓頓的感覺......

Mike pickup Red One Camera #22 for fxphd/ fxguide in LA

fxguide/ fxphd老闆Mike, 日前親自前往LA領取他所訂的編號22的Red One Camera並參加Red的專業集訓, 這是眾所期待的日子來臨, 因為之前的交貨日期一再延後,甚至在去年還傳出還在研發階段的原型機在他們的Office裡遭竊, 弄的神秘西西, anyway it's all past story!
金獎大導演Peter Jackson是少數試拍的人, 他說“I liked what they were doing–making a digital camera of the utmost quality, and making it affordable for indie filmmakers.”
Red One Camera 之所以如此特別, 因為它是第一台能拍4K film畫面尺寸的digital film camera.優良的工業產品設計使Red One Camera可以依照不同用途與拍攝方式進行配件調整, Mike手上Camera主機約9 lbs(算是非常輕,精減配件加鏡頭去手持拍攝應不是問題, 比起那些重的要命Film Camera要重腳架/軌道/平衡穩定背架相比,算是一利多), 可配接目前世界上現有的35mm film camera鏡頭的優點, 主機操作程式可升級與新功能增加. 一般high-end HD camera 畫面提供2.1M pixel 感應晶片並且記錄30fps的3:1:1色彩壓縮Video, 而Red One Camera可提供高達12M pixel感應晶片並且能記錄60fps的12bit原生RAW格式(WoW!!)(但真的能儲存多少光線dynamic range, 還要等fxphd們拍攝測試才可能會比較清楚.) 因為是使用Super 35mm cine (24.4×13.7mm) 感應晶片, 所以在景深與對焦效果是與現有主流底片Film Camera一模一樣, 先撇開Red是如何克服4K的不壓縮資料被擷取進入記憶體...etc, Red Camera的拍攝流程可能會大大影響整個film production business與成本. fxguide相關閱讀/ Red Camera Websit.

補充: 已經開始有人post一些Red One Camera試拍結果, offhollywood>>
Offhollywood RED Shoot - Behind The Scenes


補充: Red one camera的dynamic range測試大致上比較已經出來了, 似乎還是輸給Sony F23 digital cinema camera...

Adobe Soundbooth 與 Audition 3

我是越來越看不懂Adobe的產品定位與導向, 數月前發表的Adobe CS3系列.其中以數位視訊動畫為中心的Adobe CS3 Production Premium中的Soundbooth取代以前的聲音音樂編輯大哥Audition CS2讓我百思不解, Soundbooth的功能與定位就像Apple Final Cut Pro裡的Soundtrack軟體一樣提供簡單的聲音處理給Final Cut Pro/ Motion使用, 原來Audition定位因該是比較接近Apple的pro audio軟體Logic, 原來以為Audition會走入歷史, 但數天前的IBC年會Adobe宣佈Audition 3(不是CS3)即將上市,很多跡象顯示似乎Adobe的操作策略是為與Apple的產品相互抗衡? hmmmm....Just a personal idea...

Daniel Lee's ORIGIN in BEAP07

Premiere Pro CS3開始支援P2格式

根據最新的CS3 update資訊, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3更新版會開始支援Pansonic P2 media與MXF素材, 輸入/輸出/原生格式剪接等等, 不需經過其他的轉碼程序. 有效加速P2工作效率!!

椅子大師_韋格納 Hans. J Wegner

今年1月26日以92歲高齡辭世的丹麥籍的椅子大師_韋格納 Hans. J Wegner (April 2, 1914 - January 26, 2007), 一生設計超過500張椅子原型, 其中最經典的椅子叫the Chair/ the Round Chair, (價格約NT$179200), 使用隱藏式Z形榫頭, 造就完美椅背弧線, 曾在CBS電視台當年為甘迺迪與尼克森電視辯論會的御用椅, 與許多驚豔的現代設計椅子相比有著相當樸實的造型, 簡單俐落, 最主要著重於人體工學舒適性, 能讓背不舒服的甘迺迪能坐在這張看似平凡硬硬的椅子長達數小時之久. 最近我從一篇收藏文章說買入the Chair會在 1~5年之間短暫跌價, 但5年之後因為時間所產生的美感, 只要保存良好, 可以比新品更高價錢競標, 20年椅子價格都翻10倍之多. 不過我大概不會把一張20歷史的the Chair拿出來拍賣吧!!(如果我有的話XD)
待續:

Time displacement VFX

我們常用一些變形特效例如diaplacement effects, 它是影像透過一個輔助圖層(大多是以灰階資料從最亮到最暗去控制變形強弱, 簡單說50%灰度的displacement作用為0), 例如After Effects中的Displacement/ Caustic與Shake中的IDisplace都是類似的功用. 還有一項因素也可以控制displacement, 就是"時間", 請看下列例子:

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965)出生於瑞士, 中文譯名有：科比意/ 勒·柯布西耶, 是20世紀最偉大的建築師之一,也是一位作家, 但我並不是因為他的建築作品或著作而認識他, 而是他的經典家具作品LC4