Universal Scene Description, or USD, is a powerful scene encoding format for content creation that enables 3D applications to exchange assets using a common language. It gives artists the option to load only the portion that they need, instead of loading everything, saving time and processor. Most importantly, USD provides a universal language so that projects can be shared between multiple artists in various departments in different studios.^[2]

Key Things to Know about USD

It All Started with Brave

USD is the fourth generation of “composed scene description” for Pixar^[4]. Developed by Pixar and first used in the film Brave back in 2010, and is the heart of their 3D graphics pipeline^[1]. It is known as the Presto system and has been used on every Pixar feature since^[4]. Over the last decade, Pixar continues to mature, refine, and stabilize the code, releasing it as open source^[1].

USD is Highly Scalable and Efficient with Collaboration as a Core Feature

Because of these reasons, and the fact that it’s open source, USD has been widely adopted worldwide by software developers, 3D artists, game designers, AR Designers, and the metaverse.

USD allows artists to collaborate on complex projects with considerable detail and share huge files with little latency. “When multiple artists are working on a project, USD uses layers to separate out each user’s work and when figures out which change to apply to the final scene using each layer’s “opinion strength,” which is based on the characteristics of each user’s layer. This method takes advantage of the fact that USD files can be merged and manipulated by overlaying multiple files and folders into a single scene.”^[7] USD is the perfect tool for large-scale projects from animation studios.

Parallel Workflows

USD provides a Common Language between 3D Applications, allowing them to read the same data with different tools. This language is for “defining, packaging, assembling, and editing 3D data, facilitating the use of multiple digital content creation applications.”^[5] In other words, USD allows artists working in different departments, like animation, lighting, or layout can collaborate using different tools.

Speed

USD can quickly transmit very large projects with complex scenes with tens of thousands of pieces of geometry and shading through the pipeline. It’s speed comes from it’s consise format that bakes down all of these properties, allowing for efficiency in loading and processing.^[10] Because of this, and it’s scalability and efficient collaboration, USB

USD is an Agnostic Format

USD doesn’t require any specific filesystem or persistent storage.^[6] It uses Material prims, Shader prims, and UsdShade networks, so it’s also agnostic about the underlying shading and rendering system.^[7]

NVIDIA developed a language, Material Definition Language (MDL), which is open-source and defines the aspects of how materials function in USD.^[6] MDL simplifies shaders for preview and VR use. MDL has been adopted by Adobe, Chaos, and Epic’s Unreal Engine.

USD is Widely Adopted

Most 3D applications now support the USD format including Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Nvidia Omniverse, Blender, Houdini, and more.^[3] Currently used by 3D and visual effects artists, game developers, and Metaverse developers, USD is also being adopted into other industries like architecture, robotics, manufacturing, and more.^[8]

USD Tutorials & Resources

Create 3D workflows with USD – Video from WWDC 2021

Introduction to USD

Reality Converter beta – From Apple’s Developer’s site: “The Reality Converter app makes it easy to convert, view, and customize USDZ 3D objects on Mac. Simply drag and drop common 3D file formats, such as .obj, .gltf, and .usd, to view the converted USDZ result, customize material properties with your own textures, and edit file metadata. You can even preview your USDZ object under a variety of lighting and environment conditions with built‑in IBL options.”

Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD): 4 Superpowers to Get You Started

From NVIDIA Developer, Aaron Luk, one of the founders of Pixar USD and a senior engineering energy for Omniverse, gives you 4 USD Superpowers to unlock the possibilities for 3D workflows.

A USD (Universal Scene Description) primer for ARTISTS

Matt from the Maya Learning Channel breaks USD down beautifully. He explains that USD will just take a change in mindset for 3D artists. He explains that if you have any interest in working at a big studio, you need to be familiar with USD. Most importantly, Matt gives you some terminology, such as Prims, or Primitive, the smallest unit in USD, and explains how it actually works.

See also, Maya-USD on GitHub

Sources/References

1. Pixar’s USD Pipeline, Renderman.Pixar.com.
2. USD Frequently Asked Questions, Graphics.Pixar.com
3. Universal Scene Description, Wikipedia.
4. Heritage of USD at Pixar, OpenUSD.org.
5. USD Shader Attributes, Referencing MDL Definitions in USD, NVIDIA Developer.
6. What You Need to Know About Universal Scene Description — From One of Its Founding Developers, NVIDIA Omniverse, Aaron Luk, Senior Engineering Manager, USD Ecosystem, February 16, 2023.
7. Unlocking collaborative workflows with USD, GarageFarm.NET.
8. What is a USD File? 3D Storage, Collaboration, and its Role in the Metaverse, by Sonia Schechter, CMO for 3D Cloud by Marxent.
9. What is Universal Scene Description?, NVIDIA Developer.
10. USD: what it is and why it matters, Ian Failes, Befores & Afters, December 11, 2019.

Check out Maya Monday under Tutorials for more Maya-featured tutorials and information. In addition, check out the Bifrost Hub, for everything about Bifrost. this includes downloads, tutorials, and more.

The post What is Universal Scene Description (USD)? #burningquestion appeared first on .

What’s a Greeble?

A greeble, sometimes called nurnies, are the small details that you can see in the Death Star, spaceships, and cities, to make them look more complex than they really are. The idea is to add these details quickly and easily, without a lot of time-consuming work. Furthermore, they’re most often created with displacement, bump maps, or scripts.

• Definition on Wikipedia
• Greebles: How Tiny Details Make a Huge Star Wars Universe
• Bad Design and the Greeble

Let’s Make some Greebles… with software

MeshTools Greeble with INSYDIUM Fused NEW

Each week INSYDIUM shares a Top Tip, and today, Bob explains how to use MeshTools with INSYDIUM Fused to create a greeble.

Watch Tutorial

The post Burning Question: Greeble… What is it and how to make your own appeared first on .

In this article, we’ll talk about What Rolling Shutter is, or RS, which we’ll sometimes refer to it. We’ll go over what the types are, with lots of examples, so you’ll recognize them when you see them. Then, we’ll talk about how you can avoid, reduce, or fix RS problems both when shooting and in post. Finally, we’ll talk about ways to add RS to your footage. Yes, RS can be a creative effect! If you don’t have much time, at least watch the first two videos on this page because they are both really interesting, especially if you like to geek out on science!

What is Rolling Shutter?

RS is a lag-induced distortion. Have you ever had skewed distortions in your footage video when the camera is panning quickly or an object is moving quickly through your shot? Or how about wobbling footage from vibrations?

I’m going to quote my own book here, Plug-in to After Effects (Focal Press), which is now out of print, but I think the explanation is clear.

Rolling shutter is the skew or wobble often seen when something moves quickly in front of a camera or a camera pans quickly. CMOS sensors are especially prone to rolling shutter. Rolling shutter is often seen in footage from iPhones and other cell phone cameras, Flip HD cameras and other digital cameras. Rolling shutter happens because of the CMOS sensor in the camera records from top to bottom instead of frame by frame. It will cause a car to look skewed and slanted if it moves quickly perpendicular to the camera, or a building to slant if the camera pans quickly.

Michele Yamazaki, Plug-in to After Effects (Focal Press)

My husband was asking me recently about RS. He is a photographer and has been doing a lot of video work lately. We looked on YouTube for some examples and this video came up, which explains it more technical than I can. The man in the video even takes apart a camera lens on a phone to explain how images scan down the lens. This is just a fantastic explanation.

Not only does RS look bad, but the lens distortion can throw off match-moving software.

Here’s another video explaining it that is more scientific and absolutely fascinating.

Types of Rolling Shutter

There are four types of RS problems that you may encounter: skew, wobble or Jell-o vision, smear, and partial exposure. Here is a fairly technical article Sensor Artifacts And CMOS Rolling Shutter by Barry Green at DVX User. Barry goes into what exactly is causing each type of RS and has a large number of great examples and technical papers linked to the article. I am simplifying and just giving some examples so that you can recognize it.

To illustrate, it’s easier to show you some examples.

1. Skew

2. Wobble or Jell-o Vision

Vibrations can also cause RS issues and can give you the wobbly distortions, known in the industry as “Jell-o vision”.  Wobble can be almost impossible to fix. CCD Cameras don’t have any problem because use Global Shutter, meaning, they capture the entire frame at once. If you’re in a situation, such as filming inside a helicopter, you should opt for a camera with a global shutter.

Below is a textbook example of this wobble or Jell-o Vision.

Here’s an example of Jell-o vision with the vibrations before she takes off.

Jell-o vision can also show up in drone footage.

The bad news is that wobble really can be very difficult to fix in your NLE or with plug-ins. Wondershare Filmora has an article on How to Remove Jello Effect from an Aerial Video that gives tips on how to shoot drone video so you don’t have to deal with the wobble in the first place.

3. Smear

A bright area in the footage can create a smear or a full vertical column of pixels. You’ll sometimes see smears in footage shot at night containing bright street lights or car headlights. I’ll be honest, I’ve never really thought of this as a rolling shutter issue,

Smear Smear Example

4. Partial Exposure From Flashes or Strobes

Another place that RS can be witnessed is during flashes or strobes in the video. The image below is a still from a video of a photo shoot for the German hip-hop megastar, Kühl Briese, in Las Vegas in April. Notice how the bottom half of the shot is brighter than the top half. This can be seen in photography as well if there is more than one flash going off or if the flash isn’t synced correctly.

For more information on partial exposure, see Electronic shutter, rolling shutter, and flash: what you need to know at Digital Photography Review.

How to Avoid, Reduce, or Fix Rolling Shutter Problems

First, I want to say that DSLRs and iPhone lenses have improved a lot in the last few years. I am not seeing nearly the problems that I used to see. In fact, I tried to shoot some video and purposely give it RS problems and it just wasn’t happening. That said, you certainly still run into it. Here are some tips to avoid, reduce, or fix RS problems.

Shooting it right

Below there are a couple of articles full of fantastic knowledge about how to avoid capturing skewed or distorted footage in the first place.

• Everything You Should Know About Rolling Shutter on Your Phone’s Camera – this article has some nice tips on ways to reduce or eliminate RS from your footage.
• How to Remove Jello Effect from an Aerial Video – lots of tips on how to shoot drone video so you don’t have to deal with the wobble in the first place.

Fixing Rolling Shutter in Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X has a built-in Rolling Shutter option that is automatically an option in the Video Inspector. You just need to check the box to turn it on and choose the amount that you want to apply it.

Rolling Shutter Tutorials

Final Cut Pro X: Correct excessive shake and rolling shutter issues

Premiere Pro & After Effects Rolling Shutter Repair

Premiere Pro includes plug-ins that could help fix RS problems.

• Rolling Shutter Repair – Premiere Pro has built-in tools to help you fix RS issues in the footage.
• Warp Stabilizer – Warp Stabilizer can stabilize your footage and potentially fix your RS problems. This tool is included with both After Effects and Premiere  Pro.
• Use Opacity blends for partial exposures. This could be done in any program, really. See Quick Tip: Fixing Rolling Shutter Flash with Opacity Blends at Premium Beat.

CoreMelt Lock & Load

The video below includes some before and after examples.

The JetBeats at Festival of the Arts 2019, Footage Credit TerpstraPhoto.com

NewBlueFX Stabilizer

NewBlueFX Stabilizer is included in has a Rolling Shutter correction option in the interface.

Below is an overview video of Stabilizer. While it doesn’t really talk specifically about RS, you can see the option in the interface.

Stabilizer has a built-in Rolling Shutter tool.

Discover fast and powerful image stabilization

Stabilizer analyzes video to identify areas of instability and corrects it. If you’re shooting hand-held, this breakthrough plugin quickly smooths shaky footage.

Stabilizer can be found in the following bundles:

PFTrack

PFTrack includes a tool called Shutter Fix which can reduce CMOS shutter roll. Read more in the PFTrack Reference Guide.

Note: Currently the RS fix does not work for independently moving objects or scenes with a wide range of parallax motion.

Flicker Removal Tools

Rolling Shutter can cause flicker too from strobes and camera flashes. Below, read about some products recommended to remove flicker. Please download a trial version to see if the plugin removes flicker before buying.

Want to add Rolling Shutter to your 3D renders or footage?

If you want to emulate that poorly shot warped realism and motion blur to your 3D renders, you can do it with Chaos Group V-Ray and Arnold Render! Who knew?

This is basically a slit-scan effect, which is added with the Time Displacement filter. I wrote an article on Slit Scan, which has tons of examples and different time displacement filters you can use, that was updated in December 2018. See In Depth: Time Effects – Time Displacement aka Slit Scan, with Examples.

Rolling Shutter – V-Ray for 3ds Max

In Depth: Why Should I Use V-Ray?

In summary, V-Ray is a powerful 3D rendering system built for designers, architects, and jack-of-all-trades. To be sure, click to learn about how artists use V-Ray. To emphasize, there are many examples and trial versions for every field!

Why Should I use V-Ray?

Rolling Shutter in Arnold for Maya

Arnold also has an option to add RS in its camera Attributes. Learn more in the Arnold Render Manual.

This example from Lee Griggs shows some crazy distortions but you can also make it look like something you’d experience from a real camera. Check out Lee’s blog for more examples of his experiments with Rolling Shutter in Arnold for Maya.

Adding Rolling Shutter in After Effects

Here’s Smarter Every Day once again with a technique for creating the effect in After Effects.

Fixing Rolling Shutter in Flashes or Strobes

To fix the rolling shutter caused by flashes, Premium Beat recently posted a tutorial: Quick Tip: Fixing Rolling Shutter Flash with Opacity Blends Related Articles

Burning Question: How Do I Remove Flicker from my Footage?

Flicker, brightness fluctuation, and strobing is a really annoying problem in video. It occurs when the frequency of the lights and your camera’s shutter speed don’t jive. You might get strobing or rolling bands when shooting under fluorescent lights. You’ll also get strobing bands when filming a video or computer screen. If you’ve done any film restoration, you’ll see flicker there as well. In addition, it can rear it’s ugly head when shooting time-lapse footage.

The post Burning Question: How Do I Fix Rolling Shutter? appeared first on .

If you want to dive in a little deeper, keep reading. This is just an overview of hybrid rendering and why it can be helpful to 3D artists. This article is written in layman’s terms. In other words, I am not going to get too technical here. I’ll be explaining it as if I’m explaining it to my mom.

What are GPUs and CPUs?

First, let’s get some terminology explained. CPUs and GPUs are both microprocessors made of silicon. They both manage data. However, they really don’t do the same job.

You might call the CPU, or Central Processing Unit, the brain of the machine. It includes the logic unit, a control unit, decoding and execution of programs, and more^[2]. This is where your clock speed determines how fast your applications run. When you launch a program on your computer or save a file, this is the job of your CPU.

The GPU, or a Graphical Processing Unit, renders your graphics and video. First developed to speed up 3D processing, today, they also render lighting and shadows, and more complex 3D elements^[1]. They are generally more efficient, and the GPU has even evolved to handle more of the workload from the CPU. The GPU, sometimes confused with a graphics card, is actually the chip that lives on your graphics card.

If you’re a person who enjoys learning about the nuts and bolts of computers, watch the video below from Max’s Tech. He does a great job of explaining the duties of GPUs and CPUs and showing you what they look like inside your computer.

Why is Hybrid Rendering useful?

Hybrid Rendering takes the hybrid approach and uses both the CPU and GPU to render. This is becoming a more common option with renderers.

Which products have a Hybrid Rendering option?

Below are just a few products that have a hybrid rendering feature. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just a few.

Next Limit Maxwell

Maxwell has the option of rendering on GPU, CPU, or can render both at once. They do not seem to use the term “hybrid rendering” in their manual or marketing materials, however.

Maxwell also has a feature called Multi-GPU, introduced in Maxwell 5, which allows users to use two or more graphics cards while rendering. This is windows only, however. From the Maxwell system requirements, “Graphics cards that support CUDA platform (Nvidia), running on Windows. No AMD or Intel will work, sorry. This means the GPU engine is not supported for Mac, as they don’t use Nvidia cards.”

Redshift by Maxon

Redshift v3.5, released in April 2022, introduced Redshift CPU and Redshift XPU. Previously, Redshift was a GPU-only renderer and now it can also run on the CPU.

• Redshift CPU: lets users render with just the CPU. This will allow users to render at CPU render farms.
• Redshift XPU: let users render with a hybrid of the CPU and GPU simultaneously.
• With the latest update in September 2022, Redshift CPU also allows users to use Round Corners, a feature that was not available back in April when Redshift CPU was released.

cebas final Render

cebas finalRender developed trueHybrid technology – bringing the power of CPU and GPU together!

Sources

1. Central Processing Unit, Wikipedia.
2. CPU vs GPU: What’s the Difference, Intel.

In Depth: Why Should I Use V-Ray?

In summary, V-Ray is a powerful 3D rendering system built for designers, architects, and jack-of-all-trades. To be sure, click to learn about how artists use V-Ray. To emphasize, there are many examples and trial versions for every field!

Why Should I use V-Ray?

The post What is Hybrid Rendering? #burningquestion appeared first on .

It’s worth mentioning that you these tutorials and tools are also useful for medical themed entertainment. For example, use them in a film about a viral outbreak when your character is looking through a microscope. Or perhaps you need to show some alien DNA in a lab. Or maybe you are creating art for a medical drama. Lots of possibilities!

How to become a Medical Illustrator and Animator

Below, Annie Campbell explains how to become a medical illustrator.

In the interview below, Emily McDougall talks about getting into the Medical Illustration and Animation field.

Medical videos are used to educate patients, train doctors, and sell pharmaceuticals. And, there are lots of tools out there that can be used to create and animate everything from cells and viruses to the different systems of the body.

Here, we’ll show a few cool examples, and give you some tutorials on dividing cells, blood flow, and more. In addition, download some free models, or purchase some tools to create your own medical animations.

Medical Animation Examples

COVID-19 Animation: What Happens If You Get Coronavirus?

This video hit the web just as Coronavirus hit the world.

OneDown: Make Cancer the Victim

Cancer is a scary thing. Believe me. I went through it in 2019-2020. This video for OHSU Knight Cancer Institute explains the leaps and bounds that have been made in the research and treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. Directed by Robert Sethi with Animation from The Mill, the 3D was created in Cinema 4D with effects and compositing in After Effects and Nuke. 

There’s an article on The Mill website about the animation. 

Instead of individually sculpting each cell we used a set of noise and rules to randomly generate them, giving us a lot more freedom. And the comp team, led by Martin Karlsson, did a really excellent job. They took our renders and really pushed the electro-microscope effect to the maximum.

Ashraf Ghoniem, 3D lead artist, The Mill

Geometric Medical Animation Showreel 2020

Geometric Medical Animation shows their fine work.

Medical Animation – Vessel Studios

Watch Vessel Studios’ beautiful reel of medical animations and microscopic elements.

3D Medical Animation Demo Reel – John Liebler

John Liebler says, “A collection of my 3D medical animations, including “The Inner Life of the Cell”, “Powering the Cell: Mitochondria”, “Biology: How Life Works”, and other more recent work.”  His website, which is at the bottom of the video, is artofthecell.com. John created this beautiful work in Lightwave and After Effects, and I’m guessing that these are scientifically accurate.

Medical Animations Tutorials

Below, check out several tutorials on creating cells, DNA, and more. The tutorials are for Cinema 4D, ZBrush, X-Particles, Maya, and After Effects.

Veronica Falconieri Hays | Maxon NAB 2020 Rewind

Veronica Falconieri Hays is a Certified Medical Illustrator. She shows you how to create a nanoscale cellular landscape in Maxon Cinema 4D. In addition, she explains how she modeled DNA and cellular structures with dynamics, splines, and sweeps.

ZBrushLIVE Industry Spotlight: Medical Illustration – Andrew Swift – ZBrush 2022

The webinar below aired on 26 July 2022 with Andrew Swift from SO-form and the ZBrush Team. Andrew showcased how he uses ZBrush within his medical illustration pipeline, and it’s riveting!

Athanasios “Noseman” Pozantzis: Organic Shape Morphing Inside Cinema 4D

Learn how to create a medical-style motion graphics animation in this NAB 2017 presentation by Athanasios Pozantzis. This was featured in our MAXON NAB 2017 Rewind – Volume 8: Character, Organic, Procedural Modeling with the video from Cineversity.

Blood Flow with MASH in Maya

This tutorial from 3D Splanchnic explains how to animate blood flow through veins with Maya 2020, using MASH. MASH is Maya’s motion graphics toolkit. This tutorial comes to us via Lester Banks.

Medical Animation Tutorial: How to Create DNA in Autodesk Maya using MASH

Watch another tutorial from Emily Holden with a focus on how she animated DNA.

Sub Surface Scattering, Blurry Reflections, X-Particles, Physical Render, and Blurry Transparency

Nick Campbell explains how to create some cells with Cinema 4D and X-Particles. 

Medical Animation Tutorial – Creating a simple cell model in Maya

Annie Campbell, featured above, explains how to create red blood cells with Maya and After Effects.

Cell Dividing: Adobe After Effects Tutorial

Caleb Ward explains how to visualize cell division in After Effects.

CINEMA 4D Neuron cell Easy Animation l 뉴런 애니메이션 쉽게 표현하기

This one from Tutorials View+ has English and Korean subtitles and looks really cool!

Medical Animation tutorial: Track Mattes in After Effects for Protein Transition

Learn Medical Art, which specializes in Medical Animation, shows you a technique in After Effects.

Brain Cells in Cinema 4D and After Effects

An oldie but a goodie from motionsquared, in two parts.

3D Models, Textures, and Tools from Medical Animations

To make this fast and easy, check out these pre-made options, as well as tools you will need to create Mmedical animations.

VFXER Bio Cell for Element 3D, of course, requires Video Copilot Element 3D. Element 3D is a fantastic tool for making repeated elements, like cells, move around. In addition there is a VFXER Bio Cell Bundle available.

And the tools to create your own medical animations from scratch…

Medical Animation Freebies

10 Free: Medical, Anatomy, and Science 3D Models & AE Projects

Medical and science animations have become wildly popular in the last month. Today we’re featuring a collection of free medical, anatomy, and science models and projects from around the web. Many are for Cinema 4D, but some will work with any 3D application. There are also a couple of After Effects projects here to keep things interesting. All are free for personal or commercial use unless otherwise noted. You can’t redistribute them, obviously. Enjoy!

Go to Freebies

The post Burning Question: How can I create medical animations? appeared first on .

Updated! This article was originally published in 2015. We fully cleaned it up and updated it in August 2022 with new tools and new tutorials.

What are Letterboxing, Pillarboxing, and Windowboxing?

Letterboxing is a very simple way to help your footage look more cinematic, and it seems like a simple concept, but you can’t just go slapping black bars in any way you like. You have to do it right! First, we’ll take a look at a few quick examples of the types of black bars you can add to footage, then a bit about aspect ratio. Finally, we’ll end with some plug-ins and scripts to make adding a letterbox fast and easy, no matter your NLE. It’s also commonly known as Cinematic Bars.

First, let’s get some terminology out of the way and explain what letterboxing and the others are all about.

Types of Letterboxes

The Standard Letterbox

Preserving a film’s original widescreen aspect ratio when a film is transferred to standard definition video with black bars on the top and bottom of the video.

Pillarbox

Standard-width videos and bars on the left and the right. Often used stylistically in a widescreen presentation to give the idea that the media being shown is older, for example, old 8mm film or old television broadcasts.

Windowbox

Another variation, windowboxing, is when black bars are seen on each side of the video.

Let’s talk about Aspect Ratio

By placing letterboxes or window box bars on your film, you’re really modifying the aspect ratio of the viewable image.

SFX Secrets: The Power of Aspect Ratios

Fandor posted this is a really interesting video with the reasons behind choosing certain aspect ratios with lots of examples.

How to PROPERLY letterbox your films: The Cinematic 21:9 Aspect Ratio

You’re doing “Cinematic” aspect ratios ALL WRONG!

Adam Taylor at EposVox has a pet peeve about the wrong aspect ratios for those black bars.

And here’s his follow-up video…

Plugins and Scripts for Letterboxing to your Footage

If you’ve been using your software for more than a few days, it’s very likely that you already know how to mask the video or add solids on each side.

After all, why do you use plugins and templates? Because it’s fast and easy, and time is money when you’re billing clients and making deadlines.

You can find letterbox tools in the following templates plugins and bundles.

17 Free Letterboxes/Aspect Ratios

Noam Kroll has a massive set of templates, including

• 1.00:1 – Square
• 1.33:1 – 4:3 / Academy Ratio
• 1.37:1 – Original Academy Standard
• 1.43:1 – IMAX Standard
• 1.61:1 – Golden Ratio
• 1.66:1 – European Standard
• 1.85:1 – 35mm Motion Picture
• 2.00:1 – Univisium
• 2.20:1 – Standard 70mm Motion Picture
• 2.35:1 – Widescreen Cinema Standard
• 2.39:1 – Widescreen/Anamorphic Standard
• 2.55:1 – Original Cinemascope Ratio
• 2.76:1 – 70mm Anamorphic
• 3.00:1 – Super Widescreen
• 3.55:1 – Ultrawide Cinema
• 3.66:1 – Ultrawide IMAX
• 4.00:1 – Polyvision

352 Free Letterbox Templates for Video Editing (8K, 4K, HD & More)

Premium Beat’s free letterbox pack is enormous and should cover every base!

Free Letterbox Templates in 1080P, 4K, and 8K

Film Crux has some beautiful templates for you to download for free. Sign up for their email list to download for free.

Other freebies

• Free Final Cut Pro plugin: Alex4D Letterbox effect – This one is pretty old but it’s still available online.
• Film Dog Pro’s HD Letterbox Template Pack 70 – This download includes a whole bunch of PNG files with popular aspect ratio presets (11.33:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, and 2.40:1) and should work in any program. The files are either 720p or 1080p. Download via Vashi Visuals.

Letterbox Tutorials

There are loads of letterbox tutorials on YouTube. Just do a quick search for your host application and you’ll see what I mean! It’s really pretty easy in most host applications.

How to add cinematic black bars to your video New

Adobe explains step-by-step how to add letterboxing in Premiere Pro. Read the tutorial

Final Cut Pro X Tutorial – 4 Ways to Make Letterbox

olittleboy gives you 4 options in FCPX.

How To Create An Animated Letterbox – Premiere Pro Tutorial

Ignace Aleya shows you how to animate a letterbox, a very cool, cinematic look.

How to add CINEMATIC BLACK BARS | Premiere Pro

Watch Panjo Frames take on black bars.

Premiere Pro: Fake Letterbox & Video Filled Border Effects (Tutorial / How to)

This tutorial from Justin Oshido is a little different. He shows you how to fill your letterbox with video. It’s a stylistic choice. This one came out earlier this month so it’s fresh!

How to Add Cinematic Black Bars in DaVinci Resolve

Yes, it’s that easy. Thanks, CW Productions LLC.

How to Letterbox in DaVinci Resolve – Widescreen Aspect Ratio Tips

Casey Faris explains letterboxing in DaVinci Resolve. How to make your video widescreen… or not widescreen.

Easy Letter Box in DaVinci Resolve

JINN DHR gives you the scoop on DaVinci Resolve.

How to Add Black Bars (Widescreen) In Vegas Pro 15 – 2018

RobertDoesTutorials explains how to do this in Vegas.

The post Burning Question: How Do I Quickly Give My Project a Letterbox Look? appeared first on .

My screenshots are from Resolve Studio 16. I am unable to run Resolve Studio 17 because my OS and computer are getting old. But, this is the reason I’m writing this article, so those of you with older computers can maximize performance of your software.

To summarize, here are the top tips.

1. Adjust your Playback Settings

In brief, open your preferences and click on the Users tab.

• Hide UI Overlays. When checked, this hides onscreen controls.
• Minimize interface updates during playback. This setting curtails updates of the UI while you’re playing footage.

You can also set Performance Mode to Automatic, Manual, or Disable it completely. The default setting is Automatic, which optimizes Sizing, Decode Quality, and Image Processing. If you set it to Manual, you will have the option to manually set Optimized Sizing, Optimized Decode Quality, and Optimized Image Processing.

2. Proxy Mode

Proxy Mode allows users to downscale the media as it’s playing. To enable it, go to the Playback Menu > Proxy Mode, and then chose Half Resolution, Quarter Resolution, or off.

At Half Resolution it will look a bit fuzzier but if you’re working at 4K, you won’t notice much when you’re working. Quarter Resolution will show even less resolution, of course, but will playback even faster.

3. Smart Render Cache

Your video files can be really large. Smart Render Cache lets the computer decide what to store in the cache. This will let you play clips smoothly, even with lots of effects applied.

To enable it, go to Playback > Render Cache > Smart. The Default setting is none. There is also an option for User.

In the video below, John’s Films explains it clearly. Jump ahead to 07:40 Render Cache settings to get to it directly.

4. Keep your software updated

I know, I’m one to talk. I am still running Resolve Studio 16 because my OS isn’t up to date and my computer is old. But, if you can update your software, do it! Engineers are always tweaking the code to improve performance and squashing bugs. DaVinci Resolve Studio 17.4.4 was released last week. This update includes:

• Improved DaVinci Neural Engine performance on Macs with AMD GPUs.
• Improved performance for clips with Fusion effects.
• General performance and stability improvements.

5. Get yourself a Speed Editor Keyboard

Okay, this will not improve Resolve Studio’s performance, per se, but it will improve your workflow! Resolve users LOVE It!

More Tips on Improving Performance in DaVinci Resolve

We’ve collected tips from professional colorists and editors who use Resolve. A lot of them have the same tips, but this means that they are proven! Everything below pertains to Resolve 17.

5 Tips To Improve Performance in DaVinci Resolve

Jason Bowdach wrote an article at Frame.io on the topic as it applies to DaVinci Resolve.

Jason’s article includes tips on:

1. Performance Mode & other playback tweaks
2. Proxy Mode
3. Create optimized media
4. Caching
5. Combine and conquer

How to maximize the performance of DaVinci Resolve

Symon Windham explains how to make tweaks to settings to improve performance. He covers adjustment of project settings, Render in Place, Timeline Proxy Mode, Render Cache, and more.

Davinci Resolve Video Lagging? TRY THIS!!

Jay Lippman, always a great source of DaVinci Resolve information, shares how to turn on the Smart Render Cache to speed up playback.

You’re doing RENDER CACHE wrong! | How to render cache in Davinci Resolve | Smart way

Another video on the Render Cache, this time from Green Goat Productions. This will save you time and save space on your hard drive. He suggests turning Render Cache Color Output off for a clip that is giving you trouble. Then, turn on Node Cache for the single node. Don’t get it? Below, watch it explained. Jay Lippman also covers this in the tutorial above but sometimes it’s useful to have things explained slightly differently.

How to Fix Slow Video Editing & Get an FPS Boost in DaVinci Resolve 17

Chris at Chris’ Tutorials talks about how to speed up 4K workflow on an old computer, complete with GPU intensive effects. Find out how he fixes this playback issue.

HOW TO MAKE PROXIES – DaVinci Resolve 17

Casey Faris walks you through making Proxies.

More About DaVinci Resolve Studio

Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio

Over 300 new features, including HDR Grading, AI-based magic mask, improved editing, and much more!

DaVinci Resolve is the world’s only solution that combines editing, color correction, visual effects, motion graphics, and audio post-production all in one software tool! Its elegant, modern interface is fast to learn and easy enough for new users, yet powerful for professionals. DaVinci Resolve lets you work faster and at a higher quality because you don’t have to learn multiple apps or switch software for different tasks. That means you can work with camera original quality images throughout the entire process. It’s like having your own post-production studio in a single app! Best of all, by learning DaVinci Resolve, you’re learning how to use the exact same tools used by Hollywood professionals!

Learn More

Burning Question: Can I Get DaVinci Resolve Studio as a Download?

That’s right, get Resolve Studio via Download Delivery at Toolfarm! We’ll email you the serial number so you can start using Resolve Studio fast! This is something that Toolfarm offers that you won’t find anywhere else.

Learn more

In Depth: DaVinci Resolve Free vs. Studio

Is the DaVinci Resolve Studio version worth the investment over the free version? Yes, it is! Learn why you should upgrade to Resolve Studio. 

Read about it

The post Burning Question: How do I improve Performance in DaVinci Resolve? appeared first on .

• Where did OFX come from and why?
• OFX Updates NEW
• OFX Hosts
• Then, OFX plug-ins
• OFX News & Resources

Where did OFX come from and why?

The OFX API was established because each developer had its own proprietary interface, so developers at different companies couldn’t work together share code very easily. Developers had to create their own method of porting their plug-ins into each host, which, as you can imagine, can be expensive and time-consuming.

Bruno Nicoletti of The Foundry got things going in 2004. Some of the founding members were from Assimilate, Autodesk, Digieffects, FilmLight, The Foundry, GenArts, and RE:Vision Effects. OFX was transferred to The Open Effects Association (OFX) in 2009.

The OFX are proponents for open standards between developers of visual effects tools for supporting a broad range of platform-neutral hosts. The focus of the group is:

• to improve image processing
• lessen development costs
• shorten development time
• reduce product support that comes along with supporting multiple compositing tools and NLE’s

If you’re a developer, join the Association and get access to early releases and help shape future versions of the standard. OpenFX members collaborate with their peers to the developer and extend the OFX API, a BSD open source license.

Updates to OFX NEW

Hosts that Support OFX Standard

If you use any of the hosts below, plug-ins that you use may support the OFX standard.

Let me first stress the point that if a plug-in is OFX, it does NOT mean that it supports all the hosts listed below. It just means that the following hosts support the OFX standard.

OFX is a standardized software interface for developing plug-ins that support multiple hosts. OFX is NOT a host or host platform.

• Assimilate SCRATCH
• Autodesk Flame
• Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Blackmagic Design Fusion Studio
• Boris Silhouette
• Digital Vision Nucoda and Phoenix
• DVS Clipbuster
• FilmLight Baselight
• The Foundry Nuke
• FXHOME HitFilm Pro
• Grass Valley Edius and Rio  (with OFX-bridge, which enables Edius to use OFX effects)
• InteractiveFX Piranha
• Diamant-Film DustBuster+ and Diamant-Film restoration
• Magix Vegas Pro, Magix Movie Edit Pro, and Vegas Movie Studio
• NewBlue Titler Pro
• Quantel Generation Q
• Pinnacle Studios
• SGO MambaFX and Mistika (MambaFX may be replaced with Mistika Boutique, waiting on clarification)
• Sony Catalyst
• ToonBoom Harmony

Open Source hosts that support OFX

• Kaliscope
• Natron
• ShuttleOFX
• TuttleOFX

OFX Plug-ins

Below, read a list of some of the plug-ins that already support the OFX standard. Undoubtedly, I expect this list to grow over the next year or two.

For more, see OpenFX (OFX) Compatibility

Please note

There is another OpenFX and OFX for 3D, which is very confusing and completely unrelated.  Although the other one is also open source, it’s an unrelated Windows API for 3D modeling.

OFX News Resources

News: Boris FX’s Sapphire VFX Plug-ins Add OFX Support for Flame, April 8, 2019

• Openeffects.org
• OpenFX API at GitHub
• OpenFX plugin programming guide (Advanced issues) on Github
• OFX / OpenFX / Open Effects
• EDIUS 9 OFX bridge released
• Using Magic Bullet Products in EDIUS
• Loading OFX Plug-ins in Nuke

How to use OFX in Assimilate Scratch

Updates to this article:

8 March 2022 – New products added. In addition, new OFX 1.4 improvements included.

16 December 2020 – Updated with new plugins and hosts.

21 March 2019 – Major overhaul, adding dozens of plugins and updating content

17 November 2014 – New OFX plug-ins from Tiffen. Updated with newer OFX plug-ins from Boris FX, Digital Film Tools, and FilmConvert.

The post Burning Question: What in the heck is OFX? Updated #OFX #openfx appeared first on .

Perpetual License

This means that you have that license for the software and you can run it for as long as you can run the software. This license can be upgraded to the next major version for a price but you can also keep running the software as long as you like. Normally small point updates are included, just not major version updates. A perpetual license can be used on one computer, but possibly two, depending on the software developer.

Related terms

• New License. Sometimes you’ll see sales that are for New Licenses Only. This means that you don’t already own a license for this product. In other words, the sale isn’t good on upgrades.
• Upgrade & Support plan. Technically not a license, many products have an option for Upgrade & Support for Perpetual Licenses. This allows users to keep their perpetual licenses current and also get support for the products at no additional cost. If the Upgrade & Support lapses, you’ll need to pay for an upgrade.

Annual Subscription License

With an annual subscription, users can use the software for one year. If there’s a major update during that time, you can download and use it during that year. If your subscription expires, you can no longer use the software, unless you renew the license.

The product is the same with a perpetual and a subscription. It’s just a difference in how it’s licensed.

Related Terms

• Cloud-based Licenses. These are usually subscription-based licenses used for software that lives in the cloud, such as Maxon and Adobe Licenses.

Standard or Node-Locked License

Simply, this is one license that can run on one computer.

Floating Licenses

Floating licenses are sometimes called network licenses. This license model allows multiple people to use one license by activating and deactivating it on computers. Normally, the software is installed on multiple computers but only a certain number of machines can use the license concurrently. A floating license is useful for a team, or even for yourself if you use multiple computers.

Related Terms

• Volume Subscription Licensing, Organizational Floating Licenses. This is for multiple licenses for your organization. For example, Maxon offers this for organizational accounts. Reprise License Manager (RLM) is an example of a volume licensing system. For more information, see the Maxon RLM License Overview.
• License Server. A License server is a system where an admin computer gives access to other computers to run the software over a network. The admin can activate and deactivate licenses.

Render-Only License

Render-only licenses are used in render farms or networked rendering. This allows users to create their projects on the main computer and send rendering to multiple computers, without having to have a full license on each render node, or render computer. You will not be able to adjust the software and tweak the settings on computers running a render-only license.

• Learn more about Using your plugins and software on a Network Rendering Setup.

Cross-Platform Licenses

Cross-platform licenses are serial numbers that work whether you use the Mac or Windows version. The download will likely be different but the license is the same across platforms. When you are ordering and you don’t have to specify whether you use Mac or Windows, it’s most likely a cross-platform license.

Academic Licenses

Academic licenses are for students and faculty. They are generally the same software as the full version, however, they often can’t be upgraded.

Related Terms

• Site Licensing or Academic Campus License. Licenses for multiple computers, such as in a classroom. There are a handful of names but they all mean basically the same thing.

iLok Licenses

Simply put, iLok is a license management system for audio plug-ins. It is designed for licenses management and it allows you to carry your license between computers. Not to mention, it protects your audio software from piracy. It uses a USB device, aka dongle, or the iLok cloud. Many companies are moving to iLok Cloud since most new computers are shipping without USB ports. Learn the technical aspects and how to get your iLok set up running as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Dongle Licenses

Dongles are not only fun to say, but they unlock your software. They are usually USB or other hardware-based, and they plug into a port on your computer so that you can use your software. Dongles are going out of style now that most software is downloadable, companies aren’t using them as much. Not only that, newer computers don’t even have USB and other ports anymore. It’s rare that you’ll come across a dongle for modern software.

The post Burning Question: Types of Licenses Explained appeared first on .

If you want to do some interesting or complex moves with the After Effects camera, below, learn about a few tools to help you animate it easily! In addition, we have a few tools for Final Cut Pro X as well.

After Effects Camera Tools

Below, learn about a few tools to make animating the camera a breeze in After Effects.

Ebberts + Zucker MonkeyCam

MonkeyCam is an easy-to-use procedural camera tool, with a 1-click setup and marker-based motion effects.

Below, watch an overview of MonkeyCam.

Procedural Kinetic Type Tutorial using MonkeyCam Pro & MotionMonkey

Plugin Everything HandyCam

Handycam gives lens controls using intuitive units (mm) instead of degrees. It has Full orbit controls, “Look at Target”, including a focus on the target. Also features one-click dolly zoom. In addition, it includes easy controls for emulating handheld movement and Depth of Field wiggles.

Kingluma CamCutter

While not quite a “camera animation” tool, CamCutter makes it easy to cut between 3D cameras, instead of just splitting the Camera layer.

FCP X Camera Tools

The Final Cut Pro X camera is a different animal but here are some great tools to help you animate smooth and interesting camera moves.

PremiumVFX Camera Tools

PremiumVFX Camera tools include

• Camera Rig Template
• Camera Shake Template
• 17 Overlay Effects Templates
• 4 Camera Focus Templates
• 6 Camera Slide Templates
• 4 Viewfinder Templates
• 8 Camera Zoom Templates

CineFlare HandHeld for FCPX

As you might expect, CineFlare HandHeld is a tool for adding HandHeld motion to your Final Cut Pro sequences. Try the demo through the FxFactory app.

Freebie Camera Tools for After Effects

Freebie: Camera Shake Presets for After Effects & Premiere Pro

Premium Beat is offering a great pack of 15 free camera shake presets for After Effects, that add realistic handheld camera movement to your projects.

Learn more

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