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VFX for Motion will teach you the art and science of compositing as it applies to Motion Design. Prepare to add keying, roto, tracking, matchmoving and more to your creative toolkit.
Mar 7, 2022
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1:00 pm
UTC
April 3, 2022
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4:59 pm
UTC
Registration is Open
Registration Closes
Apr 4, 2022
•
1:00 pm
UTC
3/7/2022 1:00 PM
4/3/2022 4:59 PM
4/4/2022 1:00 PM
"This course contains foundational info for beginnings like what to look for in a proper key, the right way to roto, edge blending, dealing with lens distortion, troubleshooting complex tracks, image stabilization, and general compositing tips. I knew the basics coming into the course but I learned tips and tricks to speed up my workflow and how to deal with difficult edge cases. VFX for Motion gave me confidence in tracking, keying, and rotoscoping." - Nic Dean, Fall 2019
Mark Christiansen has dedicated his career to creativity, experience design, mentorship and allowing artists to refine their craft. He is responsible for the After Effects Studio Techniques series of books which helped launch a generation of visual effects artists. Mark is a regular contributor to LinkedIn Learning and is responsible for developing the Cinefex for iPad app via a highly successful Kickstarter campaign. Currently, Mark is the Creative Director at Verses.io.
Meet your classmates, get comfy with the course format, and learn some compositing basics. You'll get a benchmark project to work on to see where your skills are, currently.
Apr 4
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1 Project
Gird your loins... it's roto week. You'll learn many different ways of attacking this common compositing task. It'll get a little gnarly.
Apr 11
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2 Projects
You'll become a master of Keylight, and will understand how to break shots apart to create pixel-perfect mattes. You'll also learn more about matching elements.
Apr 18
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2 Projects
This week is a "focus week," a chance to catch up on course work and material. You'll also learn about the differences between the MoGraph and VFX worlds.
Apr 25
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0 Projects
Dive into the world of motion tracking! You'll learn to use point and planar trackers to add elements to footage, as well as how to clean up shots using your tracks.
May 2
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2 Projects
You'll learn how to create effects using lots of built-in tools and compositing techniques. You'll also get some help from ActionVFX, who have provided elements for you to use.
May 9
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2 Project
This week is another Focus Week, giving you time to catch up if you need it. You'll also learn about how your new VFX skills can be put to good use in the industry.
May 16
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0 Projects
Learn to use camera tracking to embed elements into footage. This technique is invaluable, and opens up amazing creative possibilities.
May 23
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2 Projects
Learn to use camera tracking to embed elements into footage. This technique is invaluable, and opens up amazing creative possibilities.
May 30
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1 Project
The final 3 weeks of class are Extended Critique. You can use this time to catch up, complete your final project, then turn it in for critique.
May 30
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0 Projects
Our student community is welcoming, diverse, and growing rapidly.
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Required Software
After Effects CC 2019 (16.0.1 or Higher) which includes Mocha AE (Mocha for After Effects) and Cinema4D lite which may be useful toward the end of the course.
Suggested Hardware and Software
Photoshop CC 2019 (20.0 or Higher)
VFX for Motion takes place almost entirely in After Effects, with a little bit of Photoshop and Cinema 4D Lite thrown in for good measure. If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud account, you're good to go. We use After Effects' built-in tools for every lesson and exercise, so you won't need any 3rd party plugins. We do talk about some of the most common 3rd party tools you may encounter, but you won't need them for this class.
The Motion Design industry uses After Effects more than any other piece of software. While the feature film world generally uses node-based compositors to do effects work, our industry still does the vast majority of compositing using AE, so this class is as real-world as it gets. After Effects is an extremely capable compositor, and the layer-based workflow has enormous advantages for animators.
You can expect to spent at least 15 - 20 hours per week on coursework. The video lessons are 1-2 hours in length. There are13 assignments total. Typically assigned on Mondays and Thursdays with soft deadlines the next day. We have designated weeks with no lessons or assignments built into the schedule so students can keep up with the course pace.
Schedule and Course Length
12 Weeks of VFX for Motion
In VFX for Motion you will learn a broad set of Visual Effects tools and techniques using After Effects. While in this course you will learn the basics of Keying, Tracking, Rotoscoping, and Matchmoving, along with other important VFX tools available to you in After Effects. You will also learn practical knowledge for working with live-action footage, and even some tips on how to direct and work on a VFX shoot.
You’ll need intermediate to advanced knowledge of After Effects, with the ability to navigate the user interface, set keyframes, leverage the different layer types, and understand the different tools available in the application. We recommend checking out After Effects Kickstart, and completing Animation Bootcamp before taking VFX for Motion on.
Intermediate-level proficiency in design is also recommended, but not required; we suggest completing our Design Bootcamp course to improve your design skills, if necessary.
Having some foundational knowledge of Cinema 4D for the later lessons in this course will be helpful.
Before taking VFX for Motion check out our free course The Path to MoGraph to learn about industry terms and workflow.
Be engaged from anywhere in the world on your own schedule. Lessons open at a specific time but you can watch them and do your work whenever it is convenient for you.
Built in catch up weeks, extended critiques, and very flexible deadline policies make completing this course possible for even the busiest professional.
All of our courses are taught completely online through prerecorded lesson videos, podcasts, and handouts.
Students typically receive homework assignments twice per week, which have soft deadlines of the following day.
All student work is critiqued by our highly trained Teaching Assistants. School of Motion TA's are professional motion designers with real life experience in the industry. Even if you submit your very first assignment work on the last day of the course your TA will still critique your work!
During the course you will be invited to a private classroom that contains all of the Teaching Assistants and students in your session. This is a great tool for connecting, asking or answering questions, sharing thoughts or insights, and winning cool contests!
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