Blender and After Effects VFX Masterclass by Ruan Lotter

Welcome to the Blender & After Effects VFX Course!

What You Will Learn:

• 3D Camera Tracking
• Adding 3D objects and Animated Characters to your real-world scene
• Using Mixamo to import animated characters
• Using Bridge to import Quixel Megascans into your scene
• Matching the lighting of the real-world scene
• Adding shadow catchers for compositing later
• Adding an HDRI for realistic reflections and lighting
• Using Render Passes and Cryptomattes
• Rendering an EXR Image Sequence
• Full Compositing workflow in After Effects

In this exciting course, you will learn how to create fantastic worlds by adding 3D objects & characters into any live-action scene. We will begin by going step by step through the Camera Tracking process, then we will look at how you can add 3D objects or characters to the scene. You will also learn how to add shadows and match the lighting in your 3D scene to the live-action footage. Next, we will focus on Render Passes and how to render a multilayer EXR sequence, and finally, you will learn how to composite these different render passes together using Adobe After Effects.

You will also learn how to use Cryptomattes to easily mask objects to make specific adjustments without re-rendering from Blender. We will do some Rotoscoping, look at how to use TrackMattes, and finally, we will color grade the shot, add some film grain to blend everything together, and render your final VFX Shot.

Here is a list of all the Lesson Topics in this course:

• Creating a PNG Image Sequence using After Effects
• Camera Tracking: Import PNG Image Sequence into Blender
• Camera Tracking: Setup Camera Sensor Size + Focal Length + Color Management
• Camera Tracking: Tracking Setup
• Camera Tracking: Adding Trackers and Track footage
• Camera Tracking: Solving the Camera Track
• Camera Tracking: Refining your Camera Track if needed
• Camera Tracking: Setup Scene, Orienting the Scene and Set Scene Scale
• Test Objects: Viewport Render to ensure the Camera Track is good
• Adding 3D Objects from Quixel to the Scene
• Adding a Mixamo Character to the Scene
• Shadow Catchers
• Matching the lighting using an HDRI and / or Sun
• Matching the Shadows
• Configure Render Passes + Cryptomattes
• Rendering EXR Sequences
• After Effects: Import Plate & Render Passes & Setup the correct color space
• Setup Composition – The Comprehensive Way
• Setup Composition – The Easy Way
• Match and Adjust Shadows, Highlights, and Reflections
• Blur 3D Elements to Match Footage
• Cryptomattes and what you can do with them
• Rotoscoping Foreground Elements
• Using mist pass for adding mist / haze
• Final Color Grading
• Matching Film Grain or Digital Noise
• Final Render
• Bonus Lesson (Adding grass around the well)

I’m including the footage and assets that you will require to follow along, but feel free to use your own footage if you wish.

I really hope that you will learn a lot during this course, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I will be more than happy to assist. Ready to create some amazing VFX shots? See you in the first lesson!