Featured Archives - Page 11 of 21 - Video Production News

New Great White Shark Effects

One of the coolest predators to have ever existed is now available on FootageCrate and RenderCrate, the Great White Shark! We have added 9 new shark effects for you to download.

We focused on creating loopable shark animations. The trick was getting both the caustics (the lighting on the shark) and the shark’s movements to loop seamlessly. That was a fun one to figure out, but we did it.

7 of these assets are in 4K resolution and are fully-loopable. You can animate the Position, Scale and Rotation to allow the Great White to swim through whatever scenes you have.

For 3D artists looking to really customize your shark animations, we’re providing the fully-rigged shark model. This comes with all the maps you need. We are also including the C4D rig we built out for these animations.

We’re going to be adding some underwater assets soon! Stay tuned for more.

New Epic Tracks – 16 Free

in Featured, Music/by Chris Kelly

20 New tracks have been added to our Epic Music Category

The first 16 Epic Tracks were downloaded thousands of times. They have been used in commercials, Youtube videos, and several films. It was time we stepped it up.

Our latest additions cover where the original album left off. More variety serves more purpose. Give these a listen, even if you don’t need the Epic Tracks now, you’ll need them in the future.

Just like all of our Music, everything is Royalty Free. We look forward to hearing how you use our new Music, remember to make it awesome.

Crate’s Shape Script – Our Most Feature Packed Tool

in Featured, Scripts and Plugins/by Chris Kelly

Sign in and Download the Crate’s Shape Script Here

Place the script into your Adobe > After Effects> Scripts Folder, and the Images into Adobe > After Effects > Scripts > Images, if you already have an images folder just drag the images from Crate’s Shape Script .ZIP into that folder. Please report any bugs you may find in the comments below, we will continue to update this script.

We love After Effects. What other software offers you so much creative flexibility? Whatever your project calls for, from Visual Effects to Motion Graphics, this software gets the job done.

That being said, we do have some gripes.

Why is it so difficult to create some of the most basic shapes? Why are all the shape controls hidden, requiring toggle-down menu after toggle-down menu?

You’ve probably run into these annoyances yourself at one point or another. We definitely have, and we were fed up. That’s why we created Crate’s Shape Script. This feature-packed script addresses our most common issues and solves them with just a few clicks.

There are a lot of features to unpack here. Your first option is a Shape Layer or Solid Layer. Solid Layers have the shaped masked out of them while the shape layer is made specifically to be that shape. We suggest Shape Layers, but each has their Pros and Cons. Shape Layers also allow you to generate Strokes instead of Fill shapes.

Next you can pick your shape, use the left and right arrows to scroll through all your shapes or simple click the question mark to see them all on the drop-down.

Next, pick whatever color you want. Personally I just leave this as-is, since I can change it later with the eyedropper tool. I also leave the size at 500 and adjust it later, but that is just my preference.

The anchor point will automatically set to be centered (yay!) but if you want to move it to any other axis you can do so after you have generated the shape.

We have built Control Nulls so you don’t have to toggle down menu after menu to change basic features of your shapes. This is helpful in the obvious ways but if you want to adjust basic features the old-school way you can uncheck the Control Nulls box to generate shapes that have no built in parent features. Alternatively you can Alt-click whatever parameter you would like to adjust without using the Control Null.

The randomization powers can be utilized to take one asset and create unlimited variations. Duplicate whatever layer you have for as many duplicates as you want, you can then randomize the start time, the end time, the opacity, the color (or tint), scale, and rotation! This is fun to mess around with, which I encourage you to do. If you want the specifics I’ll list them below.

Last of all choose the number of layers for whatever shape you have chosen and hit Generate.

Enjoy!

How the property randomisation works

Default Random (Random slider checkbox unchecked)
Pos– randomize based on the comp width (comp wide distribution) [x, .75x]
Rot– randomize between 0-360
Opa– randomize between 0-100
Scale– randomize between 0-500 [x, x, x]
timeIn– randomize between 0-comp length (in seconds)
timeOut– randomize between 0-comp length (in seconds)
Tint– randomize r, g, and b values of a tint effect between 0-255 (applies to “Map Black To” property)
3D– randomize Z Position between 0-15000

Slider Random (Random slider checkbox checked)

Pos– randomize between 1-slider value
Rot– randomize between 1-slider value
Opa– randomize between 1-slider value (0-100 limit)
Scale– randomize between 1-slider value
timeIn– randomize between 1-slider value (seconds)
timeOut– randomize between 1-slider value (seconds)
Tint– randomize r, g, and b values of tin effect between 0-slider value (0-255 limit)
3D– randomize Z Position between 0-slider value

How the keyframe section works:

Fade Keys (two sets of key frames at the beginning and end)
Creates two group of key frames, one starting at the beginning of the selected layer, the other finishing at the end point of the layer. In and Out are optional, so you can apply the keyframes to just the beginning, just the end, or both. You can set how far apart the two possible sets of keyframes are, by changing the textbox labeled “frames” next to it. (ie, if you select In and 30 frames, it will apply a keyframe at t:0, then t:0+30frames)

Continuous Keys (a keyframe at the beginning and end)
Creates a keyframe at the inPoint and outPoint of any selected property

Download Debris and Destruction VFX Assets

in After Effects, Featured, Visual FX/by David Blaker

Download the HD/4K Debris VFX Elements here.

Destruction is one of the cornerstones of action VFX. While destroying things in real life may be fun, the movie-making industry has been shifting towards the CGI approach. We’re here to help you do exactly that.

ProductionCrate has just released a collection of professional-quality 4K debris explosion assets. These action effects are packed full of detail, ensuring you’ll be able to create the finest VFX instantly!

These destruction assets all include an alpha channel and built-in shadows, meaning that no green-screen keying is required to achieve transparency. This allows you to drag and drop the effects onto your project and have it blend in for unbeatable results.

They also all stay completely within frame. This means you can scale, position and rotate these debris VFX assets anywhere in the scene without any visible borders, an issue which is often seen from other stock footage sources.

Compositing destruction and explosion effects digitally allowed us to do things that practical effects cannot, such as being able to precisely control the final look even after we’ve shot our footage!

So how do you create and use the debris VFX? In a mini tutorial, let’s take a look at an example of how you can use these to achieve Hollywood level special effects instantly:

Our background (from Pexels.com) is an example of what scenes work best with these assets. We recommend a concrete surface as the ground, but you can easily use other surfaces such as brick, sand or dirt.

You’ll then want to pick your debris VFX assets from our effect library. Try to select ones that best match the lighting and perspective of your scene. For example, the one we are going to use will match the sunlight coming from the side in our background image.

If you know you need even more content in your scene, feel free to also explore the wide range of content we provide that will also help you composite your VFX. We have over 10,000 to choose from, ranging from fire, smoke, explosions and more… (A lot of them are also free to download!).

In your preferred editing software, such as Adobe After Effects, Hitfilm or Premiere Pro, position your downloaded content onto your background. I recommend you also flip the assets horizontally if needed to precisely match the shadows of the scene.

Incredibly, the only step left to do is to colour correct the asset! This is important as it will allow the chunks of rock in the debris asset to look like they come from the ground being obliterated.

A powerful tool is to use a curves effect. Cycle through each of the RGB channels, carefully adjusting the controls until the colours match perfectly.

Did you notice how easy that was? This should prove just how effective our high-quality debris assets will be in your VFX editing workflow.

From here, you can further make enhancements such as masking out the foreground to fully integrate the effect into your scene.

We are really excited to see what you create with these! If you’re interested in more compositing tutorials, check out our helicopter VFX assets.

High Resolution Blood Texture Pack

in Featured, Visual FX/by Chris Kelly

This new texture pack got a bit messy! We’ve found ourselves needing extremely high resolution Blood Textures for our Horror and Action projects more and more often. We decided it was time to build out a proper bundle.

Bloody hand prints, splatters, sprays and droplets are all featured in the new pack available on GraphicsCrate. If you’re making a zombie flick, a thriller with a shoot-out or an apocalyptic video game you’ll find what you need here.

You’ll notice these have all been keyed out and are available as PNG files. We suggest using a blending mode to get the absolute best results possible from this pack. Choose Multiply, Overlay, or Soft Light blending modes yield the best results. I do suggest playing with your options to see what works best in your scene.

Color correcting to better match your footage or even adding some blur to drop the high resolution will tie everything together. We suggest using both video and image blood effects tandem to create the exact effect you need.

Download Photorealistic Office Equipment 3D Models

in 3D, Featured, Visual FX/by David Blaker

Download the Photorealistic Office Furniture and Equipment 3D models here.

We’ve built an exciting asset library of 18 high-quality 3d models designed to help you create digital office environments.

Many 3D artists may need to create an interior scene, but face the tedious task of creating each accessory that fits inside. That is why these 3D models are the ultimate time-saving bundle to instantly push your project forward, so you can spend more time working on what really matters in your scene.

Free members of the ProductionCrate community can download a selection of these models, while Pro members have access to the entire library. On top of this, Pro users can download 10,000+ assets from our entire library of content, including more 3D models, visual effects, graphics and sound effects.

Each office 3D model is built with versatility in mind, ensuring each of the designs are generic enough to seamlessly integrate with your scenes.

Included in the office collection is:

3D Office Chair model – black, red, blue
3D Desk model
3D Filing Cabinet model
3D Whiteboard model
3D Desktop Computer model
3D Computer Monitor model
3D Keyboard model
3D Computer Mouse model
3D Mug model – red, white, filled, unfilled
3D Paper Coffee Cup model – 4 variations

These model’s have been scaled to real-world size. This will allow you to easily integrate these into your scenes with instant realistic proportions.

Our 3D office furniture models have been thoroughly tested to ensure maximum realism and ease of use. Simply apply the textures provided in the download to your material, and make any further customisations to reach your desired look.

If you’re interested in more 3D models, we invite you to explore the rest of our RenderCrate library, a growing collection of premium 3D models that will help propel your art to the next level!

Celebrate Thanksgiving with New Assets

in Featured, Motion Graphics/by Chris Kelly

We have new assets to help you celebrate the season of giving. 10 New Pro Transitions are available. These cartoon style animations are perfect for your Holiday videos. We have turkeys, food, flowers and pies for you to pick from.

These assets were built in After Effects. If you’re an After Effects user we have a Pro Template for these Thanksgiving Transitions with a seamless transition system already built in.

3D Artists, don’t feel left out! We have 2 pumpkins and 3 gourd models full scanned and textured for maximum realism. One of the gourds is free for anyone to use. Find them here.

We’ll be making new assets for each major Holiday, so check back for more!

Download Free After Effects Glow Script – Crate’s Glow

in After Effects, Featured, Scripts and Plugins, Visual FX/by David Blaker

Download the Free After Effects Glow Script here

Believe it or not, there’s a lot that goes into a good glow effect! I’m overly passionate about this particular topic, and would happily spend hours fine-tuning each little pixel of my glow to make sure it makes my VFX absolutely perfect – and ProductionCrate wants to help you do the same.

Except it won’t take you hours… Instead, just a few seconds!

We have built out a powerful glow extension for After Effects, capable of producing the most stunning optical effects for your compositing projects with a single click. We’ve tested this tool to its limits, and are insanely proud of what this can do for VFX artists like you. Additionally, we’ve made this free to download for everyone!

So why did we make something that After Effects can already do? Those who have already used After Effects built-in glow effect already know the answer – it’s pretty ugly.

That leads us to our next question; what makes Crate’s Glow any better? Our script has been carefully designed to follow the natural physical properties of light, allowing the final result to imitate the realistic gradient-based falloff that we see in the real world. This eliminates the artificial look that After Effect’s built-in glow generates and instead gives us an incredibly aesthetic result.

Each parameter has been fine-tuned to create the best result with one click. You can easily make further adjustments with user-friendly parameters. These can be changed even after the glow has been created by using the sliders in the “Glow Controls” null layer.

Threshold – Minimum brightness for an area of the image to begin to glow

Intensity – Brightness of the glow

Spread – How far out the glow reaches

Flicker Intensity – Increase this to have the intensity shift over time

Flickers Per Second – How often the flicker fluctuates in a second

Tint Strength – When increased, the glow will match the chosen color more

Tint Colour – The color used for the tint

Vibrance – If you’re losing color in your glow, you can use this to boost the saturation

Usually, the glow effect will work without any extra squabble, but I’ll quickly go through how you can take full advantage of the features available.

Here’s an example of an explosion VFX shot that needs an exciting glow effect to give the fire some further intensity.

Since we’re organised (most of the time), we have the robot-explosion VFX layer separated from the background. Using keying tools, we can isolate the orange flames in a new layer.

Selecting this layer, and clicking “Generate” on our glow script will have the glow effect only applied to these flames, adding an extraordinarily epic glow to our fire VFX.

And it’s as simple as that!

To download and install the script, open up After Effects and navigate through File -> Scripts -> Run Script File. Find a folder you wish to keep the script stored, and extract “Crate’s Glow.jsx” to the new location. Double click the .jsx file and the script window will open.

If you’re looking for even more scripts to add to your workflow, check out our incredible Hologram extension!

Halloween Bundles for Download

in Featured, Motion Graphics/by Chris Kelly

Halloween is nearly upon us. It is our favorite Holidays here at the Crates, which should come as no surprise. Nothing is more fun than creating skull animations, 3D pumpkins, terrifying music, silly ghosts and scary sound effects!

Our spookily-spectacular assets will be your perfect tools for building the best Halloween ever. Whether you are creating a terrifying video or your own haunted house we’ve got the video effects you need.

Check out these awesome Haunted House FX we made!

You can find the talking Jack O’ Lantern Template Here

Our 3D Pumpkin assets are the latest uploads to RenderCrate. These are compatible in all 3D software. Our Skull Model comes with a separate piece for the jaw, so you can have your animations talk! We also have a fully rigged Zombie Model.

We have tons of transitions, backgrounds and even projector assets to create the best Halloween ever. Find all of our Halloween Video Effects here. If you’re looking for zombie clips we’ve got the VFX for you.

SoundsCrate offers a huge selection of Horror Sound Effects and Suspenseful Music as well as some Halloween Themed tracks.

We’ll continue to create more Halloween Video Assets for you this week, so make sure to check back!

SciFi Weapon VFX

in Featured, Visual FX/by Chris Kelly

We have traveled to the farthest corners of the galaxy. We have visited parallel dimensions and seen worlds previously undiscovered. Throughout our journeys we have been collecting assets for our latest collection of Visual Effects.

The SciFi Weapons Firing Bundle

This new bundle let’s you become the hero (or the villain) of your favorite SciFi films. Lasers, blasters, shockwaves and more are all available. These video effects all come with an alpha channel for easy compositing.

We are having an awesome time building these assets out, keep checking back as we add more in the future.

You’ll be needing some Sound Effects to go along with those SciFi weapons. Make sure to visit our SciFi Sound FX page for all you’ll need.

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How the property randomisation works