Silhouette FX: 01 - Beginners

This is a online course is to gain comprehensive understanding of SilhouetteFX - Beginners. The aim is to learn about how SilhouetteFX and its features can be used. The tutorials will help you learn about The GUI of silhouette and shape animation, The roto node, rotoscoping, Tracking techniques , Color render in nuke, Color corrected footage nuke, Background replacement of image and rendering in Nuke.

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 5h 16m | 31 Videos | 89703 Views |   All Levels

About SilhouetteFX

SilhouetteFX is a World-Class rotoscoping tool most commonly used in the Visual Effects Industry. Right from the day of launch to today, SilhouetteFX has come across several updates and improved capabilities facilitating morphing and warping, painting, matting methods, 2-D to 3-D conversion and several other features that commonly come to use in the VFX Industry across the world.

The software is developed by a team comprised of individuals with vast VFX experience and professionals awarded with Academy Award and multiple Emmy Awards under Science and Technical Achievement Award. The team claims, their understanding of Visual Effects allows them to design software that exactly suits to the requirement of today’s Industry. The application continues to bring comprehensive tools that add value to the visual effects experience, under a stereoscopic workflow. Today, SilhouetteFX is widely used across the world for its invaluable rotoscoping outputs during post-production stages.

Some of the core functionalities of SilhouetteFX are:

• Rotoscoping: It is a technique used by the FX artists where they trace frame by frame footage to incorporate into live-action sequences or in animation movies. The job is considered highly intricate as the artist has to spend a great deal of time during the process and the level of intricacy he works is highly complex.
• Paint Job: SilhouetteFX added the paint package within the application from its second version. With the advent of this advantage, artists are able to remove the wires that are used while shooting. Additionally, the advanced paint features also help to remove the blemishes in the footage, fade off the dust in every frame. During its Fifth version launch, the company added vector and raster paint system to the application.
• 2D to 3D: This ground-breaking feature is added to the application during the launch of its Fourth version. With the help of the feature, users can convert a two-dimensional motion pictures into three-dimensional.
• Mocha: The application is added more value by adding Mocha Planar tracking system licensed from Imagineer Systems that was integrated into the Fifth version.
• Morph & Warp: The recent fifth version of the software added advanced high-speed shape driven Morphing and Warping technologies.
• Scripting: For artists who can try a hand on scripting, Silhouette allows to customize the software as you expect it to be by using Python Language, a widely supported software scripting language. Using personalized features will come handy while working with large size images and complex projects.

The above points can clearly make a point about how well SilhouetteFX software connects the production pipeline and fits well where it is expected. Once you spent some quality time working on the application, there are higher chances to leave your current roto software behind and switch to Silhouette because of the high level of comfort and ease it offers while working. The software works on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.

Some notable movies of Hollywood that used SilhouetteFX

• King Kong
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• Enchanted
• Fantastic Four
• The Golden Compass
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
• Avatar
• Prometheus
• The Avengers
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
• Jack the Giant Killer
• Man of Steel

Who can learn this course?

• Students learning Visual Effects and Compositing applications can gain from learning this course.
• Professionals that are already working on Rotoscopy can upgrade to SilhouetteFX as it is one of the strongest rotoscoping software in the Industry.
• Students and Professionals that are interested in 3D Animation, Dynamics and Compositing will benefit from learning this course.

About Introduction to

Silhouette

FX

This course is focused on introducing and providing in-depth knowledge to the freshers about rotoscoping techniques in SilhouetteFX. It is an Industry dominating software mostly applied to solve the rotoscope in live action and two dimension and three dimension movies. After completing this course, you will be able to have a detailed idea about Tracking techniques, Rotoscoping and several other practical techniques of working on color rendering, footage correction and lot more.

This course is comprised of 16 lectures on rotoscoping, spanning up to 2.5 hours of detailed content about every important element of the software. We included some advanced topics as rotoscoping for VFX and provide you a great deal of knowledge about the Industry oriented training, tips, and techniques most commonly used in the Industry.

Introduction to SilhouetteFX is divided into 8 chapters, focused mainly on a project-based training model

Section 1: The GUI of Silhouette and shape animation

In this first lecture of the course, we will introduce you to the world of rotoscoping and discuss some important topics and terminology about the domain. Later we take you to the Silhouette software and discuss in depth about the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the software.

We will also talk about the shapes and animation, guide you how to adjust and confirm the shapes.

Section 2: The roto node

In this second section of the course, you will come to know about customizing the software by setting the preferences as per your choice. The second important features you will learn is the roto node and using the Mocha tracker to adjust an image. You will see how the Instructor adjusts an image, taking you through the practical working conditions of every day rotoscoping Industry.

Layering is the next important topic you will learn, which helps to easily channelize your workflow and carry out the project with ease and no room for confusion. Here, we will shed light on some important tool that is commonly used in rotoscoping as the cracking tool. We will bring the knowledge acquired so far in deeply working on Mocha tracker with step by step analysis and culminate with finishes the file with the final edits and rendering. Finally, the file is imported into nuke to set the color correction and various methods of correction are discussed at the same time.

Section 3: Rotoing out the plant

From the theoretical approach, we will dive deep into the practical style of teaching. From the third section of the course, we implemented practical exercises to let you know a myriad of tips, techniques that will commonly come to use while working on live action or 3D pictures.

In the first lecture of the section, we will introduce you to the Cactus Plant rotoscoping project and talks about the blueprint of what we are going to achieve while we are working. You will learn how to use more tracking points to on footage to exactly track the subject.

Section 4: Tracking techniques to roto out plant

The section continues with the project we started in the previous section. The lectures will carry out tracking the points we made before. You will learn new methods of tracking while rotoscoping the cactus plant. Using the two-point trackers is one of the important features you will come to know in this section.

Section 5 & 6: Color render in nuke

As we finish the roto exercise successfully using various tracking points and two-point tracking techniques. This is time to work on color correction. In this chapter, we will teach you how to import the file into the nuke and do the color correction to maintain a seamless and singularity in color throughout the footage.

Section 7: Background replacement of Image

From this section, we will take you through torrents of techniques that are used in Silhouette software other than the most common ones. You will learn how to import an image into your project and replace it with the background of your project. Later, we discuss how to maintain finest hair details in images and footages without losing its color or quality.

Section 8: Hair detail and render in nuke

Finally, you will learn how to do those impeccable editings and color correction to your finished projects. We implement the nuke software to achieve the finest details of the hair and culminate the course by showing how to render process goes on in Nuke.

What will learn from this course?

• You will be able to rotoscope on live-action footage or Two Dimension or Three Dimension footages.
• You will learn to track through multiple points through SilhouetteFX
• You will be able to import images into rotoscope software and change the images into backgrounds of your projects.
• Achieving finest details on objects like hair and fur.
• Importing the project into Nuke for color correction.

Prerequisites of SilhouetteFX training

Hardware requirements

• Computer with a Windows or Linux or Macintosh operating system
• A minimum configuration you can look for is 2 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, Dual core or Core 2 Duo processor. (However, a high-end machine is recommended for faster and better response.)

Additional requirements

 Plug-ins: Adobe After Effects CS5 and above

Recommended Graphic Cards

• NVIDIA GTX 460 or above
• AMD Radeon 75x series or above
• OpenGL 2.1 capable graphics card
• OpenCL 1.0 capable graphics card
• 1GB Graphics memory for Motion Picture resolution

Skills required on a personal level

• Basic understanding of any graphic designing or any Adobe software or GIMP will help you comprehend and learn the subject quickly.
• Passions to learn, experiment and being creative the software.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why should I learn Silhouette, when I can already use rotoscoping software and compositing software?

Silhouette software adds more value to the compositing packages than any other rotoscope alternate. Its ability to render out float dpx sequences and exporting splines makes it unique and more complementing the software applications used in the production pipeline. Compositors can gain an advantage by easily rendering out mattes to tweak the keyframes and alter the motion blur.

Testimonials

Meene

I thought Rotoscope is a confusing process due to the enormous amounts of time it takes to track the objects. But, I have to change my opinion after taking this course. EDUCBA helped me to understand the fundamentals of roto keenly so I can easily understand the functionality of the software. The good news is the course covered practical exercise which helped to know some really quick methods of achieving the results within the minimum time frame. I strongly recommend taking this course; it may help you just like it happened with me – Catherine