GOUTAM BANERJEE

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Video Production Stages

A video production goes through the following three stages:

1.Pre-Production
Scripting & Storyboard – The pre-production phase of a project is where all the planning takes
place before the camera rolls. Whether its measured in minutes, hours or days, this planning phase
sets the overall vision of the project. Pre-production also includes working out the shoot location and
casting and preparation of Shooting Schedules. You’re in pre-production mode the moment you start
writing down a few points to cover in a video even if it is a short piece made for a blog. As your
projects become more ambitious you can start to storyboard the project. Storyboards can really
smoothen the post-production process when it’s time for editing. This will really be useful if there are
multiple people working on the project.

Production
Production begins once the footage is recorded. This process will capture all the scenes and
information captured in the pre-production process. During the production process you will work out
the lighting requirements, framing and composition. Some projects will also shoot B-Roll during the
production process. B-Roll is supplementary footage that is included in the finished product. Log
Sheets are maintained here to keep track of the raw footages which will be used at the time of
Editing.

Post-Production
The post production process begins after all the footage has been captured. Graphics can be added
along with images, music, colour correction and special effects. If you are producing your own video
content there will be a bit of a learning curve at first, but it will be really rewarding. Post-production
is like putting the last coat of paint on in a room and it will be well worth the time to learn the basics.
This is where your video project will really come to life through compositing, Color Corrections,
adding of Special Effects and Dubbing.
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Compositing

Compositing is literally the blending of multiple layers of footage, one on top of the other, into
one composite output. Compositing can simply consist of moving and resizing layers so you can
place them together in a scene. Layers also have surface properties, which determine how the
layer appears in the composite and how it reacts to light. Compositing also includes blending the
layers with various enhancing, enriching and distorting effects.

Features of After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a software primarily used for creating and compositing motion graphics and
visual effects. It allows users to animate, edit, and compose media in 2D or 3D space with many
different built-in tools and third party plug-ins which can be downloaded from the Internet depending
on what type of plug in the user is looking for.

Adobe After Effects is a layer-oriented program. Each individual media object like video clips, still
images, audio clips, etc. runs on its own. In contrast, other Non-Linear Editing Systems use a
system where individual media objects can occupy the same track as long as they do not overlap at
the same time. This track-oriented system is more suitable for editing and can keep project files
more simple. It is suitable for extensive video effects work and also key framing. Adobe After Effects
is capable of countering the problems of Non node based environment by selectively hiding layers or
by grouping them into pre-compositions.

The main interface of Adobe After Effects consists of several panels. Three of the most commonly
used panels are the Project panel, Composition panel, and the Timeline panel. The Project panel
acts as a bin for compositions and imported still images, videos or audio footage items. Footage files
in the Project panel are used in the Timeline panel, where layer ordering and timing can be adjusted
according to the user. The items visible at the current time marker are displayed in the Composition
panel. Compositions can be nested into other compositions.

Adobe After Effects shares many of the same features with other Adobe programs, such as creating
shapes that are defined by Bézier curves. After Effects can import and manipulate many image
formats, filters, and adjustments. After Effects provides us with features like Masking, Clone
Stamping, Keying, Motion Tracking, Wiggling which helps us to composite videos effectively. Its 3D,
Camera and Lighting feature helps us to create the 3d environment in our compositions. It has a
wide range of colour correction effects and special effects which renders our compositions an
appealing look.

Adobe After Effects integrates with other Adobe programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe
Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Encore and Adobe Flash. Additionally, it works with third
party 3D programs like Cinema 4D, LightWave 3D, and Autodesk 3D MAX.
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Masking in After Effects

A mask in After Effects can be defined as a path or outline that is used as a parameter
to modify layer effects and properties. The most common use of mask is the
modification of a layer’s alpha channel. A mask consists of segments and vertices. A
segment is a line or curve that connects two vertices. A vertex is the starting or ending
point of a segment.

A mask can be either open or closed path. An open path has a beginning point that is
not the same as its end point. It is most suitable used for animating text on a path. For
example a line is an open path. A closed path is a continuous mask that has no start on
end. It is most suitable used for masking layers. The inside portion of the mask contains
the opaque areas and shows the video, while outside portion of the mask contains the
transparent areas and shows the underlying layers’ content.

In After Effects we can draw 4 types of masks:

1. Square or Rectangular Masks with Rectangular Mask tool.
2. Circular or Oval Masks with Oval Mask tool.
3. Bezier Mask using Pen tool.
4. Roto-bezier Mask

MOTION TRACKING

Motion Tracking is the procedure of following and capturing the motion of an on-screen feature,
and then applying that stored motion to a second element, so that the two appear to be "locked"
together. In combustion we can track the motion of a portion of video footage or an element of the
composite using the Tracker tool

We can track any number of features in a clip:

 In 1-point tracking, you track a single feature for position.

 In 2-point tracking, you track two features, using the relationship between the two
to track scale/rotation.
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 In 4-point tracking (more commonly referred to as corner pinning), you track four
features.

Procedure:

1. Select the video whose motion has to be tracked.

2. Open the Tracker Panel from the Windows Menu.
3. Select the Motion Source, i.e. the video footage whose motion is to be tracked.
4. Select the Track type – Stabilize / Transform / Parallel Corner Pin / Perspective
Corner Pin / Raw. Select Transform for 1 point and 2 point tracking and Parallel
Corner Pin and Perspective Corner Pin for 4 point tracking. If the Track type is
Transform select the Transform Feature / Features – Position / Scale / Rotation.
5. The Track points are placed on the video footage in Layer View. Place the Track
points precisely on the parts of the video footage you want to track.
6. From Edit Target select the target video footage.
7. Click on Analyze forward after ensuring that the CTI in timeline is placed at the
first frame.
8. Then click on Apply.

Adjustment Layer
Adjustment Layer is a special type of layer which is used to control the behavior of
the underlying layers in an integrated manner. It is used to apply and control an
effect or a number of effects on a number of layers together. When you apply an
effect to a layer, the effect applies only to that layer and no other layers. However,
an effect can exist independently if you create an adjustment layer and apply over it.
Any effects applied to an adjustment layer affects all layers below it in the layer
stacking order. An adjustment layer at the bottom of the layer stacking order has no
visible result.
Because effects on adjustment layers apply to all layers beneath them, they are
useful for applying effects to many layers at once. In other respects, an adjustment
layer behaves like other layers; for example, you can use keyframes or expressions
with any adjustment layer property.

To create an adjustment layer, choose Layer> New > Adjustment Layer, or

Press Ctrl+Alt+Y.

An Adjustment Layer can be very useful for applying Colour Correction effects over a number of
layers.
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Color correction, color grading, and color adjustment

When we create a composition, we assemble many layers which are often shot in different
locations and at different time of day. We need to do Colour Correction or Colour Grading or
Colour Adjustments for any of following reasons:

 We need to make it seem as if multiple footage items were shot

under the same conditions so that they can be composited or edited
together.
 We need to adjust the colors of a shot so that it seems to have been
shot at night instead of day.
 We need to adjust the exposure of an image to recover detail from
the over-exposed highlights.
 We need to enhance one color in a shot because you will be
compositing a graphic element over it with that color.
 We need to restrict colors to a particular range, such as the
broadcast-safe range.

The term color correction is used in a broader perspective which includes the correction or
adjustments of colour, brightness, contrast and saturation of the layers as also color
grading which refers distinctly to color adjustments made for creative purposes rather to
correct problems with color.
After Effects includes many built-in effects for color correction. They include the following
29 such Colour Correction effects which are grouped within Colour Correction option of
Effects Menu in After Effects:
1. Auto Colour
2. Auto Contrast
3. Auto Levels
4. Black and White
5. Brightness and Contrast
6. Broadcast Colours
7. Change Colour
8. Change to Colour
9. Channel Mixer
10. Colour Balance
11. Colour Balance (HLS)
12. Colour Link
13. Colour Stabilizer
14. Colorama
15. Curves
16. Equalize
17. Exposure
18. Gamma / Pedestal / Gain
19. Hue / Saturation
20. Leave Colour
21. Levels
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22. Levels (Individual Control)
23. Photo Filter
24. PS Arbitrary Map
25. Selective Colour
26. Shadow Highlight
27. Tint
28. Tritone
29. Vibrance

Clone Stamp Tool or Clone Stamping Process

Clone stamp tool is used to copy pixels of a portion of the Layer to another portion of the
Layer or to a new Layer. It is a brush based tool. As the name implies the clone stamp tool
copies or clones the pixels from a layers image. In After Effects clone stamp tool works in
the same manner as in Photoshop except that in After Effects it works non-destructively and
over time.
The Clone stamping process begins with selection of the Clone Stamp tool from tool panel
followed by the selection of Brush options from Brush panel. (For this we open Brush panel
from the Window menu or press Ctrl + 9). Then we open Paints panel (Ctrl + 8). There we
select Opacity, Flow, Mode, Channels, Duration (Constant, Write on, Single Frame and
Custom), Source (Current Layer or some other layer) and source sampling and cloning
options like Aligned, Lock Source Time, Offset, Source Time Shift and clone Source
overlay. Then we sample the source pixels by holding Alt key and clicking on the footage
layer. Then we brush over the destination pixels in the destination layer.

The Duration options:

Constant: Creates the clone all of a sudden in a particular frame.
Write on: Animates the brush strokes used for cloning
Single Frame: Shows the clone in a single frame only.
Custom: Lets us specify how many frames to use to view the clone.

The Aligned option:

The Aligned option determines which pixels are copied in subsequent strokes. By default the
Aligned option is on. If it is on the pixels are always copied from a point in the source that is
consistent from the corresponding location of the clone stamp in the target image or else
pixels are copied using the initial sample as a fixed starting point.

Lock Source Time option:

This option sets whether the cloned pixels from a fixed frame or maintains a time difference
between target frame and source frame.

Offset
Source Time Shift
Clone Source overlay
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Markers
Like other non-linear editing and composition programs After Effects too has Markers which
are used to mark important frames in Timeline. Markers help us to identify music beats
visually and to synchronize the visual effects with sound effects. They also help us to quickly
move the CTI to a particular point in the composition.

In after Effects we can set two types of Markers:

1. Layer Marker: Layer marker appears in the Layer’s horizontal track in the time
graph. These markers are un numbered markers. To apply Layer markers at CTI
press asterix from the Numpad of Keyboard.Alternately we can Add Marker option
from Layer menu after setting the CTI.

2. Composition Marker: Composition marker appears in the composition’s time line.

These markers are numbered markers. To apply Composition markers at CTI press
Shift and a Number. Alternately we can drag the marker from the Marker well and
place it over the point to be marked.

To delete a marker, select it and drag it to the Marker Well.

Material Properties
Casts Shadows
Accepts Shadows
Accepts Lights
Appears in Reflections
Ambient
Diffuse
Specular Intensity
Specular Shininess
Metal
Reflection Intensity
Reflection Sharpness
Reflection Rolloff