Showreel 2010 from FAMOS on Vimeo.

And then there was freedom.

The first phase of my production is over. So far so good… and only a mountain left to climb.

A lot of work went into creating a cityscape that felt vast and ominous. Thank god for render instances in C4D 11.5 allowing me to cram almost 9,000 little buildings into my scene.

Self Portrait - GreyscaleGorilla 5 Second Entry from FAMOS on Vimeo.

Figured I would take a little break from my final project and what better excuse than a GreyscaleGorilla 5 Second project.

Was messing around in Cinema4d the other day and I suddenly thought it would be kinda cool to use it as a stop-motion device. Specifically, I wanted to go super lo-fi by sculpting the polygons of simple planes, rendering out an image once I was happy with each pose. Because the process was incredibly destructive it made it immensely satisfying - bringing a real organic spontaneity and finality to the work.

I normally prefer to tell a story but I have enjoyed making a purely visual piece. There is a real futurist/cubist essence to the look and progression of the harsh fragmented shapes which came as an unexpected surprise. I think with a little more thought and execution this could be developed into a longer more substantive piece.

Hope you enjoy!

Created for GreyscaleGorilla’s “Self Portrait” 5 Second Project.

I have been wrestling with 3D in my final project here at VFS. A dark and furious struggle that pitted me against endless depths and forced me against wall, after wall, after wall. Sweet temptation kept whispering for me to return to my beloved After Effects but I fought the easy path. The struggle is what makes it worthwhile. Creativity unleashed without force nor passion lies rotting on the ground as soon as it blossoms.

The Strand lives. It lives the way I wanted it. It lives in 3D. I am very excited to explore this city. Officially marking the start of my production proper.

So watch this space.

Oh Twitter. For so long you represented to me all that was banal and meaningless - an excuse to elevate to the public forum those moments in our lives that were probably just meant to slip away.

But, I have seen the light. The internets are becoming so bountiful that they must be harvested. Filtered. Condensed to their purest essence. And this, I promise, is my aim with FamosTV.

Question is: How long before I update you on my weekly shopping?

Just a quick experiment with 3D aesthetics. The next frontier…

Another 5 second project, another honourable mention. I prefer coming second. Winning is so 2007.

DuIK Tools - Inverse Kinematics for After Effects! from FAMOS on Vimeo.

Presenting you with DuIK Tool’s very first English language tutorial!

DuIK Tools is a revolutionary Inverse Kinematics script for After Effects developed by Nicolas Dufresne a.k.a DuDuf which brings the principles behind 3D rigging to After Effects, giving greater precision and faster, more lifelike animations!

Muybridge Revisited - DuIK in action! from FAMOS on Vimeo.

Click here for the skeleton source file.

For more info, visit DuIK’s site.

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I stumbled upon it randomly through Google a few weeks ago. A single post in an Andrew Kramer forum was raving about the technique but lamenting the fact that there was no English language tutorials out there. The cry was for Mr. Kramer himself to do one but the big man was probably too busy on some Hollywood blockbuster to hear his disciples in need. So, I thought I’d step in…for the greater good of the community, of course.

Thanks to DuDuf for letting me put the word out there. This script is amazing! It has totally revolutionized my animations and increased the bounds of my creative spectrum. This is my first tutorial so I hope it serves its purpose. Any comments or suggestions on how I could improve this tutorial would be most appreciated!

There is much more to DuIK which I will explore in future tutorials. I just wanted to share its central essence, so other people could enjoy playing with it like I have.

Cheers!