Hi guys and welcome back to another HitFilm Tutorial.
This week we're joined by Tony from NXVisual Studio to show you how to create some abstract
topology design.
Now, this can look really awesome when done correctly so we'll let Tony show you how.
Hi, I'm Tony from NXVisual Studio and what you're seeing infront of you is heavily inspired
by the graphics design elements from Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and we'll be doing something
pretty close inside of HitFilm.
HitFilm Pro is integrated the interchangeable file format, alembic, into the render engine
which is a file format used by animation professionals and is a standard for model animation.
This standard is also available in other 3D software but in this tutorial we'll be using
3D Studio Max.
If you've never used the software before, don't worry, it might look intimidating or
overwhelming; but I assure you, what we're doing is pretty straight forward.
Ok, so the first thing you want to do is change the frame amount inside of 3D Studio Max.
For this tutorial, it's important we match the project framerate and time.
In HitFilm I have the framerate set to 30 frames per second and a default length of
30 seconds overall.
So head down to the time configuration icon.
Under animation length, set this to 900 and click ok.
Now the overall length matches that of HitFilm and the alembic file will be in sync with
HitFilm's project settings.
We'll start by making a plane, so under object type, click plane and on the grid hold, left
click and drag the cursor to the other side of the grid and let go.
Under length and width segments, set both of these to 30 then change the plane's color
to a mid grey.
On the tab section click the modify icon.
Modify list, scroll down until you see Noise and select.
Select the Fractal check button and then push on the Z strength toggle.
As you can see the geometry is starting to displace in relation to the noise map.
Set this to around 3 and then select the Animation Noise checkbox.
Next select the auto keyframe button at frame 0.
This will automatically set a keyframe at the start of the timeline.
Advance to frame 900 and in the Phase toggle set this to around 50.
Deselect the auto-keyframing button and head back into the modifiers.
Look for smooth and select.
This is going to remove the smoothing groups by default until a group is selected.
But for this we specifically want this to remain unchecked and will give us this cool
triangle effect on the topology.
Head back into the Noise modifier, head down to scale toggle and shift this value down
to around 5.
In the curve editor, to the left is the hierarchy for the world objects.
Or, in comparison, this would be layers inside of HitFilm.
Go down to the modifies objects, select noise and then select phase.
This will bring up our keyframes; by default our keyframes are set to curves and this is
something we don't want otherwise the animation will gradually speed up and slow down.
Highlight each keyframe and set the interpolation to linear.
Close the editor, head back into the modifier list and look for tessellate, make sure that
the tessellation modifier is underneath the noise modifier.
To finish this up head back to the modifiers list and look for the bend modifier.
Under bend axis, set this to X and adjust the angle to -35 degrees.
This will just help us later on inside of HitFilm with setting up the camera position,
it'll help us to avoid seeing the topology or the edges form the outside.
It also helps to make it appear more seamless.
Now that we have the animation set up it's time to export the model and the animation
format ready for HitFilm to do its magic.
Click the 3DS Max icon, Export.
Make a new folder and name it something that relates to your project.
Go into the folder, change the Save As type to alembic.abc, save the file name as 'Alembic
Animation' and then hit Save.
Again, repeat the process, but this time change the save type to .obj.
Name the file as 'Alembic Model' and then hit Save.
Now that's done head over the HitFilm and create a new project.
Under template, set this to 1080p full HD at 30 frames per second.
This ensures that HitFilm is properly configured to the alembic animation file.
That's all we need to do so head down to Start Compositing.
Head up to Import, 3D model and select your obj model.
Under the materials, set the specularity to black and a defuse to a dark grey.
The red, green and blue values are set to 65 we could have done thisin 3DS Max but it's
far easier to make these changes inside of HitFilm.
So hit Ok and drag the model onto the timeline.
Again, import, but this time select the 3D model animation.
Select the alembic file and hit Ok.
Under the model's hierarchy, under models, simply drag the alembic file onto the animation
container.
Next, insert a new camera onto the scene, move closer to the model and turn off the
floor plane.
In the model's materials properties, under receives and casts ambient occlusion, select
both and then open the ambient occlusion properties.
Set the sample radius to 1, intensity to 35%, the depth scale to 5% and the blur radius
to around 3.
The next thing we need to do is position the camera and find a good sweet spot.
Double click the scene camera and, under controls, turn on the depth of field.
Under lens, set the focal distance to around 500 and the blur to around 300.
We can start adding some color to the model so under New Layer select the Grade Layer
and head over to the effects panel.
Type in the number 4 and look for the 4 point color gradient.
Drag that onto the Grade Layer and head into it's properties.
Set the blend mode to soft light, the opacity to 70% and the color blend to around 5.
These next steps are optional, it's down to personal taste.
However, I'm going to be using the colors of the HitFilm logo and then darken it down
a tad.
But from here on, just make it your own.
You could add some subtle glows, even add in a scene light to harden the model's surface
area.
This about wraps it up for this tutorial.
I'm Tony from NXVisual Studio and I bid you a good day.
Thanks ever so much for watching guys, I hope you enjoyed it.
Leave your comments down below as to what you'd like to see next and remember to subscribe
and we'll see you next week.
A-b-bye.