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Compositing 3D into Video in Maya and After Effects

by Chris Glick

In this tutorial we'll learn how to take the output from a motion tracker app into Maya, import a 3D model to light and render, then jump into After Effects to composite it with our original footage. Software required: Maya 2010 and After Effects CS4 and up for project files.

What you'll learn

In this tutorial we'll learn how to take the output from a motion tracker app into Maya, import a 3D model to light and render, then jump into After Effects to composite it with our original footage. We'll begin the tutorial by setting up our motion tracked scene by adding the original footage and aligning everything to make working easier. We'll then bring in our 3D object and learn how to place it in our scene. We'll then learn how to create ground geometry and match the lighting in our original shot. We'll then create multiple render passes and layers to make compositing much easier. After we render, we'll jump into After Effects and learn about such topics as shadow matching, color matte usage and various techniques to match our 3D render with our live action back-plate. The end result of this course will be a final color corrected shot of our 3D object in real life. This tutorial will illustrate an example of how to use Maya and After Effects together to integrate a 3D model into live-action footage. This will allow us to place our own 3D models into real environments easier. Software required: Maya 2010 and After Effects CS4 and up for project files.

About the author

Along with creating and recording training, he also used to manage the support team and work closely with the production development team at Digital-Tutors, now a Pluralsight company. He began his career working freelance and quickly realized that he wanted to find a company where he could use his talents to help people succeed in the CG industry. Chris has likely watched more Pluralsight creative training than anyone on the planet, and its evidenced by his Einstein-sized brain and encyclopedic... more

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