Solutions for Film Special Effects

Description of Film Special Effects

The artificial illusion or hallucination created in the film is called film special effects. It is used by the film director to protect the actor/actress from being in danger, lower the production cost. Or the reason is much simpler, making the film more heart-thrilling.

Miniature models like models of human, monster, building or transportation means, they all can be used for film special effects. When it is necessary to move a model, any of the following three methods can make it: by hand, by mechanism or by electricity. However, it will take a long time to move the model by hand, because one-second movement of the model in the screen will take at least 24 actions.  

As one of the indispensable elements to the film industry, film special effects have made enormous contribution to the film development. Why special effects appear in the film or TV programs?

1. Some content or creature/scene in the film or TV is completely fictional, which don’t exist in reality, such as monster, certain planet, etc. Since it doesn’t exist, if we still want to present them in the film, we need professionals of this aspect to create and find a solution.

2. Some content or creature/scene in the film or TV does exist in reality, but it cannot achieve a certain kind of effect, so special effects are also needed. For example, there is a scene that someone jumps from the 30^th floor. In reality, we cannot ask the actor/actress to do so, so we need computer-generated scene. Besides, for scenes that can be completely presented in reality, as the cost is very high and effect is not good, they have to be dealt with special effects, like the common plane’s explosion in war films. 

Common software used in Film Special Effects

Nuke

Our industry leading NUKE range offers cutting-edge toolkits covering VFX, editorial and finishing across solutions that deliver unparalleled speed, functionality and collaboration possibilities.

Whether you're a single shot compositor or working across projects end to end, you can find all the tools you need to get the job done fast, without quality compromise, in NUKE STUDIO, NUKEX or NUKE.

2. Houdini

Houdini is flexible, powerful in helping you and your team a substantial increasing of productivity. Houdini 3D computer graphics software is designed for the modeling division, lighting division and animation division to create, including many other features including synthesis and motion editing. Houdini was developed on the basis of Prisms, which can run on Linux, Windows, Mac OS and other operating systems, is based entirely on the node model design of the product, its structure and mode of operation are very different from other three-dimensional software. The scenes created in Houdini FX can be rendered in Houdini for rendering, making it a great choice for late-stage software in the production pipeline.

3.FumeFX

New vorticity type has additional control over vortices which helps user to fine tune the final result. The highly optimized Spline Follow force field allows various special effects that were impossible before.

Built-in Black-body radiation shader and new burning model that includes Oxygen are powerful tools for achieving realistic fire and explosion animations. Sharpening at render-time will bring out maximum possible detail from your existing caches.

Features such as faster solver, advanced vorticity, new burning model, smoke and fire sharpening at render time, fields sharpening at simulation time, improved caches handling and many other will allow users to create more detailed simulations in less time.

4. Maya

MAYA is Autodesk's famous three-dimensional modeling and animation software. Autodesk claims that Maya can significantly improve workflow efficiency for development, design, and authoring in areas such as film, television, and games, while improving polygon modeling and performance through new algorithms that take full advantage of multi-core processors , The new HLSL coloring tools and hardware shading APIs can greatly enhance the look and feel of the new generation of console games, as well as more flexibility in character creation and animation.

5. Realflow

RealFlow is the definitive tool for creating flawless large- and small-scale fluid and dynamics simulations straight out of the box. RealFlow is quick and easy to incorporate into your workflow. An inbuilt help system takes you step-by-step through scene setup to completion. And of course, our rapid, personalized technical support and access to the official RealFlow forum means you never need to wait for an answer. RealFlow isn't just a fluid simulation tool – it also includes the ground-breaking Caronte, an accurate, reliable dynamics solver that can handle thousands of objects. With every standard license, you get a free RealFlow Renderkit license, which greatly facilitates and accelerates the rendering process. RealFlow also comes with free plug-ins to all major 3D platforms, as well as a wealth of free resources, tutorials, and a year of free technical support and maintenance.

6. VUE

The Vue series offers a range of solutions for 3D animation and rendering of the natural environment. The Vue series has a number of different products to meet the needs of the different classes of users: professional production studios and 3D artists.