Visual effects (mostly known as Visual FX or VFX) is the
term which is used to represent the shots which are created during the
post-production process using different tools. This shots will be mainly the
shots which cannot be shot accomplished during live-action shooting. Directors
go for VFX other than live because it saves money and time.
To produce a VFX scene, the major tools used are the
softwares. In this post I will be giving an idea about some of the major
softwares used for VFX production.
1.
Autodesk 3dsmaxTM
This software is
mainly used for works like 3D modeling & animation. It has been used in a
number of movies, TV shows, architecture studios & game development. Some
of the popular games which was made using this software are World of Warcraft,
Need for Speed, Call of Duty etc.
Examples for movies made with this includes Oscar winning
Avatar, 2012, Iron Man, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Transformers, X-men etc.
2.
Autodesk MayaTM
3. Z
Brush
It is mainly used for digital sculpting and is rarely used
for modeling, texturing & painting also. This sculpting software allows the designers to
manipulate the digital objects (painting, giving shape & texture etc) and
create a realistic animation. This software has been used in popular movies
like The Lord of the rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers etc &
games like Half life 2, Prince of Persia, World of Warcraft etc.
4. Adobe After Effects
Adobe After Effects is a widely used post-production software.
It is used to add special effects to animation films, TV shows, commercials,
etc. We can see many scenes created with After Effects in movies such as the
opening sequence for an sci-fi film, or Harry Potter's magic spells.
5. Nuke
It is used for node-based compositing, and is used mainly in
post-production work in TV, advertising, & movies. It has been used in the
production of high quality visual effects in films like Tron: Legacy, Black
Swan, Avatar etc.
6. Apple Final
Cut Pro
It is an industry level non-linear editing software. The
user-friendly interface of this software makes it the preferred choice for
creating quality animation, motion graphics & sound inputs. It is also
mainly used in television, films, & advertising. Some of scenes created
using Final Cut Pro in films include The Cold Mountain, The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button, etc.
7. Blender
This software was developed as an in-house
application by Dutch animation studio NeoGeo and Not a Number Technologies
(NaN), Blender is a free, open-source 3D content creation suite available for
all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License and therefore
can be used for beginner level VFX producers and designers. It may not have all
the same bells and whistles of leading packages such as Max and Maya, but this
software is a great value considering what we get free of cost. Students, independents,
hobbyists and even professionals takes advantages of Blender’s tools for
modeling, rigging, animation, rendering, UV unwrapping, shading, physics and
particles, imaging and compositing, and realtime 3D/game creation. It can be
downloaded for free from their official website www.blender.org, where visitors
will also find educational materials and support, as well as an online
community of users.
So this was a small list of VFX production tools. Obviously there are
many more softwares, but these were the ones which I think are important and
the ones which is mainly used in film production and game production scenario. I
hope this helped you guys to find a tool or software according to your
requirements.
Thank you.
Informations compiled and posted by Irfan Erooth.
