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ORIGINAL CLIP (purchased from iStockVideo)
 
FINAL PRODUCT
 
Different Levels of Animation
 
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AfterFX SCREENS

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CREATING LANDSCAPE 
Original image felt very flat to me.  So i wanted to add some depth/scenery.  Remember your Old Artbeats Nature footage- it’s still useful for compositing & makes things better.

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COLOR TREATMENT
CREATING A QUICK SUNSET.  Place this Color Solid above ALL layers and blend it down.  I chose “Color Burn”, but whatever works best in your situation.


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ADJUSTMENT LAYER - Add Contrast
Place Adjustment Layer above ALL layers, Add LEVELS to it.  Jack the contrast and you’ll be amazing at what was once flat quickly becomes DYNAMIC!
   
Before & After LEVELS
 
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LIGHTING
Add a Light to your 3D Camera.  Helps create a Vignette Effect, and can really do some cool things as foreground objects fly by.
Make sure your layers have 3D turned on, or the light will not show up.
 
Before & After Lighting (Subtle but Nicer)
 
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FOREGROUND OBJECTS
Adding Foreground layers really makes your 3D camera move become dynamic because of the different speed it moves as compared with background.  Also has a nice effect when you have your camera DOF turn on.
 
Use Blending Modes as Needed

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ADDING MORE LAYERS (Realism)
I purchased pre-made birds in iStockVideo.  You can also create your own birds.  Sometimes it’s just worth the $25 to save you the time.
CreativeCow Bird Tutorial

Multiply Layer or key out white. I multiplied layer and slowed down footage for effect.

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LENS FLARE
Creating a realistic sun.  AfterFX Lens Flare can suffice, but I really wanted the sun to feel as realistic as possible.  We purchased an amazing plug-in from Video Copilot called OPTICAL FLARES.  This plug is incredible!  So many options and Flare FX.  This won’t be last time we use this.  You know all those Star Trek lens flares… this can create those as well.

 
I masked out tree trunk and put it above FLARE layer as to not completely blow out tree.

Before & After
   
Keyframe your Brightness to create your sunrise.
 
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WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE TECHNIQUES IN AFTERFX or FCP?