Creating your own Sound Effects

So i guess you've been wondering, why can't I make my own sound effects instead of downloading them? Also, why should I be obligated to go through the whole licensing issues and whatnot.

Never worry again. If you don't have a microphone, go get one now! For now, it doesn't matter which kind of microphone you buy, just buy one. Preferably, you should buy one with a windsheild (i know that cheap ones dont count as windsheilds, but they do their job). If you cant find a microphone with a windsheild, then buy the windsheild seperately.  The 2nd one will do, but you might need to get an extension cord

Also if you don't have a studio or you don't have a friend who owns one, chances are that you will not be able to use a big microphone because of impedance issues(the mic needs an amplifier to work).

Now that you've got your microphone, you should start thinking of what noises or sound effects you might want. You can start by making noises by your mouth, and yes, i did say mouth. Believe it or not, your mouth is a sound effects machine. If you are skeptical about such a point(as well you should be), then i will recommend that you not only record noises you made with sound effects, but to also play with them.
I recommend using one of several audio mixing programs:

• Mixcraft
• Audacity
• FL studio
• Cool Edit (Pro)

The reason that I stated fl studio is because it does have built-in mixing and layering capabilities. All of which are starred in the aforementioned applications. Pick one of the stated applications and start learning it. I recommend using FL studio because it would teach you most of the stuff that you would need in creating soundtracks or music for your film, so it's like taking out two birds with one stone. 

To get started you might imitate the sounds of guts flying around by making nasty sounds with your mouth(The sort of noises that you used to make when you were a kid). And you might do some grunts or shout noises if you want. The point here is that you can do a lot of things with your mouth, but you just need to experiment and improv.

The next step is to try making some gun noises or explosions. What you can do is get some random firecrackers and start blowing them off near your mic(just make sure that there aren't any wind/unwanted noises while you're recording). To create a huge explosion, you might record a firework and then layer it with other firework noises and slow it down a bit in the end.

Yeah, sure that the sound effects you might create using such a microphone wouldn't have top-notch quality, but it's a great way to start if you want to get through the licensing issues and creating the sound effects you specifically need.

Tripod Tip + DIY'ing

Yeah, sure that the tripod is used to make stable, stationary shots used in opening scenes, cutaways, etc. But it doesn't matter which tripod you've bought, as long as it's more than a meter and a half in length, you can do a lot of things with it. For example, you can do short dolly shots with it by raising one of it's legs and rotating the tripod using the other two legs, but while you rotate the tripod, you should use the handle to counteract to the unwanted rotation. It gives a pretty convincing result, and it ain't bad(as it's free) If u didn't understand what i have just written, then this simple illustration should hopefully will :

Remember: you can always experiment with a lot of stuff; depending on your tripod and what kind of features it has, you can experiment with them to get what you want and more out of em.

There are a great deal of DIY gadgets you can make by yourself; just check out instructables.com and search for camera related stuff (rigs, dollies, etc) They tell you how to make everything step by step and what materials you require, so even if you dont get what materials do they need, just print out he materials page and give it to your local hardware store employee (he should understand it if he knows english). If no, then google translate is your sole companion.

Making a successful game

Every day, there are a lot of games out there that we can agree that have huge GOTY Potential. And we all have different tastes and likes in a game, also ideas that seem perfect fot those certain games. But there are things we must consider, or never overlook. Of course, it's not necessary to add all of these, but these are qualities that simply can affect the game in a positive way. These things, obviously will impact the player. 

1- Emotional Characters

In every game that gave you an impact, there was always a character that merged with you and have strong feelings for that character. Whether it may be a friend of the main character or relative, this character always seems to be the one to make you laugh, cry, etc. And after a few moments through this character's life, your emotions seem to change. This character usually gets you more into the game more than the main character. Most of the time.

2-Variety of Choices & Weapons

Games that gives you large amount of choices, usually are one of the best games. Why? It gives the player more freedom rather than giving him a story that it's already Linear, or that has little choices. With a huge variety of choices, the outcomes can be different, and make the player get more interested in another playthrough. With many different choices, comes different stories. Plus with different Unique Weapons, the player's experience will obviously change.

3- Opening his world

Games with big maps usually are those that give players more freedom to explore it. With many awesome Landmarks and Missions, the player feels that a whole new world is there for him. Although the player can get lost, he will find his way out eventually. And to fix the whole lost problem, developers should give the player a map of the area, that is accurate. But when huge places like the map above are created to explore, there's no telling what could lurk in every corner. This builds up the Player's suspense and curiosity.

4- Need for Multiplayer?

Let's face it, the Online Multiplayer usually boosts up more than 15% of the Replay Value of a Game. While others play with friends, others want to take out the rest of the world. There are great Single Player games out there that has no need for a Multiplayer, but adding one expands it's audience to buy the game. While a lot of Gamers don't like the Online Community of some games, we cannot deny the fact that thanks to this, the game is one of the most sold games out there.

5- Customization

Giving the ability to create their own character, obviously will want him to experience his story. While in other games you cannot customize your character, they usually have one or more of the things listed above this. But when you give players the ability to create their hero, it's like watching the life if his son. This boosts up their morale and their will to finish the game.

6- A Story they will never forget

More than 60% of the players that buy a game, it's for the Story. If the game's story is bad, they won't bother playing it again. If it's good, they either want more or keep playing the story. Just like TV Shows and Movies, there has to be a story that attracts their attention. Otherwise, no one will watch.

7- Awesome Dynamics & Gameplay

I'm not gonna lie. Gamers like awesome Dynamic Effects and Gameplay. This will increase the Replay Value more than you think. While I love blowing up some melons in Resident Evil 4, the gameplay is just peachy. 

All of the things displayed above combined makes up for #8

8- A reason to play

You can't give a player nothing and expect him to play the game. You must obviously give him more than one reason to play the game. While games have their Online MP modes, others have their SP modes. But each thing has their Reason to Play. While each game has their own reason, it attracts their Target Audience, no matter how you look at it.

But most importantly, All of the things above this will boost up #9

9- Replay Value

Replay Value is extremely Important in a game. A game without Replay Value usually is because there's nothing to do, nothing good or not a lot of things you could do. When you mix everything all together, it will boost up the Replay Value and give it a huge potential for GOTY. 

Mohamed Gamal,

Color Correction + New Video

Color correction / grading is a common term used in the film industry and is know to everybody who has come across filming or photography. Basically it's improving the look or bringing out specific colors in a shot or scene. It isn't about making the shot look fancy; no, it should also attract the viewer to what the director/cameraman wants & also to set a specific mood. Examples are written below...

In After Effects you mainly use an adjustment layer that is overlayed over the original content. And that adjustment layer would, traditionally, contain several color "tempering" effects. You can increase the Brightness/Contrast, tint, levels, etc of the layer to match your needs. All you have to do is to keep experimenting with different presets.

For instance, if you want to set a calm mood to your video, you should apply a blueish tint and play with some leveling . And if you're color correcting an action short, you should intensify the colors(also add a brownish tint), but don't over-do it so the content wont loose it's level of quality/ be too distracting. I concur that the above screenshot may show a little being overdone, but it was made to prove a point.
Don't over-do color correction; hence, you can ruin your film and could possibly make it too distracting to view in some of the shots.

Me and a couple of friends made our first live action film! its not that we don't do short films, its because its our first time of doing a "live action" vid. We did numerous videos before but we had no time to either finish it or upload it on the interwebs. Anyways, the short feature was shot with a really simple digital camera in really low quality, so the color grading was a bit tedious to me.

Anyways, here is the video:

If it doesn't show up then here's its link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqGaME4yf-s

Getting your Assets Together

Once you have learned how to use after effects, you should gather assets that would be vital to the kind of film(s) you are making.
For visual elements (2D) you might check out Detonation Films, they have several pages with stuff that are totally free to use. They mainly do(as you have guessed from the name) explosion, smoke, and fire footage(and more still) their free stuff is suitable for use in starter films.
Also, there are two more sources for free footage if you need any:

• http://alpha.publicvideos.org/
• http://beachfrontprod.blogspot.com/

I'm in no way endorsing the aforementioned sites.
You might find that some of their elements are not keyed properly, or don't have transparent backgrounds(alpha). If you do, then tint the background with a specific color, and then key that color with keylight in after effects, I'll soon post a tutorial on how to do all of this basic stuff.

Whether it's visual or aural elements you are going to incorporate into your film, you should be wary of licensing and copyright issues first. Don't just go and download anything that might seem to be free. Always check the license attributed to that file. Here is a list of Main Creative Commons Licenses:

• Public Domain Dedication (Totally free for use, remixing, etc)
• Attribution Non-Commercial (You Must attribute the work to the author, and u cant use this commercially, suitable for projects, practice ,etc)
• Attribution-ShareAlike(You can use the work in a commercial way, as long as u credit the author)

These are the Main Licenses, u can check the rest on here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

And if you're not experienced with editing sounds or creating soundtracks, then don't worry. You can get free sounds and use them in your project if you want. Two great sites that allow you to do so are:

• http://freemusicarchive.org/curator/CCcommunity/
• http://www.freesound.org/

You have to sign up first, but this site is really good for what it is. But dont forget when you download something, always check if the attributed license would fit your needs or not.

A Film Maker's Approach

Doesnt matter how much of a budget you have assigned to your upcoming film or short feature. But what matters most is the way of filming and the techniques involved in both the filming & post-editing processes.


First of all, your short should be based on a creative idea or two. Go for a brainstorming session with nothing but a paper & pen in front of you. Also, reach for the skies, literally! Go with your ideas to your furthest imaginations and fantasies. If u catch an idea, start thinking of better ways to improve it. Think to yourself, for instance : "What if said character was resurrected from the world of the dead ? ". Of course such a thing would, most of the time, change your story-line completely. Keep thinking with ifs and hows and whys... If that makes sense.

Also , you should make your story-line as simple as possible, and you should try to keep the number of actors down. This would ensure simplicity and would give you more time to think about other important aspects of your short film.

So you've got your idea, Good for you! Now its time to implement it. Start thinking of it this way: Is it better to enter in the middle of the plot and then layout the beginning or climax later on? Or should you start off with a calm beginning and then escalate everything quickly? There are endless options; see what you go with easier and use it to your advantage.

Organize your shots by drawing "page breaks" or lines. Prematurely decide which angle would you like to shoot the shot with. Don't worry if you cant do this step properly, it all comes into play when you actually start shooting. Draw the positions of your character(s) as well as the camera's. If there is a lot of moving in one shot, indicate them with arrows .
A not-so-good example of how a shot block should look like:

MC: Main character
BC:Bad Character
In the above shot, the BC is shooting at the MC while he's moving through cover. Also, the camera is following the poor MC in a sideways fashion. Feel free to interpret this as a kid's puzzle-piece :D...

How many characters you've got? Get your friends to play the roles of your characters. If you cant find anyone who can act, shy, or even refuses to get into the role, then look for more! There should be a friend or two out there who are interested or at least would like to give a little hand. After you have found your actors/actresses, you should tell them the exact date of filming/shooting so that all of you would be able to film it in one go...

Go with friends that help you in at least one of the aspects of film-making, it's much better and would help you in a lot of ways.

Depending on your idea(s), you should be able to film and finish post editing in 2 weeks or less, if you take more, then don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon enough! :)

PS: I'll post a few tutorials on starting out with building both your virtual  & aural assets to use in the post editing process. I will go over some filming/camera techniques as well.

Setting Yourself Up...

Remember, you dont have to be a professional computer user to be able to use programs such as Adobe's after effects. While it helps to be one, it shouldnt stop you from indulging yourself in the epic world of visual effects. Also, many great visual FX artists nowadays were self-taught. And a lot didnt have the the need to enter a film school or the likes...
If you're intending to pursuit a career in the aforementioned aspects, then you should put in mind that you need to teach yourself AT LEAST THE BASICS.
And nowadays its been made ever-much easier for us by this huge information heap called the internet.
And even if you're not going to pursuit a career in such things, at least inform yourself with info that would definitely help you a lot afterwards, whether in your career or your personal life.
Here is a list of programs that would start you up in a good way:

• Adobe's After effects (CS 6, current version)
• Autodesk 3Ds Max (2012-2013)
• Autodesk Maya  (2011-2013, No noticeable differences)
• Blender ( I stopped using it, for moral reasons :P)

Wait, what!? Now you're saying that I have to learn how to use a complicated 3D program!? 

Yes, but you dont need to right now; You better start up with using after effects then you'll have an incentive to use a 3D program, believe me, u will. 

And here is another tip: Learn Maya! You know why!? Because it really helped me, and whether you are going to use it in designing games or movies, this application gets the best of both worlds! It really pays off and thus i recommend it greatly.
Also, u might want to check out another program called Zbrush that allows you to sculpt models in real-time if you're not handy with modelling ...

Remember there are student versions available for Autodesk products, just create an autodesk an account and choose your educational status. Zbrush is the worth buying if you ask me, saves a lot of hassle.
All of these programs can be learned through watching tutorials, which are available on youtube.
You might also use the online manuals(and no, they're not wordy) of Autodesk Products to aid you in your learning process. Also, Zbrush has a forum or two along with the official website help material.

Don't worry if you are for any reason, you are unable to learn these, you can always settle for one thing; see what you go along with easier(try them) and the use them according to your needs. Learning the basics of after effects now is pretty sufficient, and remember cs 6 has enhanced 3D rendering functions, so you can do a lot more stuff in 3D now(nice, eh?)...

Welcome!

Hey there! This blog will hopefully guide you to the great world of visual effects(CG &2D) & film-making.
Tips and tricks will be given here for starting filmmakers, also Ill show you numerous DIY gadgets that you can build for cheap to aid you in filming. I will explain the various common shots used in filming. And whether you are shooting documentaries or live action films, I'll also show you the techniques suitable for each style of film.
I'll also post basic screenwriting tips and later on I'll hopefully provide you with templates that fit the bill.
Tips and tricks for film-making will be posted here as well...
Remember, Film-making is pretty fun, and you can experiment with endless things, literally!
I wont only focus on film-making, Ill show you how to get yourself shots that would help you in the post editing processes. For instance, if you are starting out with a normal, SD-quality digital camera(and there is nothing wrong with that) then you should not consider using CG or 3D elements within your shots. And also what to do if you want to do night shots or even if your film would be based on a night setting. It all comes into play when you actually start to think & Implement. Sure there are basic guidelines to filming, but you can expand those boundaries with your imagination. If you are just starting up, then you most probably will have some trials & errors along the path of learning. Don't worry, I'll show you exactly how to do these things. And as for buying camera-related equipment, don't! Just not now, you'll be able to build your own and will learn how to use them without having to actually buying them. This method will really help you onwards and it will really pay off later on.What you can buy is a tripod, but don't invest into on heavily as you will need the cash later-on.

Remember, you don't have to enter a film school or a specific course to become a film-maker. No, at all; a LOT of people are self taught. And my job here is to help you with that.
My friend will also post some game-design articles here every now & then in the same blog.
Additionally, I might do a few tutorials every now & then.
Any requests are welcome.

Requests can be sent to : nja.4rtist@live.com