CaptainDisillusion

...Here in Duckburg.

The hurricane passed, leaving manageable damage. I and every human/animal associated with me are fine. If you were in the path of the storm, hope you're okay too! Here are some aftermath highlights:

2017-09-14 14:04:39 +0000 UTC View Post

Life Is Like a Hurricane...

Dear Patrons,

Due to the largest-hurricane-ever's path projected to travel directly over glamorous Disillusion Studios (aka, my parents' house) this weekend, we have boarded the place up as best we could.

Meanwhile, at my own home nearby, where post-production is typically conducted, I will ...

VFXcool Table Design

To set a different mood for the VFX videos, I figured it would be fun to have everything focused around a sci-fi looking table that can project whatever visuals are needed or serve as a surface for physical demonstrations. There wasn't a lot of time, so I had to use what's around.

I've had this li...

Link Updated

The video link in the early access was briefly down as I re-uploaded a small correction. Sorry for the inconvenience, if you tried to watch during that time.

But good news! It's back up, perfectly viewable in the original post:

2017-08-31 13:10:24 +0000 UTC View Post

New Video Early Access

And now for something completely different.

Tell me what ya'll think...

Final Touches

Well, my workspace is pretty Howard Hughes-y at this point and although I didn't think it was possible, my LEGS are experiencing carpel tunnel from the edge of the chair because I haven't left it much in the last couple weeks, but I will get you the new episode for early viewing by the end of the da...

The Other Side

Boy, I thought the basketball stuff last month was tough to film, but strangely, I found this month's simple sit-and-talk to be an even more exhausting shoot! It may have something to do with my decision to use a CRANE for nearly every shot. But I think we got some good stuff.

New kind of stuff......

New Video Early Access

Okay. Okay. It's... finally done. Sorry it took so long. This was very hard. Very exhausting. But here it is! Please enjoy!

Production Update

The next video is a little more ambitious than average. After filming for 2 days in searing heat and rubbing my temples at the number of VFX shots I have to complete, I can already see that, unfortunately, this ep. will end up coming a few days late, after the last of the month.

Wish there we...

NEW TUTORIAL: Seamlessly Looping Background

Hello!

Here's an EXCiting new motion graphics tutorial, which I have decided to release at a lower pledge level just because... I'm still being a bit slow with the behind-the-scenes content.

Hope those of you who work in After Effects find this 42-min step by step guide useful. Please let me...

Answering Anything

So yesterday afternoon I did a Reddit AmA - a sort of open, written Q&A session with Reddit users, talking about my videos. Lots of people asked interesting questions and I tried to answer as many as I possibly could, as thoroughly as I could. It was enjoyable! And it remains available for viewi...

'Magic of Will Tsai' Music & SFX Track

This was another densely mixed video, so I thought you might enjoy hearing it without my voice - just the sound design isolated.

I generally use a combination of original music and royalty-free stock tracks, but in one part of this episode, I briefly play the classic arcade Mortal Kombat theme mus...

Production - Quick D setup

To make life easier for whoever is available to help me film a Quick D video, I set up a little station to the side of the greenscreen. It has a laptop that runs the teleprompter and a remote handle that can start/stop the camera. There's also a video monitor near the camera, angled so that both I a...

New Video Early Access

I did it. I got this finished. Please enjoy! Before anyone else starts to!

Production Update

So the idea of this month's Quick D episode went from analyzing that card vanish GIF I posted previously (which you guys so swiftly and accurately identified as Will Tsai) -> to deconstructing the effects of all the videos on his YouTube channel -> to a study of the coin matrix trick he perfor...

Audio Gear Upgrades

I've been using the same audio interface for over 10 years, since way before the first episode of Captain D! Finally, last week, after upgrading to the latest OS, I found out the trusty old M-Audio FireWire 410 is no longer compatible at ALL. It just kept crashing my computer on startup.

So I've f...

Next Subject Video Crowdsource

Hi all,

I want to base the next Quick D episode on this Reddit post. But I wish I could find the GIF in video form and in slightly better quality.

Are any of you great at finding sources of things that are probably not keyworded in English?

Thanks!

Mr. Flare's Corporeal Form

As I mentioned, during the Mandela Effect shoot, I accidentally kicked the Mr. Flare Lamp (which has been there since the very first video) really hard, shattering it into pieces. I've searched every inch of the Internet and couldn't find another copy of this particular desk lamp. I don't think they...

New Video Early Access

Hello!

Here's this month's episode before it is unleashed unto the world on the 31st.

Please enjoy and, as always, let me know what you think... or if you spot any terrible typos or visual errors.

Happy Memorial Day, Americanos.

Production Update

Hey there,

It's been quiet due to the BIBLICAL amount of compositing I've had to do on this month's episode. It will be ~12 minutes long. A good old-fashioned shot-by-shot breakdown of the effects in a popular viral ad.

I'm rather proud of this one!

Finally finished the visuals today. ...

New VFX Tutorial

This one's for eeeeverybodyyy. I figured I'd cover something basic that any user of After Effects could benefit from.

Production Pic - Viewfinder

The monitor I normally use to see myself as I shoot Quick D green screen stuff broke unexpectedly so I had to quickly find something that would work with the SDI output of the camera. I ended up rigging a little viewfinder (with the loupe removed) on a stand. The screen was tiny but at least I could...

New Video [10 Minutes Early] Access

For what it's worth :S

Here are some...

...cats. Because it's 2:00AM and I'm just not able to finish this video for early access. I'm so close though! It will come out at the scheduled time and I'll get you guys something else as an alternate reward, promptly.

Thank you for being patient. And awesome. And good-looking.

Why Did the Captain Cross the Road?

My traffic dodging video by itself. I'll publish this following the release of the new episode on Thursday.

Approximately half the work on the episode was creating this thing. The part where the camera pans over to follow the tumbling car was actually filmed on a separate day.

New Video Early Access

Please enjoy this brand new Quick D episode! It actually is relatively quick for once.

The Editing Process...

...is all about re-examining the creative choices you've made.

BONUS TUTORIAL: Shader Setup

This portion was edited out of 'Advanced 3D Tracking - Part 3' because it was a bit off topic, but it might be useful as reference.

NEW TUTORIAL: Advanced 3D Tracking, Pt. 3

The exciting* and long overdue conclusion to the tutorial I began a while back as an overview of 3D camera/object tracking in visual effects.

We create some CG elements in Blender and composite them in AE into the footage we initially tracked in Syntheyes.

Parts 1 & 2 are here:

2017-03-09 17:37:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Production Art - Holly's Makeup

Ahead of the "Mandaellah Effekt" shoot, I texted Lauren a quick sketch (drawn on phone with finger) of how I imagined the neck makeup would be placed. On the day, she applied the silver herself and then we helped her with the black lines.

The concept behind the makeup revolved around finding somet...