imago reel 2012
Here’s a long-delayed new imago studios reel for 2012. It includes commercial and independent pieces completed both in-house and as a collaboration with various production companies.
Archived entries: Video Bits
AE64
Similarly to my 2005 piece entitled Demographix, AE64 is a tribute to the demoscene and to the legacy of world’s most popular microcomputer: Commodore 64.
While this video was created using the typical contemporary arsenal of tools (mainly After Effects and Cinema 4D), it conforms to most of the basic graphical limitations of the C64 such as a limited 16-color palette, low resolution, use of the overscan area etc. To maintain the spirit of the demo, I also created most of the effects using various scripts and code snippets, procedurally automating many of the tasks typically animated using keyframes.
Cinemagraph: Remember ZX
Not too long ago, these were referred to as simply “cool animated gifs”. These days they go by much more artsy name of Cinemagraphs.
In the picture: ZX Spectrum microcomputer, an Italian analogue sound mixer and a National TV set. Only TV still works. Image brought to life in After Effects.
PS. Yea, I just realized these are called Cinemagraphs, not Cinegraphs. Corrected the spelling throughout the post.
Reel 2011
Here is my personal reel for June 2011, featuring commercial and independent pieces I have directed, edited, animated and designed in the recent years.
Music composed by Joel Nielsen.
Macula Lutea
Recently, I have been accused of over-using lens flares in many of my latest projects. To all you flare nay-sayers: This one is for you :)
Macula Lutea started as a happy accident – I’ve been working on one of the projects and wrote a small script to control the movement of the lens flare. Due to the calculation error (my bad) the light source ended up in completely wrong spot, resulting in highly exaggerated flare on the screen. Rather than discard the mistake, I decided to pursue intentionally misusing flares and discovered an entire world of cool abstract imagery that can be created in this style.
At the same time I stumbled upon an audio track U Smile (800% Slower) in which composer Nick Pittsinger stretched and slowed down Justin Bieber‘s song U Smile, resulting in amazing half-hour ambient piece. It was also a perfect match for my visuals.
Due to the busy schedule, the project waited for completion for a few months – I have completely forgotten about it and discovered it today while cleaning up my hard drive :)
For best experience, make sure to watch this video full-screen and in HD.
Liquid Lifeforms
Liquid Lifeforms is a short experiment in Cinema 4D softbody dynamics. Visuals were inspired and edited to the audio track Beazt, created by disconnectuser (Alan Pring).
After countless commercial productions, where the result needs to feel pretty and appealing to the viewer, I felt an urge to create something a bit more disturbing. I wanted to approach the animation in the same way I would approach a live animatronic shoot. To achieve that, I constructed two rigid body robots, controlled by a bunch of randomized motors and set them lose in C4D’s dynamics engine. I then wrapped the resulting animation in a softbody, latex-like skin and run a second level simulation.
The process resulted in a creepy, realistic motion – part mechanical and part organic. I cut everything together in After Effects with some extra color correction and distortions. Enjoy!
Valentines 2011
Here comes another improvised collaboration between me and Bora. I had some more shots from the previous set and decided to put together this little cheerful St. Valentine’s day piece for all of you.
Most of the work was done in After Effects, with the exception of the 3D heart, created in Cinema 4D. With love,
Istanbul 5AM
It’s been a slow day today, one of those in-between-projects times that are too short to start a new tutorial, but too long to let it go to waste. I woke up late to the sound of cars crossing the Istanbul bridge.
I remembered how quiet and peaceful this city can be at dawn, and decided to capture that feeling. Fortunately I had quite a few great shots taken by Bora Sübakan a few weeks ago. I put on some music and started editing and compositing. 9 hours later I had this:
imago Reel 2010
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s address change, I am happy to present you with the latest reel of imago studios, closing down year 2010. Not much to talk about here – press play, sit back and enjoy.
Good Times with Xbreaker
The project I am working on at the moment kept me out of the studio for most of the time recently. While I was away though, I did not want the computers to stay idle, so I set up some calculation-intensive experiments to render during my absence. Here’s one of them.
I have come across a fantastic Cinema 4D plugin called Xbreaker created by pariah Studios. It allows you to shatter pretty much any geometry into tiny pieces with just a few clicks. Add some physics, shaders, a bit of post in After Effects – and you got yourself a nice little visual experiment.
