Finally! A VFX Workflow With Less Guesswork

Free tutorial assets: inlightvfx.gumroad.com/l/zeyufi
My Patreon Page: / inlightvfx
In this tutorial, I share my VFX workflow to accurately recreate the lighting of a real world scene in a 3D program like Blender. As VFX artists, we want to do as little compositing work as necessary to get VFX elements integrated seamlessly with live action footage. This workflow will help you do exactly that! I explain the best way film your footage, capture and create an HDRI, and use a color reference chart for precise results and easy compositing. I hope this video helps you take some of the guesswork out of your own workflow!
LINKS FROM THE VIDEO:
Setup ACES in Blender: • Setup ACES in Blender
ACES RGB Color Converter: acescolorspace.com/rgb
Color Checker Graphic: tinyurl.com/y83bsurv
InLightVFX ►
Instagram: / inlightvfx​
Twitter: / inlightvfx
Thanks to user "ziwerliz" on Blendswap for the amazing Dodge Challenger model: blendswap.com/blend/4046
And yes, I realize that somehow in my mind I decided it was a Dodge Charger and not a Dodge Challenger and made the mistake the entire video. My deepest apologies to the car community!
#blender #vfx #ACES

[@ian.jo_]

you’re a king and i want you to know that

[@randoguy7488]

11:20 Instead of guessing the shadows, you can use the Sun Position plugin (Built-in) which allows you to match the Sun based on the Longitude and latitude, date and time, as well as pair it with the HDRI texture

[@DingoAteMeBaby]

genius!

[@pinpointping6175]

Oooo. I was thinking HDRI Sun Aligner but with the metadata you can pull this info! This is actually pretty smart!

[@constantinosschinas4503]

He guessed everything in general. Horrible workflow. Might as well not use an HDRi at all. Especially with this clear day sky, it will not make a difference.

[@poopiecon1489]

@@constantinosschinas4503 "With Less Guesswork"

[@constantinosschinas4503]

​@@poopiecon1489 With no "less guesswork"! Subscribe now!

[@Qbanpensil]

This tutorial is very accurate .THis is the way we work in vfx at Framestore studio. Always lighting our scene with hdri's and matching color from the plate. Good job for the video.Really good

[@InLightVFX]

Glad to hear that, thanks!

[@rajendrameena150]

Now this is my good to go channel for blender VFX learning.

[@TheKorabkoff]

Gray and mirror balls are extremely useful for light reference, especially if you do not have a reference object filmed.

[@mr_sheen6942]

ive seen a lot of tutorials and people talk about hdris and this is THE most in depth in terms of colour correction

[@stim3on]

This, together with your ACES tutorial, is hands down the best explanation of how color and light works I have ever seen! Both in the context of CG work and for understanding how light and color works in general! Thank you so much for these great videos!

[@InLightVFX]

I'm very happy to hear that, Simeon. Thank you!

[@constantinosschinas4503]

think twice.

[@OnMars3D]

This was such a fantastic easy to watch tutorial. I was just researching this topic about color matching and compositing for VFX so I'm glad I came across your channel. Keep it up!

[@DucatiKozak]

Thanks for making this overlooked but vital component!

[@lgab]

This is really a vast simplification on how to use a Macbeth chart, you're only using white balance. It's also doing it in an unnecessary complicated way. There are tools available for Nuke that will analyze a chart and give you a proper 3D LUT which is what you want ideally. Also, it's a much better workflow to render out a new HDR with adjusted colors and use that in your 3D scene, no need to keep track of those gray scale values. Lastly, fine-tuning the final % is best done in comp using cryptomattes and such, not in the shaders, it's just not WYSIWYG enough.

[@Davesplaining]

Came to ask for neutral grade workflow, so interesting comment - any tutorial you know that covers the steps and best practices for it?

[@weeq326]

@@DavesplainingI’ve been looking into this as well. I found this kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y33WhKOMZcunedksi=qo7hfs_-O6QJq5Yc Basically you color balance both footage and hdri. But using ACES and color checker is easy.

[@broctonnunns280]

Not only is this one of the most in-depth tutorials, but it's also so well done and edited. I am an idiot when it comes to color and I was able to follow along! Keep up the solid content!

[@InLightVFX]

That's great to hear, Brocton! I'm glad you can take some helpful things away from it!

[@cooperclelan9761]

insane how much information is available on youtube, thank you so much for this video its so easy to follow

[@jjochum]

Thanks for yet another awesome VFX tutorial, cheers man!

[@williamlacrosse9389]

This is pure gold bro! Thx for sharing.

[@TheDragoy]

Very detailed process, thanks for sharing this.

[@snailone6358]

Straight to the point! Great video.

[@the_devil_1230]

Great video. this channel deserve more subs

[@jordaocsar]

This is gold, great work!!

[@abbyrodebaugh6634]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise!!

[@alan-db3oc]

This is well explained. Thanks a lot.

[@rossdanielart]

Thank you for doing this!

[@davidwarrenbiazon9291]

Thank you. You are an amazing teacher 🌟

[@sheraixy]

You are just simply stunning amazing!!! Best tutorial ever!!!!

[@TheRichardoboh]

Definitely deserves a like and subscribe! Excellent tutorial from Lagos, Nigeria

[@XmontyVFXx]

This is phenomenal tut! Thanks!

[@PoiTorres]

The explanation is so detailed my brain cannot comprehend I'm saving this video, I need to watch this multiple times.

[@saadullah5583]

this was mega help, need more

[@StepanHKA]

:D That intro

[@rileyb3d]

Brilliant video breakdown, thank you.

[@madlookzvfx]

You are very organized, Mr genius!

[@starlingvfx]

amazing tutorial thanks for sharing.

[@badatblender]

This is very helpful. Great job

[@user-lt6jg5nw6q]

Thanks a lot for your great tutorial! It is really useful.

[@hik.creative]

Your videos are always on point! You never miss a beat or gloss over anything. This is awesome man, thank you for this!

[@peterlames]

you can match the grey patch quite a bit faster by picking the values in the grade node. I can go more into detail if you want.

[@traderz13]

Please go into more detail

[@peterlames]

@@traderz13 kzbin.info/www/bejne/e36UdpiLeNqMas0 Just use the grey patch u want to match as your whitepoint and then use the target values as your gain. U can pick both superquick with the colorpicker tool in the grade node. No need for writing down values and matching them channel by channel.

[@mikepindara8478]

I love this step by step pipeline, and I hope it starts to become a big standardization across the board. "begins with a careful filming process" = Instantly explodes when all my clients send me a smattering of random stock video, stuff shot from their iphones, or even more likely, things shot by other companies who didn't care about the post teams while filming at all.

[@rajendrameena150]

They keep the mentality that "everything can be done in post". Even just small things from their side can save a lot , you can differentiate your package like the one who provide you all file properly and who don't by significant margin.

[@zaks7]

As a beginner, this is insane, i can't believe the amount of skill and precision it takes to be good at VFX, i have really underestimated this field. I'm excited to learn more!

[@fadhil4008]

Yeah me too. The more we learn the more we know that we understand nothing

[@zaks7]

@@fadhil4008 at least now we're on the right side of the Dunning-Krueger curve :)

[@deshrektives]

Get out while you still can.

[@tcohmemsyy]

This tutorial was vastly more complicated than it needed to be to achieve the desired result, so don't be discouraged! Look at this tutorial as a demonstration of very high-end concepts and do what works for you.

[@constantinosschinas4503]

was that good vfx? the result was horrendous, and while he advertised ACES workflow, at the and was simply guessing and eyeballing with a fake sun.

[@sidalizaafoune8743]

What amzing !!!..... Keep going with ur amizing work

[@lesser__known]

Incredible work my friend

[@mahmoud_ali_963]

You are genius. really smart workflow

[@noobmaster998]

thanks for sharing the files

[@samcraftYT]

That's a great tutorial. Visually I can understand all.

[@charlesbrain5535]

Awesome as always

[@isnotexist]

Wooooooow! Thanks a lot! You're the Best! Keep it forward! 😍😍😍

[@cyrilswayz6920]

You have a dope teaching style!

[@theworkshopwarrior]

Lol I'm finally not the only one to think Gamma = Grandma!

[@1polygonewithme]

Master Yoda is back again great quality work. Thanks for the knowledge.

[@ethaisa1239]

wow, that was a fascinating workflow, i don't know if it'll work for me but wow that was interesting.

[@corentinprovost903]

Wonderful content ! Thank you

[@AndyTanguay]

GREAT, clear information. Bravo

[@joshradmore]

This amazing! I was so stoked to find your ACES workflow videos. I haven't tried things out yet, but this video answered pretty much all of my follow up questions regarding HDRI matching. Thank you

[@CamsJungleAquaria]

We're in the big leagues now boys

[@DZMegamind]

this is the videos i open youtube for, you sir are a beautiful human being keep'em coming and I'll keep tagging along +1

[@hermandsamuel5261]

total respect

[@Tatarusdesignpictures]

yessssssssssssss you are a master , thanks guys

[@AyushBakshi]

Bro, you are awesome ♥️

[@amswil3232]

I really love your videos i really want to get to that level

[@darkdroide]

THIS IS GREAT

[@jonathangolgota]

kudos to your Video, not many people share this knowledge for FREE👍👍👍👍👍

[@artofjhill]

great video!

[@slickrick37]

Great tutorial. Thank you.

[@InLightVFX]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@CG101]

That was amazing

[@adamfilip]

Thank you. Now just got to figure out how to apply this to C4D with redshift

[@megustaonions5467]

Amazing video!

[@jerrynkumu]

Welcome back 🌞

[@polljons9848]

Thank you for continuing to do this! It's insanely exciting.

[@jalpranjal]

This was very informative

[@momenkhaled99]

very useful tutorial ...

[@Exilleron]

Holy....so much content for free... Thank you for that! I know it's not the right language, but I have some Matchmoving videos. May I can help your great work with those as well. I will definetly learn a lot from your channel. The next step in my journey is diving deeper into 3D. Good luck with your channel, I guess 1 of your Videos will take far over 50 hours to complete.

[@TheSatzy6699]

Excellent content and explanation

[@MylonasFilms]

G'day mate this is Bloody Legendary! thanks from Down Under!

[@johntnguyen1976]

This is super epic....for sure to be a bookmark I'll come back to again and again. Well done, good sir!

[@user-mm2ix1sc5n]

很好的教程，谢谢你

[@GoofyToonz]

nice! good stuff. You lost me at Nuke but I kept watching anyway!

[@InLightVFX]

Haha, I appreciate you hanging in there. But don't let Nuke stop you! You can easily apply the general concepts of the workflow in many different programs.

[@stefanguiton]

Awesome!

[@kadamin]

Maximum nice :) ThankU

[@oGrqpez]

i got to try this

[@fadhil4008]

Bro all of this Studio Production Quality Content for FREE is kind of Awesome and Terrifying at the same time. So many Competition

[@nikolaykirchev9672]

We love you!

[@vijithasenadeera7576]

good teacher keep it up

[@andreybagrichuk5365]

Ssso Nice, thank U a lot for content

[@Dk20Silver]

Thank you.

[@jonckyy]

I don't usually comment youtube videos, but this is well done !

[@thomasleclech2917]

Super simple explanations and great visuals, thank you!

[@sunyoucai]

This was such a fantastic easy to watch tutorial. Keep up the solid content!

[@investvfx]

Hi! At minute 3:38 I see that you have the OCIO option checked, how could I make this work on a BRAW video? with the OCIO option checked I get an error all the time when choosing "Blackmagic Film Generation 5" in "Input Transform". With the "Nuke" option selected it works, but the image is very dark, what happens if I check the box to the right of "Input Transform" called "Raw Data"? This way everything seems to work fine. The truth I am seeing that working in BRAW is giving me quite a few glitches, I don't know if there is a better workflow for it, anyway I love how you explain, I have watched several videos and you are very talented, I am waiting for more videos!!! Best regards!

[@ashutoshkumar-dn4nf]

keep making videos bro one day your account will surely blow up.

[@charlesleroq932]

This was a big help - the one thing you didn't make clear was saying "I will multiply these values with these other values" without explaining where you got those other values. Am I right in presuming you in fact divided the first set by the second?

[@VirtuallySerious]

This channel is hands down the best intro to 3D VFX workflows on KZbin, great work! I've been banging my head against the wall trying to get rid of the CG Sun step by using an ND for the lowest exposure bracket on the HDRI. But it doesn't give the right EV value in the metadata to properly auto merge in Photoshop with the other exposure brackets. Do you have any idea if there is a way to manually assign the EV value while merging HDRI brackets? This save so much time and make the results even more accurate.

[@InLightVFX]

Great question. Maybe this article can help: blog.polyhaven.com/how-to-shoot-the-sun/

[@dustypixels501]

It doesn't get any better than this does it! Great and very informative video. 👏

[@romantenger2328]

Very well done tutorial! The quality of your content is amazing!

[@LenzGraphics]

Wow, this video is literally perfect! I’m currently working on a short film with a few vfx shots. This is exactly what I needed. Well done Jacob!

[@InLightVFX]

Hey, Lenz! Thanks so much!

[@xXWillyxWonkaXx]

You sire just got yourself a subscriber. Love the video. Question. Is there a workflow for Cinema by any chance?

[@bram_gunst]

This workflow is amazing and not too complicated. Thank you!

[@InLightVFX]

Absolutely, happy to share!

[@sdados3725]

This is a super interesting guide, thanks for sharing! Now... what happens if they send you a mobile video clip without any info, color checker or stuff like that, and ask you to comp some 3d object on it? Is there any practice I can follow here to do things right, or in this case is just about eyeballing stuff?

[@InLightVFX]

That is definitely a more tricky scenario. At that point it helps to take visual clues from anything you can about the lights and surfaces in the scene. Look for shadows and study their direction and quality (sharp/soft). If there are surfaces in the shot with known materials like concrete or bricks, you can start by creating those first and then add lights to recreate the final luminance and color values of those surfaces. But yeah, in this case it really helps to have experience with real-world cinematography and lighting which makes it easier to identify and recreate the lighting in 3D.

[@sdados3725]

@@InLightVFX thanks for the answer! Yeah I thought so, but it was worth to check!

[@nicolaspojmaevich]

This was incredible, very well explained, why didnt you compsite everything in nuke?

[@sunbok.]

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@pinpointping6175]

Jacob, I am not new to VFX, but the way you present the information in such a (relatively) condense and timely manner, along with your ability to follow a timeline and keep a sense of progression and continuous flow of new information begging for my attention, is simply astounding, and I truly respect you for that. Bravo. 🎉😊 (PS, a guide on converting -FROM ACES -BACK to the original gamut and gamma of the footage for delivery in a non aces workflow, would be well appreciated. My current workflow for delivery conversion is not exactly streamlined. I am thinking of converting my custom INPUT IDT to an OUTPUT ODT but that will be a chore and a half. Maybe there’s a simpler way…)

[@angosalvo5734]

Thanks for this. Wondering what's the point of the whole hassle of this workflow that's supposed to be precise if one ends up adjust it colors and shadows in post?

[@Pouk3D]

I literally don't need to know any of this. It was very cool.