How to film a KNIFE THROW effect! (After Effects Tutorial)

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Steve Ramsden here with DIY Moviemaking and this week we are making a dangerous-looking knife throw - like in an action movie - using visual effects!
So in our scene, a character throws a knife and very narrowly misses someone else and it hits the wall. Obviously this would be very dangerous and difficult to do for real, so instead I’m going to show you how to create it using visual effects - ne shot with the bad guy throwing the knife, the camera does a fast whip pan, and then we see it narrowly missing the good guy and hitting the wall near his hand.
So my plan was to shoot the shot without the knife and work out a way of adding it in later. Using VFX for this shot is not only far safer - because you should never use real weapons in your film without a professional armourer - but the best thing is you can decide exactly where the knife will land on the wall in advance, and you can make it look like a real knife comes as close to your actors as you want.
We picked a mark on the wall for the point where the knife hits, which is basically where my hand is until is moves out of the way just in time.
So to get this shot, basically all you’ve got to do is time a ‘whip pan’ so that when the first character pretends to throw the knife, the camera moves quickly to the other character, who moves out of the way just in time. The camera move took a few tries of course, and we simply kept doing it until it got better and better.
Once we got one that we thought looked pretty good, the only other thing we needed to film was the knife. Now some filmmakers would create a CGI knife for this, but if you’re on a low budget there’s actually no need to do that, we can film the real knife in all the positions we want it to move in, and then chop it out and combine it with the other shot. So, for this I taped the knife to a piece of cardboard and then basically got a reference shot, where I slowly walked through the positions of where I wanted the knife to move, and rotated the cardboard as I went. The best thing about this is the perspective and all the reflections are correct and match the real location. You’re not going to have to work hard to make the knife look like it was there on the day - because it was, it just wasn’t being thrown.
Finally we filmed a couple of extra shots to set up the scene, showing the bad guy cornering the good guy. And most importantly, we got one shot of the bad guy raising the real knife, as if preparing to throw it. This will make the viewer’s brain think a real knife has been thrown, because we’ve just seen one.
So if we head into After Effects, first we’re going to import our shot with no knife, and our shot with the knife, and put the shot with the knife on top. Now we need to speed up this knife movement, so for this we can right click and select Enable Time Remapping. Now we can drop a keyframe at the start and one at the end, and then move the one at the end closer to the start. This will speed up the shot and you can find a speed that works by turning the opacity down halfway so you can see the other shot underneath. I actually exported this speeded-up version of the knife shot at this point to use instead of the original, just to make things simpler.
Now we need to cut out the knife from its background. For this you can use the Pen tool to draw a mask around the first frame of the knife shot. If you change the mask setting to ‘None’ this will make it easier. Then by adding keyframes, you can adjust this mask for the other frames. Then change the mask back to ‘Add’, and you can see the result - the knife is completely cut out from the speeded-up shot.
Another way of cutting out the knife would be to use the Roto brush, where the program tries to cut out a moving shape automatically, but I didn’t trust it to get the knife shape right, so I used the masking method. And another method would have been to use a green or blue screen behind the knife and try removing this using Keylight, but I didn’t want the hassle of a load of green or blue reflections all over the shiny knife, so again this is why I chose the masking method.
Now we can change the position of the knife - and line it up to start in the hand of the bad guy character, and end in the correct place which is our mark on the wall. Tick ‘Motion Blur’ on the knife level or add the ‘Radial Blur’ effect - if you set the centre to the middle of the knife and change the type to ‘Rotate’, this will blur the knife as if it is spinning. So if you follow all these steps you should end up with a fun result like I did here, for your next action film project…

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Want to get inspired to make your own film? Watch my free webinar here: My Top 10 Tips for making your passion project on a budget 😎www.diymoviemaking.com/pl/2147593183

[@AndresMagnone]

Damn, the cardboard idea is SO SMART!!! I wondered how you´d done it since you can see the lighting and perspective change perfectly, I thought you´d shot it for real without yourself at the end and comped it over the other one or if it was a 3D model or something. This way it´s so much easier and faster, so simple but so effective!

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Many thanks!

[@user-cp3rw4zj3r]

I tried same effect with CGI: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4XKeZWal6tjn7csi=wVzTT-IyEPq1Yt6X

[@heckensteiner4713]

Awesome tutorial! I love hybrid practical/digital effects like this. The knife feels real because it is real! Especially as its flying through the air. One step further would be switching to a real knife in the wall since that's the moment where it's the least convincing. Great job!

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Yes definitely

[@user-cp3rw4zj3r]

I tried same effect with CGI: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4XKeZWal6tjn7csi=wVzTT-IyEPq1Yt6X

[@craig_bacon]

If green/blue screen does not work due to glow, you can use matt black cloth, and then in AE you can duplicate layer, do simple mask around the cloth square, and crunch the brightness levels so the knife is white and the cloth is black, and then that layer can be used as a Luma matt. saves a lot of masking time.

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Yes for sure, another good method

[@RajPhotoEditingMuchMore]

Amazing! 🔥

[@sanjais905]

You are brilliant. Keep doing these kind of tutorial bro. Love from 🇮🇳India

[@9StudioProductions]

I want to thank you for what you do man. I purchased your after effects course and it is amazing. Your teaching style is waaaaay better than most. I knew a good bit of it already but man, the stuff I didn’t know, you simplified it and made it make perfect sense. Thank you again for what you do✊🏾

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

So great to hear! Many thanks and glad to help 👍

[@onuohapaschal4058]

Can I have the link to your tutorials?

[@davidconnellan6875]

The off side throw will save on the effects . They used to do that with bow and arrow shots in the old western. Wip pan and the arrow goes wide

[@James68257]

Please keep making these effects tutorials! They are so good and inspiring. Most other tutorials are way too expensive to pull off, but you are able to make some amazing effects on a budget!

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Great to hear! 👍

[@user-cp3rw4zj3r]

I tried same effect with CGI: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4XKeZWal6tjn7csi=wVzTT-IyEPq1Yt6X

[@BuckitBoys]

oh my god this tutorial is soooo good for people that dont need the full run down thank you so much!!!

[@MrSottho]

So simple, so cheap yet so effective.

[@carstenkoloc5226]

You’re an very good example for great moviemaking. Thanks for this clip.🎥🎞🎬😝🚀🥁😎

[@AllThingsFilm1]

Excellent tutorial. What I love about your VFX tutorials is that they are so clearly explained that I can create them using DaVinci Resolve and adapting the techniques to Resolve's tools. Thank you.

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Great to hear!

[@RobVanElven]

Great channel. Love your creativity and problem solving. 💪

[@usmantvvlogs6852]

Great work dude!

[@Aiden_King99]

I've never thought of using cardboard as an alternative to a green screen. Fascinating. I've done shots with a green screen in some old stop motion animations I made years ago and I had the reflection issue cos the figures I used were a shinier plastic. Cardboard masking is genius. Speaking of which, I know you are more of a VFX guy but if you any tips on making miniature film sets, I'd be super interested in a video about that. After seeing some videos of yours about using miniatures, I've been wanting to start using them more but not too sure where to start.

[@arafatproductions]

Those videos are really helpful for who want to make movies or short action videos.

[@ChekwubeIsaac]

Brilliant 🙏

[@lbreait]

Nice work you're very good at what you do thank you❤

[@erobertfie]

Really terrific. Thanks

[@VinnieCamilleriMusic]

Brilliant!

[@kgtothea]

This is awesome

[@pkwheels88]

Great Editing 🥰🥰

[@rubenkelly2971]

Great tutorial and a very impressive result!

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Thank you!

[@vimalvincent1]

Very nice tutorial -'from INDIA'

[@PipCritten]

Great tutorial as always. Many Thanks.

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Very kind

[@rahulraju9826]

awesome!

[@22carmoon]

I love the expression on the older man when he misses.

[@AdamCeladin]

Very cool, i can do that only without special effects :P

[@olespushkaruk8961]

Best tutorialER))

[@sebadabdul3848]

Nice work

[@Pauldjreadman]

Knife on a slice of card reminds me of the floating pen sequence in 2001 :)

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

same here!

[@jameshughes7947]

Another fascinating tutorial! The foley's not quite there IMO - a thin dart going into a cork dartboard makes a more pronounced sound than this, but still so enjoyable to watch and the end result looks amazing.

[@kingofbollywood7386]

Great!

[@tagalogdub2481]

Woowww thank youu!!

[@rappeezy]

GOAT!

[@jkimovies]

You are so amazing your VFX is amazing

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Very kind

[@josephineodanga-pv9hl]

Nice bro

[@NiceToon]

good work

[@NemanyaIam]

Very great shot. It's impressive how it was done with few simple clips and on low budget.

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Absolutely!

[@user-cp3rw4zj3r]

I tried same effect with CGI: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4XKeZWal6tjn7csi=wVzTT-IyEPq1Yt6X

[@fredbaffour9970]

You did well 👍✔️✔️

[@ranger51262]

Hollywood needs to take lessons from you

[@truvu6238]

very good, thank pro

[@GAMER4LIFE4]

🔥

[@usef_kd]

Cool

[@MMaruf-fg5xz]

Finally 😀

[@MSFILMARTS]

Nice

[@FekLeyrTarg]

A very interesting one. 🙂 Regarding the masking of the knife: Would it also be possible to invert the colors of the knife shot, chroma key it and use the result as a matte? I recall the same was done for Denis Villeneuve's Dune.

[@colescanlan]

cool

[@the.KRITARTH]

Hi sir , I am from India. I am 17 years old and my dream is be a flim director. I have seen your videos daily. nice video. thnx 😍

[@nikilancho5583]

All the best for the upcoming director ✨

[@Jeethstudios]

Can you do a stubbing scene tutorial.. pleaseee

[@blendafter]

Miss you brooo....

[@vtrailer-movies]

Thanks for that. What app are you using

[@35milesoflead]

Just wanted to say that I spotted you on Ramsey's future food stars the other week. Hope he wasn't as sweary with you! The thing is, I couldn't remember your name, only your face and the fact you had a KZbin channel discussing filmmaking.

[@hoodaud]

Can you breakdown Dmitry Volny seamless transition video into your next content please? That's was mind blowing video transition to know how to make.. thanks.

[@jeremybarlow2291]

I think taping the knife to a fluorescent green construction paper or cardboard may have worked as well as the pen tool without reflections for a green screen and garbage masked combination.

[@ikhfarakmaltu_tsranimates4472]

I have a request, Tornado Vfx tutorial please?

[@InterPixelYoutube]

That is genius, how you figured out you could just take pictures with the reference shot with the moving camera

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Many thanks

[@Rexyy-bx7ei]

can you like also make kapiwing clone and knife throw effects on kapwing please? also because i am in a chromebook

[@barry_wcomedy1715]

Pls which app is best for beginners or for editing

[@Yungadexvisuals]

I really do want to learn AE. I only work on premier pro 😢

[@MoorishMade]

Excellent!!! What motorized head do you have on the tripod?

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

It's just being moved by a person 😂

[@MoorishMade]

@@SteveRamsdenKZbin seriously? 🤣 well they’re pretty good at it.

[@tomwilson1006]

I was just gonna ask the same question bcuz I thought it was motorized too! 🤣🤦🏼‍♂️

[@markanthonymagbayao7656]

what editor did you use?

[@SavageCam_YT]

Do you have any films out???

[@basantkumar6715]

How to strike electric wave on 3D camera in after effects

[@brenmurphy]

Any reason why you wouldn't stick the real knife and in wall and mask it out until it it was meant to be there? Also, yes the cardboard idea is genius.

[@mkdonzcomedy]

Please 🙏 how to download this app on my pc

[@jrgamer3464]

waaaooo

[@thomasbasu]

Is you're dad? who is bad guy role in picture 😂😃

[@patsimon6136]

your actor looks like Tom Wilkinson..😉👍

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

I will pass that on!

[@patsimon6136]

@@SteveRamsdenKZbin he was marvelous..!!😉

[@viccsi]

even with professional armorer it can go wrong . . .*cough cough*

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

Absolutely... all the more reason to fake weapon scenes

[@viccsi]

@@SteveRamsdenKZbin I 100% agree :O

[@David-cz7mm]

Why not putting the knife on a green cardboard? 🤷🏽‍♂️😅

[@SteveRamsdenYoutube]

As I say in the video, to avoid reflections 🙂

[@johnbennett2941]

I love throwing knives at people!

[@zaredgoerdel8311]

Promo-SM 😂

[@SavageCam_YT]

( ima try this with a real life ( JK )

[@squidwardtentacles7069]

Is the "bad guy" your father?

[@SeanBreathnach]

Brilliant!