Carrara and Fusion Compositor: So far so good ...
FifthElement
Posts: 569
A moth ago (or so) I seen someones post here that BlackMagic Design released Fusion 7 for free (limited version) and I decided to give it a whirl.
I simply love it, i'am a big fan of node based software in general ...
Used some of my previous renders, made few new ones and gave them all a "beauty" pass, lol.
Here is the final result of my learning process:
What do ya all think ?
Thanks you all for a feedback 
Post edited by FifthElement on
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Super impressive. The music is great as well.
Thanks EP, appreciate it :)
Wow, just beautiful! I don't know what Fusion did vs what Carrara already did, but I can say that looked great. Was Fusion difficult or easy to learn?
I've been using Fusion since maybe the late 90's or early 2000's. It is in many ways very different from Carrara in that it has a different purpose. That purpose is Compositing, and it is a VERY good compositing tool. It's used in many of the feature films you see.
Now, if you don't have much or any experience with compositing, it's a whole new world. And as I've said before, I find it to be the most interesting part of visual effects, and much of my background is in compositing. As with anything, you don't learn the software first, you learn about compositing. Just try starting up Fusion and look at the interface, and I guarantee you'll be pretty much like "Huh?".
If you're really interested, here's a short video that gives you a visual idea of how it is typically used in feature films, and how much of what you see on the screen is composited. Try to ignore the "corporate-speak" in the beginning, since Fusion is used by big effects houses with large pipelines of people working together, and Fusion is really good for teams of people working together like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB4H774bmbI
And by the way, here's the default toolbar you see when you open up Fusion...
Is it easy to learn? Well, you tell me :) :) :) :)
Thanks for the video link Joe, reminded me of watching some of the Game of Thrones VFX reels in seasons past.
I know little to nothing about compositing for animation, my first experience of any kind was recently doing a proof of concept on getting an animation of Carrara hair into an Octane animation, using PD Howler.
Sounds like from what the guy on the video was saying Fusion might be the kind of thing you would need to do extensive training to be able to use, and is most effective when used by a team of people? I'm still not 100% sure what it does, beyond that you can composite layers of animation together. He also mentioned particles but I didn't see much more about that (maybe some of the mist and cloud layers that were shown added in the film examples came from particles?)
By the way, the video I referenced is part 1 in a 10 part series that gives a very good overview of the tools that are used in compositing, and gives you an idea of the stuff that professional FX artists use and consider when they are doing their thing. Like I say, it's a whole different world, but IMO, the funnest part of VFX.
Another thing I want to mention about "easy to learn", I think an app like Fusion is, once you understand the basics of compositing, INCREDIBLY well designed and efficient and easy to use, especially in a professional environment. It's pretty much designed for the very complex and intricate compositions that professionals use, and it makes the "workflow" (something that is extremely important in a schedule-based professional environment where you need to get stuff done well and quickly) so incredibly easy. Until you understand the challenges of working on an intricate composition with hundreds or even thousands of layers, you have no idea what "workflow" is.. :) :) :)
Honestly, when I hear people gushing over Carrara's interface I kind of chuckle. Yeah, it's nice for what it's designed for, but compared to apps like Fusion, which is incredibly efficient and intuitive for even the most complicated tasks, Carrara is not in the same league. Nor was it meant to be.
Thanks for the feedback Jon :)
Dunno, for some reason it just clicked with me, been using nodal system in Vue and Lightwave for quite some time, probably that helped some.
Took me a month or so to get basics figured out and get comfortable with it, there is a LOTS of YouTube videos and tutorials on Eyeon's channel (previous owner of Fusion) which helped a lot as well.
Biggest disappointment was that there is not very active Fusion forum out there, one on BlackMagic site is just gaining a momentum as we speak ...
Half of the animations are not really animations made in Carrara, but rather stills with Depth, Object Index and Reflection rendered separately and used in Fusion for various reasons and then scrolled and zoomed in or out ....
Fusion has a very nice (not perfect though) Depth Blur node for adding DOF to stills and animations, IMO that alone was worth installing it :)
If any of you is interested I can post some compositions, as I am (as always) willing to share everything ;-)
I think part of the reason for a lack of active Fusion forums out there is the fact that it has been an app that is fairly limited to professional users who are working with others in a studio team environment. And in some cases their studio might even have a direct support line with the developer. That's often the case with many professional applications, and some developers charge a regular support fee for a direct line with the support folks. So usually questions can be answered by tapping your buddy on the shoulder or emailing or calling the developer's support folks directly.
Most professional studios are on strict time schedules and can't really afford the uncertainty and time delays associated with asking stuff in public forums and getting questionable responses. :) :) :)
I assume that might change, and public forums for Fusion will start springing up since it is now free to the public.
Thank you Joe for the thread. Very interesting one. It is worth a word to mention on DaVinci Resolve 11 Lite that is also free to everyone! A full package to edit the clips rendered in Carrara, adding audio tracks, give some colour tone-mapping and grading different clips to common colour scheme, rendering the movie and write to almost all usable video files. So a great professional gift to all interested in movie making. I'm personally interested in using it to tone-map or grade my stills rendered in Carrara and Thea Studio. Should it be a good idea?
Marek
5thElement, how does Fusion compare to Nuke?
:) :) :) :) :) :)
The impossible question with a million answers....
It all depends on what you use it for. IMO, there is no clear winner in that argument unless you have some particular need that one can't accomplish, or can't accomplish it efficiently. But for the average user, I don't think there's a whole lot of difference. As with most software it comes down to the guy pushing the buttons.
Personally, I find Fusion a bit more intuitive and easy to use. But others will disagree.
Have no idea, never used it, maybe someone else here knows ...
Learnt After Effects and then moved over to learning Nuke for compositing. At first Node based workflow was intimidating as I was used to layer based timelines. But now I find it frustrating and painful to even look at After Effects for compositing.
Fusion for Mac hasn't been released yet so Nuke seemed the only option for me.
Has anyone seen the size limits with Fusion, being would it be suitable to use for say a decent sized print at 300 dpi
Oh Man!
Good eye! Good mind! Good soul!
The composition of that piece had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. From the stunning modeling to the scene composition and very perfectly timed animation and fluidity of video-to-music/beat... Bravo! Sorry if I sound too... I can't help it. I just absolutely Love it! Can't say enough about it. Proud of you, Sir!
Gonna go watch it again! ;)
Whoa... how impossible would it be to go back in and have that digital clock on the table suddenly change from 12:35 to 12:36 just before it goes out of frame? LOL
Seriously man... this is really, Really good work. Su-freaking-perb, man!
Dart, thanks, man, I appreciate it, it would not be extremely hard (I think), problem is that Sony Vegas file for that project is on my other PC (whic is uninstalled and so is Carrara, only render node there now, lol), not really worth digging through all those renders and Carrara files at the moment...
Milo, there is a size limit in free version, paid version is limitless, I believe
Been using Sony Vegas Pro for several years. It doesn't have all the features of Fusion, especially effects and such.
Hitfilm 4 pro is pushing more towards become a complete package as a Sony Vegas Pro.
That is why I think it no longer has a fluid connection with Vegas, FXHome is promoting a more comprehensive application now.
I don't like the fact HItfilm continues to release expensive updates. It seems to me everytime the start to promote lower price.
Another update follows couple months later. I really don't want to be in that loop... I never downloaded the Express and it was free.
I downloaded and installed Fusion, but haven't had any "gotta learn this" time for Fusion.
My concern is whether BlackMagic will continue to release a professional quality application as Fusion which provides for simultaneous multi-users.
My idea is to wait until BM releases an update and see how they do it.
BM has alot of expensive ponies in their stable, and I don't think a free Fusion is going to influence more sales of their "Indiie" type capture cards.
BM i9s probably thinking to spread the Fusion across a wider platform of BM professional products with a flexible pricing schedule.
So, it is wait and see for me at this time.
It has been awhile since the release of Sony Vegas 13, which might be a good indication Sony is working on a vastly improved and comprehensive application.
I love Vegas, because of the efficient easy to use timeline and the integration of audio tools makes workflow so much faster and easier.
Compettion is moving in and Sony has been a competitor across their range of products for many years.
@ FifthElement: wow! A lot of time/experiments there. Superbly rendered and composited!!
@ Rampart... word on the vine is Sony will not be updating Vegas further, and the Sony Vegas Forum is up in the air about it. THere's a lot to like in Vegas, and many (including me) won't give it up. Others bemone lack on confidence in an unsupported product. Others, the pitfalls of every other alternative out there. You know... the usual.
Personally I feel years of software pirating is starting to catch up with us. Its sad to see development stop on something particularly well crafted and in some ways ingenious.
- Don
Well I am still using the free Hitfilm 3 express in preference to the next version
is easier simpler and free
otherwise I use Windows live moviemaker!!!!
I have Fusion installed
Me too. That's why I need a special FX supervisor so I don't have to loose all my hair trying to learn it.
I recently finished third in Renderosity's Halloween Animation Contest. One of the prizes I won was Fusion Studio 7. I enjoyed this basic overview of Fusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsiC4bmaWZI
I have typically used the compositing tools in my video editor (Magix Movie Edit Pro), and Particle Illusion for FX. Base on the excellent video in the original post, Fusion looks interesting enough to spend time with it. I have used After Effects, so I think I can understand it, but there's always a learning curve. Many thanks to Renderosity and Black Magic Design for a great prize. (3rd Place!)
Congratulations Steve K, I think you will enjoy using Fusion, it really is very powerful, but I guess the way to go is to ignore all the power at first and just have fun doing little things, it'll all add up eventually, would love to see soon how Fusion will impact your animation workflow.
Thanks, Dondec, took me about two months to render it all, edit it in Fusion (which I was learning on the fly, lol) and do the final video/audio mix in Vegas Studio
Thanks. As I mentioned, I pretty much stick to the AE-like compositing features in my video editor (Movie Edit Pro), together with the FX in Particle Illusion. I'm always reluctant to start another learning curve (I'm already working on re-learning Poser with Mark Bremmer's tutorials). But I'm also reluctant to leave an expensive, promising program like Fusion Studio laying on the shelf. I agree about starting out with little things in any complex software, its worked for me in Carrara, Particle Illusion, Photoshop, ...