Render engines do not make good films


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By AutoDidact - 4 Years Ago
There seem to be alot of focus on render engine technology these days .
I am very excited to be moving to Blender's EEVEE
as my final delivery environment going foward
and KUDOS to Reallusion for making the live link plugin Free for those moving to UE4.
However Good story telling ,with well communicated narratives, do not happen in the render engine, but in the Film EDITING software.
I personally Love the  film editing process  and recently began  migrating My Feature length film project from Apple FCP( on a very Old intel mac computer) 
to Davinci Resolve 16 on my new Windows 10 machine.
 
Here is a (NON CG related ) video that has help me tremendously in making my editing descisions to support my narratives.
I hope it can help others
"Six things to make you a better film editor."
By abdul305brand - 4 Years Ago
Informative video... I find myself still using the old FCP 7. Davinci Resolve is a beast but it is on my To-Do-List.
By ultimativity - 4 Years Ago
@AutoDidact, thanks for posting this link. Welcoming any advice on improving my editing. 

Agree with your comment that the aim is Storytelling.
Imo, shot blocking, camera moves, and lighting are the Production equivalents of Post Production editing and color grading for conveying mood and evoking viewer emotion.

Rendering influences the quality of the "canvas" that can be edited in the editing program.  I am happy with the 60fps output with iClone 7. 

Many of the complaints I see concerning the iClone 7 render engine come from people whose Production and Post-Production skills need improvement.
By Clark - 4 Years Ago

I have seen in various places that some people think that Divinci Resolve is a daunting program to learn. I would like to point out that Resolve itself is very much like any other NLE and that Fairlight (the audio) editor is fairly easy to learn. The harder portion of the program to learn would be the node based editors for those that have not dealt with that form of editing. That would be the color page and the Fusion compositing page. I would suggest that anyone that is hesitant to use the program give it a try. After all, it is free and the free distribution is very powerful. Also, there is quite a bit of training material available at both Black Magic Design and on YouTube.
Fixed the spacing
By animagic - 4 Years Ago
I use Vegas for my editing and it is the part I enjoy since everything comes together.

Besides the visuals, people should not forget the importance of good sound design and choice of music (music is not always needed).

I watched my iClone-rendered "A Glint of Hope" yesterday in a movie theater as part of a program of short films. It looked good and was well received. So I would suggest to just make your movie with whatever tools you have now. 
By Colonel_Klink - 4 Years Ago
I agree with you AutoDidact, storytelling must be first and foremost whether live action, cartoon or cgi. When I fist got into digital editing the emphasis was film looks to overcome the sharpness that digital produces. Sometimes when watching a film with cgi you can see the differences because the editor hasn't taken the time to blend the gi with the fil. Nowadays with digital film making it would appear that the time honoured film look is no longer desirable... hence the reason for better rendering environments for a seemingly crisper sharper finish. Personally I like the grainy film look, and done right it can look very good. Most editing software can do that. Hitfilm has a library of film looks.
By AutoDidact - 4 Years Ago
Hi all
I am glad many found that video useful.
It made me realize my tendency to put things, in my animated shots, that are not Narratively important
in furthering the story 
But because I simply wanted them there.
As  solo animators we must be careful not to waste animation and render times on scene elements that dont really contribute to the Narrative ,or convey any new information the audience , but because we want to use some new software feature we force it in there.
@Ultimativity you are quite correct Particulary in the area of cinematic shot framing.
@Clarke I am really loving Davinci 16 thus far, particulary the fairlight Audio page with its voice enhancement tools.
and the adjusment layers are Great for nondestructive global color grading.
I Honestly Dont have much need for the Fusion page as I do My composits in After Affects and am now learning the free Natron compositor. 
By thebiz.movies - 4 Years Ago
AutoDidact (1/31/2020)
Hi all
I am glad many found that video useful.
It made me realize my tendency to put things, in my animated shots, that are not Narratively important
in furthering the story 
But because I simply wanted them there.
As  solo animators we must be careful not to waste animation and render times on scene elements that dont really contribute to the Narrative ,or convey any new information the audience , but because we want to use some new software feature we force it in there.



I think one of the most common gaffes of new 3D animation directors is using camera shots that capture all the props and assets they used in the scene (I paid for them, they should be shown off!) instead of focusing on what is the heart of the story (likely the people).  Those wide and medium shots in place of closeups not only take focus away from characters but tend to alienate the viewer who has a certain sense of what they should be seeing in a traditional story. Its similar to crossing the 180 line.  The audience may not be able to tell you whats wrong but they know something is off.