Customer Reviews

The Visual Effects Arsenal: VFX Solutions for the Independent Filmmaker

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I shoot science fiction films... independently, and have been trying to "break in" to Hollywood for some years now. Having a blood relative in The Industry helps (my cousin is a producer and knows people who know people), but it doesn't take you all the way. For years I've been showing him the various space operas that I have written, shot, and edited. And invariably his reactions have been only to smirk while the credits rolled and touch his face with his fingers. Next thing I know he's off to some trendy lunch spot with his USC-educated friends and I'm left eating Carls Jr. wondering what happened. What happened? Like most filmmakers in the science fiction/horror/futuristic genres, my imagination is bigger than my budget. The meteor shower at the end of my film? I can't exactly hire ILM. The laser battle at the end of Act II? It's not like I can make real explosions in my back yard. In the past I've tried other books, many other books, so many other books, but found these volumes totally arduous. Too often my ADD mind would drift away from the stiff prose and overcomplicated instructions and I'd find myself trying to "wing it" with the FX the night before a festival submission deadline. The result? Please see the smirk on my wealthy cousin's face. No matter how hard I fought, my work came out amateurish, laughable, a home movie with a very silver wardrobe. Then I crossed paths with the Visual Effects Arsenal and things suddenly changed. I found Mr. Byrne's terse, engaging style to be both educational and approachable. Mr. Byrne does not write in a language that is not English. He does NOT talk down to you. He simply tells you WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW to create realistic FX to elevate the quality of your film-work and allow your imagination an appropriate stage. With this comprehensive text in hand, I returned to my computer with hope. And just last week I screened my short, "It's Me from the Future Protecting Myself from Unseen Circumstances," for my cousin once again. This time the smirking was all mine! And when his business partner burst into his office, he didn't fumble for the remote and turn it off like I feared--he actually had the man sit down and WATCH IT! I can not thank Mr. Bryne enough for writing this book. While I'm not the Isaac Asimov of the screen just yet, I'm learning and thanks to the ARSENAL I'm growing and greatly improving. I owe a lot to this book and YOU might too...

My name is Bill Byrne, the author of this book, and I wanted to point out some of the features of this book.

The idea of writing this book came to me after having reviewed several texts, and feeling as if they were somewhat lacking when it came to inspiring the reader. I realized what gets people motivated to learn is not details of the functions of every menu item, but being shown how to take the tools of a software package and apply it to their own work. My students would often ask "how do I make explosions?" or "how do I make fire?" not "how do I use the Fractal Noise Plug-In?" or "how do I use particle generators?"

This book also addresses the issue of translating similar techniques from one software package to another. While the main focus is Adobe After Effects, each tutorial has an "Options" section where every lesson is repeated in either another motion graphics package (Motion, or Combustion)or even an editing package (Final Cut).

I also begin lessons where necessary with tips for the shoot, and how to create basic elements in Photoshop. Professionals use several software packages, and don't try to solve every issue with one tool.

Thank you for your interest in this book and I hope you enjoy it, and are able to use it for your own work.

My Review:
I found The Visual Effects Arsenal to be a very well put together book and well thought out. In fact it's organization reminds me very much of the way an advanced effects course is taught, with small/short tutorial type lessons grouped together based on theme or similarity. Many of the techniques are very similar or exactly like questions I have been asked by students in the past. Is this book designed to teach you every aspect of After Effects or the other applications Bill talks about? No, it isn't and I wouldn't recommend this work alone if you have never used the applications before. This book seems intended to provide specific solutions to real world problem that have been presented to the author at one time or another. As the name says it is an arsenal of techniques that you can use to improve your overall After Effects/Visual Effects toolkit. I think the sub-title to the book is really accurate, what you have is a book of solutions designed to help the independent filmmaker or for that matter the independent creative professional create more polished, slicker looking projects.
I myself have used After Effects and other graphics programs for several years (well over a decade) and I can say that some of the techniques that Bill shows in this book were new even to me and some were well known. I think the greatest strength of this work is the way in which he organizes such a wide range of techniques and collects them all into a single location. As with any tutorial or project based book what you will find is that not every techniques is applicable to the type of work you are doing, but I believe that there are enough of them and a great enough variety to keep everyone happy.


In the interests of full disclosure:
My name is Jerron Smith and I formerly worked with Bill Byrne (for a while about 3 or 4 years ago I think). I am in fact one of the people interviewed for the professionals spotlight section in this book (at the end of the scifi section I think). In my professional life, I declare myself an animator - editor - educator. Currently, I am working with a variety of training companies and at MTV networks in the NYC area. I have no financial stake in the success of this book. If you want more detail into the agenda of the person writing the review you can google me.