Yasshad Compositing Demo Reel 2024

I would like to begin by stating that all three shots were developed from my inspirations derived from films and online images, as well as the resources I found online.

Development of Shot 1

I was inspired by both movies and real-life footage on YouTube to create this shot. I started with the main 2D elements, which were the missile, explosion and the big shockwave. I tracked the footage using Mocha Pro and then I colour-corrected the elements. Next, I integrated the other 2D elements and did the lighting individually on the elements using luma keys and 2d relight, so I have more control.

To really make things interesting, I added:

- extra dust layers and particles to make the shockwave blend better with the footage.
- the glitch effect to make it seem as though the camera was experiencing some sort of interference after being hit by the rippling shockwave.
- the camera-shake to show how powerful is the impact of the bomb.

The shadow and the camera-shake were the most difficult part of the shot, but it was totally worth it! For the shadow, I had to make it start sharper and darker at the start and less dark and blurry at the end. For the camera-shake, I had to fill big gaps of the footage. So, after lots of experimentation, I came across the "Inpainting" node, which was a total game-changer! It helped me fill it easily and look amazing. 

Development of Shot 2

I was really inspired by this theme the day I found it on my phone. I knew I had to create a shot like that, especially because I love sci-fi and romantic genre movies. After searching online for something similar, I found one on pexel. I started to rotoscope the two characters for a few frames and try different backgrounds until I found an image that seemed to fit. Then I denoised the footage using the "Denoise" node and 3D tracked it. Next I cut the background image into three different parts so that when I place them on the 3D cards, I have a nice parallax effect. Furthermore, I started to colour-correct the elements and do some more experimentation with the backgrounds because I wasn't completely satisfied. I also had to make a quick decision about it as time was running out. Finally, I added some smoke to create an atmosphere and a planet with a ring to make it look more interesting.

Finding a nice background was the most difficult part of the shot. Lots of trials and experimentation were done until I had to settle on one before time ran out. Rotoscoping the girl's ponytail tip was also very hard. So I had to use a combination of roto, a patch of the hair and a little bit of keying just to get a better extraction of the original footage.

Development of Shot 3

While searching online for some greenscreen footage, I came across the amazing open movie "Tears of Steel" site. I chose this footage because it has both fine hair details and a defocus background, which makes it a challenging chroma key shot. Since this footage had lots of grain, I did a high de-grain version to have a clean matte and a less de-grain version to retain much of the detail for the despill. Then, I extracted the matte using "Primatte" for the core matte and "IBK" for the edge matte. For the despill, I used "pxf_killspill" node for the core matte and "keylight" and "Despilltocolor" node for the edge matte. After merging it over my background, which I also found online, I still had a few improvements to do for the edges. So, I did an additive keyer. And finally, I colour-corrected the shot to my taste with a touch of light-wrap and tracked the footage using Mocha Pro so that I can match-move my background with the subtle movement of the footage.

The trickiest part of the shot was keying the defocused rope when it crosses the railing. I had to do a lot of trials before I achieved a decent key. This was the most challenging keying shot I've ever done, but it was totally worth it! I'm really pleased with the result.

Conclusion

My reel is about showcasing my abilities and my passion for compositing. I've learned so much from it and I'm excited to discover more! While I'm working hard to perfect my craft as a compositor, I couldn't have done it without the amazing CG Spectrum team and all my incredible mentors. I'm so grateful for their knowledge, help, encouragement and time.

Thanks for watching!