HitFilm Express - Best (Free) Editor Ever!

If you haven't heard of HitFilm, well, I don't blame you. I didn't hear about it either until very recently. I was tasked with creating certain samples (or previz) for a video, but I had to create it using free tools. Enter HitFilm.

What is HitFilm?

HitFilm Express is a free video editing software for Windows and Mac. There are many on the market, but this particular editor just so happens to be professionally built. That's what makes it stand out from the rest of the market. It's not just an editor, but an editor and compositor combined! As you're editing your video, if you happen to need motion graphics, just create a new composition, fiddle around until you're happy, and insert it directly into your editing timeline! It's that simple!

Interface

The interface looks very familiar to the Adobe collection, a combination of Premiere and After Effects, to be precise. In fact, several of the keyboard shortcuts are exactly the same (like v for the Move Tool). 

Pricing

What I really like about HitFilm is that they have various different pricing options:

• HitFilm Express: Free + optional paid plugins
• HitFilm Ignite: $199 for over 140 plugins (for use in your favorite NLE)
• HitFilm Pro: $349 for software + HitFilm Ignite
• HitFilm Studio: $649 for software + HitFilm Ignite + Stock content (31.8 GB)

The optional paid plugins for HitFilm Express can be purchased from within the software, or online. There are 14 different add-ons available, with prices ranging from as low as $10 (for the starter pack) to $100 (for Particle Simulators, or 3D Model Toolkit).

HitFilm Ignite basically a large collection of (140+) plugins (created by HitFilm) for you to use in your favorite software. It's compatible with Ae, Premiere, FCP, Motion, Vegas, DaVinci, and Nuke.

HitFilm Pro comes with the basic software, HitFilm Ignite, as well as some extra plugins, like Mocha hitfilm.

Hitfilm Studio is a big package. It contains HitFilm Pro, Hitfilm Ignite, Sony Catalyst Production Suite, and a collection of stock content. The stock content contains gunfire, flame throwers, ground hits, and more, and is available in 4K, HD, and 120fps. 

Sony Catalyst Production Suite contains Catalyst Prepare and Catalyst Edit. The Catalyst Production Suite is used for preparing, organizing, and ingesting video into your NLE workflow. This package can be purchased separately from HitFilm for $399 if needed, or as a part of HitFilm Studio.

Who is it for?

From amateurs and enthusiasts to professionals on a budget, HitFilm is suitable for everyone! If you're just getting started with videography, and want to try our your skills, this is a perfect place to start! It provides a professional interface and platform, free of cost. As your requirements grow, you can purchase add-ons as needed. If you're a professional, and need to edit on a system that doesn't have a professional NLE (like I had to), then this is a wonderful substitute. If you're a professional indie filmmaker, considering HitFilm for your production, HitFilm Pro / Studio have amazing functionality. HitFilm truly is for everyone.

Now, if this is your first time using an NLE, then there might be a steep learning curve, but that's true for any professional editing software. Personally, I don't have to worry about that.

Personal Experience

If you're used to working with Adobe Dynamic Link, you're going to love HitFilm. You can edit and composite within the same software! Just fire up a new composition, do what you need to, and throw it onto a timeline! Not what you were looking for? Go back in, make the changes, and get back to the timeline! The integration is just brilliant!

I had a wonderful time working with HitFilm Express. I fired it up, and the interface looked instantly familiar (I'm used to an Adobe post-production workflow). I took a while rearranging my workspace the way I liked, looked through the manual for a few critical shortcuts, and that's it! Within half an hour, I felt very much at ease, and was working like a pro!

visit hitfilm.com for more information

Portable Multimedia Suite III - GIMP

What is GIMP?

Okay, I'm going to get straight to it. GIMP is an open source image manipulation program (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It's a free alternative to Photoshop. I have recently been working on a project using nothing but free softwares, and naturally, GIMP is one of the first tools that I fired up. It's really good!

Who is it for?

• Artists who can't afford Photoshop
• Artists who have Photoshop, but can't access it
• Amateurs interested in getting into image editing

Why use GIMP:

• Cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux)
• Easy to adapt to/from Photoshop
• Supports Layers, Layer Masks, custom patterns and many other useful features
• Supports reading PSD files
• Supports scripting in C, C++, C#, Python, Perl, and Ruby! Ironically, no JS, VBS, or AppleScript - the 3 languages that Photoshop supports :P 
• Does pretty much everything you'd expect from a professional image editing program
• Offers plenty of documentation, and there are loads of 3rd party learning resources
• It's free!

The Issues:

• Personally, I find the shortcuts to be crazy
• Cannot select multiple layers at a time. So, if you're grouping layers, you have to create a folder, and put one layer in at a time.
• When moving layers with your keyboard arrow keys, you need to select a layer, and click on the canvas before moving. Otherwise, the arrow keys are used to select different layers.
• Creating a layer mask opens up a menu asking you to select what to fill it with (full white, full black, use selection, use layer's alpha channel, etc). It would've been nice if they just applied a default, and provided a menu driven window to access those options. 

Closing Thoughts:

There are quite a few irritating quirks about GIMP that take a while to get used to (like the ones listed above). Personally, I feel that that's to be expected of any open source software. After all, these tools are not professionally built; they're created by a community. Keeping that in mind, I would have to say that GIMP is without a doubt the best open source multimedia application I have seen! (I haven't used blender, so don't throw that in my face). This is officially the first software I'd add to any portable multimedia suite that I make in future.

Bonus 1: It comes pre-installed in Ubuntu Studio!

Bonus 2: Click here for a free ebook on using GIMP. It covers everything from navigation to scripting!

Visualizin Zigzag: Teeth

We've been talking about Zigzag a LOT, right? Well, we're not done! Have you noticed his teeth? Yes, they're perfectly straight, no, there's nothing wrong with them. So, why did I bring it up? Let me give you a lesson on human teeth, that will distract you so much, that you'll be staring at people's teeth instead of paying attention to what they're saying. Okay, here we go:

If you observe someones mouth when they talk, look at the position of their teeth, with reference to their lips. Most of the time, you'll find that you can predominantly see their top set of teeth, while the bottom set peeks out occasionally. In some cases, you'll find the opposite to be true. Although, from what I've seen, people always show their top teeth when smiling (even if they predominantly display their bottom teeth when talking).



Now, according to Richard Williams, Vincent Price (voice actor of Zigzag) inspired the teeth on this character. Apparently, when Price delivers his dialogues, you would sometimes see his top teeth, sometimes see his bottom teeth, and sometimes, you could see both sets of teeth at the same time! Personally, I am sorry to say that I haven't seen any of Vincent Prices's movies (he's actually an actor), but when I do, I'll be sure to keenly observe his teeth!

Coming back to the topic at hand, look at Zigzag's teeth. You can almost always see both sets of his teeth! .....That kind of creeps me out a little bit. Hey, he's an antagonist, so, the creepier the better! Haha.


-NKM

Visualizing Zigzag: Fingers

Okay, we've covered hands, but don't they still look kind of weird? Is there something you're missing? Take a closer look - not at the hands as a whole, but at the fingers individually...yes it's creepy, but why? Certainly not just because it's long.....(or that he has so much bling)

Let's look at bone joints shall we? Human fingers have a knuckle, and 2 more joints above it. Except for the thumb of course, which only has one middle joint. Now take a look at Zigzag's fingers.

He has 3 clearly defined joints, but an ambiguously positioned knuckle. Well, the knuckle isn't drawn in as a lumps, unlike the other 3 joints. But this kind of thing is not that uncommon among animated characters. Besides, let's think logically; the lowest ring on the finger is below the 1st joint. That would be physically impossible if that joint was a knuckle. So, clearly, there has to be a knuckle below it. You just cant see it. That's all. The thumb, as expected, has 2 joints above the knuckle, instead of just 1. This is clear in this image, (just look at the rings), but hard to see in other poses. You'd be hard pressed to spot it when the movie is playing. Take a look at Zigzag's model sheet to try and notice all this in the other poses. It's fun :D

As I've already mentioned, animating a character with 6 fingers on each hand is hard enough, but adding an extra joint on each finger is just insane! Sure enough, you never notice any of this stuff when watching the movie. It just goes to show that Richard Williams truly is a master animator. 

-NKM

Visualizing Zigzag: Hands

Take a good look at Zigzag's hands. Notice anything? Well, aside from the fact that they're extremely long......Have you tried counting the fingers?

6 fingers!! Now let me tell you something: making fingers move believably is one of the most difficult parts of animating any character. Many cartoon characters only have 4 fingers, and dealing with 5 is hard enough, but 6! Man! What leaves me even more dumbstruck is that, I've seen the Thief and the Cobbler many times, over the past....well...15 years I'd say! In all these years, I never noticed this quirk. I only found out when I heard it in a documentary. 

Let's put things in perspective. Humans have 5 fingers. When we see a character with 4 fingers, we notice right away. It just slaps us in the face! Zigzag has 6 fingers.....and yet, he's animated so convincingly, that you don't for a second, doubt that he has anything other that 5 fingers! The thought never even crosses your mind!

Well that's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with something along the same lines of this same topic. Keep your eyes peeled!

-NKM

Visualizing Zigzag: Posture

I'm assuming you've seen the Thief and the Cobbler by now. I'll kick off my series starting with character designs and personalities. First up is my favorite character, Zigzag. Evident from the title, I'll discuss his posture. 

Take a moment to look at the above picture. Do you see anything unique, or....out of ordinary? To be honest, there are LOTS of weird quirks hidden in this character, and I'll walk you through them, one at a time. For now, lets start with the most obvious-the position of his head. Compared to the rest of his body, shouldn't the head be a bit higher up? 

Notice how his shoulders stretch way up. It's physically impossible for a human skeleton to position itself that way. Try it out! So why is it like that? Yes, I'm aware of the exaggeration principle of animation, but Richard Williams was trained by Ken Harris, who was known for his excruciatingly minimal use of exaggeration. [Ironically, he worked for Warner Bros.]

This posture isn't there by accident. Zigzag is designed this way to come across as a menacing foe. Take a closer look. Does he....resemble something familiar?

AHAA!!

His shoulders are actually the wings of a vulture! This gives Zigzag the look of a predator, waiting to devour a decaying carcass. But this is only one of his oh so many quirks. Stay tuned for the others, and until then, keep observing!

-NKM

The Thief and the Cobbler: The Greatest Animated Film Never Made

If you have heard of The Thief and the Cobbler, then I applaud you. Unfortunately, chances are, you haven't; and there are reasons for that. Personally, I feel that this movie deserves to be known. It was supposed to be Richard Williams's animated masterpiece, but sadly, never saw the light of day.

I'd like to mention upfront that in this blog, I'm not referring to the Miramax edition [the one with horrible songs], or Lionsgate's "Princess and the Cobbler". Both of those are horribly butchered versions of Williams's original intentions. I am referring to Garrett Gilchrist's fan-made restoration, the "Recobbled Cut". This happens to be the closest thing to the originally intended masterpiece.

Have you heard of Richard Williams? No? Have you heard of Who Framed Rodger Rabbit? Well, Williams was the director of animation of Rodger Rabbit, and won 2 academy awards for it. He also won an Oscar for his animated version of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". In fact, A Christmas Carol was actually a test of sorts to see if it would be possible to create such an impossible movie like Thief and the Cobbler.....have I sold it enough yet?

Now you might be wondering what makes this movie so special. Well, I'm glad you asked. You see, this film was in production for 28 years, only to be mercilessly grabbed out of the director's hand, sliced into an unrecognizable pulp, leading to an inevitable box office failure. I would like to spend the next several months going into details about all this history, and why I love this film. I promise to keep the blogs short, and to the point.

In 2012, director Kevin Schreck made a documentary about the tragic story behind this movie. Ironically, this documentary titled "Persistence of Vision", won many international awards and was screened at film festivals all over the world. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but would obviously love to!

DISCLAIMER: Thief and the Cobbler is not a movie for the fainthearted. If you are not a fan of animation, then this film will most certainly bore you. What you are seeing is an incomplete film.....just wanted to put that out there.


Trailer of Thief and the Cobbler (Recobbled Cut):

Persistence of Vision Trailer:

Thief and the Cobbler (Recobbled Cut): Full Movie: