Terminate Your Footage With Expressions – Day 1

Sep 21st in VFX by Ben McEwan

If you're wanting to help to save Sarah Connor then maybe this tutorial will give you an insider's perspective on what to do. Ben McEwan has created a 3 Day Series crammed full of useful expressions to create the UI found in the Terminator. He'll skim over some of the basics of shape layers, as well as touch on some more advanced stuff like displacement mapping.

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Author: Ben McEwan

Ben McEwan grew up in Canberra, Australia. He started learning visual effects from a young age and persistantly followed his dreams. Today, Ben does freelance work for feature films, short films and television programs, and one day hopes to win an Academy Award.

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User Comments

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  1. PG

    IANH - BR September 21st

    Awesome Dud!

    great tutorial!
    nice work!

    ( Reply )
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    m.h.s September 21st

    great

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    Modisana September 21st

    Nice outcome…. looking forward to watching the tutorial

    ( Reply )
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    oketunde September 21st

    Nice tut. Terminator’s stuff.

    ( Reply )
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    White September 21st

    looks interesting… would want to get in and try this myself. This is somewhat suited more for outdoors though…

    ( Reply )
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    ckRED September 21st

    very nice!! output looking top notch

    ( Reply )
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    khan September 21st

    cool effect luv it
    thanks….

    ( Reply )
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    BAD GHOST September 21st

    nice one i really like it :P

    ( Reply )
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    Thijs van Iersel September 21st

    Great Tut, I like the expressions. Like loopOut, that realy makes my projects better!

    ( Reply )
  10. PG

    AmmarAhmad September 21st

    Sorry

    i really like your work

    ( Reply )
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    Evangelos Methodd September 21st

    WOW Really needed a tutorial for this VFX !!!
    How could you figure it out?

    Maybe you should just focus on AE tracking and then anyone can do whatever they like. I think none needs specific tutorials on every “HUD driven” vfx shot. Just my opinion – I think it’s more creative free this way

    ( Reply )
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      Ben McEwan September 21st

      It occurs more so in the next couple of parts, but I try to always mention to do things the way YOU want to do them, don’t just copy mine. I covered all of the most useful expressions so people have the knowledge to do what they like with these expressions.

      It would be great to see what other people come up with!

      ( Reply )
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      Cheesebottoms September 21st

      Troll is troll.

      ( Reply )
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    EGY99 September 21st

    Someone knows how to add a custom face to a person in a video?

    ( Reply )
  13. PG

    Martin Klekner September 21st

    I knew youre going to make it great. ;-D

    ( Reply )
  14. PG

    René September 21st

    Hi nice tut man, but what about the “interference” kind of effect at the end of the comp?

    ( Reply )
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      Ben McEwan September 21st

      That’s coming in the 3rd part. Keep your eyes open!

      ( Reply )
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    MbCM September 21st

    Great tutorial! Thank you. Looking forward to the rest of them. Really like the output. It gives me a lot of ideas for my own work. Keep it up!

    ( Reply )
  16. PG

    Stefan September 22nd

    Great tutorial. Can’t wait to see the other parts!

    ( Reply )
  17. PG

    Web 2.0 September 22nd

    Awesome… I liked it man :)

    ( Reply )
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    Mandolin September 22nd

    Love it!

    Looking forward to part 2-3:)
    Keep them coming!

    ( Reply )
  19. PG

    costas papadakis September 22nd

    very good tutorial. Thanks

    ( Reply )
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    Tobias September 22nd

    Can’t wait to see the rest of ‘em, I guess i have to take the gear from the office home next weekend ;)

    ( Reply )
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    Tobias September 22nd

    great work

    ( Reply )
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    Lyndon September 22nd

    Pretty sick man, you’ve gotten a lot better since i randomly messaged you more than a year ago on youtube :)

    keep it up

    ( Reply )
  23. PG

    Antônio September 22nd

    Belíssimo, maravilhoso, fantástico!
    Parabéns e obrigado.

    ( Reply )
  24. PG

    trent September 22nd

    Hahahahahahahahahah.

    How much do they pay for these tutorials?? Serious question.

    ( Reply )
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      Adam Everett Miller September 22nd

      We typically start at 150$ per tutorial. Unless it’s really good, then we’ll go higher.

      ( Reply )
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    ProMomBlogger September 22nd

    Totally wicked tutorial dude. keep it comin

    ( Reply )
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    Rafael Guerra September 22nd

    rocket science! Cool stuff, thanks Ben.

    ( Reply )
  27. PG

    Calvin September 22nd

    Just download a few VCP tuts and you can get all the information covered in this tut.

    Nothing to see here, move along.

    ( Reply )
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      Ben McEwan September 23rd

      No matter where you go or what you do, something will always resemble VCP in some way, shape or form to someone. That’s a fact of life in the VFX/Motion Graphics world these days.

      ( Reply )
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        Flora September 23rd

        I politely disagree with you. Also there were many many complex tutorials here and I don’t see the point of making it a 3 day series.

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        Dustin September 23rd

        Not agreeing or disagreeing, but at some point maybe you people that dont like these should just move on. You can watch the previews which are usually less than 15 seconds and know if there is something there you want to see. All the time you spend commenting and debating could be spent scouring the net for those awesome and advanced tutorials you so crave.

        Or you could PAY money for some advance training DVD’s.

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        Flora September 23rd

        You didnt get me right. I didnt say anything about the tutorial, I am just disagreeing with the author’s view that ‘everything will always resemble VCP’.

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        Ben McEwan September 24th

        I’m not implying that – I;m implying that there will always be somebody who THINKS it’s got something to do with VCP… Even if it doesn’t

        Also, I find people use curves more than levels because it gives greater control, not because they’re copying anything or anyone. That’s my reasoning for using it over levels.
        In AE, there are at least 3 ways to do everything though, and it’s just personal preference

    2. PG

      Ethan Asad September 23rd

      Calvin, its a free tut.. You are not paying money for it.. And Thanks Ben for the tut.

      ( Reply )
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        Calvin September 23rd

        True–I am not paying anything for it.

        BUT I subscribe to this website and visit it and generate ad revenue from impressions etc. for it, I would like more originality.

        Some of the Creative Cow tuts still manage to be original (however, with less awesomeness if you ask me) and do not resemble VCP. But when every second tut author adds a s curve effect to their footage, and uses a vignette to their footage, it gets a bit… much.

        I think I am going to make a tut on using level rather than curves, just to show people that there is another way to get the result.

    3. PG

      Plop Face September 23rd

      You should make that tutorial calvin. I think it would be great for you to show people this great new color correction method you’ve discovered. I also agree that you do deserve more originality. After all you are the one who visits this website. For them to do less is just a disservice to you and your originality

      ( Reply )
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        Calvin September 26th

        Woosh!

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    mike September 22nd

    Great tutorial….Thanks for your time. Looking forward to the others.

    ( Reply )
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    Rolo September 23rd

    Great tutorial!!!…i like the expressions. Wanting to see the part 2 of the tutorial.

    ( Reply )
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    samjujubi October 2nd

    nice great. new update fashion vfx

    ( Reply )
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    Mike October 4th

    This is awesome, thank you so much. The programing with the numbers and math it’s soooooooo cool

    ( Reply )
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    Mike October 4th

    Is there any way not to fiddle with the numbers but just do it without typing all that math cycle and so on?

    ( Reply )
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      Ben McEwan November 8th

      I’m not sure I understand your question properly.

      You use the short expressions so you don’t HAVE to fiddle with numbers.

      ( Reply )
  33. PG

    :) October 18th

    LO PROBARE

    ( Reply )
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    Fábio Antunes November 3rd

    Really great.
    Keep posting more of these xD

    ( Reply )
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