I end up having a deform node in almost every shot I comp nowadays, because it’s awesome. It’s not the distort node, it’s not the deform mesh in action, its just the humble deform node in batch.
-Got an edge that just is “bleh”, use a deform node.
-Need to create a texture for a specular highlight, use a deform node.
-Need to make a leaf blow in the wind, use a deform node.
-Need to deal with extracting leaves from a shrub (fake a leafy erose edge), use a deform node… better yet, use two, one that functions on a macro level for the edge of the shrub, and then deform that on a micro level to give your shrubbery that nice erose leafy vibe.
-Need a smoky particle, use a deform node.
I honestly DON’T want to fight about it, but also, if anyone is interested in some deform node tricks, after removing camera operators from Survivor shots for the past few years, I’ve come up with some cheeky leafy tricks. I’m unsure if everyone else abuses this node the way I do, maybe we all do… and maybe my leafy tricks are just old hat. I just used it to great success yet again, and had to give a simple shout out to a lovely simple little node.
I like it and the ability to add planar tracks to it but I have found that the mesh will not respond to magnets after a while. Can’t quite figure out the steps to reproduce the bug but it’s definitely there and hindered me a number of times.
Actually John, this is just a node in batch called deform. You’ll probably look at it and just be like “oh this is some dumb swirly grunge generator” but it’s become a go to of mine to create organic edges on mattes. I’ll show an example when I have a couple minutes this evening!
I admit I rarely use it but I’d like to use it more and more. It is underrated and any tips would be great. If there are any other videos out there on it, I’d love to check them out. Thanks!
Yes, sometimes I use it to break up edges or make smokey particles.
Recently used it to create a kind of shadow monster, it worked lovely to give the edges a smokey scary feel. Looking forward to the examples Britt.
Don’t get too excited, I fear I may very well disappoint! But this weekend I’ll see if I can whip up a couple examples, one for faking an edge on a shrub, and one for distressing/discoloring the edge of a sign.
I use the deform node and stylize node, both to roughen up edges or create textures.
This week I used the stylize node to create some mud splatters to make a shoe dirty.
I created a gmask, blurred that one, fed it into a stylize node, played around with settings until it looked like mud splatter, and voila. finished
@BrittCiampa Hi Britt - did you ever put together that demo of the Deform node? would love to see these tips you and the other posters have been mentioning!
I completely just got swamped and busy and this just fell of my plate! I’ll see if I can whip up something fairly soon, girlfriend’s out of town this weekend, so could be the perfect time
Hey Andy! I’m not sure if I’ve got enough material for the big leagues yet, but imma try and bang out a little screen capture video this weekend and then if people are interested in more or something more in depth maybe we figure something out???
Sounds great! As far as “the big leagues”, I hear you, but trust me it’s all good everybody loves learning, and there’s always something to learn! For Logik Live I always do a run through with the presenter so I can take care of everything and just let them show their stuff. Shoot me an email or DM me here on the forum if you wanna chat further!
