What Visual Effects Editing Software Do Most Filmmakers Use?

Zach Goodwin2 · February 16, 2020

Hi, I would like to be interested in visual effect making in filmmaking, could anyone tell me what software do filmmakers use the most? I am somewhat familiar with Adobe After Effects.

kaylee · February 16, 2020

there's a LOT of options, if you're a bit familiar with AE, I'd start there...! you can do an incomprehensible amount of stuff in AE, and it's a bit more approachable than Fusion, for example, or some of your other options

what is your intended use? if you need to make full 3D characters that's another story...

anonim · February 16, 2020

I think that everything starts with inspiration as motivation - so, my suggestion would be to watch tutorials about manipulation and effects in 3D space done with Fusion, Nuke, Flame (how to change background, tracking components, even how to make enough visually suggestive simulated 3D objects from 2D images via projection maps etc). Although great and best for fast 2D effects, AE is not as much suitable for proper 3D, but has tone of ready made templates, great plugins. Also, for everything higher than several layers/intervention, nodal structure or 'tree' becomes more and more suitable.

So Fusion for obvious integration with Resolve, Nuke still a bit more if you really plan to get a job into big industry players, Flame if you like to feel yourself as noble and elite member as it could be. UI logic of Flame is for me pick of the software aesthetic. Of course, there's also powerful Mistika, but it becomes, I'd say, nowadays more exotic than really differentiated.

Besides, I found that nodal thinking in accomplishing 3D tasks is the most interesting encounter of logic and creativity in all software's usage. (If you wish to happily lost your mind in endless possibilities as, say, top chess players - than go into cosmos of Sidefx Houdini.)