Turbonetics Indent Bumper from Andy Sapp on Vimeo.

I never thought I would see the day where I would be unable to distinguish CG imagery from that of reality. Alex Roman has totally shattered that apprehension with this piece called “The Third & The Seventh”. In all honesty, if I didn’t watch the compositing break-down and making-of… I would have sworn this was shot by a human with a real camera. Not only is the modeling and textural rendering beyond realistic… every piece of movement, from the (cg) camera to the trees & leaves, looks REAL.

Don’t take my word for it. See for yourself.
But PLEASE – watch these on the Vimeo page in FULLSCREEN-HD. These videos deserves NOTHING LESS.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

If you had any doubts that this was computer-generated. Prepare to have them shattered.

Compositing Breakdown (T&S) from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

If you’re equally enthralled by Alex’s unparalleled craft as I am – take a look at the making of the Exeter shot. What surprisingly starts by pulling a 3D model off Google Sketchup, quickly gets torn apart and meticulously tweaked and textured. The frame then undergoes an equally thorough grading process in After Effects to create the final look.

Exeter Shot — Making Of from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Granted, the year is fresh – but I am going to go ahead and nominate this is the most inspiring piece of work I have seen. For the ENTIRE year. I think something of this magnitude and minutely precise attention to detail will be hard to come by again in the near future. I read that Alex took a year-and-a-half sabbatical to complete this work. I, for one… say it was worth every waking second.

Thank you, Alex Roman.
Thank you.

2009 Motion Graphics Reel from Andy Sapp on Vimeo.

My 2009 reel showcasing my motion graphics efforts. Short, sweet, and right to the point. Enjoy.
Soundtrack: Motor by SebastiAn.

Averaged Motion Tracking. from Andy Sapp on Vimeo.

A short clip I made while experimenting with averaging track points in After Effects to create solid, precise tracks. In the past when I have motion tracked… it always seems slightly off. I have now learned that if you track several times over, and average that data together – you get a rock-solid tracking point.

I then created some quick motion-type pieces to follow the these points. It took several layers of compositing to create the illusion of depth caused by things passing in front of one another. I added a light-streak to the back of Tyler’s light to see if I could match the live video with an object in 3D space (the particle emitter for the light).

This video clip was shot using a Flip Mino HD, which was not the best to try and track with. The motion blur made it incredibly difficult to find solid track points. I’m sure I will try more of this using my XL-H1.

This was a fun experiment that I learned a great deal from. I’m excited at some new possibilities that will come of this new workflow.

MotorMavens Ident Bumper from Andy Sapp on Vimeo.

This short 5-second animation (which loops three times) is something I created to preface online video efforts for MotorMavens.

Believe it or not… I actually SKIPPED the Southeast Drift event at Turner Field today for a class. That’s right. I ditched drifting for school. An opportunity came up to take a class in Cinema 4D – which is an animation software that I have been dying to get my feet wet in. Even though I would miss out on an awesome event at Turner, I knew this would be my chance to get acclimated with Cinema 4D.

Darrin Frankovitz, lead trainer at Maxon was instructing the class at MGFest ‘09. The class went over the basics of C4D, and the Mograph module. I learned a lot… including that I have A LOTTT to learn.

Here is a screenshot of one of the project files I was making. The extruded Helvetica looked too much like elements of the Comcast commercials to pass it up… so Comcasticâ„¢ it was.

While I’m ranting about type… here is an amazing motion type piece that Charlie turned me on to. I need to wrench on a project like this. BAD.

BTW… this is NOT Arial (which probably should have made it’s way into my top 5 worst).

Flickermood 2.0 from Sebastian Lange on Vimeo.

A quick snap of some of the motion graphics I am putting together for this years SHOT Show video for Advanced Armament Corp.
I’m pressed for time… but this is turning out NICE.

I can’t stop watching this superb motion piece by Josh Raskin. This short is an Acadamy Award nominee for Best Animated Short Film 2008.

For more info, check the I Met the Walrus Official Site.

Thanks to my buddy Nendel for turning me onto this motion graphic gem.

http://vimeo.com/1864398

This edit is well over a year in the making. This cut is as close to perfect as I will ever get it. This video is the most thorough, polished, and complete example of my abilities behind the wheel… and my abilities behind a computer. Period.

This digital short showcases the past 3 years of my professional drift effort. Features amalgamated footage from Formula Drift and Nopi Drift events, as well as various Nopi/NDRA demos, grassroots competitions, practice events, SPEED TV, and other television appearances.

Very very special thanks to everyone who provided me with the footage to edit this video.
Soundtrack by Slayer.

Keep drifting fun. OR ELSE.