Get a practical look at the world of visual effects (VFX). In this installment of the 13-part Creating a Short Film series, filmmaker Chad Perkins focuses on how to tackle the effects in the VFX portion of the post-production workflow. Throughout the course, Chad demonstrates how to create the visual effects seen in The Assurance, the short film featured throughout the series. Chad goes over a variety of common VFX tools and how to really sell effects shots. He digs into how to create magical effects with Trapcode Particular, Trapcode Form, and with native After Effects tools, as well as how to create a cool explosion shot by compositing live action fire footage, create swirling particles in Cinema 4D, build a custom lens flare using Optical Flares, and much more.

• 1. Introduction
• 2. The World of Effects
• 3. Ta'ani's Off-Screen Light
• 4. Making Ta'ani's Magic Eyes
• 5. Forming the Little Ball
• 6. Creating an Explosion Shot
• 7. Forming the Big Ball
• 8. Effects in the Finale Sequence
• Conclusion