Blackmagic Forum

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am starting work on a CGI fan film. I am doing the 3D modeling and rendering using Cinema 4D. I render using the multi-pass option so I end up with image sequences of specular, ambient occlusion, shadows, etc.

Would it be better to use Resolve or Fusion to assemble and tweak the individual renders into a complete composite scene? Also, I am having trouble with the whole node concept and finding what I require to do the compositing. In Paint Shop Pro, I would select a blend mode of either normal, screen or multiply to assemble the renders. What would I use in Fusion or Resolve to do this?

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...
Al

Well, I figured out how to do the blend modes in both Resolve and Fusion, so I am delving more into that. Still having a bit of a hard time grasping the whole node thing and trying to figure out where the effect is and how to apply it. That will just take time though.

Right now, since I can use both software to join the different film clips, I think I will proceed with Fusion since I am going to want to add special effects as well. If those with more experience think differently, please let me know. Always looking to learn the most effective and efficient ways of doing things.

you should use resolve as you "hub" to bring your shots into an edit/assembly and do the effects/compositing/layering in fusion.

there are some tutorials about the start in fusion and resolve online at youtube or on paid sites like cmivfx, pluralsight, fxphd, lynda. these will help you to get started in each software.

One thing comes to mind which seems confusing for a lot of people:

Fusion uses the word "background" for two different things. One is the tool "background", which does exactly what it says: creating a colored background. Then there are the inputs at each node: One is called "foreground" and one is called "background". What it really means is upper layer and lower layer respectively. To combine two sources you mostly need the "merge" node, and there you can select which one is on top by connecting it to the "foreground". If you have more sources, like your render passes, then you need to build a chain of "merge" nodes.

Hope that helps a bit.

Hey, thanks folks.

I guess I would add fusion to add all the render layers, special effects, etc. then render out to a video clip. Then import the different clips into Resolve and edit them like I would in Sony Movie Studio.

In Fusion, I used the Loader node to load each of the different render passes in the order that I wanted them to appear. A merge node was automatically added which was great. After all the render passes were loaded, then I adjusted the blend mode on each merge node to get the desired final effect.

Thanks...
Al