Ways to use FrameForge 3D Studio

Two separate uses

The program has two different uses:

• A. Rough planning

1. When you first start out, do not build any set. Instead, just drag actors to the empty movie set and begin taking shots.
2. Do not worry about facial expression or poses.

• B. Final instructions to the crew

When you know exactly what you want, I recommend that you start over:

1. Create the entire movie set (or download it).
2. Populate the set with actors
3. Properly cloth and pose each actor
4. Take each shot
5. Go back and refine each shot, adjust the hands and head, and creating a begginning and ending shot for each dolly move.

The most important feature of FrameForge 3D Studio

Freeze Time

The most important thing to remember about using FrameForge 3D Studio is when you take a picture (store a shot), you actually SAVE everything about that shot.

Therefore, when you go to the Storyboard Shot Manager, click on the picture you are interested in, and select EDIT ON SET, everything will be restored exactly as it was when you took that shot.

Always work in two stages

Quickly rough out and then polish later.

That means you can quickly rough out the shots that you want.

Then you can go back and polish the shots.

Remember: Replacing existing shots is very tricky. It is very logical once you know how but learning how is very confusing at first. The controls work like a tape recorders controls or a highly mechanical slide projector.

Understand the windows

Three windows in two

(1 & 2) The main window allows you to view from above and view through the different cameras. Both work very differently. Don't get confused which to use when.

(3) The Storyboard Shot Manager is your main work page. It seems secondary but actually, it is where you do most of your planning. Therefore, this window is much more important than it seems.

The next page

Before I explain a way to create the movie set in FrameForge 3D Studio, you need to practice creating a few shots. Just for the fun of it, lets create shots with horses instead of people.

Go to the Exercise for creating two simple shots in FrameForge 3D Studio.

Contact your instructor

Your instructor for this filmmaking class is Robert Elliott. You can email me by clicking here.