Overview

Reimagine the world around you by learning how to bring any 3D object into your footage and levitate it within your scene. When instructor Alden Peters first started exploring the world of 3D animation and VFX, he saw it as a way to combine his love for 3D and sci-fi films filled with aliens and robots. Since then, Alden has gone on to work full-time as an independent filmmaker, motion graphics, and VFX artist and created award-winning projects like Friends of Sophia, Femme, and Coming Out. Now, Alden wants to show other filmmakers how to use 3D animation to boost the production value of any feature film, short, or show. In this class, Alden will teach you how to add 3D objects to any footage and animate and adjust the materials of those objects within your scene. Created for filmmakers who want to add 3D objects to their projects, these lessons will show you how to utilize 3D objects to seamlessly integrate more details, VFX, and motion graphics into your films. With Alden as your guide, you’ll: * Setup and build out your 3D scene within Blender * Insert your 3D objects and animate their position * Add materials and surface imperfections to your objects * Create a glitch effect within your scene Whether you’d like to direct an independent sci-fi film one day or you want to utilize the power of 3D in other types of videos, you’ll leave this class knowing how to incorporate and composite 3D models into any production footage. Plus, you can download a free pack of surface imperfection materials to add to your 3D objects in the resources. General knowledge about Blender and Adobe After Effects and how to navigate both softwares are required to take this class. You’ll also need a computer, Blender, Adobe After Effects, fSpy, a camera, and a tripod. RGB lighting will be helpful but isn’t necessary. Alden uses After Effects 2023/2024. If you’re using a prior version the Alpha Matte and Luma Matte functionality changes slightly. Instructor bio: Alden Peters is an award-winning independent filmmaker whose work has been celebrated at film festivals worldwide. His 2024 queer sci-fi film Friends of Sophia, starring Nana Visitor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), premiered at BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA Film Festival. An expansion of his 2021 proof-of-concept short, it follows a string of acclaimed projects including FEMME, a short comedy about navigating dating apps as an effeminate gay man, and the feature-length documentary COMING OUT, which won multiple international awards and is streaming on Amazon Prime. Alden’s films have earned directing, acting, and production design awards, and his collaborators include Emmy and Golden Globe winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once). A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television, Alden currently lives and works in Los Angeles, where he continues to create bold, original storytelling.

Syllabus

Laying the Foundation: From Setup to Scene Building

In this module, learners will start with the basics—getting familiar with the Blender environment, setting up a project, and building their first 3D scene. You’ll gain a strong foundation in workflow organization and essential setup steps that will ensure a smooth creative process in later stages.

Adding Depth and Motion: Imperfections and Effects

This module focuses on elevating your 3D work with subtle imperfections and glitch effects. You’ll explore how intentional details and motion can bring a scene to life, whether for cinematic realism or creative stylization.

Finalizing the Shot: Rendering and Compositing

In the final stage, you’ll learn how to render your floating 3D objects in Blender and integrate them into live-action or composite shots in After Effects. By the end of this module, you’ll have a polished, cinematic-ready shot to showcase your new skills.