Spreading Some Love

Our latest Dying to do Letterman supporter is Frank from Jack’s Secret Stash, and we couldn’t be more excited.

Spreading the Love Around

Frank puts out a great plugin for Cinema 4D called SurfaceSPREAD. It’s terrific for making realistic 3d landscapes. We had a particular graphic in mind for Dying to do Letterman that had a surreal feel to it, set in a unique landscape. But… we really didn’t know how to pull off with Cinema 4D alone. That’s when we discovered SurfaceSPREAD.

Thanks Frank!

We sent Frank some information about the project, and Steve’s amazing story, and he was kind enough to donate a copy of SurfaceSPREAD to the Dying to do Letterman cause. We’ll be putting it to good use, Frank, and look forward to showing you the finished film.

If you use Cinema 4D, be sure to check out SurfaceSPREAD…it’s great!

Driving Towards a Big Finish

So close to the big, merry holiday…could that be why the Dying to do Letterman team was lucky enough to have their own personal Santa pay us a visit?

Santa Klaus

Klaus Heyne, to be exact. This graphic guru makes an exciting plugin for Cinema 4D (the 3D software we use here at Joke Productions) called “DRIVE!”.

(Yes, we’re excited, but the exclamation point is actually part of the official name of the plugin, not just a side effect of all the five hour energy we’ve been drinking.)

DRIVE! creates realistic driving simulations, as you might guess from the name. We have a particular graphic piece in mind that for Dying to do Letterman that we thought would really come to life with this plugin. Klaus, who took the time to have a look at our project, decided to donate a copy of his software to help us out.

Thanks, Klaus!

The whole D2DL Team really appreciates your support, and we look forward to showing you our finished film!

Pay Klaus a Visit

If, like us, you use Cinema 4D, be sure to check out the site Klaus keeps. He makes several really cool plugins, and they’re all worth your consideration.

Here’s a pretty slick example of what the DRIVE! plugin can do, from a filmmaker who only goes by “Elmar” on Vimeo:

Frischluft supports Dying to do Letterman

Frischluft, a company that makes great visual FX plugins, has helped bring Dying to do Letterman to fruition today by donating a copy of their sweet After FX plugin Lenscare, something we’ll be using in the creation of graphics for the movie.

Getting Focused

For those of you who work with After FX, this plugin allows you to create realistic (and really cool!) depth-of-field effects, making renders cinematically sexy.

In case phrases like “depth-of-field” “plug-in” and “renders” leave you scratching your head, Philipp at Frischluft keeps a great gallery page showing samples of great projects that use Lenscare.

Let’s Clear Things Up

One of our favorite examples is The Third and The Seventh, by Alex Roman:

Thanks, Philipp!

Big thanks to Firschluft for their support of our movie…we really appreciate it, Philipp!

Caught in a Trapcode

We’ve been working hard on concepts for the graphics treatment in Dying to do Letterman.

There’s a magic set of plugins we wished for, to create cloud effects, glows, and other graphic goodness, famously known as the Trapcode Suite.

Well, today, Red Giant Software generously donated a copy the entire Trapcode Suite to Dying to do Letterman!

We’ve already starting working with this great set of plugins, and can tell you…they’re as awesome as everyone says.

Giant Gratitude

To have a large, well respected company like Red Giant reach out with support means a great deal to all of us here at D2DL headquarters.

If you use After FX and you don’t know about Trapcode’s Plugins, check out what they can do here. If you have a budget and can afford them, please help us show Trapcode and Red Giant some appreciation by purchasing some yourself.

Trapcode Suite in Action

Here’s a piece showcasing the Trapcode Suite we especially love, by Pierre Michel:

Thanks Red Giant and Trapcode!

Thanks to Trapcode and the Red Giant Software team for supporting our movie and Steve’s dream.

IJL Designs is Dying to Build Our Website

Okay, so clearly this post won’t go up for a bit, but we’re excited to announce that Linda…yes THE Linda of IJL Designs (short for “It’s Just Linda”) has offered her time and expertise to help us put together this very website.

As you can imagine, after working six years on this documentary, that last thing we wanted to do was put up a quickly thrown-together site.  But with every penny (and every bit of our time) going towards finishing the movie, we needed help.

Linda, who has done really cool sites for people like James Gunn, Terra Naomi, and horror director Tim Sullivan, connected with Steve’s story, and has been working hard in her spare time to bring this site to life.

Thanks, Linda!  Need a website?  Please hire Linda immediately.  She’s terrific to work with, very patient, and cares a great deal about the projects she takes on.