After watching many tutorials and learning how to utilize After Effects to minimize the need of rendering in the 3D, I decided to do a quick test of the skills learned.

• Photoshop was used to isolate and mask all the different elements form my source images.
• These images were imported and placed in 3D space in After Effects.
• A camera was animated and a wiggle expression was used to create subtle camera shake to add more realism.
• Color correction and sharpening were the last adjustments made before the sound was added.
• Render!

I could have spent a little more time masking out some of the elements, but I felt that the tedious masking was not going to contribute to the value of the exercise.

BTW, the image of me sitting at the edge of the canyon is real. The person taking the picture was screaming while I was telling them to calm down and just take a picture so I can stop risking my life for a photo. To this day I still get nervous thinking about the 1.5km drop bellow me.

Early Concepts

Link: zu.com

LINK: http://vimeo.com/user1904617

Grown from the roots of a rubber tree, the Khasis people of Cherapunjee use betel-tree trunks, sliced down the middle and hollowed out, to create “root-guidance systems.” When they reach the other side of the river, they’re allowed to take root in the soil. Given enough time a sturdy, living bridge is produced.

Because the bridges are alive and still growing, they actually gain strength over time, and some of the ancient root bridges used daily by the people of the villages around Cherrapunjee may be well over 500 years old. Some can support the weight of 50 or more people at once.

The Vine Bridges of Iya Valley

To get across the Iya River that runs through the rough valley terrain, bandits, warriors and refugees created a very special - if slightly unsteady - bridge made of vines.

First, two Wisteria vines — one of the strongest vines known — were grown to extraordinary lengths from either side of the river. Once the vines had reached a sufficient length they were woven together with planking to create a pliable, durable and, most importantly, living piece of botanical engineering.

The Living Islands of the Uros People

The Uros peoples’ lives revolve around reeds. They make reed houses, reed boats, reed flower tea, and use reeds as medicine.

But most amazingly, the Uros build entire islands out of those very same reeds. It is the fact that these islands are alive that makes them work. The dense root structures of the living reed masses keeps the whole island together and floating on the lake.