Editor's note: This post is part of our weekly In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstrates how NVIDIA Studio technology improves creative workflows. We're also deep-diving on new GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU features, technologies and resources and how they dramatically accelerate content creation.
Releasing a 3D tutorial dubbed The Easiest VFX Tutorial Ever takes supreme confidence and the skills to back it up.
Steve Lund a.k.a. CG Geek - the featured artist of this week's In the NVIDIA Studio installment - has both in spades. It's no surprise that over 1 million people have subscribed to his YouTube channel, which features tutorials on animation and visual effects (VFX) as well as select tech reviews.
CG Geek has been a content creator for over 13 years, starting with videos on stop-motion animation before moving on to 3D software. Films and movies are his primary sources of inspiration. He grew up creating short films with his family - experimenting with and implementing video effects and 3D characters - which became a critical foundation for his current work.
Artists can strengthen their creative arsenal with the new Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2, available for pickup today. It's powered by GeForce RTX 4060, GeForce RTX 4050 or NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPUs with 13th Gen Intel Core processors, up to 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. It features a bright, vibrant 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow touchscreen, a 120Hz refresh rate, and Dolby Vision IQ and HDR to deliver sharper colors.
The versatile Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2. The Easiest VFX Tutorial Ever CG Geek also happens to be a geek for Blender, free for 3D enthusiasts, who regularly create impressive, individualistic art.
I love the amazing Blender 3D community, he said. Whenever you need inspiration or creative feedback, they're the most helpful, kind and talented collective of ever-growing artists.
CG Geek wanted to make a tutorial that could prove that virtually anyone could get started in VFX with relative ease, from anywhere, at any time.
Work on VFX from anywhere - even the outdoors. The first step, he instructs, is to capture video footage. To keep things simple, CG Geek recommends mounting a camera or mobile device to a tripod. Note that the camera lens determines the focal length and sensor size - critical details to input in Blender later in the process.
Keep track of the camera's focal length and sensor size. Keep a close eye on the video footage lighting for shadows and light intensity - it helps to snap a straight-down photo of the environment the 3D element will populate, namely for light bounces, to help create more realistic shadows.
Seasoned visual effects artists can capture and scan the entire 3D area. Next, secure a 3D model. Create one with guidance from an NVIDIA Studio blog or watch detailed tutorials on the Studio YouTube channel. Alternatively, look online for a 3D model equipped with basic physically based rendering materials, as well as a roughness and normal map.
Sketchfab is an excellent resource for acquiring 3D models. Next, combine the video footage and 3D materials. Open Blender, import the video footage and line up the 3D grid floor to the surface where the model will be presented. The 3D grid doubles as a shadow catcher that will grab the shadows being cast from the 3D elements. With an added texture, lighting will bounce back against the object, resulting in heightened realism.
The 3D grid floor will determine where the 3D model will be placed. Then, light the 3D model to match the video footage. Most commonly, this is achieved by acquiring a high-dynamic range image (HDRI), a panorama with lighting data. CG Geek recommends Poly Haven for free, high-quality HDRIs. The key is picking one that resembles the lighting, color, shadow and intensity of the video footage.
Poly Haven has HDRIs for use in VFX work. Use the HDRI lighting to align the sun's rotation with the shadows of the footage, adding further realism.
Lighting adjustments in Blender. From there, import camera information into Blender and render out passes for the 3D model over a transparent background in Cycles. Create as many render layers as possible for added post-render editing flexibility, especially in compositing. Shadowcatcher, glossy passes, Z depth and ambient occlusion layers are recommended for advanced users.
Speedy renders in Blender on NVIDIA Studio hardware. These layers can then be combined in popular creative apps like Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve or any of the over 100 NVIDIA RTX GPU-accelerated apps. This workflow, in particular, will be completed in Blender's custom compositor.
Speedy renders in Blender. Add shadows to the live footage with a multiple overlay. Then, carry over the 3D elements render layer to adjust the intensity of the shadows, helping them mesh better with the video capture. Individual layers can be edited to match the desired tone.
CG Geek made use of Blender Cycles' RTX-accelerated OptiX ray tracing in the viewport. Rendering in Cycles with multiple render layers and passes, along with the NVIDIA OptiX Denoiser, made animations and early tests a breeze, he said.
All my rendering changes can be visualized in real time thanks to the power of NVIDIA Studio before ever even hitting that button. CG Geek
Finally, perform simple masking on areas where the 3D model passes in front of or behind objects. CG Geek's one-minute YouTube tutorial can help guide this process. DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro's AI-powered magic mask features can further speed the process by automatically masking background elements, saving the effort of painstakingly editing videos frame by frame.
These AI features are all accelerat
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
30/09/2026
Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...
30/09/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...
30/09/2026
PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...
30/09/2026
IBC2026 Show Report
David Kirk September 29, 2026
0 Comments
The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
29/09/2026
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...
29/09/2026
Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...
29/09/2026
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN, OR AT ANY ADDRESS IN, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS TERRITO...
29/09/2026
We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...
Editor's note: This post is part of our weekly In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstrates how NVIDIA Studio technology improves creative workflows. We're also deep-diving on new GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU features, technologies and resources and how they dramatically accelerate content creation.
