Q: What is Tears of Steel?
A: Tears of Steel (code-named Project Mango) is a shortscience fiction film by producer Ton Roosendaal and director/writer Ian Hubert. The film is both live-action and CGI; it was made using new enhancements to the visual effects capabilities of Blender, a free and open-source3D computer graphics app. Set in a dystopian future, the short film features a group of warriors and scientists who gather at the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam in a desperate attempt to save the world from destructive robots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_of_Steel
Q: I don't use Blender, Why do should I care about this project?
A: They have released 4k exrs for public use. This is as close as you will get to working with professional grade footage while you are in school or working on personal projects.
Q: Doesn't this mean that every student will have TOS plates in their reel?
A: At the moment, no. This is an under utilised free resource. Besides, all the clips are very long. Select a short range and make up your own VFX that will go in the BG or FG.
Q: Where can I watch the movie?
A: Netflix or Youtube. Search for the title, it's only 12 minutes long.
Q: Where can I download the plates?
A: Easy. Just follow the link below. There's an option for linear (4096x2160) and linear_hd (1920x1080)
https://media.xiph.org/tearsofsteel/tearsofsteel-footage-exr/
Q: Why do I have to download each frame one at a time? I can't download the entire directoy. Some of these shots don't even have VFX.
A: Each frame is massive, about 50mb per frame and each shot is quite long. You DO NOT want to download everything!
The video below has all the vfx shots, shot code and frame numbers. Open the clip in Youtube and there will be instructions on how to download the exr frames.
The easiest and most straight forward way is to use Chrome or Brave browser, add the Simple Mass Downloader extension. In the download list option, use set a pattern url.
For example:
https://media.xiph.org/tearsofsteel/tearsofsteel-footage-exr/09_1a/linear/09_1a_[00100:00200].exr
Q: Is there a quick way to download the entire shot using a console or terminal?
A: Yes. Use the link below and swap out the shot name.
https://media.xiph.org/tearsofsteel/tearsofsteel-footage-exr/06_1b/linear/
Q: I'm really having a hard time downloading the clips. Is there an easier way?
A: No problem, I've already trimmed the shots and downloaded a few clips here.
Q: These shots are really long, am I supposed to track and add VFX to the entire clip?
A: It's your reel, you do what you like. However, a typical vfx shot goes anywhere from 48 frames to 100 frames. Consider only working on 2-3 second clips and save yourself a lot of headache.
Q: These 4k frames take forever to download and use up a lot of drive space, why can't I just use the HD Quicktimes?
A: You're in VFX and your livelihood depends on a computer, so get a better one. The purpose of working with 4k is to get the experience of working on Production Quality footage. If you want quality work, then you need to work on quality footage.
Enjoy. And I hope to see more of these TOS shots with creative VFX added to them in your student reels.