Breakdown of VFX

Okay, this is a breakdown of my VFX project. While the scene is simple, there are many layers and several different effects and simulations. Firstly I started with a blue screen shot of myself, acting. Admittedly, not the best actor the shot was good. Below is the video i took. 

After I imported the file into After Effects, so my first step was to remove all the background in the shot to keep only the actor. I used the effect called Keylight. Afterwards i was left with all the blue removed from the scene, however the left hand side had some leftover background, I simply added a mask to remove all the leftover parts and I was left with this. 

Meanwhile, I was in Maya creating the scene in which my character would inhabit, I wanted a particle simulation for my clouds and a static, textured snowy hills. Firstly I started the snow, I created a NURBS plane and then using the vertex control and i started mold the landscape. I wanted the far end to be higher up, as if the actor was climbing a hill. After I was happy with the shape, I went online to find a shader that reflected the kind of snow I wanted. I found one, however I wasn't able to recreate the particle effect of the sparkles in the snow, but I was happy with the final product. 

Next was the clouds. I wanted clouds that moved and changes as clouds do. So I looked online to find some tutorials on how to make realistic clouds. Using the 3D container as a Starting point, I used the brush tool to create the clouds, leaving spaces in the clouds to create that realistic, however I don't think they were clear in the final one. But I am happy with it, below is the final version. 

Now back to the blue screen footage, I added the snow to the scene, lined it up with the actor, I precomposed the snow and added a gaussian blur to give the horizon a less definable line. This provided with the base for my scene. Later, I added the cloud simulation at the beginning of the scene. 

Next, I want 3 more effects to give a blizzard effect. Firstly I need a heavy mist that moves with the wind. I used a effect called fractal noise and scale it up to 600% which created a smoke like effect. I also added an evolution to made it change shape as it moved, like real mist/smoke. Then I copied the layer 3 times and changed the Z position to create different sized and shaped mist to create a 3D effect, I then tinted it a dark blue to give a cold feel. I also needed snow falling from the sky. I used a particle simulator in After Effects to create the effect. Using a large 3D box and a camera was able to make it look like the snowflakes where falling in the foreground and background. 

Next I copied the whole effect and removed the tint, then I masked all the places where the snow on the ground was. This was remove the need for a background and makes it look like a snow storm where the visibility is reduced. Finally I needed snow falling from the sky. I used a particle simulator in After Effects to create the effect. 

This is the complete break down.