Ten Years Of Practitioners Tell You What The Real Column Packaging Industry Is Like

Maybe you haven't heard of column packaging, but you must have heard of film and television post-production. Film and television post-production is a big concept. Film post-production and column packaging belong to film and television post-production, but they are two different industries. The former requires the cooperation of multiple people to complete large projects, and each person only needs to be proficient in one of them, which is more like the assembly line operation of a factory. Therefore, the skills and workflows that you need to master are different, so don't confuse them.

Today, let's talk about the column packaging industry, which is also the direction I chose when I entered the industry. If you are also interested in this industry, then come with me to learn more about this industry, so as to judge more clearly whether this industry is suitable for you, what to do if you want to enter the industry, and what skills you need to master.

Pure "column packaging"

There are 3 mainstream display channels for column packaging. They are TV terminals, mobile media, and network media. Ten years ago, most people watched TV, and this profession emerged and took shape. Pure column packaging is the video packaging design specially for TV columns. It includes the title, ID, call sign, channel logo interpretation, and inner packaging.

1. Titles (column packaging, promotional videos), each channel on TV has many columns, which are very detailed. For example, there are programs such as "Hundreds of Lectures" and "Discovery" on CCTV10. These different programs need their own titles. Now not only the columns but also web dramas, self-media, etc. also have their own titles.

2. ID (Channel Identity Identification), the general channel ID is a 5-10 second video, the main purpose is to identify a channel identity, similar to a "launch ceremony".

3. Call sign (to promote the concept of the channel), the call sign usually ends with "You are watching a certain channel". Mainly to promote the channel concept.

4. Channel logo interpretation (visual effects interpretation of the logo). Each channel has its own logo, which is the station logo. For example, Hainan Satellite TV has a coconut logo, so the channel needs to use a title to deduce the origin and meaning of the logo.

5. Inner packaging (subtitles, content summary, next file, next second file, end credits, subtitles, name strip), this part of the content is more complicated, and everyone can roughly understand the nouns. Here I will explain what is called "next file, next second file", which is actually a preview of a column, telling you what will be played next. In addition to the inner packaging of the overall channel, this part also includes the inner packaging of each column. It is these large and small packages that make the videos you see richer and more interesting.

If you plan to focus on column packaging in the future, you must be able to do all of the above items. However, it is not enough to just master these things... because after you go to work in the company, it is impossible to "take any job you want". There may also be projects such as commercials, promotional videos, and sometimes large-screen projects. This leads to the following - the generalized "column packaging".

"Column packaging" in a broad sense

When you work, there are few pure column packages, and generally refer to column packages in a broad sense. In other words, although commercials, promotional videos, product videos, and big screens do not belong to the initial scope of column packaging, they are more like "episodes" one by one, but this does not bother us. After all, the technical difficulties are the same, but the production process is slightly different. As long as you put some effort into research and study, it is easy to get started. There are still many short videos or self-media, and they also need to package their own videos, which is actually even less difficult.

Therefore, you may see various names on recruitment websites, such as "3D special effects packaging", "dynamic video designer", "animation designer", "post-production", and "post-synthesis"... Don't feel dazzled, this is very normal. After all, the industry is only in the development stage and has not yet been perfected and standardized. Each company's work focus is different, and the title of the position is naturally different. In general, this is a type of work.

For the company, when you can do all kinds of tasks, you can better cooperate with the company's work. For yourself, your own development will be more rapid and comprehensive. As long as it is dynamic and video-type, it is worth trying.

The production process of column packaging

Most of the column packaging and production follow the workflow of C4D+AE. Generally, there are several key steps: preparation work (such as looking for references, and accurately locating the style trend of the film)→scene construction→material lighting adjustment→animation adjustment, output→synthesis. Next, I will explain several cases, so that you can have a preliminary understanding of the production process.

1. Preparation

When you receive a project, you must first understand the customer's demands, design the screen in a targeted manner, and determine the style and effect. Secondly, communicate with the client, exchange ideas, and then go to complete the production of the entire film after passing it, doing as little useless work as possible.

"How to conceive and design without making mistakes?" This is a headache for many newcomers. There is no creativity. But the reference is not plagiarism, it is to provide yourself with some ideas, such as some excellent picture elements, camera movements, etc., you can refer to, but in the end, you need to combine your own ideas for recreation.

"How do you keep your customers happy?" Much of this requires getting the communication right. One of the most common methods is to edit shot references, find the shots you are satisfied with among many samples, and stitch them together through editing, which can show the camera movement very intuitively, and customers can know what the camera movement of the video is like at a glance.

If you want to show the details, style, or overall tonality of the project, you generally need to produce a set of pictures, that is, make a single frame of the mirror. The production of the storyboard is relatively flexible, as long as it can clearly show your ideas. You can draw it by hand, use PS to make a composite image, or directly use C4D to make it and then use PS or AE to synthesize it. The example here is a group of storyboards about the Spring Festival. At that time, Mr. Cui produced such a group of shots for this project.

2. Scene construction

After the customer confirms, the production of the video can start next. For example, if you want to make a new title, its style is basically futuristic and technological, with blue as the main color. In order to show internationalization, elements such as light, cities, and the earth are often used. The example I gave is a project in which light travels through the city, and the construction of the city must be indispensable in the scene. Of course, not all of them are modeled by themselves. Without that time, generally, you only need to complete the modeling of the main landmarks. You can reasonably use city presets for other city models, as long as the distribution is reasonable.

3. Material lighting adjustment

Lighting layout and material adjustment are generally carried out at the same time, and repeated adjustments are required. Here, you need to master the lighting skills of various scenes, the adjustment of common materials, and understand the principles of different materials. Not only must you be able to render oc, but you also need to master the basic built-in renderer. Infer other cases from one instance and use them flexibly.

4. Animation adjustment and output

The animation should integrate the use of a camera and curve editor, and the animation must be made smooth and natural. The learning of animation rules is not only at the software technical level but also theoretical knowledge is also very important. You must know that there is almost no perfect "uniform motion" in the motion of all objects. When to speed up and when to slow down, you need to pay attention. Only when these details are in place, your work is qualified. I recommend everyone to read the "Animator Survival Manual".

5. Synthesis

I wrote an article a long time ago: Baobo: 90% of people learn AE in the wrong direction. This article clearly tells you that AE is a synthesis software, don't learn it as special effects software. In the column packaging, the final stage of the project must be completed in AE. It is necessary to add multi-channel synthesis and effects in AE and adjust the picture layer by layer so that it is a complete film.

The production process of product advertisement

In the above article, I explained column packaging in a broad sense. It must not only refer to the column packaging, so let’s take another commercial as an example. The commercial advertisement is slightly different from the column packaging, but the overall production method is the same.

1. Preparation

First, do product analysis and locate the style trend of commercial films. Here I use an example of an advertisement for thermal pants completed by Mr. Cui. The customer wants to express the technological future of the product, so the overall style should go in this direction.

2. Scene construction

Regarding the construction of technological scenes, we must open up our creativity, not just confine ourselves to the pants themselves. This project is the first to build a production scene full of technological sense.

The detail part can show the fiber model and the texture of various fabrics.

XP particles are also used here to build a thermal climbing scene.

3. Final Synthesis

Still the same, it needs to be layered and synthesized in AE to improve the cooperation details and output into a film.

To sum up, the difference between the product film and the column packaging is actually not that big. The main difference is in the 3D production. Often the product film has higher requirements for 3D capabilities, requiring you to do a lot of fine modeling, and since it is a real product, it must be made close to reality, and the requirements for materials and rendering are also higher. However, because there is no substantive product in the column packaging, it is more of a concept, and there are not so many precise requirements.

The same is true for other types of films, as long as you can use the software proficiently, you will not be troubled. For example, I have a student here who is doing VJ and making big-screen video performances for nightclubs. This kind of project is to show off, so his focus is on particles, special effects, and rendering. There is also a former colleague of mine. She is actually not strong in 3D, but she is very good at 2D MG animation performance, and she is also very good.

What kind of hard power do you need to master in this line of work?

Reference website: Recruitment

1. Software Capability

The foundation of the software must be solid, after all, this is the tool you use to eat. Now it is impossible for someone in the company to teach you how to operate the software. Even if you bring a newcomer, they will only call you when you encounter technical difficulties, or teach you some skills and experience to improve efficiency. Now that there are so many learning resources, such as training courses, tutorials, technology sharing sessions, etc., it is not difficult to learn software, as long as you are willing to persist.

The core software is post-processing software and 3D design software. At present, the design industry mostly follows the workflow of AE and C4D. In addition, graphic software and editing also need to be proficient. Try to make yourself as versatile as possible, so as to develop better.

2. Work and project production experience

If you have not yet joined the work, then you must improve your hands-on skills through cases and copy samples more. After all, everyone can learn software operations, but it is not certain whether they can make things. Some people only stay at the technical level for software and have not improved their aesthetics or vision. In this way, they will definitely hit a wall when looking for a job. The solution is to read more, practice more, and think more.

3. Cultivate your own highlights and advantages

After you pass the basic ability, you still need to continue to improve, you need to cultivate better ideas, and create your own style in terms of camera sense, creativity, style, etc., so that people can know whose style it is at a glance.

How to judge whether you are suitable for this industry

The column packaging industry is a relatively fair industry, as long as you have the ability, you will be valued, and you will be rewarded if you are willing to endure hardships. Practitioners' interpersonal relationships are relatively simple, and there is no need to socialize, as long as you do your own work well. This is still an industry for young people. It’s not about physical age, but psychological age. There is a saying that “you’re old when you stop thinking and learning, and don’t pay attention to new things.” But people in our industry are always learning. You will find that technology is updated very quickly, and new things appear from time to time, and then you have an urge to learn it.

If you want to judge whether you are suitable for this industry, it can be summed up in two words "love". Do you love this industry? Only when love can keep you going, can you keep learning, keep creating, and solve problems through design, and you can position yourself as a designer, not a worker who can only use "tools".