About Valtapaz Videos Valtapaz Videos, based in the U.S., is an apocryphal film company. With virtually no budget and a limited team to say the least, Mxyl Valtapaz and his family make videos that vary widely in genre, often enhancing their works with visual effects using After Effects and Blender. Their latest project, Abydos, pushed the group to new levels in both storytelling and visual effects.
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About Mxyl Mxyl Valtapaz is a young filmmaker who likes creating special effects videos as a hobby, mostly using the open-source 3D program Blender and the VFX program After Effects. He started using After Effects in late 2013, but only began using relatively advanced effects in November of 2014. His other hobbies include philosophy, photography and 3D modeling.
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News
10/24/20 - ABYDOS: Incursion is released!!
It's here! I'm really thankful to my siblings Klenda, Zorg and Leena both for the acting and for the improving and consulting; each of them brought new things to the table that vastly improved the script and execution thereof. This has propelled my abilities incredibly far even through the span of the movie's production, and it's marked my first time working with several features and tactics, including inverse kinematics, luma-based sky replacement, (successful) in-Blender 3D tracking and more! I've also aimed to go a bit more advanced with story structure, theme and motif this time as a step forward.
It's here! I'm really thankful to my siblings Klenda, Zorg and Leena both for the acting and for the improving and consulting; each of them brought new things to the table that vastly improved the script and execution thereof. This has propelled my abilities incredibly far even through the span of the movie's production, and it's marked my first time working with several features and tactics, including inverse kinematics, luma-based sky replacement, (successful) in-Blender 3D tracking and more! I've also aimed to go a bit more advanced with story structure, theme and motif this time as a step forward.
6/8/20 - The Site's First Redesign!
Mostly a few tweaks, but the site's gotten a new theme! This mostly uses an updated version of the original theme, though I decided to also give it a manual dark mode to fit more appropriately with the site's filmmaker/creator emphasis.
5/21/20 - VFX on ABYDOS: Incursion is finished!
I haven't been updating this site or my blog lately, but I've still been making progress: barring finalized credit text, I've now finished both the Blender and After Effects sides of the project! Now all that's left is a chunk of the sound work and the final editing; the project's really coming together!
Mostly a few tweaks, but the site's gotten a new theme! This mostly uses an updated version of the original theme, though I decided to also give it a manual dark mode to fit more appropriately with the site's filmmaker/creator emphasis.
5/21/20 - VFX on ABYDOS: Incursion is finished!
I haven't been updating this site or my blog lately, but I've still been making progress: barring finalized credit text, I've now finished both the Blender and After Effects sides of the project! Now all that's left is a chunk of the sound work and the final editing; the project's really coming together!
9/20/19 - ABYDOS 2 Official Trailer
So this took a while; at first I was thinking of releasing a comedic one-off with zero special effects or plot relevance to announce that filming was done, but I've decided it would be way better to actually finish a proper teaser trailer. Hope you enjoy it--and, yes, I am planning on answering the questions left open by the original! (Except why the jumping car looks the way it does. I'm really not sure what's going on with that.)
11/10/18 - Update: November, 2018
Progress on ABYDOS II has gone immensely well, and I hope to release an update video soon! Not unlike how the original ABYDOS expanded vastly on both my visual effects and storytelling abilities, I'm hoping the sequel will expand vastly on some of the concepts I've employed throughout the first movie, both visually and creatively, growing flashier in the effects department without falling into the "sequel trap" of making the effects the main focus while leaving out the humanity and story elements that can really pull a narrative together.
4/29/18 - New Short!
What have I done?
What have I done?
9/1/17 - ABYDOS Making Of out now!
A new college semester has begun, but I've finished my ABYDOS making of video in time! Instead of taking the special effects route, this documentary goes into the concept, characters, and production of the movie. I hope you enjoy it!
8/25/16 - Finally: ABYDOS!
After over a year of work, I'm finally done--and just in time, too, as my new college semester starts soon! This is by far my most ambitious video project to date, with both my After Effects and my Blender skills used to a much farther extent than anything I'd done before. Aside from its technical aspects, there was a lot of acting, scripting, and even voiceover dialogue to an extent that my family's never tried before. There will be making of videos, and I'm hoping for a sequel! I already have several ideas for new technical improvements.