I have another project that's going to require a similar effect.
This punk-rocker girl will be walking down the street listening to some music, when she steps behind the pole, the lady will come out on the other side she'll be a well dressed business woman.
I can do this effect. It's easy. I'm just looking for a way to step it up a bit. In the previous video clip, the shot was locked down, making it easy to marry the two scenes together. How would one go about doing the same effect but having the camera truck down the street with the actor? I only have After Effects at my disposal. So, no 3D stuff.
I'm sorry this post is so vague. I'm just looking for ideas on how to make this simple effect a little more amazing.
Re: Help me step up a simple masking effect? by Joey Foreman on Apr 28, 2008 at 6:22:35 pm
Do you have Michel Gondry's number?
Seriously, though - unless you have identical twins - if it's to be the same person, dressed differently,and the camera is moving, I concur that you'll need a motion control rig.
If you do have access to identical twins i know a technique involving 3d matchmove software and a portable greenscreen that would involve a ridiculous amount of setup - that might work.
So, it's by no means a simple effect.
Good luck.
Re: Help me step up a simple masking effect? by Lutz Dieckmann on Apr 28, 2008 at 11:48:52 pm
I am a big fan of Einstein and this inspired me to write this;-))
Think different! I would try it this way.
- Record the walking crowd on the street with the camera on the track, move it slowly but recognizable.
- Get a photograph of a pole or something like it.
- Put your person A in front of a blue/green screen. Make the same camera movement. Be sure to have the original street video at hand to get the same lighting.
- Put your person B in front of the blue/green screen. Move the camera on the track in the same way as with person A
- Put it all together in AE (a little motion tracking etc.)
By the way, your video is cool.
If you allow I think the idea is great and I would like to make it the topic in one of the upcoming tutorials at http://hd-traings.de Would that be OK?
Re: Help me step up a simple masking effect? by Darby Edelen on Apr 29, 2008 at 6:37:39 am
Well, one way I can think of would be to get extra plates of the scene, stitch them together to create a larger background for the scene in AE's 3D environment and then use AE's camera to pan across them. It wouldn't be a track or a dolly, but if you can stitch the backgrounds together accurately it should look convincing.
There is no parallax in a perfect pan, so you wouldn't need to worry about the depth in the scene.
Of course, the obvious parallax in a truck definitely gives a good sense of depth in the scene, which looks very cool. But without a motion control rig or some fancy motion tracking I'm afraid it might be your best bet.
Darby Edelen Lead Designer Left Coast Digital Santa Cruz, CA
Re: Help me step up a simple masking effect? by Lutz Dieckmann on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:25:45 pm
I will test it in one of the next tutorials. I discussed a plan with my staff today and we think we found a method that could work without any kind of electronic camera gear.
I will keep you posted in this thread. Keep a look at it in several weeks or have a look at http://hd-trainings.de Hopefully it works the way I think it will.
Best
Re: Help me step up a simple masking effect? by Lutz Dieckmann on May 1, 2008 at 12:02:48 am
No big deal;-)) But let me know how I can e-mail someone directly.
Here is what I think. I hope I can describe it without having tested it. So donīt kill me if it does not work.
1. Photograph a pole, red light etc. from two different angles on the same optical axis.
2. Make an establishing shot with a pure background (a recognizable wall and in some corner the street with the traffic, wide angle) with your person to be changed, walking to the camera.
3. Install the dolly and shoot something from the same axis but to the other side, making sure that you see the wall somewhere in the picture. There should be traffic/people in the BG.
4. Install a green/blue screen on the street. A few meters should be no prob.
5./5a Shoot your two persons in the same light walking the direction as in shot 3. The same dolly movement. Dolly moved be hand. I personally guess, not even the dolly is necessary.
5. Put the first photo of the pole/red light in the shot no.1. This is to create the illusion that there is a pole.
6. Put the second photo it in the shot no.3 and combine it with no.5 and 5a (the second person)
You have to separate the pole in Photoshop and import it to AE with an alpha. The idea behind it is to create the illusion that there really is a pole in the establishing shot. Then it should be no prob. to create the real "changing shot".
As I said, just an idea so far. I hope it helps.
Best
