PDA

View Full Version : the art of "painting out"

seantree
03-07-2004, 10:22 PM
Okay, i hear this phrase tossed around in all of my "making of" sections on my DVD's. anyway, what methods/software is usually used for this? The reason i'm asking is this. I'm working on a little project right now for my personal use, and it consists of footage from a feature film, plus some stuff i've shot to match the sequence i'm using. I need to paint one character out, which I'm doing in PS, but without a clean background plate, i'm stuck with attempting to recreate the background myself. I exported my footage to a tga sequence, and am painting the character out frame by frame., this seems like a ton of work, but is this how it is normally done? After the character is painted out, i'll match my footage to the movements on screen and render it out in AE. Just thought of this. Would it be easier to use an animated mask matched up to ET's finger, or am i going the right route for what i'm trying to do? Any comments/info on "painting out" would be great as i am brand new to the compositing area. thanks

oh, i guess if i told you about the scene i'm working on it might help. I've obtained the scene from E.T. where elliot cuts his finger and ET heals it. I'm painting elliot out of the shot where ET's glowing finger touches his and replacing elliot with myself. I know it sounds pretty corny, but I figure I'll learn something along the way, plus I've always wanted to be in frame with E.T. BTW, this is for personal use and I will not make any profit off of it. Just in case Mr. Speilberg drops in and reads this :/
Paul Moran
03-07-2004, 11:30 PM
unfortunatley...without a clean plate...its *paint it out pain time* :p

Although, it sounds like the scene you are descibing might lend itself to a locked off shot approach ...I mean...if, for this sequence, the camera is not moving (or even if it is a little) ...you may get away with painting one 'master' background plate and just have it tracked to any tiny movements throughout the sequence ...this would mean that you only have to paint 1 single frame and hold it (with tracking if necessary) for the entire length of your clip ... actually...now that i think of it...all the character interaction and touching (i assume there is touching ??) ...will require the painstaking painting out :( ..but you get my drift above

Cheers mate

Paul
seantree
03-08-2004, 03:07 AM
yup, the first 20 frames use the same background plate, but then the fingers touch as ET's hand moves into frame so i'm doing those frame by frame :/ anyway, it should look decent when finished, just wanted to do it for laughs anyway. thanks for the reply though.
Paul Moran
03-08-2004, 07:07 AM
no worries :)

Id like to see the end reslut when its all done ...

Cheers mate

Paul
Jayk2k
03-08-2004, 04:39 PM
Actually, if the camera is locked, do a single clean frame in photoshop. Then roto the clean plate into place with an animated mask. Add grain, and tracking if needed.

Then all you need to do is roto yourself in as well, and you should be good to go.

Painting frame by frame is not really a reccomended process if the shot isn't really moving that much. I think once you get it back into AE and do a preview, you'll notice that the image "boils". This is just a fact of frame by frame painting. With lots of practice, you can get good enough to remove this artifacting, but it's generally easier and faster dealing with a single clean frame and roto.
Paul Moran
03-08-2004, 11:43 PM
hey jay,

good thinkin 99 ;) ... but you would think that his footage of himself would be screen (blue or green) ...and he could just key himself into the sequence after your above mentioned roto'ing in the bg plate around ET ...or am i missing something ? ...

Unless you're thinking that he's rotoing himself out of a completely different sequence that hes shot elsewhere ..in which case i get what you mean ...heres to hoping he shot himself og a screen

Cheers mate

paul
seantree
03-09-2004, 12:50 AM
yeah, my footage was shot in front of a green screen so the process is made that much easier. thanks for the replies guys.
CGTalk Moderation
01-17-2006, 04:00 PM
This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.