rightclick
12-01-2004, 05:06 AM
http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/shrug.gif
I am currently working on a production that requires me to integrate 2d animation into a 3d world, and i am having some difficulty achieving this effectively. the 2d is already animated(by hand), i just need it to be in the 3d set. I thought it would be simpler than it is turning out to be. most of the problems arise when trying to use an alpha channel to remove everything but the 2d animation. my first thought was to use combustion to integrate the two, but after realizing some shots needed 3d foreground as well as background i thought i may as well just set it up in max, using the 2d movie file as a texture on a plane. heres where i get stuck...
to silhouette the 2d character on a plane i need to apply a material with both a diffuse map and an alpha map, one to see the character and one to remove everything else. this is easy enough when its just a bitmap, but more difficult with a movie file which doesnt contain any alpha or color to remove. my thoughts were the following:
1. create a photoshop actionscript to remove the background with the magicwand and create an alpha channel, then apply the actionscript to everyframe and export as a .tga image sequence into the max material slot. however, this assumes that all lines are closed and that the background can be easily removed, which isnt the case for every shot.
2. use combustion to find a sneakier way to accomplish the same task with more control. this assumes there is a tool for doing this, and i dont know if such a tool exists...
because ide rather jump out a window than create an apha channel in photoshop for every frame manually, im hoping there is an easier way to do this in combustion, or even max or photoshop. and if there is im sure you guys would know it, or can at least offer suggestions for this workflow in the future. http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/wise.gif http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/wise.gif
thank you all in advance for your advice and expertise.
I am currently working on a production that requires me to integrate 2d animation into a 3d world, and i am having some difficulty achieving this effectively. the 2d is already animated(by hand), i just need it to be in the 3d set. I thought it would be simpler than it is turning out to be. most of the problems arise when trying to use an alpha channel to remove everything but the 2d animation. my first thought was to use combustion to integrate the two, but after realizing some shots needed 3d foreground as well as background i thought i may as well just set it up in max, using the 2d movie file as a texture on a plane. heres where i get stuck...
to silhouette the 2d character on a plane i need to apply a material with both a diffuse map and an alpha map, one to see the character and one to remove everything else. this is easy enough when its just a bitmap, but more difficult with a movie file which doesnt contain any alpha or color to remove. my thoughts were the following:
1. create a photoshop actionscript to remove the background with the magicwand and create an alpha channel, then apply the actionscript to everyframe and export as a .tga image sequence into the max material slot. however, this assumes that all lines are closed and that the background can be easily removed, which isnt the case for every shot.
2. use combustion to find a sneakier way to accomplish the same task with more control. this assumes there is a tool for doing this, and i dont know if such a tool exists...
because ide rather jump out a window than create an apha channel in photoshop for every frame manually, im hoping there is an easier way to do this in combustion, or even max or photoshop. and if there is im sure you guys would know it, or can at least offer suggestions for this workflow in the future. http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/wise.gif http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/wise.gif
thank you all in advance for your advice and expertise.