is this in the realm of afterfx or should i move on?

[warewolf]

Hi...It all really depends on what kind of shot you have to deal with and what kind of shot you want to end up. For situation No.1 you should use Difference Keyer in After effects (locked camera shot with an actor and clean plate of the set)and get really good result. If the camera is moving then it's a bit more complex unless you used a motion control camera to shoot a couple of passes (with actor and without) and then use the same thechnique as above. If this is not the case, then Rotoscoping is your best bet (animated mask around actor) which is time consuming but it is still very satisfactory if you spend enough time and patience to do it right. Another thing you could do here is to use Mokey from Imagineer Systems (if you can get a hold of a copy) and let it do automatically for you. Another option, if you really need the movement of the camera (and do not have a green or blue screen) to still use difference key on a locked camera shot to get the actor keyed, and then do the movement of the camera in AfterEffects (3d mode). At the end, it really depends on what are you trying to get and those are just a couple of options you could do to solve your problem. I aslo suggest that you do some planing for the shoot (if the footage isn't already in the "can") 'cause this will help you to get better results at the end. I hope this will help you a bit...

[erebos]

thanks warewolf for the help!

i did a bit of preplanning for my shoot and because i wasn't really certain about the boundaries of my postproduction work, i did multiple takes of the some things with varying difficulty.

The use of the cleanplate stuff is something i've worked out and the results are good, but a little finicky sometimes because lighting conditions change slightly or it's dark and the colours don't really distinguish themselves well.

using simple stills would be the worst case scenario but i'll take it if i can't get something better done before february. Rotoscoping complex motion is something that afterfx bible describes as an extremely difficult task that people dedicate their lives to and requires both time and experience. so i was if perhaps some of the other programs i suggested were perhaps better suited to the task?

i had a look at the mokey website and whilst it looks superb, it looks like its light years beyond my non-existent budget.

Given that i would prefer to remain in my adobe pipeline as much as possible, is it worth using combustion or commotion for the rotoscoping and other motion tracking? the other option i have, which i am extremely reluctant to choose, is to move my postfx pipeline to use discreet inferno/flame. That's the major tool which is used at my friend's work and i'm extremely reluctant to use it because from all i'v heard, it's a high-end solution and would take way too long to learn. Furthermore, i'd never be able to purchase it, so the experience would be wasted.


Thanks in advance,
Erebos

[wireFrame]

Stay with Adobe for compositing.

However, the problem you have now is better handled using discreet ffi systems. Fortunately, you can learn ffi using only their keyer module to generate moving mattes. You don't have to learn everything; just the keyer (and some siple difference keying and if you can, a bit of color warper). Then take your processed mattes to after fx and do the compositing there.

The best solution (imho) is you ask for help from professional in your friend's work. Better yet ask help from you friend (if he has some spare time). It's much faster to finish shots with some help from the pros. Don't forget to give them credit plus a treat to a nearby bar.

Don't do it alone; there are always people who're willing to help. Film making is supposed to be a collaborative endeavor.

[bartrobinson]

You have some good responses there so far. I would add that if you end up doing roto, then you might as well use Adobe AfterEffects, because roto is more or less the same is most applications (pushing and pulling lots of points around). When doing roto, create your masks in an articulated fashion (one mask for head, one mask for arm, one mask for leg, etc.) then combine them all before applying them to your actor or whatever. It's easier when you break down a complex roto tasks to lots of simpler ones.

[erebos]

well thanks guys for all the help!

well chiselling away at my movie for a while now, and after realising just how long this will all take me to do the rotoscoping, i decided to ask my friend for some help, and so he's offered to stay back for a couple days on his christmas break and use one of the more sophisticated motion plane tracking softwares (not sure what it was callled) to help me create my mattes.

for anything which he won't be able to help me with, i'll just fall back onto my simpler clean plate footage and use that. In the end, i just don't have enough time to do all the compositing considering that i have a month left to do all my other effects, a 3d shot and mix all my sound, as well as producing the final cut.

again, thanks for your help!

cheers,
erebos

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