need advice of compositing technique !?

[Shayder]

Hi,

I looked at the shot, being a director my self I know that they tend to get tunnel vision when doing a movie. Tell him the pole does not look too out of place. In fact it is hardly noticable in the scene, the muted color of it makes it nearly invisible because our eye is drawn to the boy with the colored shirt. I think that if you try and hide it especially if you are new to this type of compositing and don't have the software you'll end up drawing attention to the fact that something is there and trying to be covered up.

If he insists, then tell him that you don't have the software needed to do it and that if he wants you to get it it will cost a gallizian dollars plus wages of an effects team :)

[Dangeruss]

You can perform some simple camera matching effects in MAX, but I've not had much luck with it. While this doesn't "solve" your problem, nor change your director's intent, but I don't find the pole to look all that out of place. It's certainly not distracting or so modern that it looks out of place in a mid-century setting. I'd be concerned that a "fix" would look artificial and draw more attention to the repair than the original pole. For what it's worth, the actor's jacket looks more contemporary than the pole.

I'd be tempted to mask it in your compositing tool and place a distressed texture over it and darken it so it didn't look as new. Removing it, (in my opinion) is too much effort for little need. Hopefully you can convince your director or find an easy solution.

[bio2000]

hi folks and thanks for the replies, but the problem is that this pole is seen in other scenes too, and that in those scenes its obvious that it don't belong there!!! so if we remove the pole in the other scenes, i'll have to remove it here too im afraid :sad: !

so there is camera tracking in 3dsmax?? didn't know that ! does anyone know of a tutorial that could help me out !?? or would it be easier to stick with combustion and try to track that ??

(b.t.w. the red jacket is supposed to be a new present send from the family in USA.... so it obviously has to be very flashy and a bit "out of place")

anyway, i'll have a look at it and try to discuss with the director... but im afraid that i WILL have to remove this */@§ing pole! :twisted:

[SalaTar]

http://www.digilab.uni-hannover.de/download.html

may help

[dprgb]

You could try painting the bottom part of the pole out of the scene (to maybe where the gray part of the roof drains end), and leave the top part - it matches the movement of the building, so you could 'pretend' it's just part of the building or another roof drain pipe.

I agree though, it doesn't really look out of place for the time period - I'd suggest leaving it and spend more time on something more important/critical.

[bio2000]

hey salatar, thanks for that link !! that tracker looks great for my use, and even has a maxscript to import the data. gonna check that out rightnow! :thumbsup:

and if that doesn't work im going to have a big talk with the director about that pole ;) hehe!

thanks and cheers folks!

[JoshKirk]

*edit im stupid

I say convince him into keeping it in unless he is paying you by the hour, then proceed to paint it out frame by frame

[jussing]

I agree with everybody....

a) The pole is really not that big a problem unless the director's Peter Jackson or Steven Spielberg. The attitude of shooting "anything" and telling visual effects crews to "fix" is pretty ignorant.

b) It can be retouched easier than removed, to be even less distracting than it is

c) It's a fairly simple (almost) 2D move, I think you should be able to 2D track a still patch on top of it, and mask out the kid.

d) WHAT OTHER SCENES? If it's more obivous in the other scenes, then maybe you should start there, and not in a shot were you barely notice the pole. And if those shots are up close and personal with a handheld camera, then good luck!

e) It's a feature film? No offense, but why is a guy without tracking software responsible for tracking footage?

:)

Cheers,
- Jonas

[bio2000]

hi all

i had a talk with the director yesterday, and told him about the problem...and that i'm going to try to replace the ugly grey pole, with another one. i guess it would be less noticeable ;)

well...i'll have a look at it within the next days ;)

To jussing: the problem with: a guy without tracking software responsible for tracking footage..... is money ;) obviously.... cause we're a really small company (4 people) and im almost alone doing all the SFX stuff, cause no one else can do it here :S
so when i have to face a problem like this one, it's always my turn to find solutions to solve it.... that's why i don't ALWAYS have the right software by hand ;)



check out my other thread: link (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=265839&highlight=bio2000)

[jussing]

To jussing: the problem with: a guy without tracking software responsible for tracking footage..... is money ;) obviously.... cause we're a really small company (4 people) and im almost alone doing all the SFX stuff, cause no one else can do it here :S
I understand that entirely, and I also think the stuff in your other thread looks great. And I admire the "bring it on" attitude of not giving up.

But if this is a low-budget production, the director has to understand he can't just order visual effects crew to "fix" his bummers in post production like he's George Lucas. :) Of course, the director being your client, you can't just put it like that to him. ;)

Good luck,
- Jonas

[bio2000]

Of course, the director being your client, you can't just put it like that to him.

exactly ;) ..... sometimes i would like but....... :shrug:

[roto baggins]

i've cleaned up shots like this before(plus more complicated ones), and this shot looks i a patch and paint job. you can easliy take the pole out. if you have high contrast points in your shot, you can track a patch.

first, you need to take out the pole in one of the frames. that will give you your clean plate. you might have to be creative and make something up or grab a clean frame where the pole is not covering that area.

when tracking your patch onto the footage, make sure your using scale and postion. this will require some skill, but it's all about patience. your gonna have to go back and hand fix the track by hand with another axis to you don't fudge your orginal track.

make sure to add grain to the patch. some people tend to forget about that and they'll end up with a good patch job with no grain. it just looks horrible. make sure your grain matches the footage.

try getting a boujou track as well. that's helped my out too

[Wizdoc]

Maybe you could propose to the director that instead of painstakingly trying to remove the pole, you could hide it behind something non-anachronistic.

I mean, it's a lot easier to put something into a shot than trying to flawlessly remove anything.

That said, the pole is completely unobtrusive. Even after you pointing out what I should be looking for, I still have hard time noticing it. I don't think the pole looks out of place at all. You can't see the wiring, so it could be anything, like a sign post, or even part of the building.

I can understand if the director is fixated on it (directors do tend to get hanged up on ultimately inconsequential things in the frame - yes, I'm an aspiring director as well, so I know). But perfectionism is a luxury that's reserved with productions with budgets in triple digits.

[venuvictor]

hi,

well i would suggest u use a gud tracking software

its called mokey

u can check it out at http://www.mokey.com/products/mokey/

its a solid tracking software..easy to use and highly professional ...

u can download a demo from the above site

the site also features some gud tutorials on how to use the programe

i hope this helps


mail : venuvictor@gmail.com

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