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blindchild
03-29-2007, 07:41 PM
Hello all. First time poster here http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/smilies/smiley.gif

I am currently working on a film where I have filmed some shots panning down water inside a fishtank. The problem that I am having is that you can actually see a reflection of the camera/tripod in the fishtank...as well as my hand turning the crank to perform the camera movement http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/smilies/cry.gif
I was talking with one of the technicians at my college and he mentioned that it was possible to remove these reflections in After Effects...but I am not too sure how. He said that it was quite a simple process, but I cant work out what to do.
The shot is of a pipe submerged in water, the camera pans down the pipe from above the water level till under the water level.

Also there are a few static shots where there are reflections again of the camera/tripod so any suggestions/advice about how to remove the reflections would be most welcome. Its frustrating as often what is inside the fishtank is moving...

Thanks guys

Ross McDowell

PS.
Some screenshots for you:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/xxblindchildxx/ReflectionProblem_01.jpg

You can see the reflection of the camera n tripod alittle easier on the right hand side. Not good http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/smilies/sad.gif

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/xxblindchildxx/ReflectionProblem_02.jpg

Theres another one.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c237/xxblindchildxx/ReflectionProblem_03.jpg

And heres one with my hand in it. Which will be moving turning the crank.

So basically at times, what is outside the tank is moving (my hand) and also what is inside the tank is moving (panning down the pipe).

The sequence lasts for about 1minute recorded...but im going to speed the footage up so that it lasts for about 20 seconds...

If there is anything else you would like to know, or like to see, please dont hesitate to ask.

Thanks

Ross
beenyweenies
03-30-2007, 05:52 AM
Because the reflections are so subtle, and your footage is a bit milky, one of the easiest ways to deal with it would be to color correct your footage and lift the blacks. This will eat most of the reflections in the black areas.

To lift the blacks, add a Levels call and pull the left-most slider to the right. Due to the milkiness of your footage, you MAY have to pull up the mids a bit as well.
mackdadd
03-30-2007, 05:57 PM
this is the kind of thing that producers and directors think is easy, but visual effects artists know is very difficult and time consuming. If the color correction works, i'd say go with that, but i doubt it will hit every problem area.
The way I would do this at work would involve roto'd and tracked still frames, frame by frame cloning and painting, and localized color corrections using individual mattes. It would take a while, too.
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03-30-2007, 05:57 PM
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