Simon Edmondson

. Rodney I would be very interested to see the clip you mention but, no reference to it appeared in my browser ( Safari ). Could you kindly supply the link again ? regards simon

I was trying to be too complicated earlier and had three layers for the foreground, middle and distance, intending to move them at different speeds. The sun had to stay static because of the relative movements. I messed up the alpha channels, so rendered a backplate and made the sun part of the interior setup. Thats why it goes in front of the cacti. Next time I'll get it right ! regards simon

Rodney Thank you as ever for your help. I'm working through the Wookie tutorial but will try the others tomorrow. I've come up with a better story for the project so the week has got even longer ! Whatever it takes really. Part of the difficulty is, I suspect, I didn't prepare it thoroughly before starting. I have an idea I'm quite excited about for next year but this time I intend to work it out properly from start to finish. I ( try to ) learn from my mistakes. regards simon

While trying to decide what to do with the project as a whole, I spent this afternoon trying to find out if I understood a little of what I have been told here. Here is a brief test. Its supposed to look a bit like the interior of a train going through a desert. The interior was blocked through and rendered to TGA, The backdrop is a single frame, moved in the composite, using the multi plane option. Now back to work. simon Carriage.mov Ps Robert Thank you for the light list tutorial. Much appreciated.

Rodney I've been indulging in a spot of displacement activity while thinking what to do with it ( I'll post that in the composite thread later ). I think I've got a better ending but it will take a while to do... Thank you for your feedback. regards simon PS Is there a good guide to using hair available anywhere ?

Rodney Thank you for your reply. The idea was that the female was waiting for the person in the car driving towards the town. She gets fed up of the wait and the storm, decides to "slip into something comfortable" and relax under the sun ray lamp, while sitting on the beach with a drink. The storm really kicks off and the power gets cut. Person in car is still some distance away... Modern life ( joke ) The idea with the curtains/drapes was simply that they would be powered. I'll get the sound put on the final version. I figured anyone who could afford a TV that size would probably have powered curtains ! Regards simon

Heres the first rough draft of the beast. The sound is not done yet and a couple of the transitions need more work. Any feedback welcome. It was supposed to only take a week. Perhaps one of the longest seven days I've worked still, I've learnt a lot doing it. One curious thing in doing the assembly edit. When trying to use some png files in the edit, even though rendered at the same 1080 res they came out with a very thick black border as though rendered at a lower res. I'll see if I can post an example later. regards simon Rough.mov Ps Edited in Final Cut Pro

Layers cannot be dropped onto Cameras so... you've lost me here. Rodney Apologies. I had the camera view active when I dropped the layer into the chor. I dropped it into the window rather than on the PWS icon. Could that be the problem ? I did check its position in the left and top views as well to make sure the field of view fitted. I'll try it on the PWS icon tomorrow.. regards simon

Robert Thank you once again. How do you access light lists and are there any specific instructions available for that option? regards Simon

Robert Thank you very much for the mov file. I was going to follow up your earlier suggestion of that technique after I had got this finished. It isn't what I was trying to do now but it is something I want to try. We talked a few months back about a trailer for Turner Classic movies that used that technique to make a clip look like an Edward Hopper painting of a woman on a train and I wanted to try that soon. If I understand what you are suggesting correctly, the background flat would stay, as is, and be unaffected by the lighting changes ? Its possibly the wrong way to do it but, what I wanted was an exterior that would react to the lightening at the same time as the interior. I built an exterior using the Treez plug in, positioned it in the camera view, deactivated the room model and figure, then rendered the landscape with the same lighting, as a series of TGA files. These were the ones I put on a layer and then composited the interior over the top off. When that didn't give me the result I wanted, I reactivated the room and figure and rendered it with the models outside of the window. That is the one going through now. I've just realised, while typing, that I could use your suggestion and map the rendered exterior onto the flat as a sequence, and have that play through as the whole chor was re rendered. (?) H'mmmmmm. I must admit that it has been a bit frustrating at times the past few days so, I will try your suggested technique next week and just let the current render go through so I can get it to my friend to do the sound for me. Thank you for your help. regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your reply. I'm sure I'm using layers. I followed your instructions. on Objects, selected Layer, selected the Mov file from images. Repeated that for the image sequence. Dropped the first layer on the camera, positioned the field of view carefully, dropped the second layer on the camera, positioned it carefully with the cross hairs. The image on the second layer showed in the camera view but the first one didn't. I'm fairly sure the ground is not in the way but can't check until the second section of frames has finished rendering ( tomorrow ). I'll check and try again then. regards simon

I'm working on a composite using this as the background image, the window looks much better in this but, like Rodney, I prefer the darker interior. When I import it into the PWS as an mov file, then make a layer using that file for the background, it doesn't show up in the chor. Is there a button I have missed ? The single file sequences show up but not the mov file. I was just looking at it again while waiting for the upload, and noticed it was imported at 600 fps ( !). I've corrected it to 25fps but it still doesn't appear on the layer in the chor ? regards simon Scene_HD_A.mov V15J OSX 10.68 Imac 3.3.

I'll post the first section tomorrow, ( I'll have to compress it first I suspect ) the window is much better but, like you, I prefer the darker interior. Too many B & W noir movies I guess ! regards simon

Robert I have done multiple test renders and adjustments, not just once but several times. When the problem came to light a few weeks ago. I followed Nancy's suggestions and got it to where I liked it with the reflection there but not too strong. On a number of occasions I have gone back to the same scene and, without having moved or adjusted anything within the chor or models in the interim, the output has changed. The problems with the alpha channel that started this thread was a case in point. In the WIP thread on the project, I had rendered out to TGA with an alpha, and then tried to find a suitable background to put in. With mixed results but the alpha worked as expected. When I came to render that scene again the results were different. The two mov posted today illustrate that problem. In the one rendered as a TGA sequence, ( then converted to Mov ) the results come out dark and the reflection is not visible most of the time. In the one rendered straight to mov the results were as desired. The settings in the chor, and render window had not changed, except for the output format. I'm trying to get the project finished so, I'm rendering out to a Mov at HD1080 overnight. If that works I'll do the next 5 seconds after that, tomorrow night, the same Sunday and hope to have it done for Monday. I'll crack the compositing eventually but, in the meantime, I have redone the scene by adding the exterior to the chor as models and that is what is rendering out as I type. Its been a 'character building ' day. regards simon

Robert Thank you for your reply and suggestions. This was what I was expecting from the reflections. It is exactly the same scene, with same settings, except that it is rendered as a QT movie rather than a sequence of TGA frames with an Alpha buffer. No compositing. One_QT.mov I had some trouble a few weeks back, which you kindly helped me with, were the renders were too dark, I am still experiencing trouble with that. It is rather frustrating. Before I go any further, I need to check that I'm doing what I think I am ( !!! ) The exterior landscape in the Scene One 000 file was rendered as a 320 x240 TGA sequence ( no alpha), then imported into the PWS and put on a layer. That was put as the bottom layer in the chor. The interior scene was rendered as a 320 x 240 sequence ( with alpha), imported into the PWS and put on a layer. That was then put on top of the other layer in the chor. That was then rendered out as the Scene One 000.mov file, in my post above. The process outlined here is what I understand as compositing. I hope that is correct ? regards simon

Rodney Thank you for your feedback The outside view is the background and the interior with figure has been composited on top of that. I'm not happy with the level of the reflections in the window. You mentioned that it is possible to adjust the channels in composite. Could you direct me to some instructions on how to do that ? regards simon

There are some glitches in this that haven't appeared before, which I will try to iron out today but, Here a low res of the first composite. Simon Landscape_000.mov

OK...Thanks! There is, or was, an Anzovin tutorial CD on rigging a face but I think it was a commercial product rather than a free tutorial? simon

BLAST !!! I've just spent the afternoon learning how to make trees and the render is going through for the compositing... I need to learn how to do it though so not wasted time. Its an idea I'll use next time though. I'm curious the "100% ambient" setting you suggest. What affect and result would that chaznge ? regards simon

Rodney Thank you for the kind offer. I would be very interested in the tutorial for the next project I will try to get this done for now. From what I've read in the archives I would guess that such a tutorial would be welcomed by many, as well as me. regards simon

Robert Exactly so. I'm working through the tutorial for Treez now and hope to be able to post something later today as a result. I'll post it in this thread because its relevant to the compositing theme. regards simon Ps If I had known how easy it was to use Treez I would not have bothered with the import option. Pardon my error.

Mark Thank you for the caution. Ideas started forming for future use but, I'm just trying to finish off what I'm working on. It was only going to take a week ( hollow laugh ) but I have learnt a LOT in the process. regards simon

Robert My mistake.Sorry Having encountered the difficulties with the alpha channel mention before, I thought I would try to learn it properly and address a suggestion from earlier in the WIP thread, by compositing an exterior into the first scene ( the only one, other than the credits ) with the curtains open. Using a tree seemed like a good idea so I thought I would use a ready made model. Set that up, render it, then composite it within AM. Rather than start a new thread, I asked here about using the plug in converter for 3Ds files, as that was one of the free models I had found. The conversion had seemed a bit long at 6 hours has now been churning away for nearly 18 hours and still only at 60%. It serves me right for trying to short cut I suppose. I will try the treez plug in. Regards simon

Preparing to follow Rodney's suggestion for using channels in composite, I thought I would follow Xtraz's idea and use an obj tree to put in the background, to be viewed through the alpha channel in an earlier shot. I dl'd a free tree in 3Ds format and used the import plug in. Or rather, I am trying to. Its been going at it for about 6 hours now and still only 60% through. Is this normal. I tried some OBJ files on another machine and they imported within seconds. Just when I thought the learning curve might be easing! regards simon

Hi Simon ... I used a OBJ ( prop ) as foliage anf treez plugin for trunk. Marcos Thank you very much for the info. I haven't tried obj import yet but may have to soon. regards simon