Animation Master question...

[B. Brown]

Sorry I didn't post this in the FAQ forum. For some reason, it wouldn't let me post there.

 

Anyways, I'm really interested in this program, and before I buy it, I'm wondering about something:

 

If I film my whole fan film, leaving places for CGI and such, will I be able to completely add in CGI with Animation Master once Im finished filming?

 

For example, if I want my alien tripods to walk behind a forest, so the audience sees them through the trees, then can I:

 

1. Film the forest

2. Generate the CG tripod

3. Place the CG tripod animation moving behind the forest... so we can see bits of it through the trees on the other side of the forest

 

 

Example:

 

Lets pretend the building in the back is my tripod. Am I able to make the scenes look like that? With the tripod being overlapped by branches and leaves, while it moves, and looks realistic?

 

and... is it easy to do it?

 

If the program can do this, Im buying it.

 

After seeing that one T-rex in the turorial, Im 99% convinced that this is what i want.

 

Thanks!

[luckbat]

Can A:M animate convincing giant mechanical tripods?

Yes.

 

Can A:M be composited with live-action?

Yes. Most definitely Yes.

 

Lets pretend the building in the back is my tripod. Am I able to make the scenes look like that? With the tripod being overlapped by branches and leaves, while it moves, and looks realistic?

Not easily. It doesn't really matter what software you use. There's no way for your compositor to know how to decide what parts of the image go "in front of the model" and which ones go "behind the model." I mean, if the sky is flat blue like that, you could do a color key--that might work. Or a luminance key if the sky is pure white or pure black.

 

Otherwise you'd need an advanced compositing tool like Combustion to separate the layers. But that's a rotoscoping and layering program, not an animation program. You might need both.

[B. Brown]

Can A:M animate convincing giant mechanical tripods?

Yes.

 

Can A:M be composited with live-action?

Yes.

 

So, in other words, I can make the effect of giant mechanical tripods walking through forests, even with leaves and trees over lapping them?

 

is it difficult to do? In the tutorial, i noticed that feature where you have it in 3D and can move stuff behind other things. Is that what it's like?

 

Thanks for the reply, by the way.

[Rodney]

Your post demonstrates why the FAQ forum is read only... yours is a series of questions not a FAQ.

 

There are those with a lot more knowledge than me that can steer you in the right direction concerning CG and live action... there is even a forum area for it!

 

CG in Live Action Forum

As I like to say, 'It's forum 56 on your A:M dial'. (Gonna have to make that dial one of these days)

 

You'll find several links to tutorials that will help immensely there.

 

 

You can definitely film your live footage in ways that make compositing more easy.

There is a lot to consider though.

 

For instance:

Will you be using Green Screen/Blue Screen or other things to make masking unwanted areas out of the film?

 

Paul Daley has a tutorial/demo on one of the early SIGGRAPH video tapes that I really enjoyed.

His 'Sack Attack' is a really great demonstration of the CG in Live Action technique. I highly recomment it.

 

Now lets see what the experts say...

 

(Strange how posts appear long after submitted sometimes. That Mike is fast!)

[luckbat]

I added more explanation to my post above. Sorry for the confusion.

 

I can make the effect of giant mechanical tripods walking through forests, even with leaves and trees over lapping them?

The easiest way to do that is to model the trees in 3d, instead of using video footage of trees.

[B. Brown]

Another question:

 

If I filmed a foggy scene, would i be able to add in a CG tripod leg so it can be seen through the fog?

[luckbat]

Yes, you'd just need to create an equivalent amount of fog in the tripod's alpha channel. That wouldn't be difficult.

[robcat2075]

Much of what you are proposing are advanced compositing tasks. A good book on the topic is

 

Digital Compositing in Depth by Doug Kelly.

 

19.95 on ebay

[B. Brown]

Flexible moving legs... like the tripods had in the Spielberg film.

 

Can Animation Master creat animation effects like that?

 

Sorry if I seem annoying... I'd just like to figure out if I can do all my work with AM before I buy it.

[luckbat]

"Flexible moving legs" is too vague. The answer's almost certainly, "Sure, no problem," but... Flexible how? Moving how?

 

These legs are pretty flexible: http://home.alltel.net/collinsfamily04/meatbugmapped.avi

[B. Brown]

Like this: http://forums.eveofthewar.com/photos/displ...lbum=350&pos=43

[Ganthofer]

Yes, Flexible tripod legs like you linked to can be created and animated in A:M. A:M is very (and I mean VERY) good at organic model animation. You don't have to be limited to cylinders and spheres for limbs and joints.

[B. Brown]

It's possibly to animate them walking like this also ? :

 

http://forums.eveofthewar.com/photos/displ...lbum=350&pos=34

[luckbat]

You can animate them walking however you like.

[B. Brown]

Here's an example of a scene from my film:

 

As the survivors are walking, out of the fog, a giant tripod foot can be seen standing in their way.

 

 

Now, if I used AM to do this scene... would i have to green screen the area where the CGI foot will be, or can i simply film it regularly, and add in the CGI later without needing greenscreen?

 

Thanks.

[luckbat]

It depends on where the camera is. Behind the characters? High up looking down? On the opposite side of the foot?

[KenH]

If it's just a foot in front of the camera with the extras behind the foot then all you would have to do is this:

 

Setup your camera (in AM) with a video rotoscope.

Import your foot model

Place the foot in front of the camera in the chor

Job done

 

If you want to do any panning of the camera/show the ground, it would be abit more tricky, but not impossible.

[luckbat]

For the shot KenH describes, you'd probably want to invest in some motion-matching software like SynthEyes. Then you could use a moving camera, instead of locking it on a tripod.

[B. Brown]

Would be difficult/impossible moving the AM camera upwards, to view more of the tripod's leg?

 

Like this:

 

It's not zooming in on the leg... it's simply moving up, to reveal more of it.

[KenH]

For that (with any software) you'd need a green screen for the extras to run in front of. You could then use layers within AM:

 

First layer in front of camera is the alpha footage of the extras running.

Second "layer" would be the foot.

Third would be the background which could be completely 3D or just footage. Could be an image if just a pan with no angle change, but if the sky is visible, you'd need to track the shot.

[B. Brown]

I don't plan on having the actor there running.

 

In the scene, the actor simply stumbles upon the leg, and out of the fog, it is revealed.

 

So, would I still need a greenscreen ?

[luckbat]

Yes. You need a greenscreen (or equivalent) any time you need to place a virtual object behind a filmed object.

[B. Brown]

Thanks folks! I really appreciate the advice/answers!

 

I can't wait to buy this program

[robcat2075]

BTW, remember greenscreening isn't something you do in A:M.

 

You use A:M to render your CG elements and take that footage to a compositing program to combine with your live action stuff.

[B. Brown]

On the subject of green screening...

 

Say I wanted to do a scene like this:

 

http://forums.eveofthewar.com/photos/displ...lbum=350&pos=43

 

I could just film the landscape footage at night, and add in the CGI tripod and a small CGI human, right?

[luckbat]

Yep.

[B. Brown]

How well do you think I can get these tripods to look with AM ?

After seeing that T-rex in the tutorial/preview video chasing that car, I decided a lot could be done with this program, because that T-rex looked like ILM quality...

[KenH]

You can create anything of any quality in AM. The deciding factors as to the result are time and talent. So, get practicing!

 

Making the tripod doesn't seem too hard. The worst part would be the specific rigging.

[itsjustme]

You can create anything of any quality in AM. The deciding factors as to the result are time and talent. So, get practicing!

 

Making the tripod doesn't seem too hard. The worst part would be the specific rigging.

 

The rigging wouldn't necessarily be hard...it depends on what you want it to do.

[robcat2075]

 

Say I wanted to do a scene like this:

 

http://forums.eveofthewar.com/photos/displ...lbum=350&pos=43

 

I could just film the landscape footage at night, and add in the CGI tripod and a small CGI human, right?

 

That's a very complex shot. You could shoot your back ground at night with a camera, but getting it to appear illuminated by the tripod's light beams as they pass across the scene... hmmm... tricky. merely increasing the brightness of those parts of the scene won't reveal the detail that would be there if it were actually illuminated.

 

I'm guessing either...

 

-real lights were used while shooting the live landscape "plate" to which the tripods motion was matched

 

-real lights were used while shooting a miniature of the landscape to which the tripods were matched

 

-the landscape may be a CG element to which green screened small humans were added. Easier to combine with the tripods' light.

 

- or something else entirely

 

In any event, that shot is the work of numerous people.