Adding Video Clips to AM V13.0

[Jadeye]

How I can add video clips made by camera into AM V13.0 ?

[mouseman]

Hi, Jadeye,

 

It depends on how you want to add them.

 

1. Rotoscope method

One way is to create a rotoscope on the (A:M) camera. This makes the image or image sequence a foreground or background. Making it a foreground only really works if you have an alpha channel (invisible areas) for your other animation to show through. I have done that with a title sequence. However, a video created with a video camera or photo camera that also takes video would not have that alpha channel. Using it as a background is neat if you want to have your own characters on top of the video action.

 

This is what it's like on Windows in the latest version, it will be similar on Mac and I hope similar on v13. To do this, right-click on the "Shortcut to Camera1" in the choreography, choose New -> Rotoscope.... Change the "Files of Type" to be the type of movie you have (e.g. .AVI or .MOV), check "Import as an animation or a sequence of images" (I always forget that step and have to re-do it), and then choose your movie. Warning: the file types available to import are somewhat limited; hopefully they match up with what your camera exports.

 

At that point, you should be able to see the video in the choreography screen, and the picture should change as you scrub through the animation (albeit possibly slowly).

 

2. Texture/Decal method

Warning - I have not been able to get this to work. This would involve assigning the movie to a group on part of a model. For example, say you had a model of a TV, and you wanted a video playing on the screen portion of the TV. Maybe someone could chime in with how to do this.

 

Hope this helps.

[Jadeye]

Thank you very much

[robcat2075]

to amplify... in general, video clips that have been converted into numbered image sequences ( JPGs ro TGAs) work best in A:M. Many video editing apps or Quicktime Pro can convert video files to image sequences.

[NancyGormezano]

2. Texture/Decal method

Warning - I have not been able to get this to work. This would involve assigning the movie to a group on part of a model. For example, say you had a model of a TV, and you wanted a video playing on the screen portion of the TV. Maybe someone could chime in with how to do this.

 

I did something similar using the patch image feature (but should work similarly with decals). Not sure which part didn't work for you.

 

 

1) Import image sequence that is to be playing on the "TV screen". My sequence has 1100 png format images, but I will only be playing the first 24, and I will be playing them out of sequence, forwards and backwards

 

2) create a TV screen model. My TV screen model is 1 group only that has 1 patch. Right click on group/add image/select image sequence. right click on patch and keep selecting "rotate images" until image is oriented correctly, if it doesn't show correctly at first. Rescale patch so that it has same aspect ratio as the image sequence (eg 16:9)

 

3) Drag TVscreen model to choreography, set options/property/flatshaded = ON of Shortcut to TVscreen, so that image sequence won't be effected by lighting. I've also added another model to chor that is the TV surrounds, and this model will NOT be flat shaded.

 

4) Click on show more drivers shortcut to TVscreen, open up the group, set the desired frame numbers for the sequence on frames 0,24,48, etc, change curve to linear

tv3h264.mov

[Vertexspline]

I did a quick test using decals with image sequenced files and it seemed to work pretty good. I did use a png sequence and did seem a little rough so next time I have a chance will follow robert's sage advice with using jpg or tga's and see how that goes. The decal way was pretty quick to set up too.

[John Bigboote]

pngs are lossless... should be a step above jpegs...

[mouseman]

2. Texture/Decal method

Warning - I have not been able to get this to work.[...]

I did something similar using the patch image feature (but should work similarly with decals). Not sure which part didn't work for you.

I was using a .mov to test it out, and it was crashing while reading in the video after I selected it. I didn't have time at that moment to try out other options, such as an image sequence or other videos. I'll have to try again to see what was causing the problem.

[Vertexspline]

Chris..I have used decals and loaded up a sequence _this time a tga sequence --and all seems pretty good except when I render the scene out as an avi movie the "movie" plays on my one patch tv but it not very smooth almost like its skipping frames or something. Thinking its maybe some kind of timing issue between the decal and the rendering of the avi ---gonna play with it some more myself.

[Rodney]

I was using a .mov to test it out, and it was crashing while reading in the video after I selected it.

 

With .MOV files you have to consider the amount of RAM the whole process is going to take.

When using sequential images programs will usually only require the image currently being referenced to be loaded into memory. Once that processing is complete the image is moved out of memory space, the next image is loaded and any free memory released. If I understand correctly when working with .MOV files all or at least a majority of the files size must be maintained in memory during the whole process.

 

Now, note that this referencing of the input imagery isn't necessarily the whole deal. Are you also rendering out to .MOV? If you are then you are exacting the same/similar price in memory usage for the output in addition to the input.

 

This is one of many reasons why people recommend using sequential imagery formats over movies.

 

How do you eat an elephant?

One piece at at time.

 

When we use .MOV as our source *and* render out to .MOV we are passing that whole elephant through our entire digestive system. Depending on that system... that could be... painful.

 

When testing something using movies where ever you can I recommend using a proxy movie. This is a smaller version of the movie you will ultimately use. Once the system is determined to work with the proxy then replace the proxy with the original. If it doesn't work you'll at least know where to focus your troubleshooting effort.