-
Picture tracking TV pictures
I am filming short piece where the shot zooms slowly into a television set in a lounge.
The Television doesn’t work (it’s an antique) and i want to put pictures on in post using AE, these will then lead into the next shot.
I’d also like to try and get light playing on the furniture surrounding the television set, without resoting to dismantling the telly and whacking a newer model inside!
Is this something I can do in AE and does anyone know of a useful tutorial which would help?
Thanks in advance,
Alex.
-
6 Replies
-
Hello,
You could motion track the position of the televsion then add an image onto the screen to come into the next shot, maybe try some 3d lighting as well and 3d space camera?
Warm Regards,
LEO BAKER
SYNC FILMS
Web: http://www.syncfilms.com
E-Mail: leo@syncfilms.com -
Ok, i’ll give that a go, thanks for your help.
Alex.
-
I’ve done several of these projects, mostly using Combustion, but the technique will work for any compositing software. We bought a package of small (1/2″ to 3/4″) neon orange dots at Staples, and put them on the TVs we were doing the moves on in a five dot pattern; one at each of the four corners (as close to the edge as possible) and one at dead center. This enabled us to do a pretty accurate track on the TVs, and gave us scaling points as well.
As a secondary part of the process, I pulled a frame from about the center of the move, took it into Photoshop, and painted a black mask with alpha that perfect covered the screen. When I did the track, I used the mask layer to cut out whatever video I needed for the particular TV; this made it possible to easily replace the video if need be, since I was using the mask layer to cut the alpha, and tracking/scaling the mask to the background footage.
If you have the budget, rent a motion-control rig, and do several passes; one with the dots, in which you pull focus throughtout to keep the dots in focus, and one that’s lit for the final shot. The motion-control rig will give you two identical passes, so all you need to do is track the shot with the dots, then replace with your final, beautifully lit footage and you’re done. I don’t know whether AE will import camera tracking info, but Combustion would allow you to import an ASCII file direct from the motion-control rig, so tracking is totally unnecessary. Good luck.
Joe Bourke
Art Director / WMUR-TV -
For the light off the screen, you could try taping something reflective to the screen and then projecting a changing light onto that. That’s not really an AE solution, but it sounds like something that would look better and be less work if you do it during shooting rather than after.
-
I hadn’t thought of the dots – seems obvious now!
Thanks very much for your time, I’ll have a go.
Cheers,
Alex.
-
Another good idea, and i thought i could think laterally…
Thanks very much for your help 🙂
Regards,
Alex.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up