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  • How to do this FX?

    Posted by Michael Benton on March 27, 2008 at 4:55 pm

    Hi guys, you’ve been a huge help in the past so see what you can do here.
    I’m trying to get the “growing” animations FX to make it look like arrows and
    graffiti is growing on the walls of a building. Heres a link to a similar FX, its about 1/3rd through the song:

    https://www.light-borne.com/work/play.php?id=32&w=440&h=390

    Basically I’ll be shooting a band and these arrows and graffiti will be growing around them on the floors, ceilings and walls.
    1. I can do the animations but whats the best way to make them look like they’re actually on the wall? Would it have to do with opacity, blending effects, etc?
    2. Is there anything I need to be aware of when shooting? Obviously a locked down shot would be best but is it extremely hard to track these on with in a handheld shot?

    Thanks in advance!
    Mike

    Michael Benton replied 18 years, 1 month ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Steve Roberts

    March 27, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    1. Experiment with transfer modes such as “multiply” or “soft light”.

    2. If the shot isn’t locked down, you should use a matchmover such as Syntheyes. Why? Because AE doesn’t create tracking solutions in 3D space (like, where the footage was shot). AE can track one point at a time, or four points to attach corners. But it can’t track multiple points and make 3D sense out of them.

    That said, if you knew your (flat, rectangular) wall was 20 feet by 30 feet, and you saw all four corners of the wall through the entire shot, you could make your graphics in a 2×3 proportioned comp, drag that into another comp, track the four corners of the wall, then attach the corners of the comp to the tracked corners of the wall so they match. That’s the way AE works — okay for tracking things onto rectangular billboards, posters or monitors, but after that …

  • Michael Benton

    March 27, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    Thanks Steve. That helps a lot. You made me thing of another quick question…..
    Suppose there were bumps or even corners of the wall that I wanted things to be writing onto. Should I make the actual file in photoshop and have these corners or bumps already applied and then animate them. Or should I just make them flat and apply the bumps, corners, shading, etc. in AE?
    In that video I posted the link to, they tackled that probelm rather successfully on a few small bumps, etc.

  • David Bogie

    March 27, 2008 at 9:56 pm

    Small surface irregularities are easily handled with displacement mapping.

    bogiesan

    This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

  • Michael Benton

    March 27, 2008 at 10:48 pm

    Thanks!

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