Bald guy grows hair effect, How to do???

[Brian Deviteri]

are you doing a mechanical, programmed camera move?

[Graham Quince]

If I was to do this, I’d probably try putting some tracking dots on bald head and filming him moving around. Then film the hair not moving against a plain background. You should then be able to cut out the hair and track it onto his head. You could then fake the hair moving using the puppet tool or a distort effect. Have it grow using a gradient wipe and hide it under those sparkles you mentioned.

Graham

http://www.YouTube.com/ShiveringCactus – Free FX for amateur films

[Danny Winn]

Brian,
The shot will be on a fixed tripod. It will be a 3/4 shot, meaning it will not be straight on the actor but shooting into the mirror seeing the front and side of the actor.

Graham, I had originally thought of something like that but I dont think it will look real enough without the hair actually being on the head. Plus you would have to rotoscope out the tracking points on the bald head before the hair appears (which may have to happen with other methods).

I guess I was just hoping someone had a moving morph type effect technique that I don’t know.

Thanks guys.

[Trevor Gent]

Hey Danny,

Do you have access to a 3d app and tracking software or are you planning on doing this all inside Ae?

[David Bogie]

The approach to the effect is determined by your budget and your need to satisfy your stylistic direction. It’s not exactly something you create in After Effects so much as composite.

Do you need the final shot so simply wipe into place or do you need the volume of hair to appear to grow? AE does not have volumetric evolution, you can pile particles but there’s no way to make them appear to exist is 3D space as you move the camera or the head, which amount to the same things.

If I were approaching this, I’d be contemplating 90 frames of painstaking rotoscoping since I have no desire to be forced to learn a hair generation system in a 3D modeler. Or, of course, I’d hire someone who already has that experience.

bogiesan

[Danny Winn]

Thanks everybody!

yeah the whole effect will have to come from AE. However it doesn’t need to be so elaborate that you see all the hair strands growing individually but more of quick burst of a hairdo. Kinda like in nature shows where you see a flower bud burst into a full open flower when they use time lapse (If that makes any sense).

I think I may have come up with something that might do the trick but if anyone else has any more suggestions I’d love to hear them.

Thanks much to all!

[Anita Sancha]

Hi..

I think if it was me… I would film the guy and looking into the mirror bit. Then film him with the wig on bit.. Get a cheap very wig.
Tripod the whole thing.

Then get him to sit very still put a key cloth color over his head with a hole in it, tie this as straight as possible to avoid shadows, and put a cheap wig on his head (or use a plastic head on a table which would stay still, and film from same angle..) put a bit of hair wax on the wig to keep the strands from moving too much, otherwise it would be a blur, stop frame film, the cut up the wig bit by bit.

Then go into AE key out the wig, put it back in place and then time reverse, then work some AE effects as suggested above to get it really exciting..

But then I combine stop motion and AE in my films, but sometimes off the wall answers do work… er sometimes !

er.. just an idea!

Thanks for all your help
Anita Sancha.

http://www.anitasancha.co.uk

[Danny Winn]

Thanks for your ideas Anita, I may just use some of them.

Much appreciated!

Danny Winn
youtube.com/dannywinnvideo