Embedding Video in 3d animation?

[Thomas Smith]

Bugger 🙂 back to the drawing board then, maybe I will try the 3d max way but not having much luck at importing video into 3d max. I think I might get away with either creating a very good looking 3d object with video on the table at the end just so the teacher can see I have imported some video or maybe start again and think of a new idea maybe a holographic table effect. Back to the coffe me thinks.

But thanks for the heads up regarding this issue.

Thomas

[Jason Hare]

Hey Thomas,

I agree with Dave.

In addition to his points…

It is very simple to apply moving video to an object in 3D Studio Max. You simply select an AVI file or image sequence where you have selected the stills. You may need to play with the timing a bit but that is all there is to it.

Looking at your video I would say that you could build the entire scene in after effects pretty easily and even add lights. This isn’t too big a scene to create.

One additional option you could consider is to replace all the still images in your video with a simple texture with some detail, such as a checkerboard. You could then render this out in 3D Studio Max and use a planar tracking system such as Mocha to track each of the images. You could then take that corning pinning data into after effects and make your moving videos fit perfectly. This could be useful if you need to update the video files at a later date and want a quick render.

Good Luck!

[Steve Roberts]

I would always do this in the 3D app. As Dave said, just replace the still surface texture image (or whatever it’s called in MAX) with a TGA image sequence (or AVI or whatever) wherever that still image appeared in your scene.

When you need to switch images, just replace the texture again and only render the object that uses the texture … then composite that over the original animation in AE.

I wouldn’t try to track something that gets so small (even tracking from large to small), especially since the scene is CG and you have access to the app that made it.

The “pro” way is to replace the texture and re-render in MAX, but rendering as little of the scene as possible if you’re under the gun for time.

[Joseph W. bourke]

Hi Thomas –

I have done this with dozens of projects in 3ds Max. I have always had the best luck with Quicktime Motion JPEG-A files. Output your file from AE, create a material in Max that has the bitmap (Max treats video as a bitmap file). Setup your plane, or whatever you want your video to appear on (making sure your plane size somewhat matches your aspect ratio). Decide whether you want interlaced or non-interlaced footage. A good way around this is to export from Max at 60fps, then you can decide how to deal with it in AE.

The beauty of doing this in Max is that you can very easily change the footage, or adjust the timing (in the material editor) to give you proper in and out points. It’s much easier to deal with it in Max (once you’ve got the gist of it) than to try to cob it together in AE. I suppose you could export the camera information from Max (which works quite well by the way), but it’s really easier to do it all in Max. Good luck!

Joe Bourke
Creative Director / Multimedia Specialist
B&S Exhibits and Multimedia
bs-exhibits.com

[Thomas Smith]

Hi, I would just like to say thank you to everyone, your advice is very much apreciated. Just one more thing It’s not really related to EA now as I am going to be doing it in 3d max.

The project is for Uni, I have to run the footage from a website so stuck to 15 FPS (in the Brief) if I create an object that has the video footage running at normal speed and then import that object into my main object to be rendered would that still work or would it slow every thing down to 15FPS because I think it might look a bit crappy (SLOW).

Thank you again

Thomas

[Thomas Smith]

Hi Again,

Just been thinking some more about the situation I’ve got, I am going to g down the 3d max route for adding the footage but was wondering if it would be possible to use a Chromakey in AE if I set the color of my object to bright green?

Only a thought.

Thanks again
Thomas

[Jason Hare]

I have to agree with everyone on this. Chroma keying can be a nightmare if the lighting isn’t right. It would also be tricky when the images are further away. Plus you will have to track the green surfaces, another skill set in itself.

I would just use 3D Studio Max. I have added moving video to many 3D scenes and it works perfectly. No chroma key fuss, and no tracking nightmares.

Good Luck