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Activity Forums Adobe After Effects Give a submerged look to an object?

  • Give a submerged look to an object?

    Posted by Jeremy Ezekiel on September 24, 2010 at 5:03 am

    Hey guys,

    Quick question here:

    Let’s say I am shooting a lake or a shore from above and I model a 3D sea creature, is there a way to composite it so that it looks like it’s swiming right under the water surface?

    If somebody could provide me with a (very) general walkthrough, it would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

    Jeremy
    VFX student

    Jeremy Ezekiel replied 15 years, 11 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • Chris Wright

    September 24, 2010 at 7:50 am
  • Tudor “ted” jelescu

    September 24, 2010 at 7:55 am

    Create a displacement map from the surface of the lake- take the saturation down and crush the black and white with levels (not too much). Use that to apply a distortion to your 3D creature as it moves under the surface. Duplicate the lake layer and comp the creature in between. Play with transparency on the top layer to see what looks best. You may need to apply some color correction to your 3d creature to bring it closer to the color of the water. Try creating an object with the same color/texture as the creature and shoot that under water in the same day/time as your lake shot for reference. You can use that to tweak your final comp.

    Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
    Senior Compositor/VFX Artist

  • Jeremy Ezekiel

    September 24, 2010 at 4:34 pm

    Many thanks Tudor!!

    I’ll try it out, and thanks for the details on the reference shot, I wouldn’t have thought of it.

    Jeremy
    VFX Student

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