-
How to Key Out Rods on Rod Puppets
Can anyone help me with this, please? I’m wondering how to effectively green-key out the green rods on some rod puppets. The problem is that the rods sometimes go in front of parts of the puppet. Since the puppet is moving, I don’t know how to replicate it’s movement to go back and get a shot of the puppet without the rods (which wouldn’t work anyway cuz the puppet couldn’t move then!). I know this is done a lot, such as on “Cicada Princess” and other rod puppet films, but I have no idea how to fill in the holes on the puppet left by keying out the rods. Below is a picture of what I’m talking about, an image from a short film called “Everloving” by Steve Johnson (don’t know him). Notice that the rods cut into or are in front of the puppet image. Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
-
6 Replies
-
I’d say tracking with the clone tool would be the basic idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fnJiMNyeiA
-
Thanks Kale. In theory, that seems like it would work, though the puppet may have textures and mottled surfaces that would make cloning inadequate. The example in the video is monochrome green, so that’s why it works. I’ll have to experiment with something not so monochromatic to see if it can work on that too. Appreciate the idea!
-
Thanks Dave. That would work if I was trying to fill in the empty spaces created by the rods in front of that bench, which is static. But the point of the rods is to move the puppet, so not sure your idea would work for a moving puppet whose motion is dependent on the rods themselves. Thanks though!
-
if your camera is locked you can use Superpose to create a clean plate https://aescripts.com/superpose
-
I’ll check it out. Since the puppet is moving as well, not sure it would work. But thanks.
-
As long as the camera is static it will remove any moving objects, ie your puppet and anything else that is moving.You can then use this clean plate to mask out the rods. There is a free trial so you can try this before purchase and if you have any question just open a support ticket on our site and we’ll be happy to help.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up