“Kid Stays in the Picture” photo effect

[David Del]

Are you talking about this :
https://youtube.com/watch?v=D1bQ6MTzWsM

This is done with 3D layers in AE (or another program). If I am correct, you need to cut out the pictures in photoshop (inc. alpha channel), bring them into AE, make them into 3D layers, add a camera and stack the layers into foreground, middle ground and background. If you set the cameras DOF, you can get bokeh and all the things that look like film…

Check out http://www.videocopilot.net under tutorials
https://www.creativecow.net/articles/kramer_andrew/3dcompositing/3dcompositing.html
He does something similar to what you want here, I believe.

[Lars Bunch]

Hi,

As I am sure the tutorials state, you need to extend the backgrounds. This is the hardest, most time consuming part of the job. Once you cut a person out of a shot, you will have use photoshop to fill in the background shot so that when you see behind the character, you will see background rather than a repeat of the character. (Does this make sense? Even I don’t understand what I’m saying. I need more coffee.)

You can simplify the job by using a completely different image for the background, but you lose some of the feeling that it is the same shot in 3D.

Hope this helps more than it confuses.

Lars

[Rhett Robinson]

Not knowing where you’re starting from, you may want to look over this PDF from Adobe
https://www.adobe.com/designcenter/aftereffects/articles/aft65sd3dtrick/aft65sd3dtrick.pdf

I’ve used this kind of trick over and over!

Some tips, from me.

Reasonably small camera moves can really sell this without making the 2.5D really obvious.

If you decide where your camera is going to move (I duplicate a layer (or several) in Photoshop, then bring it in to AE and make those decisions, then update later) you don’t have to fill in all of the background… you fill in what’s going to be revealed!

Don’t neglect another tip that was stated, that it doesn’t have to be the original background, if you can find one that matches the feel, or know enough photoshop to make it feel right.

If you’re not that hot on Photoshop, I’d learn some about masks. I think it’s easiest to leave the original file intact, with masked layers as a PSD to adjust later if necessary.

I’m sure there are other, probably better tutorials than the link I gave. Andrew Kramer does a GREAT job of teaching some of the AE details of 3D

https://library.creativecow.net/articles/kramer_andrew/3dcompositing.php

and I learn easier watching than reading anyway…

Good luck!
Rhett

[Mr_jorge]

awesome – thankyou guys for this info!

I’ll let you know how it comes out