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Rotoscoping: Recommended workflow for long video clips
Hi, just looking for some advice on the best approach to mask out an object in a long video clip. I have a 25 minute interview in where the speaker has a map on the wall behind him that needs to be removed/hidden.
I’ve tried tracking a mask in final cut pro but holy smokes I’m going to be old and grey by the time I get that finished. I heard final cut has a plugin set by Coremelt called SliceX / TrackX… so I purchased that and although it helps, it is not going to be enough. The time I save with the plugin creating keyframes is lost fixing their incorrect locations (a persons head is not a single plane so the mask goes off the mark very quickly requiring manual keyframing).
AE has much better tools for this type of task… but anything more than a very short clip in the timeline and things grind to a halt. I’m using a 2019 macbook pro w/ 32 gb ram, 4tb ssd, vega 20 vid card… and an external 4tb raid 0 ssd for media. The footage is 4k…. I could lower that to 1080p if there are no other options.
Seeing that that quality of the job will be sub-par using final cut pro’s tools… I’m turning my attention back to AE. But, even after reading all the ‘how to make AE faster’ posts, I still can’t figure out an efficient workflow for super long clips. I feel like there’s a chance I might be asking too much of AE, to rotoscope a 25 min 4k clip. There must be a way! Do I need to break the 25 minute clip into smaller clips, rotoscop, render, reassemble in Final Cut Pro later? Is there a way to break up the 25 minute clip inside AE? Or is there another workflow that can be recommended? Any help or advice is appreciated.
Cheers
Cheers. -
3 Replies
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You absolutely can break up a 25 minute video into shorter lengths and then stitch the comps/video back together without any pre-rendering in a larger comp or render out image sequences which at least means you don’t have to render any videos if AE fails.
At a guess(without seeing the footage) Mocha AE would be the best method for hiding a map on a wall.
Honestly I think there’s going to be pain however you do this.
Please make multiple back ups of your project file. I’m not suggesting anything will happen, but can you imagine you get to minute 24 and the project corrupts?
Sorry I couldn’t give you something more concrete to try.
http://www.YouTube.com/ShiveringCactus – Free FX for amateur films
https://shiveringcactus.wordpress.com/ – FX blog -
Yes I agree, this is much easier said than done. I posted in the After Effects forum and think it’ll be the same story any path I take. =\
Lessons learned:
1. ‘just fix it in post’ is a legitimate gripe
2. set design, set design, set designThanks for the feedback!
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Just a couple of thoughts… does this have to be a perfect rotoscope (I.e. for a drama) or would a blurry box be sufficient (I.e. interview). If it’s the latter keyframed masks take a lot less effort), if it’s the former could you wait until the edit and only work on the actual shots?
http://www.YouTube.com/ShiveringCactus – Free FX for amateur films
https://shiveringcactus.wordpress.com/ – FX blog
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