[Blahtor Magnus]

I will try to upgrade.
Will write back if this has been of any help with the 3D issue.

[Blahtor Magnus]

Hi, I am well familiar with the import dialog.
Importing a 3D-PSD is thoroughly explained in the video tutorial from my firt post and I followed this tutorial step by step.
I always set the imported PSD to “Composition” and I always check the Live 3D button.
Still, the 3D PSD used to stay 2D.
I found the reason why – when you import the 3D-PSD it creates several separate elements. One of those elements is a folder, named “Solids”.
I already had a folder, named “Solids” in my composition and this was causing the problem.

Now I have another question: I am only able to view the iported 3D-PSD item through the Active camera View.
When I switch to “Top View” or “Left View”, etc., I no longer see the object. Only it’s marked area is visible. This makes positioning the 3D-PSD in the AE 3D world a trouble.

Is this normal?
Is there a way to be able to see the PSD in it’s full 3D-ness from all views?

The biggest problem is that I can get 3D by loading a PSD in a fresh composition.
But when I try to import a PSD into an already existing comp, it just doesn’t work.
What could be causing this?

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[Blahtor Magnus]

I totally agree. The camera is really bad.
I bought it because it was HD.
Seems that it’s not useful for anything else but taping your kid’s first day at school or something.

[Blahtor Magnus]

My camera’s highest framerate is 60 frames per second.
I made a couple of test videos at 60 fps and it didn’t help with the motion blur at all.
The only thing that seems to help a bit is to add more light to the scene. And this is a real problem in my case since I don’t have space.

I will experiment with adding a huge white sheet in the background because the white balance of this camera (which can’t be adjusted manually) sucks beyond suckdom and it keeps changing the colors from footage to footage even with the same lighting setup.
This causes all kinds of problems and more often than not results in dark foreground objects on an overxposed green screen and blurry movements.

[Blahtor Magnus]

It seems that my troubles were caused by the shape of the pixels.
Just what I suspected.
Now, when I have switched all the layers to “Square pixels” they do indeed preserve their aspect ratio when I am rotating them in the comp.

They used to stretch and distort before I set them all to “Square”.

[Blahtor Magnus]

Thanks, I think I almost got it, hehe.

I read a post on a forum and it was about my Crappy camera’s waker brother: Aiptek A-HD (I’m using Aiptek A-HD+ – pretty much the same thing and just as crappy but has the ability to shoot in close to Full HD resolutin).

Here goes the post from some guy:

“I discovered the reason the Aiptek handheld video footage makes everyone look like they have Parkinsons.

It is beacuse the iris is always f/2.8.

Since the iris doesn’t open or close the only way to vary the exposer of the frame is through THE SHUTTER SPEED.

In low light at 30fps you get a natural blur. But in bright sunlight the Shutter speed is raised.
So at shutters at 1/100th or so a sec the picture is sharp. You are getting a min-no blur in the video scene so it looks choppy. Kinda like the old “sports Mode” of last gen camcorders. pause your jerky footage. Each frame is pretty sharp.

I’ve tested this by shooting in overcast and all the video has the pleasant blur we all associate with 24-30 fps video.

So in sunlight you need to cut down the amount of light. Neutral Density filters should do the trick, I think. With less light the shutter speed drops.

If your into photography just remember the the Aipteks use SHUTTER priority, not Aperture.”

Being a pretty lame newbie and someone whose English sucks, I’m not quite sure I understood alll of what is being said by this guy (especially in the part where he says that Aipteks use Shutter priority and not Aperture), but what I got is that I need more light to raise the shutter speed of the camera.

The problem seems to be that when you have more light and a faster shutter speed, every frame is sharp and nice and this creates some shaking problem because of the lack of any motion blur.
Hmmmm… GREAT!

I think I could use this “problen” for my advantage in green screening. If more light will make every frame sharp and blur-less, then I guess this is what I need – will help me get blurless footage that keys out nicely.

The only problem left is to figure out how to place more lights in the room…
I have no space to place lights on the sides of the green screen, so I placed two 500 Watt lights infront of it and pointed them at the ceiling. This setup gets me nice, shadowless diffuse light.

But seems that my present lighting rig is too weak to raise the shutter speed of the camera.
Maybe adding two more 500W lights will solve the problem.

_

[Blahtor Magnus]

I am a newbie.
Shutter speed in video shooting would mean frames per second?

I am shooting at 30fps but I have the option of shooting at 60 fps.
Will moving from 30 fps to 60 fps require exactly two times more light?

[Blahtor Magnus]

I am not an expert and i don’t know anything about camera sensors, scaling, ratios and the such but my triel and error experience shows that what is said by Brendan Coots is true.
I am having big problems wth the compression artifacts of this camera.
If you shoot against a perfectly lit green screen, you still get problems that are caused by the crappyness of the camera.
Motion blurred areas key out as shapeless spots, the keyers can not get the green out of them and so on.
Still, I will keep trying and hopefully, will end up with a acceptable result.
It’s easy with a good camera and a good green screen setup but it is so much more fun with a bad one (OK, I lied – it’s not fun at all)

Graham, I will try to copy your setup. You’re right – my camera is the weakest link in the chain.

By the way, I just bought a new 500W light. Will see how it goes with this one added to the whole setup.
This time I will not be using direct light with a diffuser.
Will try the trick with the ceiling as the reflector for the two 500W lihts.

_

[Blahtor Magnus]

Thanks, I will take your advice and shoot in the highest resolution possible..
By the way, I did a test.
I placed my only light on the side of the green screen and placed the actor infront of it.
Even though I am using a light diffuser, the light creates a hot spot and makes the green screen white.
I guess I just need more room for this kind of setup.

_

[Blahtor Magnus]

OK, seems that it is impossible to key out shadows from the green screen.
I read about plugins that can do that but I am pretty sceptical about this whole miracle thing.
Not to mention that those plugins cost a fortune (I am talking about Ultimatte Advantedge)
I will try to SOMEHOW place an additional light AND a white screen that makes it diffuse.

At present I am able to make the shadow behind the actors blurry and not noticeable by moving the white screen away from the light, but this also kills the light. So, I guess that one more light with another screen insfront of it will help me have a blurred out shadow and good light at the same time.

_

About frame rate: Is it OK to shoot at a higher frame rate if I manage to arrange a good light setup?
Or should I stay to a lower bitrate anyways?

Also: does video resolution affect the light in the shot?
I am using a crappy pocket HD camera (Aiptec A-HD+) and it has the following resolution settings:

1. CIF 30f (WEB)
2. D1 60f (DVD)
3. HD 30f (720P)
4. HD 60f (720P)
5. HD 30f (1080)

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