Darby Edelen
Forum Replies Created
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You’d need to track the subject and stabilize the footage. It would probably be best to do this with a tool like Mocha, but you could use AE’s built-in point tracker if necessary. The Warp Stabilizer probably wouldn’t work in this case as it analyzes the entire frame to stabilize rather than a local subject.
Once you’ve stabilized the footage that the easiest thing to do would use a solid layer with a mask as a track matte for it.
Alternatively you could do this all manually if instead of keyframing just the mask after you’ve drawn it out you could keyframe the mask path as well as the position of the layer and use the Pan Behind Tool (shortcut: y) to move the layer under the mask.
Darby Edelen
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Did the composition extend from edge to edge of the comp viewer?
Darby Edelen
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[Serban Andrei] “Also, what do you mean by “expose for the subject”? Chris said in his first post “expose the BG correctly” but i can’t seem to understand.”
That advice was specific to using a white background instead of green screen.
[Serban Andrei] “they are a bit glowing, and also i have some noise on the t-shirt, and i really don’t know what to do about it, i’m using Denoiser in After Effects for noise reduction, it takes some of it out but not enough i think.”
Try using the Intermediate Result from keylight instead of the Final Result and using another method to despill the green. The despilling in keylight can introduce noise.
Darby Edelen
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[Christopher Brockman] “So, in theory, the issue could be solved by adding enough anchor points to even out the vertices, so long as the first vertices are next to each other?”
Yes, that’s the basic idea. Although every vertex should be near where you expect it to be at each of the keyframes. The first vertex is just a very convenient place to start 🙂
Darby Edelen
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[Adam Trachtenberg] “Huh … it works here. But I think you need to check the “use camera vector” box, and also set a texture path — not just type in a name. I also have the “single file” box checked … not sure if that has anything to do with it.”
I was testing with only the Reflection channel selected in the Bake Texture tag.
If you do not check “Use Camera Vector” then the baked texture can be used in the Environment channel for a ‘live’ reflection (that responds if the camera is moved). If you do check the “Use Camera Vector” box then the baked texture can be placed in the luminance channel and will match the perspective from the active camera when it was baked only (if you use another camera or move the camera the reflection is stuck to the surface).
Darby Edelen
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You’d have to keep trying random positions in a loop until one gets a hit with sampleImage(). Something like this:
l = thisComp.layer("Control Layer");
p = l.anchorPoint;
min = [0,0];
max = [l.width, l.height];
black = false;
maxIterations = 1000;
for(x = 0; (!black && x < maxIterations); x++){
seedRandom(x, true);
p = random(min, max);
if(l.sampleImage(p)[0] < 0.01) black = true;
}
l.toComp(p);This would look at random points on the target “Control Layer” and whenever the red component is (almost) black would return that point translated into composition space. The last line as well as some of the details in the expression might need to be changed depending on your setup.
The “maxIterations” property is there to prevent an infinite loop in case there are no black values in the red channel on the entire layer. If the black areas are very small you may need to increase that value (and wait longer for the expression to evaluate).
Darby Edelen
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To expand on what Roland said it will make it easier if you modify the shapes so that they have the same number of vertices and those vertices are all in the same relative position on the path from keyframe to keyframe.
The way the path animates is by looking at the index of each vertex on the first keyframe and moving that vertex to the position of the vertex with the same index on the second keyframe. So the “first vertex” on one keyframe will interpolate to the “first vertex” on the second keyframe.
If there is a mismatch in the number of vertices between keyframes then AE will automatically create new vertices that will likely not match the correct relative position of the vertex at that index on both keyframes. That’s what’s happening in your case.
There’s also the Mask Interpolation tool accessible under Window > Mask Interpolation that will give you additional options for interpolating between Masks (not Shape Paths unfortunately, but you can copy the shape paths to masks, operate on them and then copy and paste them back). The downside is that this tool will create a mask keyframe on every frame.
Darby Edelen
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There are a couple of options that may work for you.
One is to apply the alpha as transparency to a layer and use the Layer > Matting > Remove Black Matte function. Unfortunately this doesn’t work when using a layer mask, the mask needs to be applied.
My preferred method would be to apply the alpha to the layer as a layer mask. Copy the alpha and paste it into a new layer above this masked layer. Clip the RGB version of the alpha to the masked layer and set its blend mode to Divide.
Darby Edelen
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That requires a little bit of expression pixie dust. First make sure that your Light Rays layer is a 2D layer. Then if you create a 3D Null you can tie the 2D effect’s Center property to it with an expression like this:
l = thisComp.layer("Null 1");
l.toComp(l.anchorPoint);The first line creates a variable ‘l’ and assigns it the 3D Null layer object. The second line converts the 3D Null layer’s anchor point into a point in composition space (a 2D screen coordinate).
If the layer you’re applying Light Rays to is not composition sized you can enclose the 2nd line in a fromComp() function call like so:
l = thisComp.layer("Null 1");
fromComp(l.toComp(l.anchorPoint));Generally I recommend that you use a composition sized layer for such an effect though.
You can alt-click on the property’s stop watch to add an expression or press alt-shift-= with the property selected (alt is the option key on Mac). In this case you’d apply the expression to the ‘Center’ property of CC Light Rays.
Darby Edelen
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The other suggestion I’d make if you decide to go with a practical white background would be to light it significantly hotter than your subject. Expose for the subject and let the background blow out. Personally I’d go that route if I have the lights for it and I know that the background is going to be white.
As for your shoot I honestly couldn’t see much noise in the background at all. YouTube’s compression (and my dirty screen, jeeze, when was the last time I cleaned this thing?!) probably help you there.
The other few suggestions I’d make are a matter of opinion so feel free to ignore them 🙂
It looks like you already have some backlight but a bit more might add to the look of a white hot surface behind the subject. I’d also recommend trying to move the fill light a little farther away from the camera if possible to avoid at least one of the reflections in the subject’s glasses.
The editing in the SourceFed example you posted is much faster and adds some excitement. However, achieving that would probably require additional cameras, additional takes, or a high resolution digital cinema camera for “push ins.” If you have the time to experiment with some more coverage of close ups that might help maintain visual interest.
Darby Edelen