Denton Adkinson
Forum Replies Created
-
Gary,
You’re absolutely correct on the seamless blending between the actual impact and the cg model. It is a great spot. They obviously spent a heck of a lot of money creating it. It’s just a shame my company didn’t get to put in a bid!
I would agree wholeheartedly that practical shooting is ideal, but I mentioned the Andrew Kramer site to Terry more on the assumption that the local body shop he’s producing the spot for might not be too excited to pay to smash a real car. I recommended Andrew’s site to give him a possible work around if he goes forward with creating the spot.
Denton
-
Rafael,
I have the newest Quicktime installed: 7.6.4, I believe is the version number. I think the problem may lie in the fact it was an intel machine that created the files in the first place, and I am editing on a Power Pc G5.
Almost everything I read on individual codecs specified if it was for Intel or Power PC macs. I did come across a few universal binary codecs, but those were few and far between and I didn’t find any FAQs that dealt with a situation like mine.
I talked with the studio owner, and thankfully he hadn’t wiped the P2s clean yet – and he let me borrow the camera to transfer the files into my G5. He’s a heck of a guy.
So I am really no further forward with the original files, but I have usuable files straight from the camera that work flawlessly, so my shoot is saved. I can go on to edit the greatest music video since Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy.”
Thanks guys for all of your help!
Denton
-
Terry,
I believe Thax is right about cg and the budget. It appears they used every tool in the book from an actual impact, to cg damage and damage removal. What a great spot.
A cheaper way than destroying a real car might be to use the Andrew Kramer method – displacement maps and various wrecked car photos. While the tutorial on his site deals with the front of the car, I think the principles he uses could be applied throughout.
Here’s a link – https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/advanced_car_hit/
That would probably be your best bet. Let us know what you come up with.
Denton
-
Josh,
I talked with the studio owner today, and copied his codecs from his folder, but when I tried it again on the files they wouldn’t open.
We believe the problem lies with his computer running FCP v7 and my computer running FCP v5.1. While I have the DVCPRO HD codec in my FCP bundle, both he and I figured the new codec just wouldn’t work with FCP v5.1.Going back and forth a few times, neither of us figured out the best path forward, so in the end, he is letting me borrow the camera and cards to recapture the footage into my FCP system using my codecs.
Thank you so much for your help in figuring out the problem – I know it is difficult to diagnose a problem and find a solution without looking at the original material, so I do again appreciate your help.
Denton
-
Josh,
Thanks for the response. I checked the codec of the file, and it says “DVCPRO HD 1080p30.”
I’m a bit over my head here, so if you could indulge me, I would be most appreciative.
In my Quicktime folder, I have a DVCPROHDCodec.component file – is this not the correct codec? If it is not the right codec, how do I go about finding the one I need?
Like I said, this is over my head, so I am not sure how to move forward.
Thanks for your help,
Denton
-
I agree with Mark Suszko about the importance of the placement of the light. Take a look at any car commercial and notice the square light reflections on the car. They are not necessarily the focus of the image, but imagine how the car would look without them.
As for the surface, for a shoot I built a cheap, but highly effective table out of an old office chair base and a 36″ table top from Home Depot. I had to creatively mount the table to the chair and level it, but the outcome was a table surface that could be very subtlety rotated in the shot. I think it cost me about $40 to make, and it looked awesome through the camera.
Best of luck with the shoot,
Denton
-
Eric,
I’m a bit jealous about the Cammate your company bought. I’m looking forward to the day we step up to a Cammate.
As for a specific practice to recommend, there is nothing I know of right off hand. When we first got our jib, I started practicing with stationary objects. I practiced things such as keeping the front logo of a car in the center of my monitor while I moved the arm and the head. It might help to put a small dot of gaffer’s tape on your monitor and try to keep it “locked” on your target item as you move the arm and head.
One thing that was difficult for me was to sync the speed of the arm with the speed of the head. I always had trouble with it until I talked with a professional jib operator at a concert. He told me to keep the speed knob higher than you think you would need. Since it is pressure sensitive, it will move as slow as the light pressure on the joystick, but you can catch the speed back up if you move the arm faster than the head.
If you play video games or ever did, you already have practiced the coordination to move the head, it’s just a matter of moving the arm and doing it all at once. The best advice I ever got was from that operator about the speed control knob, it made me a better jib operator overnight. Give it a shot and see it makes a difference with your moves.
Best of luck with your practice,
Denton
-
Guys,
Thanks for the input.
I have tried stabilizing the test footage in Shake. It produced moderately acceptable results, but there was a wavy line in the footage. It looked like the background was being morphed between frames. I guess the footage was just too shaky even for Shake (no pun intended).
I’ve thought to dampen the vibration with something between the jib base and the truck bed. A rubber bar mat might be an idea considering its thickness. I might look around and see where I can locate one. I was originally thinking of some thick blankets, but perhaps the best option would be to use both and strap the jib to it.
Thanks again for your thoughts. I’ll give it a shot and see what happens.
Denton