Ghost Brothers at DVinfo.net

Frank Aalbers · March 6th, 2005, 11:51 PM

Was playing a bit with XL2 footage.

Here's the result ...

http://home.comcast.net/~chalbers/ghostbros.wmvx
Take out the x at the end before playing.

I had fun with this one ! :-)

Frank

Johan Manders · March 7th, 2005, 04:26 AM

I really liked it!
What programs did you use?

Mike Hardcastle · March 7th, 2005, 04:53 AM

like it frank nice idea!! BTW how are you guys getting such clean images for such a small file size, I've been trying all week to compress to either MOV, mpeg, wmv files for my website, all i can get is poor compressions for the MB size of files...????

Help......

Marty Hudzik · March 7th, 2005, 09:16 AM

I'm sure frank will tell you how he encoded it but I thought I'd add that the camera is stationary and therefore very little of the frames are changing. This greatly helps with getting a clean compressed smaller file. The encoder simply has to work with the "changing" parts of the frame. Since most of the frame is the same all the way through, a very small ammount of the bits allocated for the files are used for that. This allows the areas that are changing to get the "lions share" of the bits and therefore very little compression is evident.

If this was outside and there were trees swaying in the wind or traffic in the background there would be more pixelation and compression artifacts in the video.

FWIW.

By the way it looks very cool!

Greg Boston · March 7th, 2005, 12:39 PM

Frank,

I love the fact that you were just complaining about 'ghosting' in your XL-2 images in another thread. I didn't realize when I responded that the problem was that bad. :-)

Guess I wasn't looking close enough at that first still image you posted.

Anyway, that's pretty cool what you did. Opacity with glow effect? Neat idea!

-gb-

Kevin Kocak · March 7th, 2005, 01:05 PM

What am I doing wrong? I took off the x at the end but I'm getting a screen from comcast saying incorrect URL.

John Sandel · March 7th, 2005, 01:24 PM

Me, to. Mac OSX 10.2.8, Safari 1.0.3, TimeWarner cable. (Merrills, size 13.)

I wanna see the spooks!

Travis Maynard · March 7th, 2005, 06:22 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Kevin Kocak : What am I doing wrong? I took off the x at the end but I'm getting a screen from comcast saying incorrect URL. -->>>

Download the file with the x on it. Then when you have it saved to your harddrive, then remove the x and play!

John Sandel · March 7th, 2005, 06:59 PM

Works like a charm.

Frank, nice effect. Do tell how you did it.

Michael Struthers · March 7th, 2005, 07:49 PM

Kewl. I knew Michael Moore had to do some freelancing in his earlier career....

Patrick King · March 7th, 2005, 08:04 PM

Do you have to pay extra to hire twins for a shoot? :-J

I was kinda hoping the second guy would try to fool with the thermostat on the wall and the first guy would bushwhack him and slap his hand.

Outstanding effect; do tell how you composited.

Frank Aalbers · March 7th, 2005, 09:49 PM

Thanks for all the great replies ! ;-)

It was actually easy.

I took Michael Moore and his twin brother, shot them on a greenscreen and comped them on a plate.

But I also did it this way ...

1. Shot 2 seperate plates with me in it making sure all settings where locked, no auto-nothing.
2. I mixed the first plate with the second plate making Layer A
3. I took the difference between both plates and added blur to the result. Does creating Layer B
4. Then I added Layer B to Layer A creating a glow effect around the characters.

That's it.

Why the file was small ? Because as explained there was very little in the shot that moved, does making compression very efficient.

Thanks again !

Frank

Kevin Kocak · March 8th, 2005, 07:52 AM

>>>Download the file with the x on it. Then when you have it saved to your harddrive, then remove the x and play!

I guess am not too bright. How do I download it? When I put in wth the X I get a page with a bunch of random symbols... Not sure how to download from there. The only thing I can think of is its not MAC friendly.

John Sandel · March 8th, 2005, 10:45 AM

Kevin, never fear.

1. put your cursor on the hyperlink in Frank's first post to this thread

2. hold down the control key and click with your mouse

3. a small menu appears: choose "Download Link to Disk"

4. when your Mac's finished downloading Frank's video file, go to the desktop and highlight the filename

5. delete the "x" at the end of the filename

6. your Mac will ask "Are you sure you want to change the extension from '.wmvx' to '.wmv'?"

7. click the "use .wmv" button; you'll see the file icon change from a generic "document page" to a Windows Movie icon

8. Voila! You've magically turned the file into a playable video

Double click & enjoy.

Kevin Kocak · March 8th, 2005, 12:11 PM

Finally! Thanx... Geez you gotta be a rocket surgeon to figure all that out.
Pretty cool clip.

March 6th, 2005, 11:51 PM	#1
Frank Aalbers Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Oakland,CA Posts: 135	Ghost Brothers Was playing a bit with XL2 footage. Here's the result ... http://home.comcast.net/~chalbers/ghostbros.wmvx Take out the x at the end before playing. I had fun with this one ! :-) Frank

March 7th, 2005, 06:59 PM	#9
John Sandel Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: stately Eldora Road Posts: 386	Thanks, Maynard Works like a charm. Frank, nice effect. Do tell how you did it.

March 7th, 2005, 07:49 PM	#10
Michael Struthers Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: SF, Ca Posts: 421	Kewl. I knew Michael Moore had to do some freelancing in his earlier career.... __________________ Michael Struthers www.buzzdigital.com

March 7th, 2005, 08:04 PM	#11
Patrick King Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Enterprise, AL Posts: 857	Do you have to pay extra to hire twins for a shoot? :-J I was kinda hoping the second guy would try to fool with the thermostat on the wall and the first guy would bushwhack him and slap his hand. Outstanding effect; do tell how you composited. __________________ Fear No Weevil!

March 7th, 2005, 04:26 AM	#2
Johan Manders Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 50	I really liked it! What programs did you use?

March 7th, 2005, 04:53 AM	#3
Mike Hardcastle Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Lancs , UK Posts: 50	like it frank nice idea!! BTW how are you guys getting such clean images for such a small file size, I've been trying all week to compress to either MOV, mpeg, wmv files for my website, all i can get is poor compressions for the MB size of files...???? Help......

March 7th, 2005, 09:16 AM	#4
Marty Hudzik Trustee Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canton, Ohio Posts: 1,771	I'm sure frank will tell you how he encoded it but I thought I'd add that the camera is stationary and therefore very little of the frames are changing. This greatly helps with getting a clean compressed smaller file. The encoder simply has to work with the "changing" parts of the frame. Since most of the frame is the same all the way through, a very small ammount of the bits allocated for the files are used for that. This allows the areas that are changing to get the "lions share" of the bits and therefore very little compression is evident. If this was outside and there were trees swaying in the wind or traffic in the background there would be more pixelation and compression artifacts in the video. FWIW. By the way it looks very cool!

March 7th, 2005, 12:39 PM	#5
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	Frank, I love the fact that you were just complaining about 'ghosting' in your XL-2 images in another thread. I didn't realize when I responded that the problem was that bad. :-) Guess I wasn't looking close enough at that first still image you posted. Anyway, that's pretty cool what you did. Opacity with glow effect? Neat idea! -gb-

March 7th, 2005, 01:05 PM	#6
Kevin Kocak Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, Fl Posts: 149	What am I doing wrong? I took off the x at the end but I'm getting a screen from comcast saying incorrect URL.

March 7th, 2005, 01:24 PM	#7
John Sandel Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: stately Eldora Road Posts: 386	Me, to. Mac OSX 10.2.8, Safari 1.0.3, TimeWarner cable. (Merrills, size 13.) I wanna see the spooks!

March 7th, 2005, 06:22 PM	#8
Travis Maynard Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Chapmanville, USA Posts: 138	<<<-- Originally posted by Kevin Kocak : What am I doing wrong? I took off the x at the end but I'm getting a screen from comcast saying incorrect URL. -->>> Download the file with the x on it. Then when you have it saved to your harddrive, then remove the x and play!

March 7th, 2005, 09:49 PM	#12
Frank Aalbers Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Oakland,CA Posts: 135	Thanks for all the great replies ! ;-) It was actually easy. I took Michael Moore and his twin brother, shot them on a greenscreen and comped them on a plate. But I also did it this way ... 1. Shot 2 seperate plates with me in it making sure all settings where locked, no auto-nothing. 2. I mixed the first plate with the second plate making Layer A 3. I took the difference between both plates and added blur to the result. Does creating Layer B 4. Then I added Layer B to Layer A creating a glow effect around the characters. That's it. Why the file was small ? Because as explained there was very little in the shot that moved, does making compression very efficient. Thanks again ! Frank

March 8th, 2005, 07:52 AM	#13
Kevin Kocak Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, Fl Posts: 149	>>>Download the file with the x on it. Then when you have it saved to your harddrive, then remove the x and play! I guess am not too bright. How do I download it? When I put in wth the X I get a page with a bunch of random symbols... Not sure how to download from there. The only thing I can think of is its not MAC friendly.

March 8th, 2005, 10:45 AM	#14
John Sandel Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: stately Eldora Road Posts: 386	Kevin, never fear. 1. put your cursor on the hyperlink in Frank's first post to this thread 2. hold down the control key and click with your mouse 3. a small menu appears: choose "Download Link to Disk" 4. when your Mac's finished downloading Frank's video file, go to the desktop and highlight the filename 5. delete the "x" at the end of the filename 6. your Mac will ask "Are you sure you want to change the extension from '.wmvx' to '.wmv'?" 7. click the "use .wmv" button; you'll see the file icon change from a generic "document page" to a Windows Movie icon 8. Voila! You've magically turned the file into a playable video Double click & enjoy.

March 8th, 2005, 12:11 PM	#15
Kevin Kocak Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, Fl Posts: 149	Finally! Thanx... Geez you gotta be a rocket surgeon to figure all that out. Pretty cool clip.