how to get superslomotion in hollywood movies?

Jose di Cani · January 20th, 2005, 11:41 AM

dimitr,

rocking slowmotion movies..especially the movie with the 2 friends moving to a door. great.

checking out retimer.

thnx

time for some new matrix scenes!!!

Dmitry Kichenko · January 20th, 2005, 07:58 PM

Yeah, haha.
--
Actually, I'm pretty sick of all the matrix scenes and all :). Although I came up with a cheap way to do the bulleti-time multi-camera effect. It just requires some skill from the actors to be able to freeze :D. Also involves green screen and a rotating office chair =).

Jose di Cani · February 9th, 2005, 12:02 PM

Heh,

I saw that movie once here. I can remeber a matrix kind of look with the help of green screens and stuff. I know how it works and it is a hell of a job to get things the right way. I don't like matrix as well by the way. I slept when matrix was on 50%. I hate typical american action-movies. I prefer the real stuff, drama and daily life. BUt in romantic scenes, it is also so sexy to use super slo-mo's. It really adds something.

Dmitry Kichenko · February 9th, 2005, 12:10 PM

It's not that I don't like the Matrix at all - actually, it is one of the best Hollywood action movies out there, in terms of philosophy in the plot, effort put it, and VFX, of course. Luckily, Washowski (hope, spelt it right) really took good care of their baby. Not as much the case with Reloaded and Revolutions though, I think.
Anyhow, after the Matrix came out, the freezing-time effect became really pop. I did a lot of research on the topic, and there's basically two ways you can do it. If you're interested, I can explain in detail and post some links.
--
Also, as to romantic scenes, the bullet-time like mating dream of the main character in Fight Club is CG, not real. Here's a few images from the MentalRay render used to generate images out of 3D graphics (used with most 3D software like Maya, 3dsmax, and Softimage XSI):
http://www.mentalimages.com/4_1_motion_pictures/index.html
(scroll down to Fight Club).

Jose di Cani · February 11th, 2005, 07:00 PM

thnks for the link. My brother is architect and knows how to handle 3dstudio pretty well. I've done a couple of animation short movies myself. And I am also a musician (9 years of digital musicmaking wiht my pc). SO you understand why I am so interested in slomotions and movies. In this digital era, everything is posible. You don't have to be smart or rich to make a good movie. The simplier, the better. Even silly home-made cartoons sell. The thing is that you can't really create something with presets and tutorials. You need an idea and you need to have some talent (musical, theater, graphics).

Gonna check the pics out. thanks

Dmitry Kichenko · February 11th, 2005, 08:41 PM

Yeah, actually I make music on my PC myself. Not the Fruity kind of thing. Cubase, a lot of VST FX and VSTi-s, post-mastering in Wavelab. That's what my problem is now - I doubt which direction to choose to stick with: film, music, or, preferable, both. You always need soundtracks for the films, don't you. :)

Josh Barker · February 25th, 2005, 12:22 PM

Shoot at 60i or 60p. If you are working with 24 fps. You already have 40% slow motion (24/60=.4).

What I do is shoot my footage in ALL 60i. I first deinterlace the frames, so my 60i is now 60p (using motion compensation-- AviSynth). Then convert the scenes with no slow-motion from 60p to 24p. The slow motion scenes I want, I will isolate and just use the script:

AVISource("x:\your_dv.avi")
#deinterlace 60i to 60p
TDeint()

#take 60 fields and put them on a 24p timeline
AssumeFps(23.967)

You now have your 60p material sitting on a 24p timeline (which is 40% slow motion).

Dmitry Kichenko · February 25th, 2005, 04:43 PM

That's swell. Also, for fast moving objects the shortest available shutter speed should be set.
By the way, what camera do you have, Josh?

Josh Barker · February 25th, 2005, 10:47 PM

I have a Sony VX2000. It works really well. I usually bring it in to AVISynth to deinterlace, color correct, convert to 24p, and sharpen it (being sure not to over-sharpen and create halos).

Joe Amato · March 3rd, 2005, 01:55 AM

my advanced magicpix shoots silky smooth slow when used during the day

Joe Amato · March 3rd, 2005, 02:00 AM

On my panasonic gs-400

Mihnea De Vries · March 4th, 2005, 04:10 AM

there is a plugin called Twixtor, this plug is avesome for slomo, it interpolate nearest frames to generate other frames. has a lot of algorytms that analize the objects in each frame and theyr movements, results are very good, it was used in Blade and other actions movies for time related sfx

Jan van den Hemel · March 8th, 2005, 07:17 PM

I've just given that Slowmotion software a try (the one that's actually called SlowMotion) and it's pretty cool. The good thing is that it is very easy to use - there's pretty much nothing to configure, except the export location and compression type... So it either works or doesn't, depending on the clip. It seems the more movement is already in the clip, the more you'll notice the "morphing" going on. But for such a cheap piece of software, it works really well.

Dmitry Kichenko · March 8th, 2005, 08:04 PM

I've played with a demo of Twixter over the weekend, and it's really awesome.
It is a lot better than Retimer, though no motion blur is still preferable.
As opposed to what many sources say, I got the smoothest results with the interlaced footage. Many artifacts started appearing around my actor after I deinterlaced the footage with Magic Bullet, and render times increased at least by a factor of 2, but image looks smoother when deinterlaced.
I need to obtain some more footage with various straight and diagonal lines on the background and see how things work out with the same footage deinterlaced, but so far I can say that I'd go with slowing the interlaced footage down and deinterlacing it afterwards. At least, that's how it works best for me at this point.

* Note - Retimer is quite the opposite of Twixtor, and with interlaced footage, even with the input fields set to lower or upper, the results are horrible. Though I like the Twixtor's algorithm more. I got less artifacts with deinterlaced footage from Twixtor than with the same footage from Retimer.

Jose di Cani · March 15th, 2005, 05:23 AM

NOt lots of options are being offered today! A pitty. Twixtor is really the best solutiong. Even Adobe premier or vegas can't handle nice super-sexy-slo-motion scenes. I am talking about an easy preset.

I am testing some other solutions out. I am working with mixing 2 identical scenes one on top of the other, adding extra scenes between scenes and using motion blurring as a tool. Very hard to get that slomotion but it also depends on your footage (background-foreground).

March 4th, 2005, 04:10 AM	#57
Mihnea De Vries New Boot Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Romania Posts: 5	solution for very slow motion there is a plugin called Twixtor, this plug is avesome for slomo, it interpolate nearest frames to generate other frames. has a lot of algorytms that analize the objects in each frame and theyr movements, results are very good, it was used in Blade and other actions movies for time related sfx

March 8th, 2005, 07:17 PM	#58
Jan van den Hemel Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: PAL land Posts: 87	I've just given that Slowmotion software a try (the one that's actually called SlowMotion) and it's pretty cool. The good thing is that it is very easy to use - there's pretty much nothing to configure, except the export location and compression type... So it either works or doesn't, depending on the clip. It seems the more movement is already in the clip, the more you'll notice the "morphing" going on. But for such a cheap piece of software, it works really well. __________________ J.

January 20th, 2005, 11:41 AM	#46
Jose di Cani Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Holland, Europe Posts: 214	dimitr, rocking slowmotion movies..especially the movie with the 2 friends moving to a door. great. checking out retimer. thnx time for some new matrix scenes!!!

January 20th, 2005, 07:58 PM	#47
Dmitry Kichenko Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 74	Yeah, haha. -- Actually, I'm pretty sick of all the matrix scenes and all :). Although I came up with a cheap way to do the bulleti-time multi-camera effect. It just requires some skill from the actors to be able to freeze :D. Also involves green screen and a rotating office chair =).

February 9th, 2005, 12:02 PM	#48
Jose di Cani Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Holland, Europe Posts: 214	Heh, I saw that movie once here. I can remeber a matrix kind of look with the help of green screens and stuff. I know how it works and it is a hell of a job to get things the right way. I don't like matrix as well by the way. I slept when matrix was on 50%. I hate typical american action-movies. I prefer the real stuff, drama and daily life. BUt in romantic scenes, it is also so sexy to use super slo-mo's. It really adds something.

February 9th, 2005, 12:10 PM	#49
Dmitry Kichenko Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 74	It's not that I don't like the Matrix at all - actually, it is one of the best Hollywood action movies out there, in terms of philosophy in the plot, effort put it, and VFX, of course. Luckily, Washowski (hope, spelt it right) really took good care of their baby. Not as much the case with Reloaded and Revolutions though, I think. Anyhow, after the Matrix came out, the freezing-time effect became really pop. I did a lot of research on the topic, and there's basically two ways you can do it. If you're interested, I can explain in detail and post some links. -- Also, as to romantic scenes, the bullet-time like mating dream of the main character in Fight Club is CG, not real. Here's a few images from the MentalRay render used to generate images out of 3D graphics (used with most 3D software like Maya, 3dsmax, and Softimage XSI): http://www.mentalimages.com/4_1_motion_pictures/index.html (scroll down to Fight Club).

February 11th, 2005, 07:00 PM	#50
Jose di Cani Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Holland, Europe Posts: 214	thnks for the link. My brother is architect and knows how to handle 3dstudio pretty well. I've done a couple of animation short movies myself. And I am also a musician (9 years of digital musicmaking wiht my pc). SO you understand why I am so interested in slomotions and movies. In this digital era, everything is posible. You don't have to be smart or rich to make a good movie. The simplier, the better. Even silly home-made cartoons sell. The thing is that you can't really create something with presets and tutorials. You need an idea and you need to have some talent (musical, theater, graphics). Gonna check the pics out. thanks

February 11th, 2005, 08:41 PM	#51
Dmitry Kichenko Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 74	Yeah, actually I make music on my PC myself. Not the Fruity kind of thing. Cubase, a lot of VST FX and VSTi-s, post-mastering in Wavelab. That's what my problem is now - I doubt which direction to choose to stick with: film, music, or, preferable, both. You always need soundtracks for the films, don't you. :)

February 25th, 2005, 12:22 PM	#52
Josh Barker New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 23	Shoot at 60i or 60p. If you are working with 24 fps. You already have 40% slow motion (24/60=.4). What I do is shoot my footage in ALL 60i. I first deinterlace the frames, so my 60i is now 60p (using motion compensation-- AviSynth). Then convert the scenes with no slow-motion from 60p to 24p. The slow motion scenes I want, I will isolate and just use the script: AVISource("x:\your_dv.avi") #deinterlace 60i to 60p TDeint() #take 60 fields and put them on a 24p timeline AssumeFps(23.967) You now have your 60p material sitting on a 24p timeline (which is 40% slow motion).

February 25th, 2005, 04:43 PM	#53
Dmitry Kichenko Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 74	That's swell. Also, for fast moving objects the shortest available shutter speed should be set. By the way, what camera do you have, Josh?

February 25th, 2005, 10:47 PM	#54
Josh Barker New Boot Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 23	I have a Sony VX2000. It works really well. I usually bring it in to AVISynth to deinterlace, color correct, convert to 24p, and sharpen it (being sure not to over-sharpen and create halos).

March 3rd, 2005, 01:55 AM	#55
Joe Amato New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: astoria new york usa Posts: 23	my advanced magicpix shoots silky smooth slow when used during the day

March 3rd, 2005, 02:00 AM	#56
Joe Amato New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: astoria new york usa Posts: 23	On my panasonic gs-400

March 8th, 2005, 08:04 PM	#59
Dmitry Kichenko Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 74	I've played with a demo of Twixter over the weekend, and it's really awesome. It is a lot better than Retimer, though no motion blur is still preferable. As opposed to what many sources say, I got the smoothest results with the interlaced footage. Many artifacts started appearing around my actor after I deinterlaced the footage with Magic Bullet, and render times increased at least by a factor of 2, but image looks smoother when deinterlaced. I need to obtain some more footage with various straight and diagonal lines on the background and see how things work out with the same footage deinterlaced, but so far I can say that I'd go with slowing the interlaced footage down and deinterlacing it afterwards. At least, that's how it works best for me at this point. * Note - Retimer is quite the opposite of Twixtor, and with interlaced footage, even with the input fields set to lower or upper, the results are horrible. Though I like the Twixtor's algorithm more. I got less artifacts with deinterlaced footage from Twixtor than with the same footage from Retimer.

March 15th, 2005, 05:23 AM	#60
Jose di Cani Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Holland, Europe Posts: 214	NOt lots of options are being offered today! A pitty. Twixtor is really the best solutiong. Even Adobe premier or vegas can't handle nice super-sexy-slo-motion scenes. I am talking about an easy preset. I am testing some other solutions out. I am working with mixing 2 identical scenes one on top of the other, adding extra scenes between scenes and using motion blurring as a tool. Very hard to get that slomotion but it also depends on your footage (background-foreground).