Cool effect, does anyone know how to achieve it? at DVinfo.net

Ismail Aslam · July 26th, 2006, 05:34 AM

Hi,

Hope everyone is doing fine. I came across this trailer and saw this cool effect and thought to myself how they achieved it. I've concluded the following

-Either it is a greenscreen effect, with a still image in the background
- or the same screen shot twice and edited around with

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

the link is below

http://www.widei-films.com/frame.php

click on projects, scroll to the bottom, television.
it is called Guide to Islam, BBC documentary.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post

Ismail

Kevin Richard · July 26th, 2006, 11:15 AM

Isn't that just matrix style lining up of still cams in a row and having them fire off at the same time then stitching it all together to look like a dolly shot? You can even have them fire off in sequence and give it a slow-mo effect if you wanted... requires a poop load of still cams but very creative for whoever first thought of it... no matter how over used it is.

Ismail Aslam · July 26th, 2006, 01:25 PM

Ive heard of this technique before, can anyone confirm this? So i guess theres no alternative?

Justin Tomchuk · July 26th, 2006, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ismail Aslam

Ive heard of this technique before, can anyone confirm this? So i guess theres no alternative?

I am pretty sure this is what they did. An alternative would be to get everyone to stand very very still. lol

Ismail Aslam · July 26th, 2006, 05:03 PM

ok, i agree. What about the presenter who speaks in the video? is he greenscreen?

Justin Tomchuk · July 26th, 2006, 06:23 PM

Yeah, must be. I think they shot the background with those cameras, then put him in front of a greenscreen with the footage behind him.

Ismail Aslam · July 27th, 2006, 11:11 AM

any links or suggestions for anyone who may have tried out this technique?
how many cameras is one expected to use in the shot

Kevin Richard · July 27th, 2006, 12:10 PM

no experience but figure it's as many cams as frames you want on the move... one thing you could do is go film the move with your camera.. then see how many frames it took to make that movie.... if you want it to be *that* smooth then you need that many cams... you could reduce the cams but you would reduce the smoothness... you can also simulate what this would look like (to a point) by reducing your frame rate on that test move... much better if you can film with progressive vs interlace and still the "motion blur" might mess with it... but it should give you the overall look.... OR you could just calculate how many seconds you want the move to take and then divide that by your min. frame rate you want ;)

Giroud Francois · July 27th, 2006, 03:09 PM

it seems it is a very low quality bullet time effect.
It means there are very few pictures taken and lot of morphing done to generate the missing frames.
I think 10 pictures is the maximum used in the sample.
you can do it for cheap with disposable film camera or low cost digital camera.
http://www.chinavasion.com/index.php...gital-cameras/

Lori Starfelt · July 27th, 2006, 10:06 PM

Here's an article on it:
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/array/

Nate Fields · August 11th, 2006, 11:24 PM

yes it is an array of cameras or a new technique

Jacob Ehrichs · August 12th, 2006, 07:19 AM

It looks to me that they took a digitial still first of the people and then cut them out of the background and made them into 3d layers in AE. They could greenscreen the actor in, but could also film it on location, but that would be much more difficult. You can see something similar in a couple shots in my friends demo. He used all stills, but it's just another step to add video over top, given you do a good setup on your green screen, camera angles, etc.

http://www.ehrichs.net/Video_Effects...hua_Bromer.mpg

Nate Fields · August 12th, 2006, 11:38 AM

it seems to me that greenscreen is the only way to acheive this.
green screen is so critical thouogh for good lighting and a good screen.
alsodepends on your software

Kevin Richard · August 12th, 2006, 11:53 AM

The sample footage is done by greenscreening the "host" but the stuff in the background is clearly matrix style "arrays"... it's not stills because the camera clearly moves.. the objects aren't "flat".

Jacob Ehrichs · August 12th, 2006, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Richard

The sample footage is done by greenscreening the "host" but the stuff in the background is clearly matrix style "arrays"... it's not stills because the camera clearly moves.. the objects aren't "flat".

What do you mean they're not flat? They don't change perspective at all when the camera moves.

July 26th, 2006, 05:34 AM	#1
Ismail Aslam Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 71	Cool effect, does anyone know how to achieve it? Hi, Hope everyone is doing fine. I came across this trailer and saw this cool effect and thought to myself how they achieved it. I've concluded the following -Either it is a greenscreen effect, with a still image in the background - or the same screen shot twice and edited around with Any insight would be greatly appreciated. the link is below http://www.widei-films.com/frame.php click on projects, scroll to the bottom, television. it is called Guide to Islam, BBC documentary. Thanks for taking the time to read this post Ismail __________________ Is your life really yours...

July 26th, 2006, 01:25 PM	#3
Ismail Aslam Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 71	Ive heard of this technique before, can anyone confirm this? So i guess theres no alternative? __________________ Is your life really yours...

July 26th, 2006, 05:03 PM	#5
Ismail Aslam Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 71	ok, i agree. What about the presenter who speaks in the video? is he greenscreen? __________________ Is your life really yours...

July 27th, 2006, 11:11 AM	#7
Ismail Aslam Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 71	any links or suggestions for anyone who may have tried out this technique? how many cameras is one expected to use in the shot __________________ Is your life really yours...

July 27th, 2006, 10:06 PM	#10
Lori Starfelt Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Los Angeles, california Posts: 228	It's called "camera array". Here's an article on it: http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/array/

July 26th, 2006, 11:15 AM	#2
Kevin Richard Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 270	Isn't that just matrix style lining up of still cams in a row and having them fire off at the same time then stitching it all together to look like a dolly shot? You can even have them fire off in sequence and give it a slow-mo effect if you wanted... requires a poop load of still cams but very creative for whoever first thought of it... no matter how over used it is.

July 26th, 2006, 06:23 PM	#6
Justin Tomchuk Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Montreal Posts: 164	Yeah, must be. I think they shot the background with those cameras, then put him in front of a greenscreen with the footage behind him.

July 27th, 2006, 12:10 PM	#8
Kevin Richard Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 270	no experience but figure it's as many cams as frames you want on the move... one thing you could do is go film the move with your camera.. then see how many frames it took to make that movie.... if you want it to be that smooth then you need that many cams... you could reduce the cams but you would reduce the smoothness... you can also simulate what this would look like (to a point) by reducing your frame rate on that test move... much better if you can film with progressive vs interlace and still the "motion blur" might mess with it... but it should give you the overall look.... OR you could just calculate how many seconds you want the move to take and then divide that by your min. frame rate you want ;)

July 27th, 2006, 03:09 PM	#9
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	it seems it is a very low quality bullet time effect. It means there are very few pictures taken and lot of morphing done to generate the missing frames. I think 10 pictures is the maximum used in the sample. you can do it for cheap with disposable film camera or low cost digital camera. http://www.chinavasion.com/index.php...gital-cameras/

August 11th, 2006, 11:24 PM	#11
Nate Fields Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Markleville IN Posts: 58	yes it is an array of cameras or a new technique

August 12th, 2006, 07:19 AM	#12
Jacob Ehrichs Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 169	It looks to me that they took a digitial still first of the people and then cut them out of the background and made them into 3d layers in AE. They could greenscreen the actor in, but could also film it on location, but that would be much more difficult. You can see something similar in a couple shots in my friends demo. He used all stills, but it's just another step to add video over top, given you do a good setup on your green screen, camera angles, etc. http://www.ehrichs.net/Video_Effects...hua_Bromer.mpg

August 12th, 2006, 11:38 AM	#13
Nate Fields Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Markleville IN Posts: 58	it seems to me that greenscreen is the only way to acheive this. green screen is so critical thouogh for good lighting and a good screen. alsodepends on your software

August 12th, 2006, 11:53 AM	#14
Kevin Richard Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lafayette, LA Posts: 270	The sample footage is done by greenscreening the "host" but the stuff in the background is clearly matrix style "arrays"... it's not stills because the camera clearly moves.. the objects aren't "flat".