martok2112
November 11th, 2005, 02:48 PM
My friends,
I am finally getting down to some serious work on my composited FX attempts with my BSG miniatures. Right now, I am in the "pre-composite" stage. Without a chroma-key (greenscreening) proggie like Pinnacle, this is a much tougher process than one might imagine. (Why I am not using PhotoShop to try and help accelerate this process is beyond me.)
Right now, the process is thus:
1. Film the ship....having to use one hand to hold the ship, and the other hand to man the camera controls. (This will result in a slight wobble on the ship's part, but hopefully none too great....in the end though, it will look like a ship that is wobbling in space....sadly.)
2. Break the film down into individual frames using Windows Movie Maker. That's right, depending on the length of the footage for the shot, it could be anywhere from 20 to 100 (or more) frames.
3. Use MSPaint to cutout all the background around the ship into a blank white zone. Then store it as a bitmap (since white on MSPaint bmps. are blank, and thus easily compositable.) As you can imagine, this is a HIGHLY tedious process...depending on the frame count.
4. Using either Photoshop or PhotoImpression, create running lights, engine glow, window lights, etc, on the ship in the blank pre-composited forms. Another tedious process, but this is one that will pay off in the long run, since I will be able to use these pre-composites over and over on any background I choose.
5. Find a suitable background. Empty space, nebulae, planetary orbital shot, what not. I can then place the pre-composited shots on the backgrounds, storing them under different filenames so I do not lose the original pre-composite. Now, the fun part is using PhotoImpression to accomplish this as well, because then I can actually move the background, to create the illusion of true movement. Another tedious process.
6. With the composites finally in place, I can add whatever final FX are needed, or composite another ship if necessary....and then use Windows Movie Maker, or ShowBiz to create the final product.
7. After film footage is assembled, add appropriate sound FX/music. Save the film.
I will post my first effort after completion, hopefully within the week.
I hope that it will be enjoyed by any and all...'coz it's a lotta work. :)
Respectfully,
Martok2112
I am finally getting down to some serious work on my composited FX attempts with my BSG miniatures. Right now, I am in the "pre-composite" stage. Without a chroma-key (greenscreening) proggie like Pinnacle, this is a much tougher process than one might imagine. (Why I am not using PhotoShop to try and help accelerate this process is beyond me.)
Right now, the process is thus:
1. Film the ship....having to use one hand to hold the ship, and the other hand to man the camera controls. (This will result in a slight wobble on the ship's part, but hopefully none too great....in the end though, it will look like a ship that is wobbling in space....sadly.)
2. Break the film down into individual frames using Windows Movie Maker. That's right, depending on the length of the footage for the shot, it could be anywhere from 20 to 100 (or more) frames.
3. Use MSPaint to cutout all the background around the ship into a blank white zone. Then store it as a bitmap (since white on MSPaint bmps. are blank, and thus easily compositable.) As you can imagine, this is a HIGHLY tedious process...depending on the frame count.
4. Using either Photoshop or PhotoImpression, create running lights, engine glow, window lights, etc, on the ship in the blank pre-composited forms. Another tedious process, but this is one that will pay off in the long run, since I will be able to use these pre-composites over and over on any background I choose.
5. Find a suitable background. Empty space, nebulae, planetary orbital shot, what not. I can then place the pre-composited shots on the backgrounds, storing them under different filenames so I do not lose the original pre-composite. Now, the fun part is using PhotoImpression to accomplish this as well, because then I can actually move the background, to create the illusion of true movement. Another tedious process.
6. With the composites finally in place, I can add whatever final FX are needed, or composite another ship if necessary....and then use Windows Movie Maker, or ShowBiz to create the final product.
7. After film footage is assembled, add appropriate sound FX/music. Save the film.
I will post my first effort after completion, hopefully within the week.
I hope that it will be enjoyed by any and all...'coz it's a lotta work. :)
Respectfully,
Martok2112