Question...

Madwld19 · Jun 29, 2004

I'm using Premiere Pro and After Effects to edit my films. I haven't had much experince with After Effects, and i'm sure this one shot in my new film would require the use of it. It involves a ghost throwing a glass, so we basically just see the glass fly. Can anyone tell me exactly how this can be done?

please help, mark.

DerekEastham · Jun 29, 2004

Well, after effects (as much as I don't like it) would definetly help you here.

Here's my suggestion.

#1, shoot the scene without a glass being thrown...
before shooting a single frame, make sure the action is blocked out & as natural as possible... think about how glass will shatter...

#2, do a studio shoot, on a green or blue (or whatever color) screen... shoot a glass being thrown across the screen... be sure to be at the same angle to the glass with the screen, as if it were the room the scene is in...

#3, do another studio shot of a glass shattering upon impact with something... for safety, I'd do this with plenty of protection between any people and the glass, with something set up to catch the shattered glass.

After this, you can take all of that into after effects, and with some clever compositing & chroma-key, you can composite the glass flying with the shattering into the shot of the room where the action would happen.

Also, if that option is too out there for your abilities... considering the intense level of compositing involved to make it look & feel real... you might consider finding an animator.

There are some great animators out there who can make a glass that flies across a room & shatters upon impact & make it real.

I would still have them make the glass against a single-color back-ground, so that it can be compositied in aftereffects, as animation programs that I've experience with (through animators) don't seem to be able to merge animation with video as well as editing and effects programs can.

That's the best suggestions I can give you,
hopefully someone else has better.

gwyddion · Jul 1, 2004

I'd have to agree. The AE Pro bundle has some really nice keying tools amongst other things... 8)

camella · Sep 14, 2004

Hi!

my answer is probably too late, but anyway - i would do this "flying glass" thing in 3D MAX. First i'd shoot an empty scene and then import it as background in 3D MAX. then, i'd make an model of glass and animate it flying through space.
I thinkthat would be the best way to do this effect realistic, and this way u don't have to shoot a flying glass on blue screen. This way, u won't have to key background out etc... Because, to key out background from an GLASS object could be pain in the ass.

Well, i suppose u allready finished this scenne and i hope u did well with afterefects.

Have a nice day!
Uros

Tim Kolb · Feb 13, 2005

camella said:
Hi!

This way, u won't have to key background out etc... Because, to key out background from an GLASS object could be pain in the ass.

Well, i suppose u allready finished this scenne and i hope u did well with afterefects.

Have a nice day!
Uros

Actually a completely clear glass would be fairly straight forward to key with a screen based effect (luma screen or blue- or green-) as glass highlights become opaque for visual purposes, while the transparent portions...are transparent.

The biggest "pain" in whatever body part or appendage you prefer would be if it was shot on any derivation of DV as there is significant loss of color information in the DV compression process...color info which a keyer uses to do its job.

If you have a DV blue or green screen of any kind in AE, make a composition with just your key source material on it. Place the clip on two layers, one directly above the other. Apply a small blur to the top layer...say a gaussian blur with a value of 2 or 3 (season to taste of course)...then take that top layer and choose blending mode>color. This actually helps to smooth the lost color detail out a bit and the keyer is far more effective. Use the comp with the two layers as the key source in your composite as opposed to just the individual clip.