Test 1 | Further Light Wrap Test

After having problems creating a light wrap in one particular shot in my Test 1 video, I have created a light wrap using After Effects in addition to the highlights created with the node in Nuke.

Original - no light wrap:

With only Nuke light wrap:

With this particular, and all light wraps:

I have sourced this tutorial by Jerzy Drozda, Jr. It was recommended by Matt Cameron. 

Here is his description of the process:

"Apply a 'Set Channels' effect and set the source RGB values to the background composition. Apply a 'Channel Blur', blur the RGB channels by 10 and blur the alpha channel by around 200. Invert the alpha channel by applying a 'Levels' effect and swapping the 'Output Black' and 'Output White' values. Matte the result with the original alpha by applying 'CC Composite' and setting 'Composite Original' to Stencil Alpha. Next duplicate the light wrap composition and change the Alpha Blurriness to a value of about 30 for a sharper light wrap. Finally set the blend modes of the light wrap compositions to Add and reduce the opacity to taste."

I definitely think this is an imperative effect to create in compositing, and this has made the shot come on leaps and bounds in my opinion, and I now see this video visually as fully complete. The audio will hopefully be created over the next month in the form of a trial for the proposed sound engineer for the final film, and then I will upload a final version onto the net.

Test 1 Video

I have produced a test, one that I have kept you updated with, i order to experiment with the proposed techniques in my masters. The compositing techniques I have tried, have been: filming on green screen, chroma keying with Keylight, integrating a live action character into a CG environment and using some nodes in Nuke.

Here is the outcome with no sound:

Test for MSc | Fraser Murdoch (No Sound) from Fraser Murdoch on Vimeo.

There still might be another version uploaded in the future with sound.

I find the experiment has turned out fairly successfully. Next time I might try to find better ways to key a blurred element and composite some more live action elements into the environment/scene.

I hope to produce more tests next semester for similar reasons - to practice in compositing techniques proposed for my final output, as well as create composites edited as simple and full short film pieces.

Nuke Light Wrap Test

I had been creating light wraps in After Effects, using the alpha of the key by converting it to black and white (foreground character, and transparent background), and simple-choking it, expanding it to create a stroke and then blurring it out and masking the background out again to create a sharp edge (it's simple, really).

But for this scene, the large, selling, multiple exposure, I felt it very necessary to composite the background and foreground (which I composited together in After Effects) in Nuke and applying the light wrap there in order for the character to appear to be in the scene that bit more...

We had used light wraps in Hugo Guerra's master class in the last academic year, when he walked us through compositing most of a scene from The Mill's Audi Hummingbird advert, so I knew how to set one up.

This is example of the scene before the light wrap being applied in Nuke:

And, this is the result after the effect being applied:

Okay, it might be subtle (you can flick between the two images), but important I feel.

Also, I tried to get a wrap around the character a little more, even in the dark areas. In After Effects, with the amount of composites and re-scaling, it has taken a while. This might be achieved for the final render, though...

This is a screen shot of Nuke to show you how I set up:

Pretty simple, but effective.

The light wrap node by itself:

Example Shot From Test

Here is the multiple flash going off within a scene in the test film I have directed for this semester:

The light wrap is still to be done in Nuke...

This is the After Effects flowchart for this particular shot:

The test video is good practice working with live action to CG integration. 

I have tried to match everything with the environment at the shoot, and now adjusting everything in the grade and addition of smoke and CG elements such as fog, and create light wraps (in other shots) in AE (through luminances, simple chokers, and blurs), etc...

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Final polygon composite, NURBs model and video, academic poster, concept art and an animatic for 'The Escapist' coming soon...

Test Composites Progress

Here are some examples of composites for one of the shots in the test:

I have composited this in After Effects, but I aim to try out some keying and some nodes within Nuke, to find out more about that program. Unfortunately, this composite does not have any light wrap in it, so using the light wrap node within Nuke might be worthwhile. 

In regards to the shoot, I feel we haven't done to well with the layout of the shot. This could have been avoided by more planning, and less improvisation. Let's see how the final video looks... I'll keep you updated.

Green Screen Test - Edit Progress

I have edited each shot for the green screen test shot on Wednesday down and put the sequence together.

Here is the progress:

Green Screen Shoot And Chroma Keying Tests

Example of simple chroma keying test in After Effects for 'multiple exposure' shot.

Myself and Michal Zagorski led a shoot at the green screen studio with the beautiful Alona Kiricenko doing the performing.

We filmed from 3pm to 8pm and were quite efficient at following my storyboard and keeping everything simple and well executed (in our opinions...)

I have since executed some simple chroma keying using Keylight within After Effects. I also hope to do this in Nuke (with Keylight, and IBK colour nodes, etc.) and composite it with more style. I find that After Effects creates naturally quite an artificial look, and there aren't many, many options available to rectify this, quite like it seems Nuke, complicatedly, can.

A simple AE key and composite.

The original plate shot on Wednesday.

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Another, less accurate example.

This test should allow myself and Michal to know better how to go about a green screen shoot, even though we were very textbook in how we went about it and knew/were confident in how to do it beforehand. But, also it should allow us to see how more creative one can be with it, after practicing the basics fairly smoothly.

Very Simple Composite - Update

For updating purposes....

Please ignore error

This is a very simple comp with only a few passes and layers, without much atmosphere or anything. I have played with the camera settings and UVs, and would like to play with the lighting, as it is currently set at default physical sun and sky with bounce light/final gathering.

I tried to do achieve this look using Nuke, but this is achieved in After Effects. It is just much quicker for me to create in AE. Whilst attempting to create it in Nuke I was trialing a lot of the interface and getting to know nodes (zblur, shuffle, grade, merge, roto) and layers (RGB, luminance), so it was a productive time in a sense, but the output took so much more time due to my inexperience. This will progress and I will get a lot better at Nuke - it is so much more complicated and therefore more can be created with it.

I can remember when I started up After Effects. I found it quite mind boggling as well. As is the case with any new software which we in our field have to constantly adapt to. But, I am now incredibly comfortable with After Effects. I'm not going to do what Andrew Kramer has seemed to do and be so very faithful to AE and develop it. I am converting to Nuke for compositing this year. And, I will still use AE for particular areas it is best, easier, or more fun for, likely...

I am shooting a live action green screen test tomorrow. I will chroma key this, and if possible composite the live action character into this environment, gathering camera and lighting details and emulating that into this CG environment. I have been given some detailed advice from Matt Cameron (director and VFX artist), and researched what is needed for the composite, etc. We will try and recreate the current lighting setup you can see in the images, as close as possible.

Semester 1 Test - Storyboard

I have booked the green screen and photography studio for next week, and arranged to shoot a test there with cinematographer Michal Zagorski, with the performance by Alona Kiricenko. We have also went into details as to how we shall set everything up, and suggestions about character and wardrobe.

It is designed to combine practice in Nuke and other programs, green screening and compositing and using the environment modelling and composites I am collaborating with Lina Ivanova on. 

It is also important that it has influence from cinema's past and has particular looks, such as film noir, pure cinematics... for my studies.

If it were to be completed beyond merely tests, this is the very simple storyline the shots will produce:

These are the first draft storyboard pages.

I also put together a video to show things in a LITTLE more detail. This might do with being a little better, but the information is currently there. 

This is a first draft as well:

Thoughts?...