Etude Three (3) - Final Process and Evaluation

In a compromise I decided to further edit the footage and tracking data I already had in After Effects and instead I may re-explore the area in the final etude. Below is my final submission for this piece. I used After Effects to add noise, grain and lens blur as well as other effects to help integrate the models into the scene which I believe I achieved quite well. However the jittery tracked movement greatly removes the objects from the scene and I believe that more considerate tracking and format conversions would improve the quality of the object placement and thus the overall piece. I believe the etude was successful in creating a surreal and original piece as intended but it was done as effectively as I wanted. In addition I feel as if a viewer would observe this piece for its potential as I have. In terms of the next etude my initial intentions are to explore this area of creativity and visual effects even further.

Etude Three (3) - Evaluated Process

I felt as though I could end the etude as it was as an attempt to create piece the I had initially conceptualised but as I began to look through footage and films I began to filter my search to preference. I found that many martial arts films are in the public domain however I am aware that remixing of old martial arts media isn't particularly new, for example the music producer/artist "RZA" is well known for being a martial arts fan and has remixed the audio from many martial arts films and the film "Kung Pow: Enter the fist" is a comedic parody of old film and utilises compositing, character replacement and careful editing. In addition the music video for the group "The Chemical Brothers" contained a number of edited shots using facial editing/cg replacement on actors faces to have them lip sync with the song "Get Yourself High" (below).

Therefore creatively I am considering whether or not I should use martial arts films. This decision depends on the film I find and what I believe I could add to the footage. If this seems unachievable within the time constraints i.e. proves too time consuming then I will do what I had previously stated in the last entry.

Chemical Brothers - "Get Yourself High" Directed by Joseph Kahn Music Video Available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqBjSbc77Qo&eurl

or

http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/musicvideos/897/#

[accessed 21st March 2008]

Etude Three (3) - Initial Process

After downloading several films and pieces of footage from Archive.org I decided to select the short documentary type film called "Angry Boy", which is a two part short drama piece that explores child psychology and focuses around a young boy. I narrowed down my shot selection to the beginning of a short pan to the right which I thought would be ideal for camera tracking as it has a small space centre screen where I could initially just test whether the footage was good enough to track well and incorporate 3D objects.

Above image available from: (http://www.archive.org/movies/thumbnails.php?identifier=AngryBoy1950)

With the scene isolated I then began to convert the frames of the scene into Targa files (.tga) in Adobe Premiere, which is the only format that the camera tracking software Voodoo reads files on Windows. Initially I had to convert the video to a WMV and then render off into Targa files due to errors in the import process to Premiere, which may have affected quality and was one of my main concerns especially when considering the age and initial quality of the footage which wasn't ideal. I then imported the files into Voodoo which read each frame and set tracking points that would be used in 3DS Max to help add geometry to the scene.

Above shows Voodoo tracking the points on the footage with the green markers being placed in areas that will be tracked and preserved for exporting to another package. The information/status window did report I higher number of errors and failed capture points.

I then exported the data into a 3DS Max Script to later import into 3DS Max. Below shows the scene I set up in 3D Max after running the exported voodoo script which created a camera and tracking points in Max. Then using the created voodoo camera I set up two teapot models, lights and a plane with a matte/shadow map applied to it to capture their shadows and match the lighting to the footage. I also added the original scene's footage to the background of the Camera's viewport so that I had a reference when creating the scene in Max.

Below shows an example of the test after I combined the separately rendered layers in After Effects.

As I had initially feared the footage was too jittery to accurately calculate and track therefore the added 3D objects slide around inaccurately. Although the pan of the camera is accurate enough there is too much noticeable noise in the cameras movement when it was tracked and therefore the objects aren't seamlessly integrated into the scene in terms of placement.

I later attempted to use After Effects stabilize feature to help reduce this movement but it wasn't enough to help. Therefore instead of continually altering already low resolution footage I decided to look for better footage.

If I am unable to locate adequate footage I will either film an area for tracking and simply demonstrate 3D compositing with an accurate track or use higher resolution stock footage to track and add objects to or edit.

Voodoo Software downloaded from: (http://www.digilab.uni-hannover.de/download.html)

Additional references:

http://www.digilab.uni-hannover.de/docs/manual.html

http://www.max-animation.com/voodoo_camera_tracker.htm

http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d__and__animation/the_rules_of_camera_tracking

Dobbert, T., 2005. The rules of camera tracking. [Ebook]. 3D World.
(available at: http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d__and__animation/the_rules_of_camera_tracking)

[accessed 20th March 2008]

Etude Three (3) - Concept

In terms of resources I am already aware of many that I can obtain old footage from. The primary source is the extensive www.archive.org which has many members and organisations affiliated with it who upload media to their severs under specific licenses. The Creative Commons Organisation is one of the key groups to aid in the freedom of reusable media as their now global self licensing system has allowed media artists to search and use various media past and present legally depending on the type of license as well as license their own work. It has also allowed other organisations to help clarify which licenses are applicable to old films and footage. The main license I am looking to filter my search via is the public domain license which films will generally fall under after a number of years and if their copyright license is not renewed. For example the "Bruce Lee: the lost interview" is a piece of footage that was lost and then found again in 1994 and aired in a Bruce Lee TV special due to the fact that since prior to 1989 its copyright license was not renewed and therefore fell into the public domain and is available for download and editing.

Above Image (available at: http://www.archive.org/movies/thumbnails.php?identifier=BruceLeeTheLostInterview)
[accessed 20th March 2008]

At this stage I am analysing several pieces of footage and films to edit effectively. Possible issues I am already aware of include image quality and how that will effect tracking data and points in an image. Image quality is also a major factor and distortion, noise, grain, dust and scratches on the film will have to be either replicated on the added CGI elements or disregarded as piece to select and edit. Thus far I have not been strict on filtering my selection of footage as I am unsure as to how well the tracking process will go. Believability will be affected by these factors yet this will also be hindered depending on the type of effect I decide to apply. In addition when analysing the footage my intentions are to enhance the footage or viewing experience for the audience, which may simply be through subtle satire added via CG elements.

Film references:

http://www.archive.org

http://imovies.blogspot.com/

http://www.desertislandfilms.com/MarArtsPD.html

http://www.publicdomainmotionpictures.com

http://creativecommons.org/

[accessed 20th March 2008]

Etude Three (3) - Introduction

Etude Title:

Ye Olde CGI

In this etude I intend to explore the field of compositing and CG in film. Compositing is a discipline that is now common place in feature films and TV whether it is obvious (large robot destroying a city) or subtle and seamless enough for it even to be disregarded as CGI (replacing a pen with a 3D pencil). A main alteration in modern cinema is due to technological advancement and thus the capabilities a film maker has is now infinite. In the past film makers were obviously unable to create such jaw dropping effects as they do today. This leads to the concept of my module of what would old films and TV programmes look like with CGI applied to them. The Director Steven Spielberg applied this notion with his film "E.T. - the extra terrestrial"(1982) in its remake (2002), which incorporated a 3D ET in many scenes which he had initially desired. However for my etude I intend to take footage from an even earlier period and apply additional effects to them as seamlessly as I can by either adding 3d objects or editing the footage to create sense of 3D depth. This will essentially alter the scene/film I select and create an interesting and original concept with the end product being a surreal combination of old film and CGI. This will involve some camera tracking and as I have yet to properly learn this skill it will also be an exercise in compositing techniques.

To achieve this I will most likely be using 3DS Max, After Effects and the free tracking software Voodoo.

ET reference cited: (available at: http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=103012)
[accessed 18th March 2008]