The Art and Technique of Matchmoving: Solutions for the VFX Artist

Cover Page
......Page 1
Outline placeholder......Page 0
Copyright
......Page 3
Dedication......Page 4
Thanks......Page 5
Foreword......Page 7
``So, Wait a Minute . . . . What Do You Do, Exactly?´´......Page 9
Planning......Page 13
Gathering Data......Page 14
Building Assets......Page 15
Attacking the Shot......Page 16
So What Are the Variables You Feed the Camera?......Page 17
Okay, but How Is That Done?......Page 18
Camera Tracking......Page 20
Surveyed Matchmoves......Page 21
Surveyless Matchmoves......Page 22
Object Matchmove......Page 24
Other Uses......Page 25
Bibliography......Page 26
How Movies Get Made: What You Need to Know About It, and Why......Page 27
Lens......Page 28
Focal Length......Page 29
Depth of Field......Page 32
Rack Focus......Page 33
FX Animation Interaction......Page 34
Motion Blur......Page 37
Information Gathering On Set......Page 38
Greenscreen Markers......Page 40
Where Is It?......Page 41
Notes, Notes, Notes......Page 43
The Graphics Pipeline: An Overview......Page 45
Software......Page 46
Character Animation......Page 47
Models and Modelers......Page 48
Read the Notes from Set......Page 49
Importing Models, Creating Cameras......Page 50
Creating the Camera......Page 51
Publishing......Page 53
Reference......Page 55
You Know More Than You Think You Do......Page 56
Where to Start?......Page 57
The Web is Your Friend......Page 58
Google Maps......Page 59
Walk Cycle......Page 99
Building the Set......Page 63
Creating the Camera......Page 69
Not so Fast. We Need to Create a Camera for Our Scene!......Page 70
Lining Up the Shot......Page 72
It's a Brave New Digital World......Page 80
What Makes Video Plates So Different?......Page 82
Review the Information......Page 172
We're in Luck......Page 83
Method 3......Page 84
Find the Handoff Areas......Page 144
And Now, the Results......Page 85
Refining the Translations......Page 186
Method 2:......Page 86
Method 3:......Page 87
Lockoff Shots......Page 90
Color-Correct Your Plates......Page 130
Whip Pans......Page 98
Steadicam and Handheld Shots......Page 100
Shadows, Reflections, and Other Lighting Interactions......Page 101
But All of this Sounds Crazy Complicated - How Do I Even Start?......Page 102
Determine What Needs to Be Done......Page 104
Review Your Information......Page 105
Color Correcting Your Plates: A How-To Guide......Page 107
Color-Correction Filters......Page 108
Which Comes First?......Page 113
Getting Fancy: Swapping Channels......Page 114
Model Your Set......Page 117
First Frame Lineup......Page 118
2D Track......Page 120
Survey Constraints......Page 121
3D Solve......Page 122
Does It Make Sense?......Page 124
Determine What Needs to Be Done......Page 128
Set Up the Scene......Page 131
2D Track......Page 132
3D Solve......Page 133
Survey Constraints......Page 151
Evaluation......Page 138
Wireframe......Page 139
Where Does My Rig Come From?......Page 199
Turn......Page 140
Determine What Needs to Be Done......Page 142
Review Your Information......Page 143
Set Up the Shot......Page 173
3D Solve......Page 153
Handoff......Page 158
Adding Guestimate Geometry......Page 162
Evaluation......Page 167
Real-Life Shot: Handheld Camera......Page 169
Determine What Needs to Be Done......Page 170
2D Tracking......Page 174
Z Rotation......Page 182
Refining X and Y Rotation......Page 184
X Translation Drift......Page 190
Z Translation Hitch......Page 192
One-Point Solve......Page 193
Character Rotomation Considered......Page 196
Face, Clothing, Body Replacements, or Additions......Page 198
Is It Good for Anything Special?......Page 223
What Should I Do If I Can't Find a Rig?......Page 200
Great, I Got a Rig. And I'm Scared......Page 201
Rotomation First Pass: Animating Large to Small......Page 202
How to Watch Your Shot......Page 203
Don't Break Your Character......Page 207
Do Act It Out......Page 208
Which Channels to Key and When to Key Them......Page 209
Finding the Next Set of Keyframes......Page 211
Set, Delete, Set......Page 212
Animating Constraints On and Off......Page 213
Getting to Know You......Page 214
Let's Meet Our Rig......Page 215
Where Is It?......Page 222
What Can It Mess Up?......Page 224
Tell Me More!......Page 225
Tell Me More!......Page 227
What's It Do?......Page 228
Tell Me More!......Page 229
What's It Do?......Page 233
Tell Me More!......Page 234
Tell Me More!......Page 235
Tell Me More!......Page 239
What Can It Mess Up?......Page 240
Tell Me More!......Page 241
When this Would Be Useful......Page 244
Where Is It?......Page 245
Tell Me More!......Page 246
Where Is It?......Page 248
Tell Me More!......Page 249
Tell Me More!......Page 251
Pivot Control......Page 253
What Can It Mess Up?......Page 255
Tell Me More!......Page 256
Overall Finger Controls......Page 258
You're Almost Ready to Start......Page 266
Next Up......Page 267
Real-Life Shot: Character and Object Rotomation......Page 268
Determine What Needs to Be Done......Page 269
Set Up the Shot......Page 270
Breaking Down the Clip......Page 272
First Foot Plant......Page 273
Pass Through......Page 274
Second Foot Plant......Page 275
Second Pass Through......Page 276
Sitting Down......Page 278
Hip Close Up......Page 280
First-Pass Rotomation: Walking......Page 283
Second Step......Page 284
Incremental Spine Manipulation......Page 285
First-Pass Rotomation: Turning......Page 286
First-Pass Rotomation: Sitting......Page 290
The Wrongest Frame......Page 293
To Track in Software or Animate by Hand?......Page 294
Constraining the Prop Cup......Page 297
Point and Orient Constraints......Page 298
Parent Constraints and Parenting Offsets......Page 299
Animating the Cup Trajectory......Page 302
Keeping Track of Cylindrical Spinning......Page 303
First Pass Over the Pool......Page 304
Finishing Up......Page 309
Index......Page 310