comments and questions

[Legolas S.M.]

Hi everybody,
First of all let me say that I'm new on the forum and I don't know anything about composting, I'm not an artist neither I work in the movie industry. I ran into this site by mistake about 2 months ago and I immediatly liked it: I have been following the challenges ever since.
I was hoping to learn the basic about compositing ans pecial effect on this WIP forum but to be honest I haven’t seen lots of post in here. This comunity seems to be quite smaller then CGTALK and this could explain it but still I haven't seen many post on how you guys do things. I’m not really sure if you guys are posting the WIP scene on another forum because it really looks like everybody is posting only the finished result: that doesn’t really leave space for anybody like me to learn anything at all. I’m not even sure of what program you guys are using :-) could you please write down at least that? I really really really really hope to see more post on this forum, or this coumunity is never going to grow much.
Anyway I made up my mind and I decided to learn the hard way which is: I’m going to try to participate to this contest and get some feedback from you and see how it goes.
The only problem is that I have no idea on where to get started so here are my questions:
1) Please don’t laugh but could anybody explain me what a "day for night " sequence is and what program am I supposed to use to do it? Is this competition all about changing the color in the original video and make it look like night?
2) The guideline tells that there are really not many limitations, which doesn’t give me a clue of what you guys expect to see in a entry. Could you give me some examples? Am I supposed to add new elements to the video such as a flying UFO on top of the bridge?
3) I know the basic of Photoshop: can I use it to paint on top of the video, like a matte painting, and paint a night sky? Am I allowed to import elements from pictures or movie to create a composition in Photoshop? Am I allowed to change the scene by adding new elements, say new buildings, or should I leave all the elements in the video as they are? Can I do things like simulating camera movement by zooming on section of the video?
Well, time to go back to work, but not before saying thanks for your time. E-read you later.

[Whelkn]

I use Digital Fusion, you can get the demo off its homepage and that is--- www.eyeonline.com you can also use the demo in the challenges. Also you can download their new courseware that will show how to use the software. I can also post how I did my challenge entry if you would like maybe on the weekend when I have some time. Ok now for your questions

1.) Day for night is making a shot that was filmed during the day look like it was filmed at night.

2.) Maybe not a UFO but a boat or change the sky anything you think could make the image more interesting.

3.) You can do anything you want to your entry. Photoshop is more for still images then video sequences.

Jeremy

[BlackKnight]

Hey there and welcome to the forum.

I will attempt to answer some of your questions.


This comunity seems to be quite smaller then CGTALK and this could explain it but still I haven't seen many post on how you guys do things.

First off, vfxtalk.com is soley dedicated to the art & science of digital compositing whereas cgtalk.com covers a hell of a lot of different subjects, so inevitabley they will have a larger userbase than us. This ultimately effects the number of posts and threads.

If you look you will find what your after like shot breakdowns, but the thing you have to keep in mind is that a lot of the vfxtalk users are prefessional's with real world projects or people who simply dont have the time to contribute in this way.

I always look at it as a generous contribution from the user, rather than "oh, look...they didnt post any WIP's" etc...



1) Please don’t laugh but could anybody explain me what a "day for night " sequence is and what program am I supposed to use to do it? Is this competition all about changing the color in the original video and make it look like night?

"Day for night" is simply a conversion from a day plate to a night shot, so you had it right.:D What software you use is totally upto you and your personal preference. You can find a demo for pretty much all the good compositing apps out there.


2) The guideline tells that there are really not many limitations, which doesn’t give me a clue of what you guys expect to see in a entry. Could you give me some examples? Am I supposed to add new elements to the video such as a flying UFO on top of the bridge?

For one thing, "which doesn’t give me a clue of what you guys expect to see in a entry."...thats what the imagination is for my friend. You are supplied with the basic guidlines and the rest is upto you.

One example might be...replacing the sky, adding lights to the bridge, inserting a moon, inserting a boat on the water, adding a relection and so on...


3) I know the basic of Photoshop: can I use it to paint on top of the video, like a matte painting, and paint a night sky? Am I allowed to import elements from pictures or movie to create a composition in Photoshop? Am I allowed to change the scene by adding new elements, say new buildings, or should I leave all the elements in the video as they are? Can I do things like simulating camera movement by zooming on section of the video?

You are pretty much free to do what you want like what you say above, but I would definately leave the core shot intact like the bridge, otherwise the whole thing would be pretty pointless.


I hope I've answered your questions, just ask again if you have any more queries.

Oh...you say you work in the movie industry, mind if I ask what as?

Thanks.

Ross

[p0rcupine]

i have been here (this website) for a while, and this is my first time participating challenges....

day for night seems much harder to do comapare to ufo one, but i still want to try.... to be honest, dvd was my motivation, but i don't think i am gonna win it... but i am really happy that i finally started participating these challenges..
since i am a lazy ass, i needed something to start me up :(

well i don't know much about compositing right now but i will try my best. and i am sure i will learn as i keep tyring... right guys??
please say yes :(



anyway... have a wonderful day and night wherever you are


BTW u think photoshop is not a good way to light bridge and buildings?

[Aruna]

Welcome to VFXtalk Legolas. :)

You'll find a wealth of information that's been distributed here on this website over the past year. The best thing to do if you're just starting is to go through the WIP, Beginner's Talk and Gallery sections from the very beginning. Most threads are pretty short, so it won't take too long, and make for interesting reading.

A lot of the moderators and members here have professional visual effects jobs, so often don't get a chance to put up a WIP or gallery image for a while (NDAs, or Non-Disclosure Agreements). I've posted some of my old work, as have some other members, in the Gallery section. Often when people ask questions about a certain shot, I'm happy to help, as are other members!

The other thing, even though a thread is old doesn't mean that it's dead! New questions always arise as talent grows, and if you're interested in learning more about how a certain thing is created, feel free to ask a question in the same thread.

Good luck, and have fun!

[Paul Moran]

dont have much more to add to that really :thumbsup:

except that i would recommend getting your hands on a demo of either Digital Fusion (http://vixen.eyeonline.com/dfadmin/registerdemo.aspx) & downloading and going through ALL this fantastic FREE courseware (http://www.eyeonline.com/techniques/courseware/courseware_ed2/cware2_link.html)

OR

Grab yourself Combustion FREE 30 Day Trial (http://nct.discreet.com/fulfill/0049.011) and run through All of these FREE Tutorials (http://www.discreet.com/combustion/tutorials.html)

and basically run through all the relevant tutorials...get a feel for what compositing is all about and how you might tackle a problem...then see how you go with VFX009...or wait and do all the tutorials over this month and come back brimming with confidence for VFX010 :)

Either way...you're bound to learn lots :)

Cheers mate, welcome to the site..as you can see..we are all here to help as much as we can

Paul

[Legolas S.M.]

Hi again,
That’s me again.

Jeremy: thanks for the information. I’ll try to get a free demo copy of the Digital Fusion software. I would love to see how you did your challenge entry because right now I’m clueless and I would also love to know how long it took to you to do it, just to get an idea of the amount of work required.

Ross: thanks for clarifying things for me. I didn’t mean to say anything offensive about this forum or any of the members. I understand that many of you have lots of work to do or family to take care of and this is something that you do on the side. I was merely trying to describe the impression that I got as an outsider by looking at this forum for the first time. As I said I liked this forum immediately but I still think it needs more “love and attention” from the current users in order to catch the attention of new user such as me. After all isn’t it the point? Isn’t the challenge meant to get the community growing? More users = more sponsors = more resources available for the users: everybody gain. About the guideline and the imagination part…I could try to squeeze additional juice out of my already squeezed brain and believe me when I say that there is not much left in there, but I’ll try. The point is that I didn’t want to get disqualified for things like painting King Kong on top of the bridge. That’s why I asked: just wanted to be sure that my imagination doesn’t get me disqualified. I also wanted to clarify again that I’m not an artist and I do not work in the movie industry or in any other related field. I also wish to thank you for taking the time to welcome me to the forum and answer my silly questions and for all the help: believe me when I say that I really appreciated it.

Porcupine: welcome on the board. I’m glad to see that there’s someone else as new as me. I don’t now much about compositing either but I’m sure this will give us the opportunity to learn more. By the way I was also thinking to add some light on the bridge using Photoshop. As far as my understanding goes it seems a good idea.

Aruna: Thanks for the information. I’ll look trough the links that you recommended. I didn’t realize there could have been NDAs prohibiting people from posting on this website. That is sad tough. I’ll look into the gallery for your work. Thanks for offering some help answering questions: I’ll make sure to look into the old threads before asking any questions, to be sure that it wasn’t answered already. I’ll definitely have fun working on this challenge. Thanks again.

Paul: thanks for the link. I’ll try to get the Combustion as well. There is really a lot to learn and you have already pointed me in the right direction. You are right it would probably make more sense for me to tray to participate to VFX010 but I need a target. The target will help me stay focus and study, and I have established that VFX009 is going to be my first attempt: it will give me a reason to sit in front of the computer at night. And you are right again: no matter how it goes I’m bounded to learn something.