Reflection modify! Help!

[strawberrychan0707]

Hey all, I'm a 3D student and I'm working on a special effects projet where I have to deform a girl's reflection in a mirror. Now the projet is filmed with an HD camera and I'm trying to find a way to modify this girl's reflection in After effects.

I've tried the liquify tool and the results are a little dissapointing because I cannot animate the map right because she rotates her head alot and the map does not deform in the way I would like without going frame by frame..all in all it isn't working out. For now I'm doing it frame by frame in Photoshop but it's a real challenge to get everything to fit perfectly and it's taking way too long for the time I have!

I was hoping to find a way to make it work in After Effects.. Do you guys have any ideas?

[alexandru]

could you post a screenshot? it would be so much easier to give advice. is the camera moving or still?

[strawberrychan0707]

The camera is moving

[alexandru]

moving like just panning around or with real cam movement? because if it's moving you might need more then just a 2d point tracker.
have you tried using a displacement map with an animated fractal noise as map??

[strawberrychan0707]

In this part it zooms in and pans.

And no I haven't tried the diplacement map is it in after effects? I've never used it if it is! Would it let me make modification precisley where I want them? I would have to track the image right?

[alexandru]

hmm ... it might be difficult to use the displacement if you want a precise deformation. watch this tutorial .. it might answer your question.
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/demon_face_warp/
it's something like photoshop liquify, but you can apply it on moving shots. of course you need some stabilization first, but it shouldn't be a problem.

[strawberrychan0707]

Thanks alot I'll take a look

[strawberrychan0707]

I tried it out but because my footage zooms in and my subject doesn't stay straight to camera it's making it virtually impossible to stabilize and track. I'll keep working on it.

[alexandru]

well .. you have to stabilize the head, not the footage. if she is also rotating her head, i believe only geometry tracking will get you the requested result, but this will prove difficult for after effects.
take a look at this video:
http://www.fxguide.com/fxguidetv/fxguidetv_048/ (skip to the part with the compositing for the mummy)
they had to do something similar, the technique used is great, but you can't really do it in a software like after effects .. you need a compositing soft with real 3d capabilites like nuke.