Visual Effects and Compositing – Assignment 1
For assignment 1 you must submit your after effects project file (.aep) as well as an
output of your composition as an MP4 file using:
• The H.264 codec at High Quality
• 1920 x 1080 pixels
• 30 fps
• Square pixels
To do this you will need to render using the Media encoder. The files should be
submitted via canvas by the deadline and deviation from the specification will result
in a loss of marks. As a guide your outputted mp4 should be under 50mb. If you
have a very large file that does not upload to canvas you have exported with the
wrong settings and will need to re-render it. Be sure to leave enough time to do this.
This assignment is worth 30% of your overall mark.
The object of this assignment is to re-create the sample video A1_Example.mp4
using the source footage and still images provided to you:
Interior_A1.mp4
Roof blue sky.png
Window.png
These files can be downloaded from Canvas. The zip file can be found on the Week
2: Assignment 1 page.
As in the industry, you must produce what the VFX supervisor has asked for. Any
deviation from the prescribed concept is not advised.
The word concept is important here - under normal circumstances you would
obviously not be given a completed version to recreate. Therefore, very minor
deviations to this completed version, if in keeping with the concept and layout of the
shot, will not lead to the loss of marks. However, any wild flights of fancy will be
severely detrimental to your final mark.
Ensure that all your footage is interpreted at the correct frame rate and scaled
accordingly.
CHECK SUSSEX DIRECT FOR HAND IN DATES AND TIMES
Assignment 1 suggested shot breakdown
You are required to add a window and roof to the scene. This is a moving shot so
you will need a 3D camera track.
Start by creating a comp containing Interior_A1.mpg. Trim your comp to cut off the
black on either end of the clip and then perform a 3D camera track. This is covered
in Tutorial 2:
Select three points and set the ground plane and origin.
Create a solid.
Swap solid for window:
You’ll need to resize the window but it may be best to leave colour correction until
you have all elements in place.
Place your roof image over the existing layers and key out the blue sky. Keying is
covered in tutorial 3.
Duplicate your window and replace the duplicate window layer with the
roof_blue_sky.png. Key out the blue and move the image roughly into place.
You should now have the two main elements in place. To make the window and roof
appear behind the door and wall you will need to duplicate your background
Interior_A1.mpg layer and place as the top layer. Add a mask to this layer to mask
off the door and wall as the camera moves in. This mask will need quite a bit of
tweaking but start with a rough mask and you can come back to it. Tutorial 5
explains how to mask a moving image.
To make a better mask round the roof area duplicate the bottom Interior_A1.mpg
layer again and place it on top of all footage. Duplicate this file again and create an
inverted luma track matte. Tutorial 1 will help you with creating a track matte.
Mask off the area around the roof as you don’t want the track matte to apply to other
areas:
Once you have the appropriate areas masked off, colour correct the window and the
roof to make them match the background plate. Edit the colours for both using CC
Toner/ Levels and any other colour correction until you are happy the added
elements fit as best they can. Tutorial 4 will give you some help with colour
correction:
The next task is to track the vine and place a new vine so it appears in front of the
window.
Select track motion and place your track point on the end of the vine. You will only
need to rack the section that covers the window as this is where the vine disappears.
You may need to manually track quite a few times as the vine is not very clear
against the background.
Once you have tracked the vine you will need to create a new one. Create a new
shape layer and draw a line over the vine using the pen tool.
You can change the colour and stroke of your line to make it fit with the rest of the
shot.
Make sure to move your track point so it is in the same place as the track point on
your base layer.
Make your shape layer your target and your vine should follow the vine on the base
layer. You will need to rotate your shape as it passes over the window to make sure
it fits.
When you have your vine roughly in the right place you will need to duplicate your
bottom window layer and place it at the top of your composition. This window layer
will become your alpha track matte:
The shape layer vine should only be visable over the top of the window:
For extra marks you can use the same process to correct the mistake right at the
beginning of the shot where the vine appears behind the window.
You then just need to render out your shot. Making sure that there is no black at the
beginning or the end.
Remember always watch back your footage as much as possible. If it looks wrong
then do something to correct it.
Marks for Assignment 1 will be awarded as follows:
• 10% File/Format
• 20% 3D camera tracking and placement of objects
• 20% Colour keying and colour correction
• 20% Mask edges and movement
• 20% Motion track and placing of vine
• 10% Extra vine