View Full Version : Animation first or shooting


rakesh1985
05-28-2009, 01:41 PM
Hey guys this is my first post. So I would like to introduce myself first.
I am a masters student or rather an amateur in filmmaking trying to turn pro.

I will be making a video with a few talking objects in it. For example an object talking to a boy.

The question is should I go and prepare the animated object first and shoot the video accordingly and add the object or go the opposite way i.e. shoot the video first then animate the object and add it to the video.
Thanks

Zensteve
05-28-2009, 11:37 PM
Well, you can prep all the models, etc, but it would make more sense to film the live-action first.

Your animated object needs to react & blend not only with the boy, but also the live room/placement of where it will be.

Once you have your video, you can plop in the animated models - position, scale & move as appropriate.

rakesh1985
05-30-2009, 04:53 AM
Thanks for the reply Steve.
I will go ahead try to shoot the video first.

shmonster
05-30-2009, 06:16 PM
Hi rakesh, I'm an animator by profession so if you need any info maybe i can be of service.. Something to think about is that matching your camera moves can be difficult. A locked off camera would be easier. And you can also take down information like what lens you're using, where the lights are located, the distance and angle from the camera, and maybe shoot some reference object in place of where the animated object will be, so you get an idea of what the lighting of an object placed there would be. It'd give you something to match. There's also the possibility of photographing a reflective sphere to get yourself an hdri picture of the environment, so you can use that to light your animated object in 3d.

Anyway, i hope some of that is helpful and makes sense... best of luck :)

rakesh1985
06-03-2009, 06:11 PM
shmonster,
Thanks for the advice. What I plan to do is, take a picture of an object, add ayes, nose and mouth to it, make it talk using a software (Crazy Talk) and insert it in the film I shoot. Can you please explain about lens changing and reflective sphere technique.

Thanks again

barnaclelapse
06-07-2009, 08:55 AM
I would imagine you'd want to film the live action first, and then go in and put the animated parts in. Obviously, you have a much greater power of manipulation with the animation. You can shoot that and then do whatever you want with it to make it fit the live-action. It just seems like it would be a lot more difficult the other way around.

Shooting the live-action first, you then really don't have to worry about anyone but yourself when it comes time for the animation.