This video is the latest in an ongoing series of experiments to take still photos or tracking shots of Legos and add dynamic elements. This time I tried out reflective materials and attempted to create an environment that would make the added-in figures blend better with the background. I’d be interested in critiques or feedback about how to improve the effect of integrating the live-action and the rendered elements.
(Skip to ~1:30 to jump to the motion tracking portion.)
Not bad, did you use an hdri?
No, just some regular images (no special dynamic range, taken from the position of the Lego set) of the desktop and the room behind the camera position. Then I mapped those onto two planes, one below the set and one behind the camera. The planes were rendered on a layer that only cast reflections, giving the shiny black Lego surfaces something to reflect.
Nice! I really thought it was real at the beginning! I thought it was a stop motion or something. Good work mate!
Thanks. I’ve done the same thing once but the result was far from good… 