Compositing Contest 2 -"WHAT WAS THAT!?!?!" Discussion Thread

[bob_holcomb]

I'm sorry for the delay in getting the results out. Here are the results from all the judges:

1st Place: Mpan3
2nd Place: Alanier_01
3rd Place: Mazz

Great job to everybody who participated. Mpan3 and Alanier_01 please send me a PM so I can get your prizes mailed to you.

cheers,

Bob



The subject for the first compositing challenge is:

What was that!?

Using Blender and the supplied video footage. Create something extraordinary to fill in the blank. Video clips available at (please right click to save):


http://blend.servebeer.com/compContest/compContest2.mpg (11MB)
http://blend.servebeer.com/compConte...ontest2-Raw.dv (78 MB)


The Deadline for entries is 1 AUG 07 with winner announced the following week.



The first place winner of the competition will receive a copy of the book, "The Art and Science of Digital Composition" by Ron Brinkmann. I would like to thank Morgan Kaufmann publishing for donating the books and Mr. Brinkmann for putting together such a great resource.


Also up for grabs is the Blender Fluids Training DVD. Second place will receive the DVD shipped directly to them. Here is the link that describes the product.

Guest judges to be announced.

Links to entries will be places in the sister thread in this forum. Please only post once per entry (multiple entries are acceptable if clearly labeled as a separate entry). Final video may be as long (or short) as you like, but I recommend to keep it reasonable for download purposes.

Entries to be judged on:
-Originality
-Wow factor
-Degree of complexity

Rules:
1. Teams are not authorized (for this event)
2. Any Video/Image format is acceptable as long as there is a reasonable expectation to play it on any of the following OS: Win, Mac, Linux
3. Blender (any version publicly available) must be used for all aspects of the work, with the following exceptions:
-Alternate software may be used for 2D purposes, but not to process effects (ie. photoshop/gimp)
-Alternate software may be used to capture/convert video formats, but not process effects (ie. DV capture/transcode)
-Alternate software may be used for motion tracking
4. Prior works started before 3 JUN 07 are not eligible. Don't want to give an unfair advantage to some people.
5. Copyrighted material may not be used unless permission has been granted by copyright holder.
6. Commercial works are eligible if they comply with the previous rules.

[quailman]

Sounds like fun, count me in!

[Jeepster]

!imin
sounds fun except the camera movement awful cause its really un-smooth in terms of movement

[CD38]

Can we add sound fx and score?

[bob_holcomb]

CD38,

Go nuts with sound fx and a score.

Jeepster,

It's a little jerky because I was holding the camera, but that's the whole point of motion tracking. Try Icarus or Voodo to help generate a camera track for your virtual objects.

cheers,

Bob

[CD38]

Bob:

Do you have the camera data for this shot? Thanks.

[Shaw]

Camera data would be great. I was just about to ask that myself! I'm curious to see how well this motion tracks with the zoom.

[Jeepster]

Try Icarus or Voodo to help generate a camera track for your virtual objects.

ah - ok, thanks ill try that
-*edit*-
this VooDoo program is giving me awful results - and it looks like Icarus costs money
looks like i might have to animate the camera by hand

[CD38]

Originally Posted by Shaw Camera data would be great. I was just about to ask that myself! I'm curious to see how well this motion tracks with the zoom.

I can say Voodoo has always given me problems with zooms. If the initial focal length is off even a little bit, the error seems to get magnified. I've had to tweak a lot to get things right and it's never totally satisfying. This will be a fun exercise.

[ledluver23]

lol well i dont know a lot about editing the film after its been shot but as of today placeholder. ive got a funny idea to shoot. it can be fake right?

[bob_holcomb]

Sorry, should have included the camera data. Here it is!

Sony Mini DV Digital Handycam DCR-TRV22 (NTSC)
Focal Length 3.3mm min 33mm max
35mm Focal Length Min 42mm Max 420mm
Filter Diameter 30mm
Lens Apature (F Stop) F/1.7 min-2.2 max

Let me know if there is any other info I missed.


Ledluver23, whatever you feel is appropriate for the shot.
cheers,

Bob

[BumpyMonkey]

Hey, is there any way I could use some After Effects for the shot if I just use it for motion tracking?

[Smelz]

looks like Icarus costs money

this version of icarus is free and gives good results http://www.peerlessproductions.com/t...es/Icarus.html

[Calvin]

Oh, this is going to be difficult to track.
Fact that exposure changes is another "negative" bonus...

No Teams, that sucks...

Can we use characters/models previously created? Since this is a "compositing challenge."

Do-able... will have to try.

[sgbzona]

cool... I'm in this challenge...let me see what can I do? ...hmmm

[Laughing cheese]

Couple of questions for Bob:

1. What is the program you're running? Is it a player or something else?

2. And is that Ubuntu with a Mac theme?

Thanks,

LC

[bob_holcomb]

Calvin,

yes, you can use previously created models/materials.

LC,

Yep, it's a the default Ubuntu player and I use a mac style theme. Very observant.

Cheers,

Bob

[CGuy]

2 questions: Can I use after effects for compositing the blender rentered output over the video and thus for 2d motion tracking?

is .mov acceptable?

[AniCator]

I'm trying to composite Blanc (one of the characters I once made) into this MPEG.


I haven't done anything except for using the AlphaOver node so don't talk about the shadows and the camera angle etc...

EDIT: He isn't that big.

- AniCator

[Calvin]

AniCator, you will most likely need to reconstruct the parts where the shadows will touch. Which won't acutally be that hard (There is a button that makes only shadows render)

[edit] lol, Sorry didn't read your whole post.