Can I generate a "shiny tooth star" in Vegas?

TorS wrote on 10/7/2002, 2:06 PM
I know it's a worn-out effect, but I still want it for my daughter's teeth-brushing video. I've frozen a close-up at the end and now I want a small white star to flash on one of her teeth, to the sound of "pinggg".
Any tips on how to do this in Vegas?
(I suppose I can create a star in a graphic program and put it on the track above, but ...?)

Tor

Comments

Former user wrote on 10/7/2002, 3:23 PM
That would be my suggestion. Build the star on a graphic program. Put it on the video line with a little rotation. Cut to it and fade it off. Add a ping and it should look great.
Sr_C wrote on 10/7/2002, 3:49 PM
I would also use pan/crop or track motion with keyframes to animatie the star to give you that twinkling effect. BTW, I consider the effect "classic" not worn out, its great when we can impress our own kids with "video magic" Have Fun :) -Shon
nlamartina wrote on 10/7/2002, 3:54 PM
TorS,

Another thing you could do is use the Lense Flare plugin on the video track. This would give you a lot more flexibility since you'd be able to keyframe it and even adjust the color without having to generate anything outside Vegas. I've done this before with the "ping" effect, and it looks great. I can post an example video if you'd like.

HTH,
Nick
TorS wrote on 10/8/2002, 7:02 AM
Thanks for the input folks. Based largely on that, here's what I did:
Created a star in Paintshop, transparent background. Actually I used Alt+0218 in Wingdings 2.
I put it in a video track above the shot of the girl, and placed the star on the tooth with the pan/crop tool. Made the star fade in and out fast but not too fast. (Matter of taste, really.)
Then I added Light Rays. I think I used the Intense Light Rays preset. With keyframes I made the light source move from one side of the star to the other, crossing it along the way. It's like being hit by a beam of light as it crosses past you.
I've rendered a short bit (451 kB) if anyone wants to see it.

http://home.hesbynett.no/saltor/_test/starlight.wmv

Tor

nolonemo wrote on 10/8/2002, 5:34 PM
Delightful!
salad wrote on 10/8/2002, 7:20 PM
Nice job!
John_Beech wrote on 10/9/2002, 5:37 PM
Very nice! A question, does the image have to come to a stop before you can do it, or is it that he kept on moving so that was the only way to get the time for the effect?
Chienworks wrote on 10/9/2002, 6:36 PM
I don't think the still is necessary. In fact, with track motion you could have the star effect follow the tooth wherever it moves. However, it seems to me like most of the examples of this i've ever seen all seem to use a freeze frame during the flash. Probably this is because in ancient days it wasn't as easy to move the star with the face. But the motif of the freeze frame still lives on and just seems, well, right.
FadeToBlack wrote on 10/9/2002, 6:39 PM
TorS wrote on 10/10/2002, 1:49 AM
Freeze or not wasn't even a discussion; stop motion seemed so like a part of this effect. But it is absolutely possible to do on a moving object. The effect demands a bit of preview power, so you may have to pre-render a few times to get the positions right. These experiments made me go into the city and buy more memory.

With two points like that you could create the effect of a car approaching in the dark, turning with its headlights towards you, and turning away again.

By the way, John; my daughter is a girl. Her hairstyle (this was last year) was due to her and her cousin playing with scissors. I'm just glad her ears and eyes are in place.

Tor
FadeToBlack wrote on 10/10/2002, 3:25 AM
TorS wrote on 10/10/2002, 3:52 AM
GG
I'm not sure what made you think you wasted your time trying to help. I don't think so.
I'm new here, so I don't want to get on the wrong side of anybody. Certainly not someone who engages in a topic I've introduced.

Tor
FadeToBlack wrote on 10/10/2002, 4:06 AM
John_Beech wrote on 10/10/2002, 9:23 AM
No offense Tor, and I too am glad all pertinent parts are still present and accounted for :>)
TorS wrote on 10/10/2002, 10:22 AM
Silly me! There's no need to use a graphic program - you can just get a star from the text generator in Vegas, in WingDings or something similar.

But I've also realized that for my particular problem a star is not needed. I could have used a round spot, an oval, a diamond - almost anything easily generated in Vegas. If you look at the example the star as such is hardly recognizable, and certainly not important.

http://home.hesbynett.no/saltor/_test/starlight.wmv

So I've learnt that light rays is a powerful FX and that the text generator can give me all kinds of strange and familiar objects.
I look forward to experimenting further.

I've put up one result under the subject: Radiant text tip. Take a look.

Thanks to all who replied or commented so far.

Tor