Comments

BillyBoy wrote on 9/6/2003, 5:02 PM
Making cartoons is labor intensive. If you're looking for decent freebies I don't think you'll have much luck. If you want to pop for some original material something along the lines of about $500 for 15 seconds is fairly typical.

Try this site as a jump off point:

http://animation.about.com/library/weekly/blmystdance.htm
FadeToBlack wrote on 9/6/2003, 6:07 PM
Ktawfik wrote on 9/6/2003, 10:35 PM
GG Thanks a lot for your detailed help and for the site. I tried what you told me. I found an animated bee, however I used the Pan/Crop to move it with keyframes. I tried to find the Sofo Track Motion but I couldnt find it in the Transitions tab. All I found was the chroma Keyer. am I missing something?

FadeToBlack wrote on 9/7/2003, 1:14 AM
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 7:39 AM
GG

Thanks a lot, I found the track motion and I used it perfectly

I am pulling out another animation from the same site you gave me
http://www.animationlibrary.com/a-l/index.php3?n=image.php3&image_id=1102

and then I am trying to use Chroma Keyer Video Fx to remove black from the background and make it transparent on my scene but it doesnt. Any clue why?
FadeToBlack wrote on 9/7/2003, 1:35 PM
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 4:57 PM
GG

Thanks, thats exactly what I am doing but it doesnt exclude the black background from the animation. I am not sure wther The Chroma Keyer is setup right on my computer or not. I tried it on another image and still the background wasnt removed.

Am I missing a setting, Should I see the background removed in the preview window or do I have to render to see the Chroma Keyer taking effect

THanks
Jessariah67 wrote on 9/7/2003, 5:04 PM
When you open the Chroma Key window for Effects properties, you have to select the color you want to key out. Default is brigth blue, which is why your black isn't going away. Use the eyedropper to get an exact shade and it should come close to what you want.
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 5:33 PM
Jessariah

Thats exactly what I am doing. I use the eye dropper to pick out black and it doesnt go away. Its still there and hiding my background. I am wondering whether its something with my settings
Jessariah67 wrote on 9/7/2003, 5:49 PM
Are the tracks separate? Do you have a parent/child relationship?

If you have a bee on a black background, using Chroma FX and choosing black WILL take out all of the black -- or, at least, that particular shade of black. If you're still not seeing ANYTHING beneath the "bee," make sure that:
1. You top track is not soloed.
2. Your bottom track is not muted.
3. Your FX is actually activated.
4. The keyframe for the black is actually at the beginning of the clip, and not "wherever the cursor happened to be" when you set the color as black.

Can you upload your .veg file? If so, a number of us would be able to tell you right away what's wrong.

Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 6:15 PM
Thanks I tried all of the above but didnt work. i have uploaded the file to the following link would appreciate your help

Click herel
Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2003, 6:43 PM
Trex, that graphic worked ok with ChromaKey for me. The only problem is that the black lines inside the bear that define his features and his eyes also keyed out, but the result was still usable.

The one thing that did happen is that i just happened to have my cursor near the end of the bear clip and when i selected Chroma Key it placed a keyframe at the cursor position. This meant that the clip started out UNkeyed and the black gradually faded to transparent by the end. Check your keyframes on the clip to see if that might be happening to you.

I also got better transparency by disabling resample on the bear clip. This did make the motion rather jerky, but overall the look was better.

Is it possible for you to post your .veg file for us to poke and prod at? We don't need any of the clips you've put in it except for the bear, and you've already posted that. All we need is just the .veg file. Thanks!
Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2003, 7:02 PM
I uploaded a quick experiment showing the difference between resampled and not resampled. http://www.vegasusers.com/testbench/files/chienworks-bear-walking-through-clouds.mpg
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 7:58 PM
Chienworks thanks

I already posted my .veg file in the same location, its called Chroma.veg and it should be the first file on the list. I still dont know why mine is not keyed out. Please have a look at my .veg file and let me know

Thanks a lot

Click here!

Chienworks, you mind posting your .veg file as well. I would like to load it in Vegas and see how you did it

Thanks
FadeToBlack wrote on 9/7/2003, 8:02 PM
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 8:36 PM
GG

My bad, you are absolutely right, apprently you have to upgrade to Yahoo premium to share files. I have zipped it and posted it on another server. Please use this link to download my .veg file to review

Click here for Zip File
Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2003, 8:39 PM
Trex, sure, sure ... you ask me to post my .veg file after i had closed Vegas without saving it. ;) Not a biggie, only took a minute to recreate it. Here it is:
http://www.vegasusers.com/testbench/veggies/chienworks-bear-walking-through-clouds.veg

I don't see your .veg file. When i click on "File Folders" it says there are 4 files, but the only one visible is the .gif file. Maybe briefcase.yahoo.com only allows image files now?
Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2003, 8:42 PM
Trex, your .veg file looks fine here. All you should have to do is disable resampling on the bear clip and you're good to go.
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 8:57 PM
So it must be something on my end in Vegas or my computer settings cause all I see is black background, its not keyed out at all. I wonder what setting or may be its my ATI card or something

I used File -> Render and it keyed out the black in the Preview window. So I guess I had to render in order for it to work. but during normal preview while working on the project, it doesnt key out black. Is that the case
Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2003, 9:08 PM
Usually you should see your chroma key changes in the preview window as you fiddle. You shouldn't have to render to see them. Weird. We'll keep pondering.
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 9:11 PM
I know that this thread is taking too long now, but its really weird. I KNow that Vegas is realtime and should key out black during preview. I tried to look at the preferences but nothing there and tried to look at my VGA card settings/display but nothing struck me. I am using ATI Radeon 9000 pro
Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2003, 9:12 PM
Your video card shouldn't have anything to do with it at all.

Did you try loading my .veg file? Does it work correctly on your computer?
Ktawfik wrote on 9/7/2003, 9:47 PM
FInally, I tried yours and it still gave me the same problem in preview. Then I told myself it must be my preview window settings then. I played with it and I found out that I had the "Split Screen View" on. I didnt know what it does but after I turned it off I finally saw the black keyed out. Thanks a lot for all your great support and help. Without you, I would have been lost. I am newbie to Vegas but really I am now far from beginner with all your great help. Thanks again

BTW, when you try other .veg files and you get the msg at file open do you just ask Vegas to ignore missing files
Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2003, 9:56 PM
Ahhhhhh, that 'splains it. Split Screen will show you a before/after effect view. You probably had the "before" set to fill the frame. That's why you didn't see the effect of Chroma keying.

To ignore missing files or not depends on the situation. If all i'm interested in is the mechanics of the .veg file then i'll often ignore. However, if i want to see what the .veg file is doing in the preview window then i'll usually substitute my own images, video clips, or sounds from whatever i have handy on my hard drive.