Compositing Mode Trick

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/18/2008, 8:11 AM

I'm hoping for a trick that will let me use Compositing Mode on three video tracks:

A static background
Me standing to the left
Me standing to the right

The same scene shot 3 times with a tripod.

The question is: can I put myself into this scene twice without the use of greenscreen by some clever Compositing Mode trick or tricks on the three tracks?

Even a "you're nuts to even try this" would be appreciated (if true).

Comments

rs170a wrote on 1/18/2008, 8:24 AM

You're not nuts to try this.
Two cats from one is a tutorial explaining how to do this using the Difference compositing mode - and was done back in vegas 5 :-)

Mike

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/18/2008, 8:40 AM

Much thanks. I'll give it a try.

Tim L wrote on 1/18/2008, 9:38 AM

Actually, if your tripod is locked down solid, and the "left you" never crosses in front of or behind the "right you", you only need to use two tracks -- don't need any difference mask or compositing, etc.

Assume the "left you" stays on the left side of the screen, and the "right you" stays on the right side of the screen.

Put your "left" clip on one track, and your "right" clip on the track below it. Use a bezier mask in the pan/crop function, or even just use a simple cookie-cutter fx to cut out the left half of the top track. Then the right half of the bottom track will show though.

Its surprising how easy this is and how well it works, but your tripod has to remain very, very stable for both shots.

Tim L

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/18/2008, 11:32 AM

The compositing approach looks very interesting but the for my case the pan/crop function was sufficient and very easy. It worked perfectly.

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/27/2008, 9:00 AM

Well the pan/crop masking technique worked just fine. If you want to see my short video using Tim L's approach have a look here: PanCropMasking

Spot|DSE wrote on 1/27/2008, 5:00 PM

In another forum, you indicated you wanted one arm to cross from one side to the other? This is the reason keying or difference masking were recommended. Notice in your Blip version, you can easily see the pan/crop split screen. You might want to blend those better, or color correct so the lighting doesn't make this technique obvious.

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/27/2008, 7:55 PM

Yes I noticed the blend was not good but this was just a trial to see if I could make the technique work. The real test will be shooting and editing my grandson's "self interview" and I will take more care with that one to get the pan/crop join to disappear.

As for the keying approach - it looks a little bit above my pay grade at this point and I really don't think it is necessary for what I have in mind.

In any case it was an interesting experiment in seeing what Vegas can do and I really appreciate the help I received (as usual) on this forum.

Jim H wrote on 1/31/2008, 2:19 PM

You won't get the clean look you have there with difference keying I wouldn't think. You're on the right track for sure. Just put your camera on full manual to avoid the slight differences in focus, exposure or color balance that might disturb the blend.

FrigidNDEditing wrote on 2/1/2008, 1:05 AM

I've done stuff like this, if you use the masking tool, to cut out an area and feather the edge, you'll help to make it less obvious fi there is just a slight dif. between the two. Also if you're going to have it be an "interview" style of video, you may want to have a "stand in" on or off camera in the correct LOS (line of sight) with your missing person to talk back and also give them something real to make eye contact with (adds to the reality of the look).

Dave