Ghostly shadow (track motion shadow acts up)

TorS wrote on 11/6/2003, 10:48 AM
I have three video tracks that I diminish into PIPs. Motion track shadow is enabled. If you've used that, you know that you only see shadow when the image is smaller than the output frame. Here's the show:
I have an image on one track fading in over the image on the lower. Both are full frame size. Right in the fade - when both images are partly visible - I can see the ghost of a shadow. Where does it come from?
Ghostly shadow

If the shadow was keyframeable I would just have turned it off at that point, (when I do, the ghost goes away) but as you good people know, that is not possible without turning off track shadow for the entire lenght of the track.

Image before fade
Image after fade

The workaround:
I discovered that when two images crossfade on the same track the ghost does not show itself. But I needed separate tracks for the PIPs. Well, guess what, I copied a short segment of the track below up, to make a crossfade.

I don't practise the Find a bug sport, but this ghost was really bugging me.
(Aside: I think I have to talk to my daughter about it - her being the ghost expert in the family.)
Tor

Comments

TorS wrote on 11/9/2003, 11:28 AM
I'll risk bumping this after three days.
Please look at the still in the first link and compare with the two others. The whole image is a little darker except for a thick line along the top and left edge. This only happens when track motion shadow is enabled. Can anyone explain why?
Tor
BillyBoy wrote on 11/9/2003, 11:49 AM
I didn't know that famous lady wore glasses...

Why you're seeing what you do I'm not sure. Did you know that you can move and even shrink the size of the shadow with key framing?

Just playing around, I both moved the shadow off frame (way too left) at the start and also shrunk in down to nothing then several frames later grew it back up to normal size.

Have you tried something along those lines?
TorS wrote on 11/9/2003, 12:59 PM
I tried now, intensity does not take the effect away. Increasing feather to full max seems to do so (maybe it just spreads it so much I can't see it any more).
Certainly the possibility to turn track motion shadow on and off by keyframes goes on my wish list.
Tor
Former user wrote on 11/9/2003, 2:47 PM
TorS, you can't keyframe the intensity, but you can keyframe the color of the shadow, which means you can Keyframe the Transparency. Set the transparency to clear before you start the dissolve.

Dave T2
TorS wrote on 11/10/2003, 1:28 AM
Yes, that does it, too, and it's simpler than my solution. Thanks.
I still don't understand WHY crossfading two events on the same track should look different compared to fading in the upper track over the lower - when the track settings are the same.
Tor
Former user wrote on 11/10/2003, 7:33 AM
Here is part of the reason. When you are crossfading on the same track, one video is fading in while another is fading out. The intensity of Video A is decreasing and the intensity of Video B is increasing. At one point, they are both at 50% intensity.

When you fade video on another track, the video you are fading is changing intensity, but the video you are revealing is not. It is staying at 100% throughout the transition, so the fading video appears to become transparent as opposed to just changing intensity.

Dave T2
TorS wrote on 11/10/2003, 9:15 AM
Yes. But these are full frame images. No shadow effect is visible on the one event fading in, and none on the one it is being faded in over. I can't grasp how any amount of tranparency either way should reveal what isn't there to begin with.
And what I'm seeing is not a shadow effect really. It's more like a darkening of the entire image except a border line along the top and right edge.
Tor
TorS wrote on 11/10/2003, 9:28 AM
Hre's how you can reproduce it:
Add a solid colour generated media to one track. Add a solid (different) colour to a track above and make it fade in over the first. Open track motion and select shadow for the upper track. Play it and watch.
Tor
Udi wrote on 11/10/2003, 11:59 AM
What you see is the shadow cast on the lower track, and you see it when the upper track become transparent.
You can think about the shade as another track between the 2 tracks. Both the upper and track and the shadow are fading together, but in the middle the combine effect is smoe shadow.
You can create the same effect, just decrese the upper track opacity - and the shdow will appear.

You can also fix it be keyframing the feater and offset values.

Udi
TorS wrote on 11/10/2003, 1:54 PM
You're right, Udi. Good explanation, picturing the shadow as an extra "track".
So the opacity control and fade fuction of the real track does not immediately control the "ghost" track. Do I like that? Not in the least. Is it by design or by accident? I don't know. Can't think of a good reason for it to act like that, though.
Tor
Former user wrote on 11/10/2003, 2:47 PM
I did recreate the effect before posting my solution. It is there like was said earlier because the video is becoming transparent, revealing everything underneath including the shadow.

The fix would be to block the shadow out wherever there is any video, but I don't think Sony will consider this a major issue, just a weird artifact.

Dave T2
Udi wrote on 11/11/2003, 12:46 AM
I think that the opacity does control the video and the shaodow. The problem is when the opacity is around 50%, than the result is 50% of the upper track combined with 50% of the shadow and the lower track. Where there is no shadow, you get 50% of the upper track with the lower track - they are not the same.

Udi