How to do the Bob Ross Intro Reveal

andygillion wrote on 12/17/2018, 6:35 PM

Hey guys, I've been trying to research this for a long time and I have found no-one on the internet doing it successfully, or even really talking about it... I'm referring to how they reveal a background layered underneath with brush strokes presumably in front of a green screen, as in the below video:

What looks like a really cheesy 80s effect is actually proving to be really difficult to recreate. I've tried multiple ways in Vegas Pro 14 but it's extremely taxing doing it by masking individual frames. Is there an easier way to do this that I'm missing. I'm sure Bob is in front of a green screen and it's not just the paint brush doing the unveiling, as you can see his whole body removes the background too. Furthermore, when I try to recreate this in Vegas myself, if I bring back the "paint brush" over an already "unmaked" area, the paint brush disappears...

Sorry to waffle on, any tips would be greatly appreciated as I'm trying to shoot a parody video. Notice that even the viral "Deadpool" parody of this intro doesn't include this effect. I wonder if even Hollywood are stumped on how to do it! :D

Comments

Former user wrote on 12/18/2018, 6:57 AM

What looks like a really cheesy 80s effect is actually proving to be really difficult to recreate. I've tried multiple ways in Vegas Pro 14 but it's extremely taxing doing it by masking individual frames. Is there an easier way to do this that I'm missing. I'm sure Bob is in front of a green screen and it's not just the paint brush doing the unveiling, as you can see his whole body removes the background too. Furthermore, when I try to recreate this in Vegas myself, if I bring back the "paint brush" over an already "unmaked" area, the paint brush disappears...

They would have been using a Paint Box back then & when he first starts painting they press start & anything blocking the green screen fills that area with the picture layer beneath. Bob & his brush move around enough to fill the entire screen. There might be a plugin that does that, not sure.

If you want to remove the painting to restore bob & brush infront of green screen maybe use difference masking. There is a cleanplate of full painting immediately after bob leaves the frame. Others may have better ideas.

Rainer wrote on 12/18/2018, 3:48 PM

This is an example of what commonly is known as a paint brush reveal transition. Relatively easy to do in a graphics or animation program, some things Vegas isn't best at.

andygillion wrote on 12/19/2018, 12:44 AM

Thanks for the tips guys. Very interesting about Quantel Paintbox! It would be cool if there was a new version of that knocking around that someone had put together based on the old in the same retro style. Thanks for all the tips and advice guys. I think I may just have to do some frame by frame masking with what I've got and be sure not to put the brush back over anything that's been masked.

fr0sty wrote on 12/19/2018, 11:40 AM

It shouldn't require frame by frame accuracy to mask it, you should be able to keyframe and let it fill in at least some frames on its own.