Need help with special effect, Tracing beems of light on image

Cespinar wrote on 5/7/2003, 7:47 PM

I have an Image I am trying to animate for a project.

image url is http://www.deskmod.com/?state=view&skin_id=30063

I have already in Photoshop edited out all the tv screen to a seperate gif file(so I can have transparent background) then I put the altered original without TV screen in one layer and the tv screens only as another layer. Then I did a noise effect on them to make it seem more real. Now I am trying to get beems of light to trace accross on certain points of the image while it pans around. For example I want a little thing of light to go up one of those wires while on another wire one goes away.

I have tried making another layer but lightrays filter effects the whole layer and doesn't look right at all even with just one wire on that layer. The only way this could work that I have thought of is lightrays with two cut outs so only a little bit of the light ray is showing at a time but it doesn't give the same effect and looks akward. The other way I have thought of is useing lens flare but I can't get the anchor point to change from the middle.

Any Suggestions?

Comments

kameronj wrote on 5/7/2003, 8:57 PM

I'm seeing the picture you are talking about, but I'm not sure what you mean by the lights.

But...

If you are asking what I think you are asking - what I would do is go with layers putting one beam of light on one layer and another beam (going in a different direction) on another.

You wouldn't happen to have (or know of) some other type of example that has already been done so I could get a better visual of what you are going for? It sounds interesting and I wouldn't mind testing it myself.

Cespinar wrote on 5/7/2003, 10:06 PM

Ok here is what I want done.

http://www.boomspeed.com/cesp/paysage---2---1600---Tube-2.gif

More of a starish twinkle would be perfered but not needed at all I just want to be able to move it along that path which which I could do if I could first generate soemthing similar to that with ease. I can always animate the sparkling with other filters.

One Idea I have is generating a blank lensflare like above with no background and just using that to move it around. But that adds up to well over 20 layers just for this animation ALONE! Has to be an easier way.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/7/2003, 11:35 PM

Big picture. :) Try rendering your 2 layers of TV's and noise/screen's to a seperate AVI, then importing that AVI and doing the light rays/lens flare to that. That might work. As the image moves, set key-frames for your SFX, then go back and do the detail work ofmaking sure they go where you want them to go between the frames.
I hope I didn't confuse you.

vicmilt wrote on 5/8/2003, 3:22 AM

Check out the effects at AlamDV.com -
they are cheap and very effective.

I did a recent video tracing wires with a moving sparkle.
I made the sparkle in AlamDV then just keyed it over the wires, and moved it with Track Motion.
Worked great.