Particle's eye view...

newUzer wrote on 6/25/2006, 7:45 AM

Any thoughts on creating convincing camera movement to simulate riding along with a feather, dust speck, particle, etc. floating along in the air as it makes its way to wherever it's going? I was thinking of a fisheye lens to get the feel of the perspective, but the camera movement has me stumped.

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 6/25/2006, 8:09 AM

This will be difficult to simulate in post because you can't really "look" left/right/up/down: the camera has to do that. The fisheye concept might do it, however, as long as you don't mind a reduction in resolution. The fisheye lens, in effect, DOES look up/down/left/right. What you would then need to do is use a filter to "un-fisheye" the perspective, and then use pan/crop to move within that flattened perspective. You will be looking at only a fraction of the frame with this approach, and therefore you would be well-served to shoot in HD, if possible (I am assuming deliver in SD).

TeetimeNC wrote on 6/26/2006, 3:50 AM

John, the only way I can think of to do this would be with something like AfterEffects, using the 3d camera. It would allow you to maintain a specified "point of interest" while the camera position fluttered around.

-jerry

johnmeyer wrote on 6/26/2006, 10:17 AM

The problem with trying to do it entirely in post is that you can't see around a corner. As you move a real camera, you get to see the sides, top and bottom of objects that are hidden when the camera is in a fixed location.

Having said that, the usual "free" alternative for simulating complex camera moves is Icarus.