Motion Control 3D

The Technique
“You know, like in that film… the one where the pictures move….”
Clients, Producers, and After Effects Artists alike have fallen
in love with bringing pictures to life. Whether it’s the simple
zoom or a more elaborate pan-and-scan, After Effects has always
provided an outstanding alternative to the traditional robotic or
operator controlled camera rig.
While the traditional art of motion control photography is one
I have immense respect for, I reserve the use of “real” cameras for
3D objects (such as an award show trophy) or complicated live
action effects shots. If it involves photos, computer interfaces,
or other graphics that are essentially (or initially) flat, then After
Effects is our weapon of choice.
At my shop, RHED Pixel, we have completed thousands of
hours of motion control through the years. Some has been for
independent documentary filmmakers; other effects have been
for Internet giants. The common thread between them is the
technique of Motion Control and Motion Control 3D. Both of
these rely heavily on a thorough understanding of image manipulation,
composition, and cinematography. What I’m about to
show you has opened a lot of doors for us… I can’t teach you 15
years of collected knowledge in 15 or so pages (but I’ll sure try)
What You’ll Need
• A scanner capable of scanning at 1200 ppi optically (not
through interpolation).
• Client-provided photos (or use the ones in this chapter for
practice)
• Adobe Photoshop (6.0 or newer).
• Adobe After Effects (6.0 or later).
• A slide scanner is well suited to scan in negatives or 35mm
slides depending upon your client’s sources.
• A broadcast monitor to check for flicker.
Essential Skills
Creating two-dimensional motion control is FAR
easier than its three-dimensional cousin. However, doing
either well is not for ‘newbies.’ To do these techniques well,
you must have a foundation in the following areas:
1. Photo Restoration
2. Color Correction
3. Advanced Selections
4. Layer Masking
5. Cloning and Healing
6. Pattern Making
7. Organizing & Importing Layered Comps
8. Using 3D Cameras
9. Understanding 3D Space
10. Cinematography
Choosing Images
In some cases, you won’t have a choice (that’s why clients
were invented). You’ll need to prep whatever photos they
want to use. But since they’ve likely hired you because of
your good judgment, sophisticated taste, and artistic abilities,
you should have some input. Here are some general
guidelines to consider.
• Out of focus pictures are hard to look at and lower the
quality of the production.
• If the photos are cropped too tight or lack headroom,
you’ll need to add some back in. Folks often forget about
Safe Title constraints.
• Look for photos that have a sense of direction or action. Is
there “captured movement” within the shot? If so… go with
it.
•If you are going to perform 3D Motion Control, be sure to
identify a minimum of two planes. The best Motion Control
however will use three planes: foreground, subject, and
background.
•If working with existing digital files, ensure that they are
high resolution. Take your screen width (say 720) and multiply
it by your zoom ration (say 5X) that will give you a total
pixel width minimum of 3,600 pixels.