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Topic:
Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Thath0r
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
7/7 3:57am
Subject:
Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
- Date Edited:
7/7 4:14am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Thath0r
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Hey Guys!
I hope not having posted my question here in the wrong place on this great board, so if - please excuse^^.
Concerning my Question, I am working on a longer-lasting work about Special- and visual effects in StarWars. As a practical part, I'm also looking forward to make an own movie with some special effects. The Movie should of course contain a tiny lightsaber scene and I therefore got Final Cut Pro 3 from my school. As this is a rather old version (from 2001 omg!!), I'd like to know now, if one can do rotoscoping with it, 'cause of the lightsaber beams I need to handle.
If not, is it a good idea to do it in Photoshop? I read, that it is possible to and because I'm rather used to Photoshop than to Final Cut this would be a better possiblity  To buy After Effects or something else in this way, I'm having a little lack of time and money :P So if anyone had some advices for me, I'd be pleased...^^ It should of course no be a perfect Effect and I would already be satisfied with a sufficiently realistic looking effect.
GreeZe
Thath0r
/edit: oops, I saw the lightsaber thread just a moment before *blush* many great advices about sabers, but nothing about Final Cut. Can I expect, that it is impossible to do rotoscoping with this damn old version of it?
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"What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
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---Darth Maul and Darth Vader
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VaporTrail
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
7/7 7:13am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Well, Final Cut Pro is editing software, so you can't use that to do lightsabers. While Photoshop is generally geared towards still images, there is a way to do lightsabers in it for video.
I haven't seen it in ages, but try looking for a tutorial on making lightsabers with a filmstrip. This is a type of file which will take every frame of your video and put it into one massive image, and you can do your sabers directly onto that.
It takes longer than doing it in After Effects, but if you're limited to Photoshop and FCP, this is probably your best option.
Anyone know where that tutorial went? I haven't needed it since '04.
-Vaportrail
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Thath0r
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
7/7 8:04am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
- Date Edited:
7/7 8:29am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Thath0r
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Yeah I already tried out something in this way... I took the video file from this crazy poor starwars kid and exported it as a picture sequence with Quicktime. So I got (at least I hope I do) every frame of the film which I could edit with PS. but I already remarked, that this takes an awful lot of time, switching between the images, opening, saving etc. Awww.... 
If you create such a huge picture file, like you said (TIFF?) is it possible to switch so-to-speak inside PS between frames? This would indeed make the wohle matter easier for me 
I was already afraid getting such an old version from my school, when the was not able to tell me, wether it was just Final Cut pro or Final cut Studio (which would include Motion and Shake). So maybe I need to ask around, if any of my colleagues has access to e newer version. But I'd be glad to do it in PS - still^^
/edit: you meant this tut here? http://www.theforce.net/fanfilms/software/premiere/rotoscoping/rotoscoping_finley.asp
But there is the need for Premiere to export the Filmstrip file which can afterward be edited with PS is this possible with other programs? you think, FCP could handle this? (at least one thing I hope it does xD)
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"What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
"Myself."
---Darth Maul and Darth Vader
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JEDIBYKNIGHT
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
7/7 9:54am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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A friend of mine did it for fun in FCP3, as a matter of fact. We never discussed the specifics though.
It's been years since I did lightsabers, so I can't really think of how blurring the cores and changing the colors would go, but it's definitely possible. Just keep in mind it's going to be a huge pain to do it. FCP's matting tools are not as advanced as AE's, Shake's or Motion's. You know, compositing softwares.
Bottom line, it's doable, but you're gonna need a lot of patience. Like you said, it'd be better if you had a newer version, one with Motion. Or have you looked at an After Effects trial? Those work for 30 days.
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Teague
Registered:
Apr '06
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Date Posted:
7/7 3:10pm
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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I know you can rotoscope in Premiere, if there's a similar title generator in FCP, you should be all set.
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Teague "Fig" Chrystie Zoic Studios Co-Host / "Geekza!" / http://www.geekza.com - What happens when you take a handful of insane, pro FX artists and give them a microphone? http://www.myspace.com/figchrystie
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Thath0r
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
7/8 1:16am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Uhmm yeah... I dont have such a lot of time left, so.... I think, I'll let be the FCP for the rotoscope stuff. I already thought of an AE trial version, but are you shure, that its possible to render and save clips without getting watermarks? If yes, then of course I'll do it with it. Thx!
Still, anyone an idea about this rotoscope matter in Photoshop?
/Thath0r
-----signature-----
"What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
"Myself."
---Darth Maul and Darth Vader
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Vidina
Registered:
Jan '06
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Date Posted:
7/8 2:17am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Rotoscoping in photoshop is very much possible, yes, but it's a royal pain, since there's no keyframing(animating the blade). You have to export the scene as a png/jpg sequence and import it in photoshop. You will also have to repeat the whole saber effect on each individual frame, meaning it will take forever to complete. The best way is to use After Effects or Shake. Both are quite capable, and you're able to animate the saber a lot faster and easier than in Photoshop. If you need a tutorial for this effect, my tutorial site will be back up and running July 10th. There's lots of tutorials for SW related films, but a lot of other ones aswell, if you're doing more effects. I encourage you to look at it once it's up. //plug.
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Thath0r
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
7/8 3:25am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Oh right, "Royal Pain" is exactly what I felt, when I tried it out just for a few Steps
I Think, I'm gonna use the AE Trial Version to do it and i already found a lot of Tutorials concerning the matter with AE. But thx, too, of course I'll take a look at your page, once it's online
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"What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
"Myself."
---Darth Maul and Darth Vader
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Oreckel
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
7/8 10:53am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Definitely go with the After Effects trial if that's an option. But I haven't heard too many people talk about Filmstrips. Rotoing in Photoshop is very possible and only takes a little bit longer than After Effects does.
You don't need to export a still sequence, and open/close every single frame. At least from Premiere, you can export in "filmstrip" format, which makes a ginormous image out of all of the frames: one on top of the other, with a bit of a black border to separate them. I only did it in 1-3 second increments at a time so as not to overwhelm Photoshop with a massive image, but then you just size the window to fit one frame plus half of the border, and hit "page down" to see the next frame. On each frame use the pen tool to draw out a shape, and end the end, you can apply the lightsaber effects in one fell swoop. Not so bad!
There's a tutorial on this somewhere. Look for "lightsaber photoshop filmstrip" and you'll find it.
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I think every young boy with serious aspirations should be entitled to a complimentary XL-2. Canon didn't agree with me, though. = = = = = = = = = = Personal homepage and online portfolio: http://www.allenellis.com
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Thath0r
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
7/8 1:05pm
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Hey thx for that! I extracted the Frames with Quicktime pro because I have no Premiere.
But I think, Ill do it with AE, tried someting out today:
*click*
But somehow I made a mistake and in the second half of the clip the saber gets shifted. (Dont ask me how I did that, because I placed the vector shape always exactly on the stick i held.) But now I know how it works and will start getting on with it...
/Thath0r
-----signature-----
"What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
"Myself."
---Darth Maul and Darth Vader
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Oreckel
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
7/8 1:27pm
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Haha! Looks great! I have no idea what causes it to 'drift' later on. I find this happens often in After Effects if you aren't careful where you're clicking and dragging. It's pretty easily to accidentally click and drag in the viewer area, which can cause things to not line up any more. Just pay a little more attention next time and I doubt it'll happen again.
-----signature-----
I think every young boy with serious aspirations should be entitled to a complimentary XL-2. Canon didn't agree with me, though. = = = = = = = = = = Personal homepage and online portfolio: http://www.allenellis.com
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Thath0r
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
7/8 2:18pm
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
- Date Edited:
7/8 2:27pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
Thath0r
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Thanks, I´m really proud  xD Yeah, since its the first time I do it I´m unexperienced in using AE and I think this is how it happend...
I did several times some unexpected and unwanted things by accidentily clicking around^^
/Thath0r
/edit: uhmm another question: The clip I did now was with 25 frames.. is it possible to reduce the framerate a little bit without affecting the quality?
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"What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
"Myself."
---Darth Maul and Darth Vader
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DaMaher
Registered:
Jul '08
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Date Posted:
7/8 3:29pm
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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good job.
-----signature-----
"My name is Caedus, Darth Caedus" -Jacen Solo "Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it." -Darth Bane --My VFX reel-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sx9S1MDXCQ
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Oreckel
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
7/8 7:01pm
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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/edit: uhmm another question: The clip I did now was with 25 frames.. is it possible to reduce the framerate a little bit without affecting the quality?
This should work:
Add a new adjustment layer above all other layers. With it selected, choose Effect > Time > Posterize Time. Edit to whichever framerate you wish.
That will trim down the number of frames that are shown, and therefore how many you need to rotoscope. There may be a better way to do this, as people here seem to know many many ways to 'properly' adjust framerates, but for your purposes I expect this will work.
-----signature-----
I think every young boy with serious aspirations should be entitled to a complimentary XL-2. Canon didn't agree with me, though. = = = = = = = = = = Personal homepage and online portfolio: http://www.allenellis.com
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Thath0r
Registered:
Dec '07
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Date Posted:
7/9 12:53am
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Thank you, should be no problem. What do you think to which framerate should I maximally reduce it? Because if I reduce it too much, it will do some kinds of edgy movements, right?
/Thath0r
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"What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
"Myself."
---Darth Maul and Darth Vader
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Oreckel
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
7/10 9:14pm
Subject:
RE: Rotoscoping with Final Cut Pro 3 / Photoshop?
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Well, the more you decrease the framerate, the more of a jitter you'll get. Obviously the best is whatever came out of your camera (probably 29.97), but if you want to go for the 'cell phone camera' effect to save yourself some time, you can drop it down as far as you like.
-----signature-----
I think every young boy with serious aspirations should be entitled to a complimentary XL-2. Canon didn't agree with me, though. = = = = = = = = = = Personal homepage and online portfolio: http://www.allenellis.com
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