Bullet time (WIP) . . .

Shot this a few days ago and did some quick effects trying to get a bullet time look. Just wanting to know if it looks like I might be on the right track.

I know the BG doesn't match up the best, I'm still figureing out how to match it up better.

Bullet Time Test

For the background, I'm not sure if I should use 3D layers in AE or just move my camera around an imaginary (read where I should be) spot and comp it in later? Thoughts? Ideas?

--Jamball


EDIT:
How I did it: Set up green screen and camera on tripod. Then I threw the football in the air and caught it. Turned slightly (I can tell now a bit too much) and did it again. Repeat for one complete revolution. Then I found a spot I liked where "the bullet time would happen" and extracted a frame from each angle. I then brought those frames into morpheous (a pretty cool morphing program, I bit more user friendly than winmorph I think,) and rendered out a 10 frame morph animation from one angle to next. (This is how I now realize that if my angle were closer together, the morph would look better.)

For the background, I just set my cam up on a tripod and rotated it around a central point. (I think the background is too close and not level with the forground). I think this should have been done by moving the camera around a central location (me) and comping it in later. Since I don't have a dolly, my steadicam didn't give quite smooth enough results (with more patience it probably will) so I just opted for the tripod method. However, I did take still while moving around a central point and I tried to bring these into AE and manipulate them as 3D layers, but that got confusing and now that I think about it, from Zap's tutorial, I don't think it will work.

 

I don't see much of a problem with the background. The biggest one I see is that the object you're rotating around gets terribly distorted and chopped up.

Without knowing how you did it, I can't really give much advice, but I will say that I'm really impressed so far. If the distortions could be cleaned up, this could be one of the best bullet time effects I've yet seen. Very impressed with the ability to keep good focus and smooth camera movement.

EDIT: I just looked at the clip a little closer, frame by frame. It looks to me like you used several different angles and then chopped the figure up into individaul body parts. I notice the arms tend to fade out only to be replaced by the one at the different angle. If I'm right on this, possibly adding some animation to the layer that the arm is on to try to morph one into the other would work better, rather than just having it disappear.

 

Your bluescreen must have been pretty big... I´m impressed, you used fade over effects didn´t you? I thought there was a bullet flying towards the actor (you?) but it was only some bad keyed football edge...

By the way, are there any good morphing programs for moviemakers, that allow you to create what is between one character´s face and the final zombie-make up-look?Or just a morphing which is combining for example 6 shots of a mutation?=

would be great

 

I think it came out reasonably well. I think how the choppiness of the morph gives it an interesting style, one that isn't necessarily bullet-time but of the like. With a little bit more time and practice, I think it'll look good.

 

pretty cool gets a little choppy in the middle. But otherwise, pretty good. You mentioned the background was a little off, thats obivous.

But ya. Keep practicing. Im guessing altogether, you used 10 images, 2 for the start and final and 8 in between? Whatever...

Id suggest, more pictures, maybe even 20, but definatly in the bigger transitions while your turning.
thats when it bogged down. The morph made quite an obvious blend the MORE you turned.

It cant hurt to take more pictures, obviously its more work for you, but we dont do this because its work, we do it because its fun.

 

I would say...Reshoot the background, it doesn't seem right, also it looks like you might want some more morph points (especially with the fingers) so that they don't look like they are cross-fading as much. Good job though.