First attempt with Vegas 3 dimensional compositing

[Bryan Daugherty]

I have been trying to understand how to get depth compositing in Vegas so this is my first attempt and just happened to have a client (dance) ask about whether we could do effects in post. So I created the following clip and uploaded to...Thanks

Here is the link: (below)

Edit: You Tube kept jacking my settings around and after it being in HD yesterday today it is in SD so i took it down. Here is the Vimeo Link...
HD Dance Recital Dimensional Motion Montage on Vimeo

[Chris Swanberg]

Very interesting? How did the client like it?

Like all things new to us, we get immersed into the idea of the effect, often at the expense of the material. I enjoyed seeing what you were able to do. I really didn't see much in the way of a dance recital.

In other words it was a great rendition of a special effect. Not so much of one for a dance recital. Would be a GREAT backdrop for closing credits though for example.

Tell us more about how you accomplished the effect?

[Bryan Daugherty]

I should probably have been a little more clear. We already submitted a demo for the recital, it was after that meeting the client asked us about effects. I have not submitted this to the client yet and am continuing to tweak it. There was an uncomfortable zoom adjustment in one of the clips toward the end and the length was too long so we are shortening the clip length to around 2 minutes. It could definitely be adapted to run behind static credits perhaps with simpler acrobatics...I think with rolling credits it might make you seasick.

This was purely an effects demo piece so i have one clip demonstrating simple cutaway compositing, one demonstrating 2 cam edit with transitions, fades, and zooms, and one demonstrating PIP compositing with mask cutaway, and the final piece would be this clip.

Would this have an application during the actual recital DVD? No, it could be used in a menu, credits (with some adaptation), or as a promotional piece but obviously there is way too much going on to be demonstrative of the dance recital.

I set the effect up using stills captured from each clip so that i could monitor the progress without over tasking the computer. I created a grid in photoshop to aid placement for the side by side view and then set all nine clips in separate tracks and then defined them into different z-space using the 3d alpha settings under track motion, placed them into approximate locations and then redefined X, Y and height parameters until they appeared to be side by side. Once they are in position, I made them all children to a 10th track and did all motion definition in this track using the parent track motion controls. That is the basic synopsis. i will try and post more later as a have a lunch date at this time. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I look forward to hearing more...

[Bryan Daugherty]

I am back so here is a little more info on how I did it. After I linked everything to the parent track i then defined the motion I would like to see in the parent track. All the children stay in the same position throughout the entire piece. The parent track is the "camera" and defines the perspective. Then, using Cinescore, I queued up some royalty free music and tweaked my keyframes in the parent track to match the music changes more closely. I set the keyframes to a smooth interpretation which slows the motion down at each major transition point. Once I got it to look the way I wanted, I added the starfield using Vegas's generator and tweaked the color from yellow to white, added contrast to the starfield and dimmed the brightness a little bit. Then I added the lens flare effect to the starfiled track and defined it's rotation. I replaced the original screenshots with video clips and rendered out to H.264 for Vimeo.

Thanks for the interest and i look forward to more comments. I will upload the new version at the end of the week since I would like it to be in HD and I am still using the free version of Vimeo...

[Bryan Daugherty]

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in this but for those that are...I uploaded the new version to Vimeo the link is here http://vimeo.com/3657877 I also delivered a copy to the client with 3 other effects pieces, mostly compositing and transitions but I haven't uploaded any of those. Would love some more thoughts...

[Rob Morse]

It would probably work well as an opening intro or ending with titles and credits over it.

[Bryan Daugherty]

Thanks for the feedback. It was mainly generated for the wow appeal and to flex my software in a new way. I can see many applications for the skills I have learned in doing this piece and look forward to learning new "tricks." I can see this as a credit back drop or menu piece, thanks for your input...