How to creat vision thru eyeglasses at DVinfo.net

Bill Rankin · October 31st, 2008, 06:49 AM

I am trying to creat the illusion of a child (from the camera point of view) with blurred vision, then show clear vision as the eyeglasses are put on. The clear vision will be shown only in the circles of the eyeglasses while everything else remains blurred while the glasses are moved to the child face and then everything is clear.

Any ideas?

Tripp Woelfel · October 31st, 2008, 07:26 AM

Fundamentally it's pretty simple. To the clip where the kid's not wearing glasses, apply blur filter to it. Creating a transition from the blurry to clear footage as the glasses are put on is going to be the tricky part.

I would probably approach this with After Effects rather than Premier. Using a mask (or matte... I always get those two confused), you would composite the focused video behind the blurry video and with the lens area of the glasses masked to create a transparent area there. I think the same approach can be applied to Premier, but there aren't as many tools to make it look realistic.

Bill Rankin · October 31st, 2008, 09:45 AM

Thanks Tripp...

You can do it in PPro CS2 with a matte effect, however, you cannot change the size as the glasses are moved to the face/point of view. I need to be able to adjust the size for the unblurred part until all of the video is unblurred. As you suggest, I am looking at AE as the probably solution.

I remember seeing a tutorial a year or two ago that describe something very similar to my project, but I do not remember where I saw that info.

I'll keep experimenting....Thanks

Mike McCarthy · October 31st, 2008, 11:04 AM

Only use one source clip, and artifically blur it. Use AE for best results, and mask the clear layer over the sharp layer. The mask is probably going to have to be roto'ed frame by frame.

Tripp Woelfel · October 31st, 2008, 02:01 PM

That's not the first way I'd try it, but I'm a bit of a gumby. Here's what I was thinking if I were to try it in AE.

Two layers of video. Top one blurry, bottom one sharp.
In 3D space, create the glasses and a mask for the transparency where the lenses would be. That way you could move the glasses around and the visually sharp area would follow.

Not certain how to put it all together though. I think you'd want to pre-comp the glasses, matte and sharp images. You can fly the glasses in the pre-comp. Then in the main comp you can make a matte around the glasses that could follow where the pre-comp moves. Somehow this would involve the use of a null object.

Or... I could be completely wrong.

You might want to check Video Copilot's Basic Training under, I think, Transparency. I seem to remember seeing something there would relate to this situation.

Bill Rankin · November 19th, 2008, 05:08 PM

Thanks for the additional info....since DVINFO email notification is down I did not see these additional responses...

I'll check out Video copilot.

October 31st, 2008, 06:49 AM	#1
Bill Rankin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 433	How to creat vision thru eyeglasses I am trying to creat the illusion of a child (from the camera point of view) with blurred vision, then show clear vision as the eyeglasses are put on. The clear vision will be shown only in the circles of the eyeglasses while everything else remains blurred while the glasses are moved to the child face and then everything is clear. Any ideas? __________________ Bill Rankin

October 31st, 2008, 09:45 AM	#3
Bill Rankin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 433	Thanks Tripp... You can do it in PPro CS2 with a matte effect, however, you cannot change the size as the glasses are moved to the face/point of view. I need to be able to adjust the size for the unblurred part until all of the video is unblurred. As you suggest, I am looking at AE as the probably solution. I remember seeing a tutorial a year or two ago that describe something very similar to my project, but I do not remember where I saw that info. I'll keep experimenting....Thanks __________________ Bill Rankin

October 31st, 2008, 11:04 AM	#4
Mike McCarthy Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Northern California Posts: 517	Only use one source clip, and artifically blur it. Use AE for best results, and mask the clear layer over the sharp layer. The mask is probably going to have to be roto'ed frame by frame. __________________ For more information on these topics, check out my tech website at www.hd4pc.com

November 19th, 2008, 05:08 PM	#6
Bill Rankin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 433	Thanks for the additional info....since DVINFO email notification is down I did not see these additional responses... I'll check out Video copilot. __________________ Bill Rankin

October 31st, 2008, 07:26 AM	#2
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	Fundamentally it's pretty simple. To the clip where the kid's not wearing glasses, apply blur filter to it. Creating a transition from the blurry to clear footage as the glasses are put on is going to be the tricky part. I would probably approach this with After Effects rather than Premier. Using a mask (or matte... I always get those two confused), you would composite the focused video behind the blurry video and with the lens area of the glasses masked to create a transparent area there. I think the same approach can be applied to Premier, but there aren't as many tools to make it look realistic.

October 31st, 2008, 02:01 PM	#5
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	That's not the first way I'd try it, but I'm a bit of a gumby. Here's what I was thinking if I were to try it in AE. Two layers of video. Top one blurry, bottom one sharp. In 3D space, create the glasses and a mask for the transparency where the lenses would be. That way you could move the glasses around and the visually sharp area would follow. Not certain how to put it all together though. I think you'd want to pre-comp the glasses, matte and sharp images. You can fly the glasses in the pre-comp. Then in the main comp you can make a matte around the glasses that could follow where the pre-comp moves. Somehow this would involve the use of a null object. Or... I could be completely wrong. You might want to check Video Copilot's Basic Training under, I think, Transparency. I seem to remember seeing something there would relate to this situation.