I need a reflection in water effect at DVinfo.net

David Lach · September 16th, 2006, 08:37 AM

I'd like to shoot somedoby's reflection in the water, and I'm wondering if this would be easier and/or more convenient to do live (find or set a dark water pool, light the subject and shoot the water) or just shoot the guy and then add a water reflection like effect in post with some kind of plugin (are there any out there?). I'm using PPro 2.0 and have access to AE though I'm not very familiar with it.

Justin Tomchuk · September 16th, 2006, 09:46 AM

I think you might have better results doing it for real. If it turns out it will look how it should look, and a plugin might just make it look fake and cheesy.

Emre Safak · September 16th, 2006, 10:25 AM

It depends on how complicated the shot it. If it is completely static, you could do it in After Effects easily enough, but if there are pans etc. you should do it for real. The post-production technique for this kind of thing involves displacement mapping, like so.

David Lach · September 16th, 2006, 11:08 AM

Yeah I definitelly don't want it to look cheesy, so that's why I was thinking of doing it for real. At the same time, it's probably a little more prep work and therefore $$$. I don't really mind since I'm the one being paid to do it, but the guy who wants to do it has limited budget.

If I do it for real, I'll probably need a pitch black pool with the possibility of lighting just the subject so his reflection in the water is clear. And I'll probably need to take additional security measures to make sure there is no unfortunate accident (you know, there's something about hot lights, a pool of water and extention cords that just doesn't sound quite right).

So I wanted to know if there was one "magical" dedicated plugin I could try that would actually be easy to use for a non-digital effect guy like me and could do a very good job at it. Might have saved me time and therefore my client's money.

I must say I don't know how complicated this shot will be. Only had preliminary talks with the client. But I think it's static.

September 16th, 2006, 08:37 AM	#1
David Lach Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Montreal, QC, Canada Posts: 570	I need a reflection in water effect I'd like to shoot somedoby's reflection in the water, and I'm wondering if this would be easier and/or more convenient to do live (find or set a dark water pool, light the subject and shoot the water) or just shoot the guy and then add a water reflection like effect in post with some kind of plugin (are there any out there?). I'm using PPro 2.0 and have access to AE though I'm not very familiar with it.

September 16th, 2006, 09:46 AM	#2
Justin Tomchuk Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Montreal Posts: 164	I think you might have better results doing it for real. If it turns out it will look how it should look, and a plugin might just make it look fake and cheesy.

September 16th, 2006, 10:25 AM	#3
Emre Safak Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brookline, MA Posts: 1,447	It depends on how complicated the shot it. If it is completely static, you could do it in After Effects easily enough, but if there are pans etc. you should do it for real. The post-production technique for this kind of thing involves displacement mapping, like so.

September 16th, 2006, 11:08 AM	#4
David Lach Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Montreal, QC, Canada Posts: 570	Yeah I definitelly don't want it to look cheesy, so that's why I was thinking of doing it for real. At the same time, it's probably a little more prep work and therefore $$$. I don't really mind since I'm the one being paid to do it, but the guy who wants to do it has limited budget. If I do it for real, I'll probably need a pitch black pool with the possibility of lighting just the subject so his reflection in the water is clear. And I'll probably need to take additional security measures to make sure there is no unfortunate accident (you know, there's something about hot lights, a pool of water and extention cords that just doesn't sound quite right). So I wanted to know if there was one "magical" dedicated plugin I could try that would actually be easy to use for a non-digital effect guy like me and could do a very good job at it. Might have saved me time and therefore my client's money. I must say I don't know how complicated this shot will be. Only had preliminary talks with the client. But I think it's static.