Adam,

http://www.revisionfx.com/rstwixtor.htm

Hey guys,

I decided to play around with the "bullet-time" idea and came up with a method of creating it without a ton of cameras. In fact, I only used one. The idea is similar to some of the earlier posts on this thread.

First I filmed my subject with my steadicam, creating a 180 degree pan in about 5 seconds. I filmed him falling, so he was connected to ropes to help slow his movement.

I imported the footage into Commotion Pro 4 and removed all of the wires.

I then imported the 5 second footage into After Effects 5.5 and used Twixtor Pro 2.1 to slow it down to about 15 seconds.

Although I did everything very quick, it turned out VERY nice. There are also a few good reasons of doing the effect this way:

1. Less time to plan and execute than a 100 camera rig.
2. No green screening required... can be filmed on the location needed.

However, the downside is that filming very quick actions and slowing them down is very difficult. Let me know what you guys think.

That sounds very nice! Do you have any before and after footage
online? 5 and 15 seconds should produce nice small file sizes.
I'd love to see your footage!

Thanks for sharing!

Hey Rob

I will not be home for about a week, so I do not have the footage I described. However, when I return home, I will try and post it.

YES, definitely watch the extra material on the DVD where Visual Effects Supervisor John Gaeta (NOT AUSSIE) explains bullet time and frame interpolation. VERY COOL.

BDOG

Hey,

I finally got my first test footage ready... If you would like to see it, just let me know and I will email it to you. Right now it is 1.8 M in the windows media format and about 20 seconds long. It started at 4.5 seconds with ropes. I am also working on another test that will start at normal speed and go into "bullet-time" using Realviz Retimer, however I am a little unsure on some settings in it right now.

I'd love to see some results. My e-mail is below. Thanks!

Hey,

Here is think link:

http://www.fat-dog.net/Bullet-Time_Test_1.wmv

Casey (kc@fat-dog.net) was nice enough to host it for me on his site!

Please excuse the music... I had to have something in the track to use the Windows Media compression, and it was the best song I had on my computer. Thanks!

Hi Daniel! I was quite impressed... looked really nice! Now if you
can fold a story around it where it adds to the story your set to
go!

Yeah, I could use a good story to put it into... There are a lot of ideas I have tested, such as Bullet-Time, but never used in anything. Maybe script writing will be my next challenge... hmmm. I am also going to play with the bullet ripples... I need some more to do this summer... woohoo.

well you could always do a matrix spoof ;]

There we go... I can see it now... "The Matrix Reloaded" by Daniel. Dang it, the big companies always take the good names! lol.

Hey guys,

I've got another test I would like to try. Instead of a steadicam, I am thinking of using 10 or so still cameras - plain, simple re-usable cameras. However, there are two problems I am running into:

1. Aligning all of the cameras
2. Triggering them all at the same time

Do you guys have any ideas? I am working on some of my own, however any helpw ould be greatly appreciated. This will give me something else to dot his summer :)

I think you'd find it difficult to trigger disposable cameras in this fashion, you'll need cameras that can accept a remote shutter release at a minimum. How you sync them i dont know, but now you've got me intrigued, i may look into this further.

BTW is that quote from the Usual Suspects?

c

<<<-- Originally posted by daniel1113 : Hey guys,

I've got another test I would like to try. Instead of a steadicam, I am thinking of using 10 or so still cameras - plain, simple re-usable cameras. However, there are two problems I am running into:

1. Aligning all of the cameras
2. Triggering them all at the same time

Do you guys have any ideas? I am working on some of my own, however any helpw ould be greatly appreciated. This will give me something else to dot his summer :) -->>>

Regarding the camera trigger problem. Why not just run tape on all cameras, with a clapboard to initatet the scene, from here you could just edit in the tape from each respective camera. Now I am very new to all of this, so please take this with a grain of salt. But thinking about it, the idea works (at least in my wacky mind).

As for the alignment, you could use a string across the set that acts as a marker. In looking through your viewfinder, you would want to make sure that the string was in the same area in each camera. It may take some experimenting, but I think it is something to consider.

I hope that these ideas spur better ideas in your head. Good luck with the project!