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Old April 1st, 2009, 07:53 PM   #1
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anyone ever do butterflies?

I was trying to think of something unique for a save the date video. I was thinking of maybe releasing 24 butterflies. Anyone ever work with something like this??
I found a site for $124 for 24... If done right, it might make for a cool video.
Thoughts...
steve
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Old April 1st, 2009, 08:46 PM   #2
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At $124 a shot it would suck if Murphy stepped in. I'm sure you can find some butterflies with an alpha channel or create your own in After Effects. Once you make one, the rest will be simple.
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Old April 1st, 2009, 10:59 PM   #3
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I've never used AE, so I don't know the time required to create butterflies for a shot ... but it might actually cost you more in time to create butterflies. If this was my couple, they would be purchasing the butterflies, not me.

I'm assuming "24" is the date of their wedding, so somehow you need to figure out a way to get across to the viewer that the couple is releasing 24 butterflies. Otherwise, you could just release 10 and get the same effect. I don't have any ideas for you just yet, but I'll think about it.
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Old April 1st, 2009, 11:04 PM   #4
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I actually just shot a recent Wedding where about 20 or so butterflies were released and it didnt show up too well on video. I would think you would need 100+ for it too look decent. That would end up being pricey.
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Old April 1st, 2009, 11:54 PM   #5
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For a save the date though you could do a close-up, and then it would show up pretty well I think.
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 01:16 AM   #6
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do a couple trial before you shot the thing, it was quite hard to capture butterflies actually...
You need to do a close up in order to for viewer to 'feel' the the release of butterflies.
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 07:06 AM   #7
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I have done one 2 years ago, there were 12 butterflies. I thought it would be cool but after coming out of their "coma", they just stood there, slowly opening their wings. So I have 12 sleepy butterflies as oppose to the magic of butterflies flying. It would be great for photography & close up shots.
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 07:47 AM   #8
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what site is it..?
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 10:38 AM   #9
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why not buy some butterflies put a green screen and do a chromakey (inside) and take as much takes as you want untill you get the right shot.
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 11:33 AM   #10
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See if you can green screen it.

If you buy 24, its likely that you won't be able to count how many there are, or something will go wrong with the shot and you will have wasted the money.

If you are not familiar with after effects, then you probably wont be able to create them easily without reading tutorials.

You could actually get just 1 butterfly, shoot it on a green screen, and duplicate the footage until you have 24 of them flying around. This would be an easy task to do in after effects, as it can handle 24 layers without a problem.
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 02:42 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen J. Williams View Post
I was trying to think of something unique for a save the date video. I was thinking of maybe releasing 24 butterflies. Anyone ever work with something like this??
I found a site for $124 for 24... If done right, it might make for a cool video.
Thoughts...
steve
You never mentioned the site?
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 04:19 PM   #12
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It may take some time to create the butterflies in AE but when you're done you can use it over and over. In addition, you direct the flight of the butterfly. You could have it follow the bride if you wanted. It would be very difficult with a green screen to get a good key on a butterfly

Nice job on the menu Jon.
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Old April 2nd, 2009, 04:30 PM   #13
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Thanks for all the input.... I dont have AE on my computer so thats not an option. I thought it would be something that might look nice for a save the date. There would be no limit to how close I would need to be to the couple. I was a little worried about them not showing up on camera though...
I just googled butterfly release and chose the one with the cheapest price. I dont remember the address.
If I end up going through with it I'll let you know how it turns out.

I like the idea of green screening them.... But I'm not sure I'm good enough to pull off what I have pictured in my head.

Steve
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Old April 5th, 2009, 10:11 PM   #14
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Interesting. I've never seen a butterfly release for a wedding, but I like the idea. I did the google search and this is one of the many sites found: Butterfly Release Company, Inc. - Free Dozen with Spring Special

The homepage has a decent flash animation of the very thing some here are suggesting: animated butterflies. It's not half bad. Combined with some clever shots, that could look real.

Kind of funny that a sample for digital butterflies works so well on a site that sells real butterflies!

If you do the real butterflies, please post it here. I'd love to see what you come up with.
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Old April 6th, 2009, 11:59 AM   #15
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I've seen live butterflies released at the wedding after the ceremony - there was aprox. 4 dozens of them (two boxes). It was an amazing sight - just a shame that the B&G failed to give heads up to photog and videog ;-(
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