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Is this do-able with modern computer effects?

H

harmonica44

I was thinking of shooting a short and then hiring someone to put in the effects afterwards. Basically I want to make people look like they are convincingly on fire, when they are not. Is that do-able?

Also I want a firetruck. The fire departments would not lend theirs out even if being paid, for a movie. Which is understandable. So is it possible to put a fire truck in, in post. And have things happen, such as an actor climbing the latter, or even stepping out of the truck, and climbing on top of it, even though the truck is not really there? I guess it is theoretically, but how tough is this to achieve and look convincing on a microbudget?
 
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5 minutes of visual effects shots will exceed your budget. In VFX bidding language, 5 minutes = about 60 shots (ballpark). A VFX company would charge you anywhere from $2,000-$70,000 per shot. Why the wild range of prices? It all depends on who you hire (ILM v.s. garage band kid), and the complexity of your shots.

How does the low-budget filmmaker access visual effects?
1) Have their friends in the VFX industry do it as a favor.
2) Find a VFX film student to do it for the experience (your results may vary).
3) DIY. Through necessity, indie filmmakers typically wear many hats, e.g. Director, Producer, Editor, Audio, Screenwriter, Camera Rig builder. Go ahead and add VFX Guru to the list.

Photoshop & AfterEffects are a good place to start, e.g. rig removal, screen splits, tracking, green screen, simple particle effects, roto. If you keep it simple, production-quality shots are absolutely within your reach. If you take on too much, or shoot without a plan, you'll either end up with unacceptable shots, or scheduling a re-shoot.

Initially, filmmakers should learn compositing, as it's fairly easy to get a simple result and can be applied to so many areas of a movie (Car chases, plate re-timing, sign replacement, mic removal, day-for-night effects, lasers, muzzle flashes, blood, fire, you name it). 3D software (Maya) is a whole different ball of wax. Each discipline in a 3D package is so specific that many people make a good living at specializing in just one step (modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, lighting, and rendering).

In your case, Harmonica, the Film Riot approach is what you'd be working on (compositing fire on an actor). If you want to further sell the effect, I'd suggest a night shoot, interactive fire lights on the actor, shredded/blackened wardrobe and some progressive burn makeup on his face.

After many years of not doing my own comps I sat down and learned Nuke, simply so I could post my own film project. You can do it too.

Thomas
 
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Nope not at all. You were just being realistic about my options, and there is nothing wrong with that. I have after effects and could do it myself but I need books on exactly how to do it. I tried the tutorials online for other things, but there are so many variables that I can't get past, which those tutorials do not get into. I need a book that answers all the questions to the variables that would come up, or I need something. Otherwise I would definitely do it myself, and am willing.
 
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