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Making a picture bring motion feel?

FernandoAndre

FernandoAndre

There is a way to make a still image look like you shot a place with the camera fixed on tripod?

I know it's a strange question, but the pictures inserted in a video don't have the shutter effect that the motion files have - for obvious reason, it's a picture. But there is some trick to make this picture behave like a static video instead a static photo?

What I'm doing is replacing a green screen, and after apply the chroma and the color adjust to match it, the only thing that is not right is this weird feeling that the background is a static pic, not a place.


Still_1.png


Appreciate any help.
Thanks!
 
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i'm a little confused by your question. if you could explain it better i can help, cuz i think i might know what you're trying to ask, but I wanna be sure
 
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mussonman said:
i'm a little confused by your question. if you could explain it better i can help, cuz i think i might know what you're trying to ask, but I wanna be sure
Click to expand...

Have you noticed when someone inserts a picture in the middle of a video, it's very different from a video. Even if the picture is about anything that could perfectly be static, you just know it's not a video. That's, until where I know, because a picture haven't the shutter printing motion to the scene.

So I was wondering if there is a technic to apply this "motion feel" to a picture, in order to make it appear as you pointed your camera to a static place and started to record.
 
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you could print out the picture, and point the camera at it, record it a for a few seconds.

That should give you that feel.

I'd say just blurring it a bit, so noone is paying attention to it, would do perfectly fine
 
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I know what you're talking about.
A static photo looks very unnatural when inserted among genuine video.
Gotcha.

What NLE editing program are you using?
If you have chroma key layering ability I might have a techy workaround, but I've not tried this, so it may or may not work - but could.

The problem is is that still & absolutely still aren't the same thing.
You'll need to separate the foreground subject from the background then add a little movement.

Assuming you're working on a PC platform and have access to Microsoft Paint as an accessory, open up the image in MSPaint and crop the image to the appropriate aspect ratio you'll need, likely 16:9.

Save "image", then Save As "image overlay".
You should now have two copies of the same identical image.
Open "image overlay", use the eraser to remove everything that is the background. Save.
CTRL+A select all, CTRL+W enlarge, keep the height & width ratio and increase to 101%. Save.

Open your NLE with layering and chroma key capability.
Import both image and image overlay.
Place image on layer 1.
Place image overlay on layer 2, edit with chroma key effect, remove white/background space, (you may have to edit original image overlay by paint bucketing in a sold contrasting color for the background.)
Because the image overlay is 101% larger than the subject on the image layer it "should" occlude it.
Select image on layer one, crop by 99%, apply subtle random movement to it across the time it's onscreen, which will likely be less than a 24 frame second. You can probaly just move it a pixel left, hold it a few frames, then move it back a pixel right.

Save clip to PC, import that clip into your final working project.



Like I said, I havent tried it, but it should work - or at least help.

GL.

(FWIW, I wanna try this myself! HA!)
 
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Ray, I'm not sure that's gonna work. To me, the issue seems pretty clear -- it looks weird because in real life, things move. Clouds pass overhead, changing lighting, even for interior shots. Wind blows the tiniest of flutters into anything that's not heavy or locked down. Dust particles go here and there. Whatever. Stuff moves, even in an empty and silent room. I don't see any simple and easy way to duplicate that with a still image.

That being said, I think it's possible that the problem might not be that the background is a still image. I dunno, I couldn't really offer an opinion without seeing the final video. You might actually be able to get away with using a still background. What if, maybe, it looks weird because the angle and lens of the photo doesn't jive with the angle and lens of the video on top? Is there a possibility that it's a perspective thing? I dunno, I'm just searching for possible explanations.
 
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CF -
Agreed.
It might, it might not work.
Worth a try, and not all that complicated, especially if he already has the foreground image separated from the background.

How about try using a "film grain" filter effect?

It'd help a bit if we knew how long the image would be seen and in what context of the piece it's supposed to fit in.
 
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The lighting of the gentleman in the front is different from the background.

Also, there's the huge differential in depth - there's no midground.

Also, have you tried adding background audio of whatever might be in the background, to sell the illusion?

Just a few suggestions to try.
 
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There is a way to make a still image look like you shot a place with the camera fixed on tripod?
Click to expand...

First, I'm far from an expert on this topic of compositing. It's just what I'm currently learning right now.

There is. I guess you haven't learned much about compositing, so what you see may or may not be the issue. When a composite doesn't quite look right, the brain doesn't always know what's wrong, just that something is a little (or a lot) off. There is nothing wrong with using a still as a background, you just need to think a little ahead.

Some lighting basics. Lighting the subject and the background from opposite sides is just one reason why a picture may look fake. One more point, it looks like you didn't back light your subject. This can make your subject look flat.

What Zen also said, it looks like you put the entire picture out of focus the same amount, which will destroy some of the the illusion of depth. If you're not sure how to do it, I suggest that when taking the original photo of the background, you set the focus point to where your guy would be standing that way, your work in post is easier for those who don't know the process.

It also looks like the resolution of the foreground and the background is different (not sure). The color also looks different to me, a saturated guy on a desaturated background.

While it'll add a level of complexity to the shot, consider trying some movement. Some of the problem with the shot is that it is static. It is easier to pick a problem about a static shot than a moving shot. It's also a lot less boring to watch. If you're bored, nit picking on the errors might be the only thing you have left to do ;)

Good luck!
 
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I'm no expert or professional, but I did do advanced compositing back in film school.

We learnt a number of techniques, from using many images to create an entirely 3D background, to simple chroma keying.

Getting the colours of both foreground and background is important, as is similar resolution (ie a plate shot in raw on a 5D is going to look out of place when green screen footage is put in front of it if it was shot on the same 5D in video mode).

I assume you're using AE; try putting a camera in and see if that helps. Also, putting in some subtle 'fake' lights in AE has helped sell my compositions.

Also, it depends on the plate - some plates are completely believeable as still images, others aren't because the natural 'motion' involved in the background is absent.
 
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I think Sweetie has a point about it not being back lit. After looking at your picture for an extensively longer time I think that is a key issue as it is obvus that there *should* be a back light as you can see the reflection on the golden posts. You could probably fake this relatively easily in AE if you know what you are doing.

Also with Rays suggestion you could probably also do that in photoshop or even after effects itself if you wants to give it a shot, though I'm not too sure if it would work.

As others have said the DOF is probably the other main issue
 
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Horrific tragedy.
My heart goes out to your community. :tear:


* * * * * * * * *

Nascent effort at subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb4EMqHLLTo

Background @
http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/...mix LX5/test shots/widescreen distortioni.jpg

Foreground @
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gp2vjlA6b...ABXQ/1o_P_IyliXU/s1600/ninja_green_screen.jpg

  1. Sized
  2. Horizontally flipped ninja image to approximately match scenic background sunlight direction
  3. Added opposing movements
  4. Added "noise" @ 5% to both ninja foreground and scenic background
 
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16594_10152392537860077_1487558953_n.jpg

Here is a still from my current production using the same technique I believe you are talking about: A video of the actor composited over a static background plate. I believe the key is adding just the right amount background blur. (Seeing yours, I believe it may be blurred too much. But it might work if you cropped in closer on the actor.) You might also try adding a very slight zoom or a bit of movement to both layers to mimic a slight parallax effect during the shot.
 
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Fiveacre Films said:
16594_10152392537860077_1487558953_n.jpg

Here is a still from my current production using the same technique I believe you are talking about: A video of the actor composited over a static background plate. I believe the key is adding just the right amount background blur. (Seeing yours, I believe it may be blurred too much. But it might work if you cropped in closer on the actor.) You might also try adding a very slight zoom or a bit of movement to both layers to mimic a slight parallax effect during the shot.
Click to expand...

I think the color temps aren't matching in this shot, which is showing some separation between the subject and the background. Compare the light on his right shoulder to the lamp.

(this is just something I noticed)
 
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