Front Light/Back Light Matting Tutorial

[Dinoslay]

An idea that could be easily applicable to this: If you make a shadow barrier that forms a sort of darker line in the front light frames you can use it as a reference to rotoscope that area to make it seem like the object/character is moving in substance like water or mist with a breaking surface when compositing it.

[kezadrone]

And now onto frame 2. Ron. You got to get Keylight. Animate the puppet on green then click the image and your done. This must take you months and months to composite. It's crazy to use this now when there's state of the art keying softwear.

[Dinoslay]

I'm interested about something. You shoot the whole thing manually, right? How do you synchronize the axis movement when animating the puppet on the tripod rig? The reason I ask this is because I'm curious about the order of moving each element which to a stop motion animator(beginner or otherwise) is fairly challenging as you have to keep track of a lot of moving aspects simultaneously.

[animatorIsomer]

@Dinoslay I use the super secret method known as 'eyeballing it' ☺ This is where frame grabbers are such a wonderful innovation for stop motion because it allows you to check and double check that you've done what you need to do on each frame before shooting. I prefer things to be as free and non-technical as possible while I'm shooting... more of an art - less of a science.

[Dinoslay]

@animatorIsomer *facepalm*I sure understand what you mean. It's surprisingly simple when ones mind isn't in a "brain box". *insert pun* Less hassle, better interaction. While the computer serves a part it can not replace the common sense. *insert pun about floating CGI scorpions*

I have a turntable that I could for these types of "tracking" shots. In fact, a table with enough volume could be used to put two or three puppets into a scene. More puppets takes an even greater focus though.

[TEDSmithPhotography]

Nice work! Is there a way to use this effect without the rig...so the armature will be standing or sitting on a surface? I'm fairly sure it's not really possible and I'll have to use a green screen but I thought I'd ask. Oh and I don't have elements but in CS3 you can record your actions and batch files, a huge help for Stop motion work (apart from rig removal obviously). PEace

[animatorIsomer]

@TEDSmithPhotography - The flying rig is not essential, it all depends upon what you plan to shoot. Lots of stuff I shoot with front light/back light matting doesn't have any rig removal involved. It's really just the alternating shots of you subject lit against black and its silhouette that matter.

[TEDSmithPhotography]

@animatorIsomer - Thank you for the reply. I was more meaning the front and back light of the ground the character is standing on wouldn't work very easily. I'll give it a go at some point.

[animatorIsomer]

@TEDSmithPhotography I have shot one test shot where the ground was an issue, I did that by animating my puppet on a sheet of clear plexiglass.

[terrymation]

wow, really interesting. Are there shortcuts that you take for the two layers? That's a lot of work for each frame!

[animatorIsomer]

@terrymation I don't have the money for higher end software to layer the front light and back light layers over the background automatically but, I'm sure it can be done - this is just the way I do it. But for rig removal (like getting rid of the wire holding this puppet up) there really is no short cut. Sometimes you just have to do the work to get the results you want.

[terrymation]

@animatorIsomer hmmm, interesting. I really admire the amount of work and effort you put into your films.

[Roncace]

what kind of screen do you use for this process

I know it is not green or blue as you mentioned yourself



[animatorIsomer]

@Roncace

I have a wall painted white with a black curtain that I can quickly raise and lower. But if you have the space to be far enough away from a white wall, you can just use the white wall alone - just barn-door your lights so that none of the light on the foreground hit it.

[Roncace]

what kind of screen do you have to use for this process?

[Dinoslay]

Man, this is a totally brilliant method and very useful I'm sure. 5/5

[cartoonmarc]

Hey, I just had a thought, I might have to steal this idea and see if a similar thing works with after effects...

[cartoonmarc]

wow, it really looks great!

y'know what'd be awesome? A plug-in r something that records the steps and automatically repeats them for each frame, rather than having to go through them all manually. though of course, the software wouldn't know what parts are rigging and what parts need to stay in.

Thanks for taking the time to show us all about this though!

[portablemind2]

watched this one a few times. finally taking a crack at it. shielding the light. hmm. I understand holding back on info. can be good for marketing your movie later.

But I can\t help but guess. ... I am starting to think just putting black card in bg will help. angle barn doors so light only hits foreground. flags can be used. seems pretty straight forward. when backlight just put white card bg instead of black. foam core boards would work.

thanks again for this!

[animatorIsomer]

Hey Pram - I've been scolded by my partners for blabbing too much about EXACTLY how we've done things in detail so, I'm gonna have to bite my tongue on that. I don't want to get another email from them saying, "SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!" :P Sorrry. :)

[bobharling1]

ty ron for another great tutorial

[animateclay]

Hey Ron, I thought of a solution to adding shadows to your background. If you duplicate the background, then turn the contrast up on that layer so it darkens - then remove any areas that aren't part of the shadow. I think that would work pretty well as opposed to air brushing in black. I also think adding tufts of grass in front of the toes as he steps, or something to make the foot appear like it's landed would keep it from looking "floaty".

[castlegardener]

great tutorial Ron, thanks for sharing some of your knowledge...

[CormiersCorner]

Wow. Just... wow. Haha. That must really suck to have to do for each frame. How did you get the puppet to be animated perfectly in sync with the background?

[animatorIsomer]

The puppet was on the 'flying rig' you see in this tut, and super-imposed over the image of the live action background on the frame-grabber, (Frame Thief) in the 'Rotoscope' function. I just had to match the position of the puppet to every frame... not easy but, the results pay off!

[FandSproduction]

Thanks for explaining the process. It has a clearer picture of how to do it. I may not own a mac or the particular software, but the same principles apply to some of the Windows programs that I can use. I'm going to see if I can give it a shot some time!

[Vortex42]

Excellent tutorial Ron!

[animatorIsomer]

Tank You!

[Mackmation]

looks good! time consuming for sure though!

[animatorIsomer]

It may take some more time but, when blue or green just won't cut it, this is a great way to go. It's good to have all the options in your tool kit.

[technoanimate]

Thats very good, you sure do know the tricks of the trade