Wire Removal

This VFX shot is an exercise in rig/wire removal in Nuke.

I filmed this HDSLR footage to simulate a wire harness worn by an actor or stunt performer. Normally, these safety harnesses are worn to protect actors during dangerous action but for my test shot I just needed some wires with a bit of tension that overlapped the actor and the background.

Workflow breakdown in Nuke:

- A static clean plate was created
- Paint strokes were animated to reveal the clean background plate over the wires
- To remove the wires which overlap the actor's body I selected five key positions during the action to extract still images, clean up, and use as patches in the comp
- I tracked, translated, and sheared each patch forward & backwards from its key position
- The patches were then cross-faded between each key position to simulate the changing wrinkles in the clothing
- Where necessary, animated colour correction was used to match the patches to the footage
- Each patch was isolated in the comp using roto shapes with feathered edges

• Category

  • Film & Animation

• License

  • Standard YouTube License