adding a moving car

[leanderb2806067]

Hi

I want to make a movie for an art project in our school. For this movie, there should be a car, which is driving on a street and stopping at a certain point. After a few seconds it should start driving again. Unfortunately we can't drive/have a car (we are 16 years old ) . Is there a way to add a moving car? We haven't filmed this scene yet.
If you have an idee, can you please explain it to me or can you please sent me a Link to an tutorial? I can find any good tutorials...

Thanks!

[Szalam]

If your shot is from the side, this would be fairly easy to do. Get an image of a car, cut it out in Photoshop (or mask it in AE), then animate it driving from left to right in AE. (Don't forget to add things like leaning forward as it stops and backwards as it starts moving again (by slightly animating the rotation).

If you have a wider shot or a shot at a different angle, things might be a lot trickier.

[Rick Gerard]

If you want to insert a shot of a car driving on a street but you have no car you have a couple of choices. You can shoot a miniature, use a 3D model, animate a cartoon car.

All three of these methods require careful planning, an understanding of the relationship between camera position and perspective, and lighting and compositing skills. The amount of work required is inversely proportional to the quality you want to achieve. Before I go into detail, what is your experience level with photography, film making, After Effects and 3D apps?

The basic procedure would be to plan the shot carefully, set up the camera in the right position to capture the scene without the car, figure the angles involved and then either shoot a toy car on a background you can easily remove, create the 3D model, or animate a drawing of a car that matches the angles and camera movement in the original shot. If there are any foreground elements in the original shot that the car would pass behind you'll have to separate those elements from the rest of the footage by rotoscoping or simple masking and then put them above the layer with the car.

I hope this helps. Let us know what you know how to do and we can help you plan something that you can successfully complete. The only thing I do know for sure is that if you don't plan and prepare you are very unlikely that you will have any luck creating a believable shot.

[leanderb2806067]

Thanks for your answer!

I started with photography two years ago and did my first short movie also two years ago. I watched a lot of tutorials and this time I would like to have a much better result than I had at the first time. Film über Mobbing - YouTube (This is my first short movie, but it is in german ) ...This time we will use a book we read in our school as a guideline. (So will will have a better planning!!) I don't have any experiences with After Effects, I have just watched some tutorials. So I know how to use masking and I know how to rotoscope. I haven't done anything with 3D apps.

Does it look realistik if I shoot a toy car? Because I won't be able to "move" a toy car. So I would take either the method of creating a 3D model or of animating a drawing. But I also though of the idea to shoot a driving car (normal traffic) on the streat and then just seperate this car from the footage and slow it down until it stops. Is that possible/realistic?
Thanks!

[leanderb2806067]

... I forgot to say, that I am using a stadycam and/or a tripod

[Dave_LaRonde]

leanderb2806067  wrote

Does it look realistik if I shoot a toy car?.... But I also though of the idea to shoot a driving car (normal traffic) on the streat and then just seperate this car from the footage and slow it down until it stops. Is that possible/realistic?

A toy car will not look realistic.

Slowing down a real car probably will not look realistic, either.  You would be better off to shot a real car as it slows down and stops.  It should be fairly easy to animate a mask around the car.

Don't forget to match the angles, your camera settings (the amount of zoom) and the lighting conditions between the two shots.

[Szalam]

Slowing down footage of a car driving won't look realistic because it won't lean forward while it's stopping and then rock. You can stop motion animate a toy car or you can pull pull one along with a string. Think more outside the box!

[Rick Gerard]

I have to argue with Dave. A toy car will look realistic if it is a good model and you follow the rules and guidelines for shooting miniatures. It's not easy by if George Lucas can do it, so can you. You just have to learn how to follow the rules and match perspective. This kid did some amazing things with still photography because he learned the rules for filming miniatures: miniature-world-photo-manipulations-by-14-year-old-photographer-fiddle-oak/

Zev was only 14 when these images were created. You just have to learn the rules and carefully plan. Take a close look at uncle polishing the watch here, a behind-the-scenes, and check out his flicker page. I'm a huge fan of this kid.

Let's get back to your project.

If you want to hang out on a street and shoot a car, then rotoscope the car to separate it from the background you will have to match the camera angles and camera movement. This will be a lot easier if you lock off the camera. Position it at a 30º angle to the street one and a half meters from the ground and 3 meters from the curb and wait for a car, then film your actors with the camera in the same position and insert the car. That is probably the simplest solution. If I had this as a project for students that is what I would suggest. You could shoot the car at an intersection with a stop sign, then shoot your actors somewhere else. Just match the lighting, camera position and block your actors so their actions match the action of the car.

If you move the camera at all you will get into the problem of camera tracking and matching movement. This takes a ton of planning and coordination. To do it perfectly requires motion control equipment. To do it well requires very carefully planned and executed camera moves making sure that you match the timing and position of the camera relative to the actors and the cars.

After Effects takes quite a while to master. You have to vet your trainers. Most of the YouTube tutorials that are out there now are pretty terrible. Many of them propose inefficient workflows and lead you down dead end streets. Make sure your trainers know what they are doing and become very familiar with the Search Help feature in AE and the User Guide. You won't be able to just watch a couple of tutorials on rotoscoping and pull this off.