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S
Studio461
Known Participant
January 9, 2018
Answered

Separate a moving foreground from a still background

  • January 9, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 5310 views

I am  almost  done with  my thesis (i already graduated). I use this clip 3 time. But there's that weird lite strip because of a light; i believe. Anyway, his head comes in front of it,  it also is on top of his head. it's not a clean shot due to his hair. The Roto Brush does squat.

I'm a video editor, and I only took a basic AE class in college. the light strip stays still. One would think that i could separate moving objects from a non-moving  background. I just don't know how to do it.

I CANNOT cut around it. And I need this shot.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Roei Tzoref


    if that's all there is, rotobrush would do this in a breeze.

    tell your designer to follow this workflow through:

    Roto Brush and Refine Matte in After Effects

    After Effects Roto Brush, Refine Edge, and Refine Matte

    there is not magic one click fix (probably not even 100 click) for this shot and an untrained, unfamiliar Ae user probably could not fix this shot unless he has a few hours of training at least to do this right. with compositing, there usually is a small room for mistakes because the slightest of offset is very noticeable.

    in the first shot, if it takes too long because all those strands of hair, I would also consider using some kind of hair patch and track it to the head, instead of messing about with all those strands of hair which are not so important for this shot. any intermediate level Vfx guy can tackle this shot. if this is that important to you, hire a guy. these 2 shots could be done in an hour or two.

    2 replies

    Kevin-Monahan
    Community Manager
    Kevin-MonahanCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    January 20, 2018

    Studio461,

    How did you solve this issue? Or do you still need assistance?

    Thanks,
    Kevin

    Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio
    S
    Studio461Author
    Known Participant
    January 20, 2018

    Kevin,

    I need to have someone else do it because i have a disability that affect my fine-motor skills and this is a frame-by-frame fix. I have a graphic designer who knows PS willing to help if i can  find a video that will show her how. Any recommendations?

    Roei Tzoref
    Roei Tzoref
    Legend
    January 20, 2018

    to determine if this is a frame by frame fix (which is rarely the case) we need to see the whole shot. show it to us and we can recommend the right approach.

      Dave_LaRonde
      Dave_LaRonde
      Inspiring
      January 9, 2018

      That strip is bright enough so you can easily make a procedural matte out of it.  On a duplicated layer, key out the darker stuff. You can use the result as an inverted alpha matte to put in some other image, other video... whatever.

      S
      Studio461Author
      Known Participant
      January 9, 2018

      I am so embarrassed to say this. I've heard of all of those terms before...no clue what they mean. they don't teach the software in film school. can you recommend any quick tutorials?

      P.M.B
      P.M.B
      Legend
      January 9, 2018

      And why do you need to separate what's moving from what isnt?   Seems like it would pretty easy to just cover up that strip. 

      You realize that there's nothing actually behind those moving actors, right?

      So even if you separated them there would be huge holes that you would have to fill back in.

      Or you could just fill in that tiny strip of light.

      There's no magic button to do what you want.

      ~Gutterfish
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