creating a lightning flash and rain... help!

[africanmarty]

Hi guys i'm currently working on a horror short right now and i'm looking to put some lighting flashes ( not a bolt of lightning ) and rain on a scene of mine. I was just wondering how its done and if there are plugins that can just apply those effecs simpy by applying the effect or drag and drop ? or a method on how to do it in AE or another NLE, i want to apply it to the start of the movie clip link below:

http://stage6.divx.com/user/africanmarty/video/1356867/Whats-in-the-basement- (http://stage6.divx.com/user/africanmarty/video/1356867/Whats-in-the-basement-)

please help me i'mnot sure how to do this, also thoughts on how the movie is coming along/looks are very welcome.

- Thanks Marty.

[Matt Grunau]

Well, the nighttime shots look very good. As far as lighting flashes, you could take a single frame of very light blue from Photoshop (or as a solid in AE) and put it where you want it, and set the blending mode to something like Color Dodge or Linear Dodge, and experiment with the opacity. that will light up the whole frame, actually it will blow out the entire frame, which is just what you want. If you want the flash to come from say a window, you will have adjust its perspective to look like it is coming from a certain direction. I've never done that, you may have some success with 3D layers, I dunno. Good luck.

As for rain, the outside shots could be done with a simple particle system, with the emitter up and using a paramater like gravity. But here's the key: Regardless of the route you take for rain, don't just apply it as a layer set to something like Screen. Rain not only obscures the background, but it blurs it as well. Look into compound blurs on the background layer using the rain layer as the Blur reference. You may also have some luck with the use of a slight Displacement Map. Very slight, based on Luminance so you can have the same white textured particles act as both the Compound blur and Displacement map reference.

You could probably fake the perspective of the rain by using 3D layers, and having the rain layer tilted so the top drops are smaller than the ones coming to the camera.

I have done much the same tests using Lighwave's particle system, and it is a bitch to set up. You may have better luck with a program like Illusion to generate your rain plate.

Just as important, remember that the sound of rain from in the inside to the outside shots is going to change dramatically. Cut off a signifigant portion of the high end via Eq'ing for the inside shots. High frequency sound does not penetrate walls, where low frequency sound will. That will make a huge difference, and will sell the shot even more than the visuals.

From some of the outside shots I saw from your example, there is a small amount of camera movement, which means motion tracking. It is not much, so you have an easier task with that.

The rain wil most probably have to be 3D generated, to give a sense of depth, something a flat plane really won't do. But since you only need white particles, even Particle Playground in AE may suffice. If you go that route, you will have to precomp your particle layer to have it work correctly with both the Compound Blur and Displacement Map. And if the particles are crisp, use a small amount of Fast Blur on them before your precomp.

Even if you use multiple flat planes generated from a 2D particle generator to add depth, you will still need to precomp all those layers to get them to work correctly.

[Tom Marshall]

Good advice, Matt. :)

Marty, have you shot the scene yet? If not, then it's MUCH easier to get realistic rain while you're shooting by using a sprinkler or something similar. That's why all the big productions use rain machines.

[africanmarty]

Good advice, Matt. :)

Marty, have you shot the scene yet? If not, then it's MUCH easier to get realistic rain while you're shooting by using a sprinkler or something similar. That's why all the big productions use rain machines.

yup already shot it, its a first outside shot from the movie ( link above in previous post )

[Tom Marshall]

Oh I read your post wrong... I though you were using that as an example of what you wanted to do... Then I watched it again and noticed there was no rain and wondered what you were referring to... :huh:

Good luck with it. :beer:

[africanmarty]

Well, the nighttime shots look very good. As far as lighting flashes, you could take a single frame of very light blue from Photoshop (or as a solid in AE) and put it where you want it, and set the blending mode to something like Color Dodge or Linear Dodge, and experiment with the opacity. that will light up the whole frame, actually it will blow out the entire frame, which is just what you want. If you want the flash to come from say a window, you will have adjust its perspective to look like it is coming from a certain direction. I've never done that, you may have some success with 3D layers, I dunno. Good luck.

As for rain, the outside shots could be done with a simple particle system, with the emitter up and using a paramater like gravity. But here's the key: Regardless of the route you take for rain, don't just apply it as a layer set to something like Screen. Rain not only obscures the background, but it blurs it as well. Look into compound blurs on the background layer using the rain layer as the Blur reference. You may also have some luck with the use of a slight Displacement Map. Very slight, based on Luminance so you can have the same white textured particles act as both the Compound blur and Displacement map reference.

You could probably fake the perspective of the rain by using 3D layers, and having the rain layer tilted so the top drops are smaller than the ones coming to the camera.

I have done much the same tests using Lighwave's particle system, and it is a bitch to set up. You may have better luck with a program like Illusion to generate your rain plate.

Just as important, remember that the sound of rain from in the inside to the outside shots is going to change dramatically. Cut off a signifigant portion of the high end via Eq'ing for the inside shots. High frequency sound does not penetrate walls, where low frequency sound will. That will make a huge difference, and will sell the shot even more than the visuals.

From some of the outside shots I saw from your example, there is a small amount of camera movement, which means motion tracking. It is not much, so you have an easier task with that.

The rain wil most probably have to be 3D generated, to give a sense of depth, something a flat plane really won't do. But since you only need white particles, even Particle Playground in AE may suffice. If you go that route, you will have to precomp your particle layer to have it work correctly with both the Compound Blur and Displacement Map. And if the particles are crisp, use a small amount of Fast Blur on them before your precomp.

Even if you use multiple flat planes generated from a 2D particle generator to add depth, you will still need to precomp all those layers to get them to work correctly.

matt i am unfimiliar with particles and was wondering if you had a tutorial on them ? or where a good place to start.... also i heard about the plug in CC rain ? can that be used ?

[Matt Grunau]

matt i am unfimiliar with particles and was wondering if you had a tutorial on them ? or where a good place to start.... also i heard about the plug in CC rain ? can that be used ?

CC Rain makes pretty good rain, but it comes straight down, as if you were looking out a window. Your camera is pointed up, so the perspective is different.

Try making a very large composition and applying CC Rain to it, then bring that comp into your main footage comp and turn it into a 3D layer. You may be able to tilt it so it looks like you are looking up at it. I say make a larger comp for the rain so you have more room to tilt without seeing the seems. May work.

If you want, send me one frame of the outside shot, and I'll see what I can work up. just PM it to me.

I still think Particle playground would be more convincing, but if you need this in a hurry, you don't have time to learn it. And I never have. I've always used Illusion or Lightwave.

I just thought of something else. You know what might do the job perfectly? Particular from trapcode. That simulates 3D, and you can rotate it any way you need in 3D space. And there may even be a preset for rain.