DSLR for Motion Control Visual Effects work

[NoahK]

A very quick and dirty test made using a Nikon D300, a Mumford Time Machine timelapse computer and rotary table pulling a CamTram dolly. Photographing a snap-tite Star Wars Y-Wing model which is about 9 inches long.

Shot at 2 second exposures at F16. Composited in After Effects. Got a lot more work to go before it's where I want it to be. This is just the start of my experiments but check it out:

http://www.vimeo.com/7342065

-Noah

[David G. Smith]

A very quick and dirty test made using a Nikon D300, a Mumford Time Machine timelapse computer and rotary table pulling a CamTram dolly. Photographing a snap-tite Star Wars Y-Wing model which is about 9 inches long.

Shot at 2 second exposures at F16. Composited in After Effects. Got a lot more work to go before it's where I want it to be. This is just the start of my experiments but check it out:

http://www.vimeo.com/7342065

-Noah

I like that. I knew these cameras are being used for animation work, but I didn't really think about it for motion control compositing. I don't know much about high end effects work, but why the long exposure time? Is that to increase depth of field? Also, would you do "Beauty passes" with the motion control rig or is that something you would do with ones and zeros in post?

[Nitsuj]

Hehe looks similar to what I did in film school. I made a model of a ship with lights and everything. I had a rod going through the model at one point painted green so I could key it out in post. I eventually tried making it digitally in 3D Studio Max as a test and it looked exactly the same. So I chucked all the muppet looking 2d layerd stuff and went with a digital world with lots of green screen. The amount of work it took to make the ship do what I wanted was crazy using models and I was never going to get it to do what I wanted with no budget. After going digital I realized just why the rest of them went digital too. It did help me understand how it was done and I learned a LOT from that experience.

[NoahK]

I like that. I knew these cameras are being used for animation work, but I didn't really think about it for motion control compositing. I don't know much about high end effects work, but why the long exposure time? Is that to increase depth of field? Also, would you do "Beauty passes" with the motion control rig or is that something you would do with ones and zeros in post?

The long exposure does two things- one lets you shoot at F16 or F22 without needing massive amounts of light. Two- gives you nice motion blur. The second shot in that test is a faster dolly speed so the blur is a bit more convincing.

I've toiled with digital too but I personally think it's very easy to get realism with motion control and very hard to get it with CG. ILM is one thing, but my personal 3D skills have yet to deliver a CG model that looks like the real thing. Plus it's fun to play around with mechanical stuff.

-Noah

[mcgeedigital]

I have the CamTram too...how hard is it to hook up the Mumford motor?

[NoahK]

I have the CamTram too...how hard is it to hook up the Mumford motor?

It's actually pretty simple- this is how it's done:

http://www.bmumford.com/photo/dolly/index.html

-Noah