Keying out dolly rails

[dirtee1]

Hey I am about to do a low-angle dolly shot but having trouble keeping the dolly rails out of the frame. Is there a way I could paint them green and then key them out later?

[RyanT]

If the grounds surface is smooth you may be able to just roll the dolly along the ground. I think you might run into some problems trying to key out the rails. This is seeing as how you're moving along the ground, getting something to put as your plate*, would be difficult.


*or whatever it's called, what clip you put underneath the low shot to make it look like they aren't there.

You could always do it handheld as well :)

[Noah]

Seems like its a shot for a steadycam. I had a complex shot in the past where I tried to put a matte over the tracks, but it was so much work I ended up scrapping the shot - luckily I had the coverage.

[maverickstunts]

Try a skateboard

[oneinfiniteloop]

Depending on the shot, this would be a easy roto job if you prep for it right.

When you shoot the shot make sure there is enough of the ground on either side of the rail that you can clone it and cover the rails in post. Wouldn't take more than a few hours depending on your shot length.

[Noah]

The problem I had with the cloning method, is that by doing it frame by frame, it isnt exactly the same each time so you get this jittery look where the parts are cloned. The problem with dolly shots is that you are moving through space so the perspective is changing and you have to account for those changes if you are tracking a mattepainting over it to hide the tracks. Make sure you've got plenty of tracking marks if you do decide to go this route.

[Neil Rowe]

the general way to accomplish the shot other than a low cage stedicam setup, is by using a boom/jib/crane on top of a dolly. extend the crane in the direction of the shot , and if lets say your crane has say 12' extension off the top of the column or tripod, youve got about 14' that you can pull the dolly back before the tracks will get into the shot. if you crane up slightly as you dolly back youll get alot more room to dolly back without getting the tracks in the shot since the camera wouldnt be right on top of them. the crane on top of dolly is really a very powerful combination, it allows you to stick it off to the side front or back and make it look like the dolly is going right over , under, or through things that would normally be impossible if the camera was just on top of a dolly.

if say you do not have a crane, you could always tack down a long 2x4 (the tall way) or something to the dolly and extend it along the gound and securly stick the camera on the end in true independent fashion :)