Achieving this look...

[Morox]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHbUuWzVNE

You can see immediately at the beginning of the video with the subject in focus and the background moving. How do you achieve this effect? It's used throughout the entire video.

[bgodoy]

The effect you are referring to is one of those techniques that is very easy to achieve, however, depending on how detailed and how fluid you want your animation to be, it can be very time consuming. Here's how I would pull it off:

1.) MASK OR ROTOSCOPE SUBJECT
This is probably the most important step since this step will make or break your animation. This is where I would spend a lot or most of my time if I had to pick one. The better the mask, the better the separation.

2.) MOVE SUBJECT IN Z-SPACE
The good thing is that taking a still will allow you to obtain a vast amount of resolution. Depending on what your final output will be (for example 1920 x 1080) will justify the fact that you will need to scale up or down your photo (or in this case move your subject forward or backward) without sacrificing any extra detail. I wouldn't suggest pulling a still from video since "scaling" your subject past 100% will obviously eat up the amount of information your still retains. Unless you are shooting in 4K, take a photo, don't use a still via your camcorder. Quality is key.

3.) ADD PIZZAZZ
Some people would stop at step 2, however, if you really want to sell it, this is where your creativity comes into play. Adding things like flickering lens flares or blurring your background as your subject moves along z-space will make a world of difference. Try and think about the most realistic places effects can be applied. Usually the more attention you pay to where there can be either movement or animation, the better it will come together in the end.

4.) COMPOSITE AND COLOR GRADE
To add that extra polish don't be afraid you "cut things out" of other material and composite it into your scene. Sure it's more work in end (trying to get everything to "sit in" just right) but sometimes it can be necessary to cover something up or just add a little extra. When it's all said and done color correcting additional elements to fit your scene and then grading the overall composition will settle everything in nicely.

BTW IMO I think it's important to point out that because this video was primarily done using stop motion, it's very easy to stop and focus in on a single frame without being too abrupt about it. Often times if there's motion the whole time and you throw something like this in without careful "artistic" consideration, it can make this effect seem a bit "cheesy" (but that's just my two cents).

Hope this is the info your searching for.

-B

[handsome pete]

You have to separate the foreground and background elements through either masking or photoshop. But keep in mind that you'll also have to re-create what was behind the foreground elements in order to get any sort of 3D effect.

Here's a tutorial:

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial...ual_3d_photos/

[Morox]

Thanks for both of the responses. I really appreciate the help. Now I'm going to give it a try!