Toy Cat changes into woman - Special Effect

grjohnson

grjohnson

Active member
I needed a special effect sequence for a future feature. i.e. a cat changing into a woman. Here is the rough screen test of the effect accomplished using Vegas: (runs 22 seconds).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPDW1Lz_7iY (Modified)

Technical: Accomplished using fixed camera shots of both subjects, duplicate vidio tracks of subject material, and third lower track.

Using the 'Fade Through Transparent' dissolve on the top track, a common fade through on the duplicate second track, with 'Intense Light Rays' plug-in on trailing second track woman shot. Also reduced that shot's Opacity to 75% allowing animated rays on bottom track to leak through the 3.27 second transition window.

This was just a proof-of-concept using the cheap camera, an un-lit set and one fixed subject. For the actual feature I will be replacing the toy with a live cat (fun city - smile).
 
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vidled said:
You might want to check out WINMORPH; it's a free program. Just google it.
Click to expand...

I checked it out, as I said. Not much of a program and it does not work in Vegas 6.

I have, however, done a little more work on the effect, adding a little better color effect, removing the term "morph" from the title (technically, it is not a morph..my mistake), and getting rid of the corn ball Star Trek transporter noise and replacing it with something that better suits the effect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPDW1Lz_7iY

Additional feedback appreciated.
 
I wouldn't discount Winmorph so quickly. It's not the best thing to run as a plugin anyway. Much better to run as a stand alone. Even a quick job in Winmorph will give you a better result.
 
gr.

Interesting look. Keep at it.

Can't wait to get my copy of V6.

Ever.

I'll give that winmorph a try.
Thanks for the tip.

ian
 
grjohnson said:
I checked it out, as I said. Not much of a program and it does not work in Vegas 6.
Click to expand...
Odd, After Effects and Maya don't work in Vegas either. What are they thinking?! ;)

Winmorph can be a very effective tool if used properly. It has a learning curve (not too steep though), and takes some planning to make the final effect look right. But it's one of the few tools out there that will help you accomplish a morph effect.

It sounds like you don't actually want a morph (more like a fade?), but you never know if your next project will require one. So I'd keep a handle on Winmorph all the same.
 
Your effect is not bad if the movie is for kids, they'll be alot more forgiving. If it's for adults...it's pretty cheesy.

If you cannot do a true morph, I'd suggest considering Particle Illusion. You can do something different than light rays to distract the audience a bit more from the fact that you're doing a basic dissolve.
 
Yeah, that just looked like your were transitioning from A to B (basically what you were doing) For a good example of morphing, Check out the second harry potter movie when the female professor morphs from a cat into her human form.
 
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