Bullet Hole in Windshield

Bluewave07

Bluewave07

Active member
Hey Guys,
I am shooting a scene coming up in which a man fires a bullet through the windshield of my protagonist's car.

The camera will be inside the car and I wanted to figure out a way in which we could film the windshield then have a small bullet hole and some shattering appear on the windshield.

Would this be done by importing the video into photoshop as a film strip and then individually adding a bullet hole to each frame on the windshield? It seems like there should be an easier way to do this in after effects...

I have version 7 if it makes a difference,

Thanks!
Matt
 
you could make a transparent looking bullet hole/crack in photoshop, import it into after effects as a layer then keyframe the layer to appear when you want. Pretty basic composite unless you want to get more detailed than that.
 
t-h-e-w-h-o said:
you could make a transparent looking bullet hole/crack in photoshop, import it into after effects as a layer then keyframe the layer to appear when you want. Pretty basic composite unless you want to get more detailed than that.
Click to expand...

This was my original idea. I was thinking that this might be too fake looking. Is there any way with After Effects to make the bullet hole look as if it is actually on the windshied??

I was thinking that maybe I could alter the layer's position in 3D space to make it actually look like it was part of the windshield...Is this a valid strategy?
 
Bluewave07 said:
This was my original idea. I was thinking that this might be too fake looking. Is there any way with After Effects to make the bullet hole look as if it is actually on the windshied??

I was thinking that maybe I could alter the layer's position in 3D space to make it actually look like it was part of the windshield...Is this a valid strategy?
Click to expand...

sure thing man. The way you said it would be fine... First try to position/composite it wihtout doing any 3d layers, if that doesnt work switch ur bullet/film layer to 3d :)
 
If you make the bullet hole a 3d object in AE, then tilt it forward so that it follows the curve of the windhield, it could be very effective. Motion track the windshield and you should be good. The most important element in the shot, however, will be the sound.
 
The easiest option is to have the camera locked off, if you want some movements you could move the layer in AE instead. If you decide to make your life complicated and move the camera, then you need to make sure that the camera stays parallel to the windshield, no tilt, no panning. AE has a 2d tracker and cannot track panning and tilting move, for that you would need a 3d tracker which AE doesn't offer.
 
Alright guys thanks for all the great help. I agree, Kyle, the sound is going to be the biggest selling point for this scene.

The problem for me with the whole "locked off" camera deal is that I'm trying to create sort of the handheld hectic look found in the chase scene of Children of Men (the one where the windshield gets shot then shatters).

I'll try it with the 3D layers and rotoscoping. When we get a finished copy of this scene I'll post it up (probably in about 2 months haha)
 
Just make sure your window has some trackable markings or details so you can get a good track inside AE. You should be good to go then.
 
Yeah Kai, you should do a further post on trackable markings. I have been thinking about this more lately and planning on using something like this when shooting stuff but whats all the facts on that? Any references?
 
Typically, you would have the holes in the windshield to start with.
You roto them OUT until they "hit", when you toss in a touch of particle effects and stop roto'ing the hole(s) out from that point forward.

This works easiest due to the motion in the shot. Roto'ing the holes out is pretty easily masked by motion blur, and you don't have to roto the whole shot.

So ... how to make the holes in a perfectly good windshield?
Check around for a novalty shop (many malls in the US have a Spencers store) or look for places on the web to get bullet hole stickers.
Another option might be to craft them with a bit of vasaline.

Good luck.
 
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