Fake snow - what do you use?

Policar said:
I can send you a particle system I built and have been using recently but if you don't have After Effects and trapcode it isn't much use. It's similar to what they build here.

https://vimeo.com/112816993

It's about an hour of work to follow the tutorial and build it, then another hour to track and comp usually. But if you don't have particular it will end up being more expensive than a practical option, I'd wager. We just did a similar project and found post was easier especially for wide shots.
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I appreciate the offer, but yeah -- no After Effects or anything similar, and no time once the footage is shot to get up to speed and get it done anyway. I would need to shoot it both ways anyway -- with and without the practical effect -- just in case. So may as well concentrate on perfecting the practical effect. I've got all spring, summer and fall to work on that.

Really, though -- thanks!
 
Also no offense, but the amount of CGI in common use is making practical effects a rare thing. Practical effects done well are a different work of art. (or maybe what's old is new again)
 
Greg_E said:
Also no offense, but the amount of CGI in common use is making practical effects a rare thing. Practical effects done well are a different work of art. (or maybe what's old is new again)
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Nothing offensive about that at all.

This is a short dramatic film being made with my church youth group. No budget at all. Probably get shown once or twice. Maybe some parents will want a copy on DVD. We want to do what we can to make it look and sound as professional as possible, but we just can't spring for effects software or a digital FX person. So a practical effect is our only viable alternative.
 
Just a reminder: please keep conversation civil and avoid personal attacks.

Posts have been deleted, and I hope (expect) that to be the last of it.
 
David, I haven't been back to this thread for a while now but just curious if you built your snow rig yet, if so did you shoot, and lastly if so do you have any behind the scenes shots or frames from footage?

cheers,
 
starcentral said:
David, I haven't been back to this thread for a while now but just curious if you built your snow rig yet, if so did you shoot, and lastly if so do you have any behind the scenes shots or frames from footage?

cheers,
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Thanks for asking, Dennis. I haven't done a test yet, but I need to get on it. Hope to have something soon!
 
Well as has been the case for weeks, it's just too breezy out there to do an effective camera test. The wind constantly shifts direction, making it hard to keep the 'snow' falling in the frame. However, it looks pretty good just being shaken through a kitchen strainer.

When it comes to the real shot, the challenge will be getting it to cover the wide area of a longer shot from a crane. So I'll probably have to build a box with a wire mesh bottom. Oh joy...
 
Can you rent some crank up truss towers to raise the large wire box, or will you need to make something for that too?
 
Rent a couple of 12' ladders from Home Depot and strap a length of speedrail or even PVC pipe between them. You can hang your rigging from this along with a rope off to the side to control the flake-shake. Maybe you can put the call out to your friends for every kitchen strainer in the neighborhood! Some twine will do the rest. You can definitely do this on the cheap as long as you keep the scale of the shot reasonable. Remember that a wide angle lens will make your crane up shot appear far more dramatic than a tighter lens, and then you don't have to go up as far. And you could mount that jib on a hit on a ladder to utilize the full range of its arc (be sure to use ratchet straps and a mess 'o sandbags).
 
Mitch Gross said:
Rent a couple of 12' ladders from Home Depot and strap a length of speedrail or even PVC pipe between them. You can hang your rigging from this along with a rope off to the side to control the flake-shake. Maybe you can put the call out to your friends for every kitchen strainer in the neighborhood! Some twine will do the rest. You can definitely do this on the cheap as long as you keep the scale of the shot reasonable. Remember that a wide angle lens will make your crane up shot appear far more dramatic than a tighter lens, and then you don't have to go up as far. And you could mount that jib on a hit on a ladder to utilize the full range of its arc (be sure to use ratchet straps and a mess 'o sandbags).
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Great ideas!

The problem with a wide angle lens on that shot is that the shot needs to be nearly straight down. Not completely straight down, of course, but I'd like it fairly close to straight down. Which means a wide angle lens might show the legs of the tripod in the shot. I'll shoot it as wide as possible, but I don't want to have to move the tripod too far from the park bench that will be in the shot. It will take a lot of practice before shoot day.

I know the church has one very tall stepladder, and maybe two. So the rig plan is workable. Thanks!
 
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