Make a person dissapeard effect
- Thread starter danny23
- Start date
David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
What great timing you have! Just yesterday I shot a music video in which we had to make a lot of people disappear. Stayed up all night doing the rough cut.
I don't know what editing app you're using, but I use Adobe Premiere 6.0 -- no After Effects.
If you keep enough vertical separation between your two people, then this will be fairly easy to do. Make sure all your shots are 'locked' -- meaning the camera is bolted down to the tripod. No camera movement -- period.
Now, shoot footage of the person who is NOT disappearing, walking down the sidewalk. (For this example, I assume your two people are walking on a sidewalk -- one walking towards the camera, the other walking away. Adapt it to your situation.)
Next, shoot ONLY the other person -- the one who WILL disappear -- walking on the sidewalk. (It's important that neither person's shadow falls upon the path the other person is walking.)
Okay, now capture both clips. In Premiere, you would take the clip with the person who is NOT disappearing and put it on the Video 1 track.
Above that, on the Video 2 track, you would place the clip of the person who IS going to disappear.
Next step -- go into the Transparency settings on the clip on Video 2. Adjust the matte handles in the Sample window so that you create, in effect, a matte box around the person who IS going to disappear. This is where that vertical separation between the two people comes into play -- you don't want either person to intrude into the other person's 'space'.
Okay, when you run the clip now it should look like the two people are both on the sidewalk going opposite directions, and passing each other. Now for the disappearing trick. On the clip on Video 2, adjust the rubber band fader to fade that clip down to zero. Choose your start point for the fade based on the point at which you want your person to disappear.
What you should see when you run the rendered clip is two people who are walking down a sidewalk in opposite directions, and one fades and disappears.
I hope I explained that well enough. No sleep, you know.... Think I'll head to bed now.... Good luck!
I don't know what editing app you're using, but I use Adobe Premiere 6.0 -- no After Effects.
If you keep enough vertical separation between your two people, then this will be fairly easy to do. Make sure all your shots are 'locked' -- meaning the camera is bolted down to the tripod. No camera movement -- period.
Now, shoot footage of the person who is NOT disappearing, walking down the sidewalk. (For this example, I assume your two people are walking on a sidewalk -- one walking towards the camera, the other walking away. Adapt it to your situation.)
Next, shoot ONLY the other person -- the one who WILL disappear -- walking on the sidewalk. (It's important that neither person's shadow falls upon the path the other person is walking.)
Okay, now capture both clips. In Premiere, you would take the clip with the person who is NOT disappearing and put it on the Video 1 track.
Above that, on the Video 2 track, you would place the clip of the person who IS going to disappear.
Next step -- go into the Transparency settings on the clip on Video 2. Adjust the matte handles in the Sample window so that you create, in effect, a matte box around the person who IS going to disappear. This is where that vertical separation between the two people comes into play -- you don't want either person to intrude into the other person's 'space'.
Okay, when you run the clip now it should look like the two people are both on the sidewalk going opposite directions, and passing each other. Now for the disappearing trick. On the clip on Video 2, adjust the rubber band fader to fade that clip down to zero. Choose your start point for the fade based on the point at which you want your person to disappear.
What you should see when you run the rendered clip is two people who are walking down a sidewalk in opposite directions, and one fades and disappears.
I hope I explained that well enough. No sleep, you know.... Think I'll head to bed now.... Good luck!
Appreciatte your help but what I'm trying to do is make the person dissapeard when they pass beside each other on the street, they walking towars each other, when they pass by each other the one behind will dissaperd and the other one will keep walking.
I could apprecciatte some input if I still can you that effect or what else can I do Thank again!
I could apprecciatte some input if I still can you that effect or what else can I do Thank again!
David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
The technique should be the same. Do a test run and play with it a bit. I was just using an example to help explain the concept. Good luck!
Chapel has the right idea on the easiest way of doing it. Lock off your shots and make sure the characters dont touch. In your case however, you want the characters to cross paths, and that means trouble. You'll need to use a green screen for the characters. Basically, what you'll do is capture your background of the street, which will be your background "plate." You then capture your disappearing character on the green screen, remove the green screen with a transparent background in postproduction and place that character on top of your background plate. Then you capture your other character walking in front of the green screen, make it transparent, and place it on top of your other character. Then play the video on your editing software, and at the right time, you fade out your disappearing character, or cut him out, or however else you want to make him disappear. It's simple in theory, but hard in practice.
Another way of doing it, which wont look as good, is shoot your background plate, DO NOT MOVE THE CAMERA, then shoot both characters crossing paths in front of the same background. From there you take the 2 shots into your editing software and place your characters on top of your background plate. After that, you track a matte behind the character that is not disappearing (assuming you are doing a side shot with one character walking left to right and another character walking right to left) and feather the edge. What will happen is when your disappearing character reachest that edge and past the matte, he will be gone.
Another way of doing it, which wont look as good, is shoot your background plate, DO NOT MOVE THE CAMERA, then shoot both characters crossing paths in front of the same background. From there you take the 2 shots into your editing software and place your characters on top of your background plate. After that, you track a matte behind the character that is not disappearing (assuming you are doing a side shot with one character walking left to right and another character walking right to left) and feather the edge. What will happen is when your disappearing character reachest that edge and past the matte, he will be gone.
Gopher_Greene
Well-known member
I'd just make a fake wall and the let the disappearing person walk behind it.
sfoster
Well-known member
Shoot the characters walking separately and then motion track in after effects and make a moving matte that leads the character that doesn't disappear. Then make this your top layer in your editing program. Put your disappearing character on the track below it and composite the two shots together.