Making footage of an actor look like its computer generated

T

trw_mavrik

Active member
Hi Guys

I was wondering if anyone knew of any techniques or any plugins that could make footage of an actor look like its computer generated? Ive seen a piece of software called Toonit which makes footage look like hand drawn cartoons but I'm looking for something a little more lifelike as my next short film is about a computer programmer who builds a simulation of his dead wife on his pc.

Many thanks

Terry
 
If you need wireframes, then you're probably going to need to model these. Depending on how many shots you need, this could end up being a lot of work. There are programs like makehuman, which will give you a generic model, which can be worked on further in another 3d app. If you're no good with CGI, then you'll need to rewrite the script or start asking for help.
 
Mmm... I don't think you'll find anything like that. It's two different worlds. Maybe a make-up option?
 
Could your character build the wife simulation as a hologram instead of an onscreen character? Hologram emulation (a la Princess Leia in the original Star Wars) is pretty easy to do in most NLEs.

Or if she only needs to be a talking head, you could look at something like Crazy Talk http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/ which is fabulous for making still photos "talk" - it still looks artificial enough (especially if you choose your source photo right) for that "unreal" edge.
 
Saturate, posterise a bit, bump the gamma, bump the intensity of the colours, etc. Get a few CG images, look at what makes them look CG, and play around to match.
 
Hi Guys

Many thanks for the fantastic ideas! I liked the Crazy Talk demo as it gives the film a sort of realism that I'm after as a lot of the dialog from the CG wife comes from a database that the main character creates. My day job is in IT so am trying to draw a line between realism and entertainment.

I've even written various pieces of software which shows the evolution of the E.V computer character from just being a photo with dialog up to this final version, which is where I need a few ideas. Once I've captured and processed the footage, I'm going to tie it into the software so that when the actor is performing, he has something to act against rather than either dropping it in later or having the wife actress stand off screen reading lines.

Regards

T
 
Try removing 2 out of every 3 frames. Then use Twixtor to bring them back. One of the things lost in CG animation are all of the rapid movements.

Also, shoot at a high shutter speed (not blurry). Then let Twixtor bring back the blur.
 
Coming from a CG background, the hardest thing I find is trying to blend the CG with the live plate in terms of grain. So maybe blur her more to smooth out some of the natural grain. You could also add a light to her. Like those photos you see where someone has used a flash and it makes the person look like they're not really there because the light is so different to the original.
Actually you could just film her on green screen so she isn't there.
 
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