"Reach For the Sky" VFX and the HVX

Wow, you know you gotz a killer rig when the rails need rails. I guess the camera man needed a sticky on the view finder with a note to turn on the GG.

Wow, great effects. What did you track for the sky shots, the clouds?

Looks like that dudes neck was going to snap from the weight when he landed.
 
Jim... that was awesome. Thanks for showing the before and after split. Really amazing stuff.. and certainly something that I wouldn't even know where to begin with..


The skydiver must have been a former headbanger with strong neck muscles to keep that HVX on the noggin.... It gets heavy on the arms... so I could only imagine.


Thanks for showing!
 
This is some of the best integration of 3D and Tracking I've ever seen. Only one shot screams CG and that's the shot right after takeoff with the 3 planes coming at you. Other than that, I would have never known all of those elements were added! Fantastic Job. I'm a Lightwave user as well!
 
Thanks everyone!

Just some random answers... the work started on June 23 and ended on August 7th... lighting the shots was a breeze with radiosity providing fill and a simple key light was all that was needed. Render times were quite reasonable because of the relative small size in frame of the CG elements.

Most shots were composited and finished at 720p and it was a shame to loose all the side information in frame... gosh, 16:9 is just so much more attractive than 4:3.

Interesting trivia...

-I was telling Norman Kent about the RED camera and its small size and how it would be perfect for his sky-diving photography. When I mentioned REDs creator, Jim Jannard, he laughed and went on to tell me stories of how they all were involved in sky-diving in the '70's and how Jim was one of the first people to bring a sense of business to the sport and got it going with sponsors, etc.

-The director John Behring also was the camera operator on the project and didn't give high marks to the HVX as a handheld camera... he didn't like the form factor or how he felt it resolved motion at 24fps. Now here's the irony... John gave up directing an episode of "The 4400" to do this RE/MAX gig, and as we've learned on this forum, that show has chosen the HVX as their official run-and-gun camera. So, no matter where he would have went this summer, he would have had the HVX to deal with.

Regards,

Jim Arthurs
 
Hey Jim. You posted a response to my thread on keying at exactly the same time 03:01pm as I posted here after watching your cool clip. What are the odds? Might have to buy a lotto ticket - win some big cash - buy lots more toys.

Cheers mate.
 
Jim Arthurs said:
I was telling Norman Kent about the RED camera and its small size and how it would be perfect for his sky-diving photography.
Click to expand...
Until you strap on whatever recording device it will need. Being weighed down by the camera, a hard drive (yikes!) and a power pak to run it all, make sure you don't forget the parachute! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
Holy crap!

Unbelievably good work compositing the extra divers and planes into the skydiving shots. What did you use to track (just the ground)?

Also - the extra skydivers added in the BG - all lightwave CG? I can tell the last shot with the RE/MAX logo the skydivers (all if not most) are cg).

Very impressed.
 
Last edited:
mjmcneese2 said:
I'm going to show my wife all of the wonderful things I could do if I just had an HVX.
Click to expand...

LOL, my skydiving days ended when I got married. Especially when my wife found out that the life insurance policy EXCLUDED death by skydiving specifically.
 
Thanks again folks...

More detail...I used Syntheyes for most of the tracking, and yes LW for all the extra divers in frame. When in extreme motion, some of them are closer to the camera than the real guys..

Michael, I hear you... that's one of the reasons I didn't do a tandem when I was out there... got to thinking about the wife. That's ONE reason... the other reason I couldn't put my finger on until recently... here's what I think (patent pending, use only with written permission)...

Skydiving is a sport where you are DEAD unless something GOOD happens. Most sports you are ALIVE unless something BAD happens... just saying... :)

Jim Arthurs
 
that's crazy did you guys have any kind of markers for motion tracking? It must have been a lot of masking..you did a good job at it, but there were still a couple frames here and there that could use some work. Mainly I saw it towards the end.
 
Mike McNeese said:
I'm going to show my wife all of the wonderful things I could do if I just had an HVX.
Click to expand...

I'm going to show my wife all of the wonderful things I could do if I just had and HVX...and talent. :)

That was amazing work. Somebody already said it, but I wouldn't have known any better if you didn't mention it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top