Faking Reflections on set.

It’s all smoke and mirrors.

This came up recently because there was no glass in the window of the set. All the reflections were to be added in post from photos…. but when the actor stood at the window the Director wanted to see his reflection.

This is a simple trick for a locked off shot. The action is filmed with two cameras one for the main image and a 2nd camera for the refection.

You can find the position of the main camera simply by reflecting the main cameras position in the mirror plain.

  • Both cameras are equidistant from the mirror and targeted at the same point on the mirror plain.
  • A line connecting the nodal point ( focal center ) of each camera is perpendicular to the mirror ( at 90° )
  • both cameras should have the same FOV.

 

Fake_reflections

Outline of our linear workflow

This is the outline of our linear workflow. It works for both Fusion and Nuke.Viewing Linear workflows

The Composite

Setting up our linear workflow is relatively straight forward.

The key points are:-

  1. Inputs and outputs are 10 bit dpx files.
  2. the log to linear operation should match the camera profile ( Cineon, s-Log, Arri log c, etc )
  3. the log to linear operation on the input is inverted for the linear to log operation on the output.
  4. Composite with a floating point colour depth.

The Display

There are two methods for viewing the composite.

  1. No LUT file.  Without a grading LUT the only option is to apply a simple gamma to view the composite.
  2. LUT files. If a Colourist is involved then the linear image MUST be converted to a log plate before the LUT file is applied.

Further reading

  1. Simple Log to Lin workflow in Fusion
  2. Using Stacked LUTs in Fusion

My understanding of the RED camera workflow for visual effects

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This article work in progress as I try and sort out the best VFX workflow for myself and those working with me.

It seems to me to the best option is to use REDLogFilm and save compressed 16BIT exr files or 10bit dpx files. REDLogFilm directly copies the Cineon spec and we can use our standard Log to Linear workflows.

But …
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Tips for creating stereoscopic 3D ( S3D )

If people were meant to see 3D movies they would have been born with two eyes.
-Apocryphally attributed to Sam Goldwyn

Stereoscopic 3D is here to stay. Studios and manufacturers are pushing more shows and fancier tech. While digital workflows, impossible in the early days, mean a better experience for the viewer without the headaches of poorly balanced S3D.

This is an outline of our workflow for a native S3D show. At Lexhag the depth grade is done on the fabulous Mistika. For VFX I’ve invested in Eyeon Dimension.

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Simple file naming for VFX

Information is always lost as stuff is passed around different studios during post-production.  A good naming convention can help prevent confusion.

  • i means input (input to VFX system)
  • HDP is the project name.
  • 010 is the vfx shot number.
  • BG the plate name.
  • v01 is the version.
  • 000021 the frame number
  • dpx is the file type

So how is this used?
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