Aerial footage combined with 3D model query

[ctasker]

Hi

I've been asked about creating an animation of offshore wind turbines turning at their correct speed and composited into digital video footage of the offshore location to be filmed from the air.

 

I have never done this kind of animation compositing work but am interested in exploring the feasibility of doing it. Anybody done something similar to this in Max/Viz? Would you require another applicatation to do it. Specifically can anyone tell me how you would go about incorporating a flight path into a Max/Viz turbine model if some kind of realtime GPS device was used at the time of shooting.

 

One possible problem/challenge is that being off-shore there may be no visual reference unless we could get some buoys placed.

Hope someone can point me in the right direction.

Thanks

[notamondayfan]

surely with out any visual references, its gotta b easier to make it look realistic. are the proposed camera shots from a distance or up close?

will u take a straight flight over / past the turbines, or are you going for a complicated fly path?

 

which sea will you be flying over? what are the conditions your aiming for?

 

sounds like a great project tho!

[JamesTaylor]

i was going to say that you'd need to be looking at camera tracking software, i have had a play with it between AE and max and it was pretty staright forward, if a little laboriuos at times! But as you say with it being offshore i would think you'd struggle for enough visual reference points to track, equally i think the fact that visual features such as buoys are actually going to move around in the water could prove problomatic.

 

I'd guess if you could record realtime GPS locations you'll be able to plot the camera path in max, the more readings you can take per second is going to give you a much more accurate result. If you were to use this method another area to consider is any camera motion such as rotation vertically or horizontally etc along with any zooming as i GPS data is only provide you with the cameras location, not the angle it is looking at etc.

 

it would be interesting to see solutions you uncover anyway, please keep us updated!

 

James

[ctasker]

The flight path etc would be up to myself and the guy who would be doing the video/gps capture really, so i suppose we would have to do whatever made the job manageable, obviously if there was an eratic path with lots of zoom changes and camera motion inside the helicopter itself, this would cause some serious headaches. We just need to find a workable solution, we are not trying to take on Hollywood.

James, i haven't used any tracking software before, what is AE? Expensive?

If the camera were to be pointed at a buoy for the full sequence presumably that might make the task doable, i'd imaging there is some tolerance for reference geometry, i can't imaging that a buoy would move a great deal over a few minutes of footage.

[notamondayfan]

if ur planning on a straight level path over / past the turbines, y not just animate the rotors in max, then animate the scale in after effects? that way, u could even alter the position of the turbine with every frame if u wanted to.

 

also to note, the sea moves constantly, and you wouldnt notice a slight movement in the turbine position, plus u have the added movement from the plane.

[mbr]

Camera Tracking is what you need. So those programs are about $100 (PFHoe, I think it is, gets great reviews for cheap) way on up to well over $3k+ (proabably a lot more, but I don't pay attention).

[JamesTaylor]

Colin,

 

AE is After Effect from Adobe. The standard version is about £550, not sure about the pro version but i'd guess at £800 - £900.

 

I haven't got loads of experience with camera tracking but it seems to have very tight tolerences for tracking and you also need to know the real world distance between objects you use as reference positions, i think since the buoys will move, maybe only by a meter or so its going to cause you problems if not make it almost impossible? (i don't have enough experience to be absolute on that just my feeling) If you were doing it over a built up area you'd be using roof tops etc which aren't going to move a mm in relation to each other.

 

there is a tutorial in max that takes you thro compostiting a 3D model into live footage, its only going to illustate one half of the process that you'll need to do but it'll give you a better idea of what is involved.

 

James

[Sketchrender]

http://www.ssontech.com/index.html

 

This one is very popular at the moment.

$399

 

phil

[Ernest Burden III]

Camera Tracking is what you need.

 

But will there be anything fixed to track? Open water never stands still.

[JamesTaylor]

That is my concern too, even the slight movment of a buoy bobbing up and down is going to upset the tracking process i'd guess.

[notamondayfan]

i agree. the sea moves in 3 dimensions at the same time. your turbine could literally move meters and you wouldnt notice it.

 

if u shot your movie on an overcast day, you wouldnt have to worry about shadows on the water either.

 

id say the most complex part would be animating the spray or splash caused by the waves hitting the turbine.

[mbr]

Good point. Good luck ;-)

 

 

Probably eyeing it would work. Toss in a little blurry fog above the sea and it'll blend together.

[3dp]

i've done camera track projects a couple of times in the past

the pixel farm have it all pretty well covered in terms of price and complexity of software

syntheyes is the other "entry level"

there is also a freebie version from germany

 

BUT (and it's a big but)

 

trackers mean squat without decent footage

 

if you over the ocean basically hanging out of a helicopter with a mini dv camcorder is not going to cut it (i know i've done that and spent 2 weeks cleaning steadying and retiming footage so the software can get a track

 

mini dv is kinf of like working with a postage stamp when you really need the whole envelope for the job

 

you'll need dv minimum and a steadycam (you can make a steadycam mount yourself easy)

 

but from what you are describing the whole thing could be cgi using a seasurface plugin and some nice skie domes then you could play god and do the shots cinematic style (fly through the blades)

 

how come i don't get more gigs like that