Post rendering video processing

[josephus]

We're working on four animations of home walkthroughs. I'm thinking that a lot of render time might be saved if it was possible to first render out the structure, and once we have the lights and path set, to render the furniture and deco accessories separately, and then to add them to the structure animation with a program like Adobe Premiere, the same as you would do in Photoshop. Is this doable?

[Tommy L]

Depends if you want to calculate the lighting correctly. If the spaces are rendered out seperate to contained objects, there will be no shadows of the objects on the structure. Have a look at combustion. It allows masking by object in post-production with max. This may go part of the way to helping you out, but the time spent setting it up along with the fact you have no shadows makes it a bit of a bum deal.

[William Alexander]

There's no secret mojo to CG compositing the entoruage in as a seperate rendered pass. Shadows are easy actually. You have to put a white materrial to everything that is not entourage, walls floors ect. It must be 255,255,255 in the rendered output on all surfaces that recieve shadows takes a little tweaking sometimes. You turn off the visibility of the entourage objects and make sure they are set to cast shadows. By leaving all the geometry that is not entoruage you get correct surfaces for shadows and generally don't need any alphas for masks. In comp it's a simple multiply function of the shadow pass (why the non shadow pixels in the render need to be white) or you can just rendoer out a shadow pass along with the seperate entourage objects and that method in some apps can be extra fun to work in post.

 

The only real diffiuculty with rendering seperate entourage is the lighting, specifically the transfer of color in GI with objects not in the renders. A keen eye and some creative extra lighting beyond the lights used through out the entire scene can overcome any really obvious lighting issues.

 

It takes a little extra effort and time up front, but can save a great deal of time rendering. These methods do not seem to be widely accepted in ArchViz but they are common pratice for animation through out much of the film and advertising parts of the CG/VFX industry.

 

My 2 pennies

WDA

[Tommy L]

WDA: I see what you mean. I assumed the question from Josephus meant the entourage was indetermined/likely to change, so the guy wanted to render out the building and add entourage afterward when it had been decided or changed.

[josephus]

There's no secret mojo to CG compositing the entoruage in as a seperate rendered pass.

 

So are we looking here at three passes, one for the structure, one for the entourage, and one for the shadows?

 

Is Adobe Premiere Pro able to composite these as you discuss? I'm expecting an application that will do this to do it globally, and not frame by frame.

[josephus]

WDA: I see what you mean. I assumed the question from Josephus meant the entourage was indetermined/likely to change, so the guy wanted to render out the building and add entourage afterward when it had been decided or changed.

 

I'm interested in this process only as a means to cut the overall render time. All entourage is pre-determined/approved.

 

Our biggest hurdle is to get the animation path and timing approved by the three partners. So that's meant several re-renders (of the structure only). Once that's approved, if then I could just render separately the placed entourage (with separate shadow pass?), then I'm guessing I could save a LOT of time rendering.

[Tommy L]

What software are you using?

[Ernest Burden III]

I use Premiere, but it is buggy, at least the version I'm using. I'm just used to it, flaws and all.

 

Adobe AfterEffects does most of what Photoshop does, but with a timeline. Premiere lacks the layer combining functions that AE can do with ease.

[josephus]

What software are you using?

 

I had planned to purchase Adobe Premiere Pro. I have Photoshop CS, and there's a bundle available for $100 less than the retail price of Premiere by itself. The bundle includes a PS upgrade to CS2, along with Premiere Pro AND Adobe After Effects.

 

We're animating and rendering in FormZ :eek: ...actually starting to look decent, but as someone mentioned elsewhere, it probably won't be great. We're not trying to win a CG competition, just satisfy the client at this point....so far they (the "client") are very happy w/what they've seen.

[josephus]

I use Premiere, but it is buggy, at least the version I'm using. I'm just used to it, flaws and all.

Adobe AfterEffects does most of what Photoshop does, but with a timeline. Premiere lacks the layer combining functions that AE can do with ease.

Hi Ernest...so with the bundle I mentioned in previous post I should have everything I'll need to do this composting (I mean "compositing....must have spring planting on my mind), right? Sounds like AE is the better application (in the Adobe bundle) to use.

[Tommy L]

Id recommend AE, especially if you know PS already (which most people here do). Also, photoshop cs2 has a couple of features that are worth thinking about. If you were using max i would recommend combustion due to its compatability for masking. Im afraid i dont know anything about form z. If there is a way to cache your GI, that will save you time. If you can bake your textures, likewise.

Good luck.