Anyone? What 3d programs do you use to composite into your scenes?

Matthew Sconce

There are many 3D programs you could use to achieve the effect you're after. The one I'd recommend is Maya. You'll need to composite the render as well; Shake is a good solution for that.

Thanks for the reply. Can you explain what you mean by composite the render? After creating the 3d image and rendering the bullet over a black background with lighting, can I simply import it to After effects?

Matthew Sconce

I've not really used After Effects, but yes I assume you could. Make sure your render includes an alpha channel, and you should be able to do an A over B, compositing the rendered bullet over your footage.

oooooh now I am excited! Thanks for the help! Any other ideas on animating the bullet or can Maya do that as well?

Matthew Sconce

You can use Maya to model, animate, and render the bullet. Render the bullet using Mental Ray if your version of Maya gives you that option. To do this absolutely right you should first do a camera track to create a camera in Maya that perfectly matches the camera you shot your footage with, but that's a somewhat hefty step to throw in there. I'd see if you can get it to look convincing without the camera track first.

Good Luck!

Just to make you aware, Maya has a very steep learning curve. We're talking a couple of months work just to understand the basics -- let alone generate the results you want. My suggestion is that you find someone that knows this or other 3D program (3D Studio Max, Lightwave, Cinema4D) and get them to do the work for you. You could probably post a request ad on Craigslist and someone may do it to enhance their reel.

That said, if you want to learn Maya you can download the Personal Learning Edition for free here:

http://www.alias.com/glb/eng/products-services/family_details.jsp?familyId=3900009

They'll also ship it to you on CD for around $20.

Hope this helps.

Dan Rahmel
Author: "Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking"
Free scripts, templates, film glossary, and know-how,
check out: http://www.cvisual.com

Thanks again everyone. What about 3DS Max? I have been surfing the net and there are some great things done on it. Softimage/XSI looks good too? My personal favorite I have seen is Zbrush2 but I don't know if it could do this. Any thoughts? And expand a bit on the camera tracking in Maya. It sounds very interesting. Thank you!

Matthew Sconce

3DS Max and XSI are good; Newer versions of XSI include it's own compositor, which could be helpful to you. Maya is my personal preference, and does have a learning curve as danr7 mentioned, as do any of the good 3D packages.

Zbrush is also good, though at this point I believe its best use is for adding detail to 3D models.

Basically camera tracking is done to create a camera in 3D space that matches the movement and position of the camera used to shoot the footage. For instance, if you'd want to place a 3D model of a floor lamp in a scene that you've shot, without any kind of camera track, the floor lamp wouldn't stand still in the location you've placed it. Camera tracking really solidifies the believability of CG integrated into a live action scene. However, for a flying bullet, this is not of so much importance, at least from what you've described. Maya has an integrated camera tracking feature called Maya Live. You'd better be served by using something like Boujou or Matchmover.

I just downloaded the Maya learning edition and played with it for several days. It is absolutely phenomenal!!!! I created my flying bullet after walking through a few book tutorials. I just bought Maya 6 Unlimited and should receive it soon! Thank you so much for the help! Check out my Fire Ball Composite at www.theperfectvideo.net click on special effects and you can watch it!

Matthew Sconce

Nice work msconce. I noticed the MAYA Live stamp on the fireball piece, but it certainly didn't deter the test's impact. Nice soundwork by the way.

Was the fireball created with what came bundled with the program, or was it created using a plugin?

hey, funny you asked about all this, because i just so happen to own a few copies of Maya 6 Unlimited, and have recently modeled a 9mm Luger. you can see a picture of the bullet at http://members.aol.com/imageinnovations

and e-mail me at imageinnovations?aol.com

my company can help you create this if need be.

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Shawn-Peter

Thanks for the positive feedback, DTurner! And ShawnPeter, that is an awesome bullet! I really want to do this myself and am learning slowly. Maya does have a steep learning curve but I am plodding alont little by little. DTurner, that was made with exactly what came with the personal learning edition. I got Maya Unlimited 6 and have been playing...it is quite fun!

Matthew Sconce