IZation Labs

I spent a decent amount of time yesterday reintroducing myself to blender 2.5(3) and am happy to say that I can now use it almost completely in my SFX pipeline. Earlier versions of Blender only come into the game once, and that is to import my Syntheyes python script, as Syntheyes has a lack of compatibility with the new python API the Blender uses. All of two minutes later, it’s back to the new version and it’s wonderful speedy goodness. Here’s a tracking test of the days work.

The items onscreen are not final, they are simply visual aides to help determine the quality of the track and to configure the lighting. I have something much more interesting planned for this footage.

-Lace

With the shelling out of some decent dinero and about six hours of effort, I have here for the entertainment of all up and coming VFX enthusiasts a camera tracking test. If you are looking for bright lights, action, and large explosions… well you may be disappointed, this is just a test, there’s nothing too fancy about it, visually. The key focus was the tracking of a CG item to handheld video footage, and it turned out well for a first attempt.

The tracking was done using Syntheyes, the same software used for tracking in films such as Iron Man 2, Alice in Wonderland, and Avatar. If it isn’t already, Syntheyes is becoming an industry standard. However, if you can’t afford the license, the Voodoo camera tracker works rather well, and is free for the most part.

The compositing and CG effects were done using the node editing engine in Blender 3D, a free and open source program that continues to improve daily.

For a look at what the best of the best can do with Blender, check out this Sintel trailer, the newest short film from the Blender Foundation coming out in a few months

Critiques are welcome. More to come.

-Lace

The left eye....something strange is going on here..

Alright, not so much candy as it is special effects.. involving the eye. Horrible pun, I admit, but the effect is still interesting to watch considering the relative simplicity involved in this special effects/compositing test. The video at the end of the article will show off the final result.

Using Blender (and, for the first time, compositing nodes), I hand tracked the movement of my eye from some video footage taken using my laptop’s built in webcam at the decent resolution of 960 by 540. The footage was taken while in a moving vehicle, for some added difficulty. Composited over top of the eye is a false retina, which has been animated to match the combined movement of the camera, my head, and my eye. Now that the eye has been tracked I can make any changes or additions to the eye that I want, given some time and effort.

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