September, 2010: Vaporizing Character Effect

[tefft]

September Contest: Vaporizing Character effect.

This is hypothetical:

We have been offered a effect in a film and we are competing with other studios to generate an effect where the main actor vanishes and then appears somewhere else in the shot. The main thing is the look of the effect. The director suggested the character vaporizes in some kind of mist or smoke and then the same effect also forms him back but he is up for suggestions. He wants to see tests over any kind of background and it can be a locked off shot, so we don’t have to worry about tracking. This is a R&D test but the better the look the more we have a chance of being awarded the show.

1) I would start off by researching previous characters that have done similar types of things. Look at star trek, nightcrawler from x-men, even look at old ghost films. I have added a video of an effect I did at Zoic for a CSI. I would shoot locked off video of the main character doing simple acting and then shoot a clean plate to remove him. I would generate my mattes for the character and bring the shot and mattes in to Maya as the particle emitter and color. From there I would start testing out different effects. Final take it all in to a compositing package and finish it up.

http://gallery.me.com/tefft/100085

2) The aspect ratio should be 1.77 (HD)
3) The final resolution output of your piece should be: 1280 x 720
4) The YouTube plug-in is installed on the forum and supports either standard def or HD. To Embed a YouTube video you only put the video ID in between the BB code tags (NOT the full URL!). In your YouTube channel, Embedding MUST be enabled for the video!

For more info read the CGC Contest Rules / FAQ: Visual Effects

The contest ends on October 5th and three winners will be picked. You have till then to complete your matte shot. The winners will be picked based on how they did in regards of the guidelines described above.

Every month, for each contest, three winners will be picked.

The first position winner will get: 10 Gnomon DVDs
The second position winner will get: 5 Gnomon DVDs
The Third position winner will get: 2 Gnomon DVDs

The winners are picked on the 5th of each month and the results will be announced in the thread of that particular contest.

When winning a contest, the Gnomon Workshop will contact you so you can pick your DVDs and confirm your shipping address. You will have the choice of getting hard copies or digital downloads. Usually you can expect to receive the email form the Gnomon Workshop about a week after the winners have been announced.

Good luck!!

Tefft Smith II
Visual Effects Supervisor

[gcastro]

I've always wanted to do this effect. I'm going to give it a go.

-George

[hjelvik]

Here is the link to our wip thread:
http://forums.cgchannel.com/showthread.php?t=12529

[undothis]

I would like to join the competition. Is Video Footage a Must-Have or is 3d-only okay too? ..since it is R&D

[Jaxko]

Spent the last few days making an entry for this, is there supposed to be a WIP for the video? just before I bother rendering it out and uploading it, I thought it would be a good idea to add one in if necessary.

[Malkavian2003]

Here is my entry:


Did a quick write-up on how I did it in the WIP section:
http://forums.cgchannel.com/showthread.php?t=12600

[Jaxko]

WIP thread:
http://forums.cgchannel.com/showthre...6066#post16066

[Bckwrdbbq]

[tefft]

Sorry for the delay on the question about video. It does not have to be over video, but it would help the voting the more finished the effect looks.

[Bckwrdbbq]

sorry for the delay here is the link to my WIP thread
http://forums.cgchannel.com/showthread.php?t=12623