A simple question

[deanl]

I have been thinking about a scene in my latest script and I need some advise. There is a scene where we are flying over a landscape untill we get to a castle. Rather that establishing the castle, Then cuting the the indoor set. (A school hall). I was wondering if it is possable to keep it in one long shot and come right up close to the castle window where we can see a character walking inside the window (on the set)

Then I will cut to inside and start the scene.

Would it be possable to continue through the window and match the camera to a live dv cam and continue the scene in the same shot.

ILL be doing the landscape and the castle in 3d Anamatics using 3ds max 4. The script Im writing is going to cost a lot of money to make. So I just want to make certain scenes using the computer and using actor friends. Its so when Im taking the script round I can also show the video footage to show the scope Im trying to achieve.

The last part soun

[marti-c]

Why not do your animaion leaving the section behind the window as blue. Then edit it in premiere using bluescreen transparency. Place the wide shot dv footage in place of blue and as the animation zoooms in just use the motion control panel to move the dv clip at the same speed. If you spend a bit of time AND watch where you position the camera for the wide shot then i think it will look acceptable.
P.S. This is speculation and in theory only.......anybody else care to elaborate on my idea?

marti

[Generic Skinhead]

Not that I can help really but I just gotta say...the shots you attempt are so ambitious...RESPECT whether you succeed with them or not...

[Curtin-Parloe]

IMHO
Doable but tricky(lining up the footage to the render or vice versa)

As the great gonzo says:
It's great when it works!

paul

[norman-normal]

Ambitious..

If I was attempting this I would zoom toward the window, through the window we see a very easilly distinguishable figure in sillouette wearing a large feather in their hat or a very obvious helmet on - something easilly reconisable. They raise their hand or bang a fist on the table or another strong recognisable gesture.
Then cut to your actor, wearing a similar hat or head gear finishing off the same motion/gesture. That way the two are easilly connectable. However this could turn into an awful cartoon - Obvious CGI castle setting the scene. Obvious actor pretending to be inside CGI Castle. So you would need to colour match both scenes and make your CGI castle VERY realistic (gritty not glossy) or your live action scene look like computer graphics (yeah right - how much money do you have?)
Hey but Im a lo-fi kind of bloke so what do I know.

[Generic Skinhead]

Topic is a bit of a misnomer. This is NOT a simple question. Unless of course you're being cleverly ironic...in which case...kudos...CGI invariably looks bad. I acted in a film where the director used very monthy python-esque animated inerludes and pulled it off in after effects. Basically he went on the net, stole alien landscapes and such and scrolled them to give the impression of movement. He had planets bouncing off each other and cars driving and stuff. It worked but it was an intentionally silly film. Yours sounds more serious though.

[deanl]

When I called this Post a simple question I was taking the piss. The question is anything but simple.

The quality of the 3d work is not that important. These are just going to be simple animatics mixed with low quality dv video. Its just somthing to hand out with the script once its finished. To give people an Idea of what Im planning.

[BookerTee]

borrow my flying monkeys, just dont feed them pickles.