Making "AlBot" Pt. 5 - VFX Setup (Patreon)

Every shot of the video is a visual effect so it makes sense to set up the project in a way that'll make the creative process easier.

I exported the edit as an AAF file which can be imported in other software. This lets me jump into Resolve to color-grade the original camera takes used in the final video.

Then it's off to After Effects where I turn the edit into one big composition.

I like to number the shots using the old-fashioned VFX syntax we already saw in the animatic:

[number with leading zeros]+0.

So the first three shots are 010, 020, 030 and so on. That way if you ever need to add an extra shot between 010 & 020, you can use the end digit to call it 015, and still have room on either side of that to insert more shots (013, 016).

At this point we can just start chipping away at the VFX one by one, but since the main goal in most shots is for the characters to be realistically placed in the virtual environment, I think it makes sense to first go through and take care of 3 things:

• Cleanly key the greenscreen & fix problem areas with roto
• Composite basic plate element (falling sunglasses & dangling legs)
• Track/estimate each shot's camera placement in 3D

I put each shot into a precomp and take care of the greenscreen. For some shots a simple Primatte key works, for others I need to do a multi-step process, cleaning up some parts of the matte manually. The leg and the falling sunglasses of course need frame-by-frame manual rotoscoping. The latter has so much motion blur, the rims are practically invisible on most frames, but I managed to trace them!

I use a combo of Blender & SynthEyes to track camera motion and calculate the perspective of the static shots. The measurements of the objects on set along with the known camera height help set the correct scale.

If all is done right, the floor in the 3D scene should match the floor in the footage, and when we start throwing 3D elements in, they'll automatically have proper size.

For now I place a few planes with UV grids around to indicate the environment, then gather everything in AE.

Back in part 3, I forgot to include the funny little chair among the purchased props. It looks oddly menacing, lol.

I decided to go through the main comp and animate a frame guide to make sure each shot can work in square AND vertical format. Judging by the playblast at the top, it seem workable!

And now is the point where things go into slow motion. It's time to create/acquire all the CG assets. With Joey's help, I'm going to model & texture button console, the rest of the space lab full of things, and of course... the robot.

Oh boy. Is it too late to just make a dance TikTok instead?