Capturing objects from videos

PsyCLown89 · Post by **PsyCLown89** » Tue May 27, 2008 7:54 am

Hey guys,
I have a question...I would like to know how to "remove" certain things from a video and then place them in another video.

Like let say I wanted to take a characters (lets say Goku from DBZ and then place him into a scene of another video...but I want to take a scene of Goku doing one of his blasts/waves or whatever they are called. So it will be like lets say 1 minute worth of video I want to take out of DBZ and it will obviously have Goku moving.

Also I would like to "clean" around the edges so its just the character and nothing from the background in a block (like some mountains behind Goku)

I know you can do it with photoshop frame by frame, but that will take a super long time...
Isnt there some sort of program similar to photoshop (or which allows for the cropping, cleaning and other featured needed to do it in photoshop) but for videos?

Thanks, Psy

LivingFlame · Post by **LivingFlame** » Tue May 27, 2008 8:27 am

Like it or not, you have to mask it out frame by frame. Usually in anime, there are a number of duplicate frames, in which case you can duplicate the mask from the previous frame as well, but you will still have to keyframe and mask each frame.

Oh, and I don't know what program you're using, so I can't really get more specific.

PsyCLown89 · Post by **PsyCLown89** » Tue May 27, 2008 9:18 am

HmmZ, ok...ouch

What programs do most of you guys use when adding the images frame by frame?

Vivaldi · Post by **Vivaldi** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:14 am

For heavy duty masking, it's probably best to use Adobe After Effects. However, I'd say most people (myself included) just export frame by frame in photoshop

LivingFlame · Post by **LivingFlame** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:17 am

When I'm trying to, let's say, mask a character out of a scene to put him on a different background, I would typically just do my masking within my video editing program, which is usually Sony Vegas. It can certainly be time consuming depending on how long the clip is and how much the target object is moving, but that's really all you can do as far as cutting out a specific object/person.

I've never done any extensive masking in Premiere, but I would assume it's capable of it as well. If not, then there's always photoshop. =\

Here's one thing to keep in mind, though. A character usually won't move too much from one frame to another, so instead of recreating the mask from scratch for every frame, you can just adjust the existing mask to refit the character. It all takes some getting used to, but you'll get faster at it. I used to spend like 20 minutes masking one frame; now I take like 3-5 minutes depending on the complexity of the scene.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Tue May 27, 2008 3:36 pm

i use vegas, though its not always frame accurate O.o

LivingFlame · Post by **LivingFlame** » Tue May 27, 2008 5:31 pm

It should remain frame accurate as long as you keep "Quantize to Frames" enabled. It's the first thing listed under the Options drop-down menu. When it's turned off you're allowed to work between frames, which is really only useful if you're working with audio.

(Believe it or not, Vegas can be used as a self-sufficient audio editor/mixer. We've recorded and mixed a capella vocal tracks and some instrumental stuff just with Vegas at my work.)

Kevmaster · Post by **Kevmaster** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:00 pm

yeah, masking in vegas is hell, especially when you're working with avs. I wouldn't ever suggest you to do it...

PsyCLown89 · Post by **PsyCLown89** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:38 am

Hmm, ok.
Thanks guys!