View Full Version : Simple composite question?
bnkpro
05-08-2011, 04:57 AM
Hi.
Sorry if this has been covered in past topics but my frustration levels are running high.
I have a home project I'm wanting to do which involves an animated dinosaur in a (live footage) field walking around toward camera etc.
Is there a simple foolproof way of only rendering the dinosaur and it's shadow?
This model (which I purchased) has no plane set up.
I want to export as Png with alpha into After effects.
I only have the default renderers.
I actually had it working for 3 frames but then 3ds Max shut it's self down and I can't recreate the settings I used. I think I created a plane, but every time now either the plane renders or the shadows missing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.( In NUBIE terms!)
Kind regards:
bnkpro.
libertycityanimation
05-08-2011, 05:51 AM
3ds max is not really a compositing problem. You can load sequence into the ram-player to see what they look like when you want to export them. if you have lost the shadows then all you need to do is add the lights if you deleted them and turn the shadows on. i'm not sure if you can export max's lights. you need to fakes the lights in After effects so i don't really know how to do this. you mite need to ask the After effects fourm
Anthony
LCA
bnkpro
05-09-2011, 03:52 AM
I had every thing working for 3 frames.
I can export the Dinosaur no worries but it doesn't have the shadow.
I just need the Dinosaur and the shadow it casts on the ground with an alpha channel,( a PNG sequence for After effects) with no visible plane.
Either the plane renders with the shadow on it, Or when I make the plane not visible, I don't get the shadow.
I have checked and everything has been ticked to cast and receive shadows.
Surely this is something people do every day, i have seen it. Think Jurassic park.
Kind regards:
bnkpro
libertycityanimation
05-09-2011, 04:26 AM
Unless you create a light and then turn the shaodws on then there will be no lights or shaodws because max uses it default lighting when you create a light then max will turn the default lighting out. once you have the the lights and shadows turned on and render your Dinosaur you will see the shadows. But if your using a black environment then you won't try adding a plane to where the Dinosaur is. Once you added the plane and render it out then you will see the shadows. once you see the shadows when you render then save it as a PNG. once you have saved in then load it into after effects.,.....
bnkpro
05-09-2011, 05:08 AM
Firstly thanks for helping, but I'm still confused.
Are you saying not to add a plane? I think I have tried this with only the Dinosaur rendering-no shadow.
The Dinosaur has a spot light and an omni light in the project which as I said are on and set to cast shadows.
In the render window I have been clicking the button to see the alpha channel which doe's not show a shadow.
About to cry!
Kind regards:
bnkpro
libertycityanimation
05-09-2011, 07:58 AM
on up your scene. In the top view create a plane place the place under the Dinosaur's feet make the plane big enough so the Dinosaur can walk on. select the spot light in the modify panel you will see General parameters you will now see the shadow check (tick) box check (tick) that box. Now select the omni light do the samething now your shadows are active you won't see any shadows until you render your scene now render the scene you will see the shadows.
Once you see the shadows then all you have to do is save out the render and load it into after effects
LCA
bnkpro
05-09-2011, 06:40 PM
Hi,
But then the plane renders out with it.
I have no problem getting the lights to cast shadows, I just can't get the shadows to work without a big ugly plane rendering with them.
I can't integrate a flat colored plane into real life footage.
Kind regards:
bnkpro
libertycityanimation
05-10-2011, 01:35 AM
I don't know what to tell you, you cannot see the shadows without any kind of plane or geometry object in your scene. why don't you texture the object plane with wood or grass
then you could use it in your scene. How do you think they made Jurassic Park they used dinosaur and planes so the dinosaur's could walk on. It's not like they brought the dinosaur back to life.
LCA
chrisg
05-10-2011, 10:37 AM
Hi bnkpro,
About 4 minutes into this video, we examine how to create shadows on a live-action plate.
87. Matching lights to a photographic environment (http://www.digitaltutors.com/11/training.php?cid=106&vid=27039).
Let us know if you have any issues!
If you can use the mental ray renderer then you could put a Matt shadow material onto the plane and that should do what you need it to.
libertycityanimation
05-10-2011, 02:40 PM
I give up wth this questions. if he/she does not want to use the plane the problem is that is needs to use one or about object to create the shadows from the light(s) the shaodws won't just appear unless as i told him/her to take them in after effects
chrisg
05-10-2011, 02:57 PM
bnkpro is trying to have the color/shading of the plane not be visible in the final render, only the shadows. They're trying to make the plane transparent except in shadowed areas.
So shouldn't matt shadow on the plane do that?
libertycityanimation
05-11-2011, 06:22 AM
@Chris he does not want to use a plane.
@Kris i am not sure but as he does want to use a plane i don't care. LOL hard i Don't know. maybe I don't know what else to tell him...
he just wants the shadows to appear, CG or real world shadows don't work like that they need something to do reflect off of.
Like in the real world when your out your shadow is reflected by the sun at night you don't see your shadow. In GC then you need a ground plane or another object to reflect them to my 5 years of using max. i doubt you can create shadows without any geometry
Hello bnkpro! The basic workflow for this is something like this:
Set up the light source that is casting the shadow
Set up a plane to use as the ground to receive the shadow. This plane doesn't have to be textured or anything as you're not going to see anything from this plane other than the shadow. However it's important to note that this plane doesn't necessarily have to be perfectly flat in shape. For example, if the footage you want to composite the shadow onto is of ground that is very uneven then you might want to model some of that detail into the ground plane so that the shadow gets broken up to look natural.
Set up the materials for the plane to keep the shadow alpha
Render
As Kris suggests, you could use a Matte/Shadow/Reflection material onto the plane to do what you need. Here's an example of how you can do that:
23556890
And as (the other) Chris says, you could learn more by checking out the Introduction to 3ds Max 2011 (http://www.digitaltutors.com/11/training.php?pid=400) course that was referenced in the video.
bnkpro
05-12-2011, 06:30 AM
Hi.
A big thank you to Kris!
This is exactly what I was after- Thank you.
Just would like to thank everybody who helped, most have been fantastic.
Great to know that Jurassic park didn't really bring dinosaurs back to life.
Big help.
Kind regards:
bnkpro
bnkpro
05-12-2011, 06:39 AM
Sorry, also a massive thank you to Dan for the video!
Kind regards:
bnkpro
Your very welcome.
And thanks for being more clear on what I meant Dan.