CompuServe Thread

#Film grain/hair, etc.

19 messages in this thread
#123328From: John N. JordanSep 12, 1994 1:07 AM
Is there any IPAS that simulates old film? Like making things grungy, grainy, and stuff like hair in the frame, etc. Burning up the film would be fun too. JNJ
#123331From: Robert A. WeilSep 12, 1994 3:12 AM
John There is an IPAS routine called Old Movie from the Pyros Partnership that shows mold and scratches, and can add a sepia tone to animations. bob
#123334From: Sep 12, 1994 3:43 AM
JNJ: >> Is there any IPAS that simulates old film? Ah, my son, you haven't looked in IPAS.TXT since last year, have you? <bg> Yes, we have two routines – OldMovie.IXP that adds scratches, dust, and fungus to your images, also removes color and/or turns to sepia, in addition to adding a bit of wobble to each frame. Film.IXP adds filmgrain to your animation. Both are fully user configurable for amounts of the effects. (How much fungus do you want on your film, sir? And will that be with or without scratches?) Greg Pyros
#123373From: John N. JordanSep 12, 1994 11:21 AM
Well Greg, I did a long time ago- but for some reason things arent up to date with the file… so it's lost my attention. <g> I remembered hearing/reading something about film effects so I just asked. I figured something that wonderful, amazing, and stupendous wouldn't have been on that _old_ list… <ok, I admit it- I forgot.> I did search the libraries.. (you need a demo flic.) All I found was a group of files that could be VP'd over the video- but it was repetitive, etc. How much? Thank you oh master of fungus. <G> Fungus?? Yech- not that old!! JNJ
#123382From: Sep 12, 1994 1:06 PM
JNJ: Call Tony at (714) 957-1616 for pricing and to order. Greg PS – "Master of Fungus" – Is that an accredited college degree?
#123350From: Don LandisSep 12, 1994 8:56 AM
Pyros has an IXP that does what you need including sepia tone. I just bought it for a project I'm doing this week. It also is supposed to have wobble. I haven't used it yet but I'll let you know how the effect goes by Wednesday. I also have to do some time lapsed recording of the video in the PAR to give that Chaplinesque speed up motion of the old movie look. This project is going to be fun! You wouldn't happen to know what the old movie frame rate was.
#123372From: John Mateer [PolyMedia]Sep 12, 1994 11:18 AM
Old movies were shot at 18 fps (which is why they look so fast now a-days, projected at 24 fps). Sounds like you have a fun project! Cheers, John
#123374From: John N. JordanSep 12, 1994 11:21 AM
Sounds great. I'm sure Greg will get on here to give me all the info- (yep, he did). I'm doing a similar project, less "old film style" as you, but something similar w/ a PAR. It's a Forrest Gump type spoof. We're getting some old footage, and trying to comp. a guy and a bird mascot together. Fun stuff too- a good break from the routine. Depending on the footage, we may need to play with things to get them both to match up semi realistically. Sepia tone sounds great. Wobble too. I'd guess that 12-15 fps would be a likely frame rate of old film cameras. You might want to call around and see if you can find the frame rate of an old 8mm or Super 8. I bet it's similar to those. Have you tried the 24fps switch on the PAR? How does that look? Please let me know how it works out when you can. We're going to do some experimenting this week- so It'd be good to know how it goes w/ you. JNJ
#123450From: Don LandisSep 12, 1994 9:02 PM
8mm movies were in both 18 FPS and 24 fps. I don't know how slow the old Chaplan movies were played for real time. I would guess between 10-15 fps. I'll be testing the footage tonight. The PAR's 24FPS won't work for video output because of a loss of vertical sync. What you must do is fake the effect by video taping in real time. edit your piece then capture it in the par using the time lapsed record. When you play it back at 30 fps it is proportionatly speeded up. I'll start with recording to par every other frame which should be equal to 15 fps played back at 30. It doesn't have to be precise but I believe this coupled with the Pyros ipas will be just what will work.
#123463From: John N. JordanSep 12, 1994 10:31 PM
sounds good. I'll be getting the PAR tomorrow or Wed, so I'm not too familiar to all it's workings. I was thinking a quick strobe might be convincing enough. That is, if the TBC-IV did strobe- and if it's fast enough. Let me know how it looks.
#123475From: Don LandisSep 12, 1994 11:26 PM
I just finished up the rendering of the old movie effect and it is as realistic as I could wish for. The test with straight rendering of 30 FPS is OK but coupled with the time lapsed recording makes it very realistic. Actually you don't use the time lapsed record as this will only record 1 FPS at fastest speed. You want to record your frames at 15 FPS using normal but play them back at 30 FPS. This makes it look very real. I tested the strobe effect with the video DVE but it just didn't look right.
#123491From: Sep 13, 1994 1:49 AM
>> I just finished up the rendering of the old movie effect and it is as >> realistic as I could wish for. I'm glad that our IPAS worked out so well for you! Did you end up using just OldMovie, or did you add FilmGrain to it, also?
#123576From: Don LandisSep 13, 1994 1:05 PM
I just used old movie. By setting the quality factor to 12 in the record mode there was enough graininess to the image that I felt additional grain via IPAS was unnecessary. I don't recall seeing that in the package, though.
#123680From: Sep 14, 1994 2:47 AM
>> I don't recall seeing that in the package, though. FilmGrain is in a different package. It came out a few months later. Greg Pyros
#123571From: John N. JordanSep 13, 1994 12:30 PM
I'm glad to hear it worked. Thanks for the results- I'm looking forward to experimenting myself. Recording at 15fps sounds much easier than time lapse, etc. I'll definately try it out.
#123577From: Don LandisSep 13, 1994 1:18 PM
>> Recording at 15fps sounds much easier than time lapse, One is as easy as the other as is recording at normal speed. The PAR is simply a revolutionary piece of equipment. Much like the Toaster when it first came out.
#123734From: John N. JordanSep 14, 1994 11:15 AM
the PAR is definately revolutionary. Add sound, and you're limitless in creative possibilities. What do you think about the MCI drivers coming out for the PAR? Can't wait- it's coming tomorrow. JNJ
#123582From: Gus GrubbaSep 13, 1994 2:00 PM
What I do is to process all the live video frames straight from the PAR (rotoscoping using a single machine) and save the processed images in my local disk. When I tell 3D Studio to do the processing from the Video Post, I tell it to do it all but skipping every other frame. Later, when all is done, I just copy every frame to the PAR twice. I have done this with all of my "paint" effects and the result is great. I have this sequence where a camera slowly moves toward a framed painting on a wall. As the camera approaches, the painting starts to move and the camera goes in… you get the picture.
#123646From: Don LandisSep 13, 1994 8:41 PM
I did the whole thing by using the IFL and VP the whole project never laid a frame to my dos drive. If I had to do 3 minutes of movie effects my HD wouldn't be big enough. When I was all done the finished movie was ready to record to tape.