MSP8: How to simulate searchlights in the sky
MSP8: How to simulate searchlights in the sky
im new to media studio pro i work for a day centre with people with physical disabilities, we have started a small video group, no using pictures and sounds we have simulated a lancaster bomber flying over and being attacked by flak what we would like to do is have searchlights penetrating the sky, can any one help us to achieve this effect please
i have managed it kind off
i made the shape within a paint program searchlight white and background black, then using the overlay and transparency that gave me the light shining in the sky, then i used the move path requester to make the searchlight move from side to side i think i just have to tweak it a bit now, but if any1 has any better ideas it will be much appreciated
The way I'd do it is to create a separate video of the searchlights' beams, then overlay it on the video of the sky with transparency set to a suitable figure (start at 50%).
Start a new project and put a white colour clip on V1. Then apply a 2D advanced moving path to it. Set its width to something narrow, its height to more than the vertical resolution of your project (e.g. I'm PAL so I set it to 800, higher than 576). Distort the beam so that it's wider at the top than at the bottom, and move its pivot point to the bottom middle block.
Copy the start keyframe properties to the end keyframe, and you have your basic searchlight.
You can vary the X position for a panning shot, and the Y position can be lower if your searchlight's "bulb" is within the shot (i.e. you are high, looking down at the ground).
Once you're happy with its basic position, you can add keyframes for its left/right sweep and adjust the rotation accordingly. Using the bottom middle node rotates the moving path around that point instead of the centre of the frame.
If you want to get adventurous, adjust the distortion of the moving path too, to get the feel for a 2D movement instead of 1D (left right) movement.
Copy/paste as many searchlights as you need onto V2 and higher, and adjust them as appropriate, then render out to an uncompressed AVI (or whatever).
In your favourite image editing software, create a gradient fill from white or pale grey at the top to black about halfway down the screen, using the image resolution of your TV system. Save it as a BMP.
In a new project, drop the searchlight AVI onto V2 and again onto V3. On both of them, add the gradient image as a gray key overlay. This simulates the beam fading as it gets further from its source. On the V3 clip, add a bit of gaussian blur and set its transparency to something acceptable - this simulates the occlusion of the searchlight beam.
Render out to anothe uncompressed AVI.
There are two things you can do with the resulting video. A quick and easy idea is to use it as a transparency matte - you put a copy of your source video on V1 and V2. Turn the V1 clip to monochrome and darken it using filters. Use the V2 clip with your searchlight video as a gray key video matte to force the searchlight bits to show through as full colour. This may well be an acceptable effect, and to be honest, it's as far as I'd go, but it's not what you'd see in reality. You can't see something "through" a beam - if you shine a torch upwards and look towards the ground through the torch beam, you won't see the ground in glorious technicolor.
For the ultimate reality, you need to render this out to a temporary AVI. You won't be using this render as part of the finished film, it's for rotoscoping purposes. Drop it onto the timeline in video paint, and paint the underside of any planes or parts of planes that come within the searchlight's beam a black colour. Paint the rest of the plane light grey. Render out as a video without the background - i.e. you end up with a white video with small black and grey plane-shape blobs appearing and disappearing on the screen.
Then, back in MSP, load your source footage on V1 and darken it slightly, and make it monochrome. Put your searchlight video on V2 and make it quite transparent - i.e. this time, we're not using it as a matte. Then, on V3, put your source footage again, but use a gray key video matte using the rotosope video you just made. You end up with dark footage, with the white beams of searchlights slicing up the screen, and the only bit of colour you ever see is the underside of the plane as it "enters" a searchlight's beam.
HTH
Start a new project and put a white colour clip on V1. Then apply a 2D advanced moving path to it. Set its width to something narrow, its height to more than the vertical resolution of your project (e.g. I'm PAL so I set it to 800, higher than 576). Distort the beam so that it's wider at the top than at the bottom, and move its pivot point to the bottom middle block.
Copy the start keyframe properties to the end keyframe, and you have your basic searchlight.
You can vary the X position for a panning shot, and the Y position can be lower if your searchlight's "bulb" is within the shot (i.e. you are high, looking down at the ground).
Once you're happy with its basic position, you can add keyframes for its left/right sweep and adjust the rotation accordingly. Using the bottom middle node rotates the moving path around that point instead of the centre of the frame.
If you want to get adventurous, adjust the distortion of the moving path too, to get the feel for a 2D movement instead of 1D (left right) movement.
Copy/paste as many searchlights as you need onto V2 and higher, and adjust them as appropriate, then render out to an uncompressed AVI (or whatever).
In your favourite image editing software, create a gradient fill from white or pale grey at the top to black about halfway down the screen, using the image resolution of your TV system. Save it as a BMP.
In a new project, drop the searchlight AVI onto V2 and again onto V3. On both of them, add the gradient image as a gray key overlay. This simulates the beam fading as it gets further from its source. On the V3 clip, add a bit of gaussian blur and set its transparency to something acceptable - this simulates the occlusion of the searchlight beam.
Render out to anothe uncompressed AVI.
There are two things you can do with the resulting video. A quick and easy idea is to use it as a transparency matte - you put a copy of your source video on V1 and V2. Turn the V1 clip to monochrome and darken it using filters. Use the V2 clip with your searchlight video as a gray key video matte to force the searchlight bits to show through as full colour. This may well be an acceptable effect, and to be honest, it's as far as I'd go, but it's not what you'd see in reality. You can't see something "through" a beam - if you shine a torch upwards and look towards the ground through the torch beam, you won't see the ground in glorious technicolor.
For the ultimate reality, you need to render this out to a temporary AVI. You won't be using this render as part of the finished film, it's for rotoscoping purposes. Drop it onto the timeline in video paint, and paint the underside of any planes or parts of planes that come within the searchlight's beam a black colour. Paint the rest of the plane light grey. Render out as a video without the background - i.e. you end up with a white video with small black and grey plane-shape blobs appearing and disappearing on the screen.
Then, back in MSP, load your source footage on V1 and darken it slightly, and make it monochrome. Put your searchlight video on V2 and make it quite transparent - i.e. this time, we're not using it as a matte. Then, on V3, put your source footage again, but use a gray key video matte using the rotosope video you just made. You end up with dark footage, with the white beams of searchlights slicing up the screen, and the only bit of colour you ever see is the underside of the plane as it "enters" a searchlight's beam.
HTH
thnx but 1 thing
this is the first time i have used the 2d advanced and i have managed it all but. the end keyframe the searchlight starts going transparent then dissappearing how do i stop this happening or have i missed something simple? sorry sorted it the length of the colour clip determines the lenght the light will display. thanks for all your help on this people
Does your colour clip have the same attributes on the end keyframe as it does at the start? The way to check this is to watch the matte AVI (the one with just the searchlights on a black background) and make sure they stay white all the way through instead of fading to black.
If they do stay white, then the problem is with your overlay options when you apply this as a matte to your source footage. It's possible the transparency on your end keyframe is different to that at the start...
If they do stay white, then the problem is with your overlay options when you apply this as a matte to your source footage. It's possible the transparency on your end keyframe is different to that at the start...