Getting on Track with Tracking
I think I should stop trying to fit puns into the title. And I think this is the first time I've even tried to do that. This title is almost Fun with Filters-level bad.
Before you can ask why I've done another BIONICLE thing with my sister so soon after the last related post, I've done another BIONICLE thing with my sister! (Plus the last thing I've posted on was actually released around half a year ago so they're just posted really close together.)
Just to clarify, all of the story, camerawork/puppetry, audio effects, and color grading (as well as most of the voices) were done by Leena, and Onua and Tahu were voiced by Zorg Valtapaz (the Jedi in Star Wars -VIII [which was far less controversial than the actual VIII] and Djebauti in ABYDOS), making this a three-person work overall. Now then, on to the technical details!
For the eyes I used a feathered mask of a white layer for each eye (sometimes using more than one layer), giving them some color after the fact (I feel starting with a more stripped-down variant of an effect can help with recognizing what needs to be fixed--sometimes I wouldn't feather the layers until later). Animation-wise, I used a combination of 2D motion tracking and frame-by-frame adjustment, often starting with the first and correcting with the second. I decided to set the shape and position of the eyes as the first priority while doing the tracking, adding effects like blinking (simply changing the eye mask to a "closed" shape with keyframing) after I was done with the main task of tracking the eyes' movement. A neat trick to accomplishing this bit was that I could change move the eyes by either modifying the layer's position itself (which is what I normally used for the 2D tracking) or by modifying the path of its mask/s; especially concerning keyframes, this feature can be invaluable. Interestingly, manually correcting the masks while staying zoomed in a lot didn't make for success in and of itself; I often found myself having to see how it looks at around a 200% zoom level to see the big picture rather than just fine-tuning it around 800%.
While this project may seem inconsequential compared to some of my other works, I really felt like I learned a lot from this; my tracking work later in the video felt notably better than my initial work in the project (near the end, I actually redid an eye in the first scene at Leena's request and dramatically improved it), and such knowledge of precise tracking may be extremely helpful for the likes of ABYDOS II (which is still happening!). Sometimes shorter projects like this can be a massive help with learning new techniques, and that can make a really big difference in larger projects.
Before you can ask why I've done another BIONICLE thing with my sister so soon after the last related post, I've done another BIONICLE thing with my sister! (Plus the last thing I've posted on was actually released around half a year ago so they're just posted really close together.)
Just to clarify, all of the story, camerawork/puppetry, audio effects, and color grading (as well as most of the voices) were done by Leena, and Onua and Tahu were voiced by Zorg Valtapaz (the Jedi in Star Wars -VIII [which was far less controversial than the actual VIII] and Djebauti in ABYDOS), making this a three-person work overall. Now then, on to the technical details!
For the eyes I used a feathered mask of a white layer for each eye (sometimes using more than one layer), giving them some color after the fact (I feel starting with a more stripped-down variant of an effect can help with recognizing what needs to be fixed--sometimes I wouldn't feather the layers until later). Animation-wise, I used a combination of 2D motion tracking and frame-by-frame adjustment, often starting with the first and correcting with the second. I decided to set the shape and position of the eyes as the first priority while doing the tracking, adding effects like blinking (simply changing the eye mask to a "closed" shape with keyframing) after I was done with the main task of tracking the eyes' movement. A neat trick to accomplishing this bit was that I could change move the eyes by either modifying the layer's position itself (which is what I normally used for the 2D tracking) or by modifying the path of its mask/s; especially concerning keyframes, this feature can be invaluable. Interestingly, manually correcting the masks while staying zoomed in a lot didn't make for success in and of itself; I often found myself having to see how it looks at around a 200% zoom level to see the big picture rather than just fine-tuning it around 800%.
While this project may seem inconsequential compared to some of my other works, I really felt like I learned a lot from this; my tracking work later in the video felt notably better than my initial work in the project (near the end, I actually redid an eye in the first scene at Leena's request and dramatically improved it), and such knowledge of precise tracking may be extremely helpful for the likes of ABYDOS II (which is still happening!). Sometimes shorter projects like this can be a massive help with learning new techniques, and that can make a really big difference in larger projects.
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