Thursday, September 15, 2011

Assignment#2b

Here is my second tilt-shift effect photo project.

The original photo:

Original Photo of crowded fairgrounds.

And with the tilt-shift camera lens effect:

Crowded fairgrounds with tilt-shift camera lens effect.

More assignments to come!
-David Duncan

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Assignment#2a

This is my homework for Visual FX, Assignment#2.
The goal of this assignment was to use NukeX compositing software to make a normal photograph appear as though it was taken using a special Tilt-shift lens.

Here is an example of a photograph taken using an actual tilt-shift lens:
A crowded bike-lane appears "miniaturized" when viewed through a camera equipped with a tilt-shift lens.




















The overall effect is that whatever is in focus appears to be "miniaturized" in comparison to the somewhat-recognizable shapes in the blurry background. The ability for the viewer to have an obvious perspective based on other objects in the background and foreground is what helps this effect to really have the proper appearance.
 
For this assignment, I chose an image of a roller-rink populated with rollerskaters to "miniaturize".
 This is the photo before I altered it:
A crowded roller rink aerial photograph.
In order to manipulate this image, I applied a blur effect and then rotoscoped a "window" with feathered edges. The last step was to apply a small amount of saturation to the overall image and to boost the contrast.
This is the end-result:
The same roller rink photograph as if taken through a camera equipped with a tilt-shift lens.
I am quite pleased with the result. Feedback is appreciated! Thank you for your viewing interest.
-David

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Assignment #1

This is the first homework assignment I have completed for Visual FX.
The assignment was to change the season in the picture to resemble an entirely different time of year. The alterations were done using NukeX, a compositing program that uses color correction and layering techniques to create various visual effects. I chose to take a picture of the Scottish Highlands and turn it into a snowy winter scene. The results are as follows:

The Scottish Highlands on a typical overcast summer day.
This affect was accomplished using both HueCorrect and ColorCorrect NURBs in NukeX. I rendered the finished image as a jpg. Here is a cold looking scene:
The Scottish Highlands in the dead of winter.


So far, we have only learned the basics of 2D compositing. I am looking forward to learning more about compositing, especially in 3D.

Please keep posted for more work and updates.
More coming soon!
-David

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Introduction

Hello, this is my Visual FX Fall Semester Blog!
I will be posting homework assignments due in my Fall 2011 Visual FX class here weekly.
Please enjoy seeing my work and watching as I (hopefully) improve over the course of  the semester.
Thanks for viewing my blog!
-David