CPSC 815 Special Effects Production
Fall 2003
Project 2

Objectives:

To learn simple compositing operations within an image manipulation package (e.g., Gimp or Photoshop).

Motivation:

This project examines issues involved in compositing two (or more) still images.

Due dates:

Project web page: 09/16/03

Description:

Use an image manipulation package (Gimp or Photoshop) to composite two scenes:

• using two possibly unrelated images;
• using two (or more) images set up for compositing.
• redo the above in Shake
  • pick a simple object of which to take a photograph in front of a blue screen
  • use Shake's chroma-keying tools (your choice) to pull a matte for the object
  • comp the object over a background scene---make sure the lighting in the final scene matches!!
  • use Shake's dropshadow tool to create a shadow for the foreground element
  • set up a rig for the live action shot (e.g., use suspension wires or a table prop) and then remove this ``dirt'' in the final comp

Notes, suggestions, and additional requirements:

• In both cases, attempt to integrate the images as seamlessly as possible, i.e., the final image should appear as though taken with only 1 camera. (Be your own worst critic, paying attention to lighting, scale, color correspondence of the composited images, etc., and any unwanted visible artifacts such as matte halo effects.)
• In the second case, set up the shots as best as you can with the compositing operation in mind, e.g., use a blue screen and a ``stage'' to photograph the foreground element, matching the conditions found in the background frame.
• If you're new to the Gimp, see the following web page for documentation, tutuorials, etc.: <http://www.gimp.org/>. More tutorials can be found here: <http://empyrean.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/~nem/gimp/tuts/> .

What to hand in:

``Professional-quality'' brief writeup, including:

1. Cover page containing: Course Id--Section No.
   Name:
   Assignment No.
   
2. Assignment description
3. ``Visual chronology'' of the piece, including:
   • idea drawings (e.g., storyboards for the composition of the final shot),
   • principal photography (e.g., the ``raw images'', with props, stage, blue screen background, etc.),
   • matte images generated for the composite (along with descriptions of any operations employed to ``clean up'' the mattes, e.g., smoothing to soften matte edges),
   • the final image.

Electronic submission of images: provide a URL (web address) to your on-line presentation of the assignment. To keep the page size manageable, please use reduced images on your web page, but provide links to the full-scale images.