Hello again
So i have finished the basic blocking of a short film. with many different sets, characters etc.
here is what i have done so far,
1. created the assets needed, characters, set etc.
2. using virtual cameras blocked out the action, and basic camera positions i would like to capture.
3. Separated a long story board into separate files and story boards for each scene.
here is what i want to do next.
1. Clean up and refine the camera positions, as i was blocking out my action i would add/delete cameras as i went. if i wanted to adjust a camera without losing my original positioning i would create a new camera etc.
now what i want is to find every camera location i have created throughout a scene. and percolate that camera through the entire scene. basically i want every camera position i have used to be present in every shot in the scene. so i can merge/delete cameras as they are no longer needed, and they help me see what parts of the set are in most shots. what coverage i have etc. what i may be missing.
what i want to end up with is a neat set of cameras that stay in the same position throughout the film, that i can then say at pose 12, move to position b, and then at pose 14, delete this camera as its no longer needed.
the reason i want this is that alot of the camera positions we have done so far are just basic blocking sequences and not actually accurate camera moves etc. this we want to add on this second pass. where we can choose lens. adjust framing, choose camera move, and then percolate that throughout the other rough camera positions we made earlier.
Here is how i attempted to do this.
1. i went to the first scene. created a physical camera, swapped its position with the previously laid virtual camera. then percolated its state, orientation etc. into 'every' shot. my thinking was that this camera angle was now going to be in every scene. i may need to retake my story board and adjust/delete some stuff. but most of the work would be done, and the camera position would be there. then if that camera had moved, i could simply swap that cameras position again with the now moved virtual camera, and percolate 'forward'
Here are the problems ive been having.
1. The camera percolation seems glitchy, not appearing in some shots, also alot of my cameras seem to appear on the outside of my set in a 'default' position. i think it may be to do with the fact that the coloured cameras clash. basically i made a blue cam for a number of poses, deleted it, then add a new camera further down the line that then has a blue colour code. which may be causing issues.
2. sometimes a camera does not appear on a monitor even though it is on set. usually its a percolated camera, whos view does not show up unless i just sort of mess around a bit, then it will 'refresh' itself and appear.
here are some questions/queries.
1. When you swap a physical cam with a virtual cam it seems to replace and delete the virtual. if i did this on pose 1, then percolate forward. on pose 2 say, is the virtual camera 'underneath' the physical camera? or does it get deleted in every shot? and is it possible to make this happen if not? because deleting them by hand is tedious. but not that big of a deal.
2. some of my virtual cameras are shots not physically possible, so obviously my real cam crashes when i swap, and doesnt go to the correct position, is the only way around this to rearrange the virtual before swapping?
3. What exactly does the limit shot to selected scene mean in the percolation window? does it mean only a series of continuous shots or something?
Again, if im going about this the wrong way, or my workflow is well off then please tell me how best to get the results im looking for.
thanks for any help
Josh