My camera moves are choppy

[treehaus1]

Any way to get them a nice camera path with key frames, like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ_V9Txi ... dded#at=27


Best,

Simon

[davidf515]

My animation "Spare Parts" uses some animated camera movements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqf9x6rM89o

If you are doing an animation with lots of character movement, then you will, of course, use lots of keyframes, BUT, if you're using lots of keframes, you really need to mathematically plan out your camera movements in advance: If you start out with a camera height of 70 cm, and 15 keyframes later you want it to be at around 135 cm, then you need to raise it 4.3 cm per keyframe. That'll put you at 134.5 cm high. This will produce a smooth camera move. I actually used an Excel Spreadsheet to plan my camera moves. This can be done for camera movements in the X, Y, or Z axis. The problem comes with trying to do this with pans and tilts. The program only allows pans and tilts in FULL degrees. So you either have to design your shots accordingly (15, 30, or 45 degrees of pan in 15 keyframes - 1, 2, or 3 degrees per kf), or use varying degrees of movement for each keyframe and settle for jerky looking pans. This would be solved if FrameForge allowed pan and tilt adjustments in tenths of degrees. Oh well.

As far as creating a camera path, I actually used both dolly tracks and simple shapes to create paths for the camera (and my character) to follow, then just made them invisible to the shooting camera, but visible to all other cameras for positioning. This way I could manually place the camera on pre-calculated points along the path. I used a virtual camera so there was no need to use cranes or dolly's, just the tracks for reference, but this would work with any camera.

Hope this helps.

David

[treehaus1]

Hi David,

thanks a lot for your advice - how do you get a floating camera move parallel to n object or tracks?

Best,

Simon

[davidf515]

Simon,

If you want to be exact, then you can manually set the dolly position using the "#" Button on the Dolly Control. If you set your distance units to "Inches" then you can place the camera to a tenth of an inch of where you need it. You can move the camera in relation to its starting position, say, 4.3 inches Left/Right and 6.7 inches Forward/Back. After you hit apply, the camera moves and the next time you open the Camera Position Box the controls will be at Zero again and you can repeat. OR, if you know exactly where you want to start and end your camera move, you can set the starting and end points relative to the center of the set, then calc the correct cam position for each keyframe. Again, some math involved, and a spreadsheet works well. This also works for cam height and zoom, and also roll, pan and tilt (again, whole degrees only, unfortunately).

You can also do it the easy way and just eyeball it. I have used a basic cube that I resized to be 3 inches wide, 1" tall and however long I want my camera move. Set that on the ground and you have your camera path. Just use the overhead view to place and move your camera along the path. I have also used dolly track for this - just as a guide. This works well if your subject is somewhat stationary. If your subject is moving along with the camera, say a medium closeup dolly shot of someone walking, then you can reposition your subject, then manually reposition the cam so that the subject is properly framed. I've actually used Post-Its stuck to my monitor as guides so I could keep the actor in the same position in the frame from keyframe to keyframe.

I actually used all of these methods for "Spare Parts". Lots of experimenting but alot learned.

Again, hope this helps.

David

[treehaus1]

Hi David,
thanks for your advice.
Camera moves just require a lot of work, I guess...
Best,

Simon

[Banksyde]

Hi David,
thanks for your advice.
Camera moves just require a lot of work, I guess...
Best,

Simon

As they do in real life. This is why I like FF, because it comes the closest to simulating many of problems and issues filmmakers face when shooting on-set or in a location.

Sorry. I'll get off my soapbox.

Gare

[marjun]

Any way to get them a nice camera path with key frames, like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ_V9Txi ... dded#at=27


Best,

Simon

Ah thanks for this link.

[Jay Hoover]

My animation "Spare Parts" uses some animated camera movements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqf9x6rM89o

David

Really awesome work. Well done.