animation - white margin appears around characters when saved as mov.file

bev_head

hi

wondering if someone could help - when i render an animation - even at a high resolution - i get a white margin appearing around the character - it looks like about 1 or 2 pixels - i need these to just be clean without margin - i will then transfer them into final cut as a layer - however - the white line around the character is not a good look - and making an alpha mask is extra work - especially moving character - can anyone help?

i have left the background as the standard blue - is there any way of making a transparent background? else - i could select the colour in the background and attempt to mask it - but it will also block out variants of that colour in the character?

help?

JimmyC_2009

You can change the colour of the Background from the toolbar at the top of the viewport. When rendering a still image, nad using PNG, I use a Black background which helps a lot, but I often have to defringe the image in PS. It would be a bit much to have to do that with an entire animation. I am not sure what you can do for animations, perhaps someone else can help more.

1hapkat

In Poser, I make the ground invisible and then export image files from movie export option. This will give you a png sequence with alpha background and your animation without need to key or mask. Not sure about Daz Studio. (see screenshots)

Herald of Fire

Daz has a similar feature, except no ground to hide. Simply choose to render as an image sequence instead of a movie. Alpha maps aren't compatible with movie formats, so you'll need to use some trickery to get around it. The typical 'green screen' effect is one way to ensure you have an easier time editing out any backgrounds if you render straight to video. A good tip if you're using 3Delight for this is to use UberSurface shaders and disable shadow catching on the background. A simple cube scaled to fit your entire scene will suffice, but put the ambient to full and change the colour to any colour which is NOT in the scene.

With everything as a single colour, it's easier to remove the background and replace it with whatever you need. Adobe After Effects is fantastic for putting the finishing touches to an animation, though certainly not a cheap option.

bev_head

thanks for your help everyone - i found the background colour button at the extreme right of the screen on daz 4.5 - perhaps because i haven't yet set up a workstation profile - i think i will change the background to a bright green screen - my character doesn't have that colour - then i can drop into final cut pro - do a matt key selection by colour and pull that colour out - then do a prima key matt to sort the edges -

also got the png or tiff file transparency going so still are not an issue - thanks -

however - the white pixelated margin is still problematic - if i export as a series of stills - then i will need to load every still into final cut frame by frame for animation - this will be make the rendering in final cut massive - as still wanting to export in mov - at 16.9 high def - plus the time framing would be out of sync - i am shooting real film at HDV 29 50i -

the edge is still a problem - would it be the settings? - why does that happen - the stills are fine but the animation still gets this white pixel?

yes - after effects is great - i am using final cut motion -5 i work with macs - same same - i am making new layers in motion - plus compositing in final cut - with double layering to pull out saturations to give more film effect -

but this 3d animation is a whole new journey for me - and really appreciate everyone's help -

bev_head

ok - this is getting interesting - i changed the background to screen green - and the animation loaded with again - a margin around the figure - this time green "fringe - around the figure

next i changed the background to black and its loaded up with black background and no visible fringe because the background that the animation exports is the same as the black in daz3d - so the fringe pixelation is no longer visible as the background colour matches the export colour - so here's the thing - the background colour seems to "disappear" when i export as a mov. file - and the only remnant left is a single colour pixelation around the figure - hmmm - so i must have a something wrong with my setting?

the background colour is not exporting fully with the animation? -but fine with stills? hmmmm - confused

Herald of Fire

Generally background colour is only really for when you're working in Daz Studio. If you do a still render, then any of the background will be rendered as transparent unless you export in a format which doesn't support it, like JPEG. When working in animation, it's usually better to have a physical presence for your backgrounds. Whether it's a complex model, a sky dome or a massive plane coloured to make a 'green screen'.

Personally, I suggest using a flat plane as I mentioned before and rendering the whole thing as a green screen. You can then chroma key it using a free application called "Wax", which will give you the ability to eliminate the 'green fuzz' around your characters and props as well as put in your own backgrounds.

Here's a couple of quick examples I put together to illustrate what it can do.

The original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cirdcDfklrU&feature=youtu.be

The updated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYUgWvNmQZs&feature=youtu.be

Both videos use the same original animation, but the updated one has replaced the green screen with something more pleasant. If you need further info on how to use chroma key in wax, let me know and I'll drum up a quick tutorial.

bev_head

brilliant - that's so much for your advise - i will make a dome or plane green screen it -

and apply luma key in final cut - really appreciate your help - i will post the results in a few months -

bev_head

i will also make sure i have proper side lighting both sides of character for easy chroma key - otherwise could be tricky?

Herald of Fire

If you use full ambient for the background and drop the specular to zero then it will be only minimally affected by light, so you shouldn't get any issues with using chroma key to remove it. Best of luck to you.