Roto

[YoyoBoy]

I'm not terribly experienced with rotoscoping footage, but it seems to me that there should be some plugin for After Effects that can create a mask for anything that's moving in a scene where the camera is locked down. Does anyone know if such a tool exists? I tried the Difference Matte but that wasn't any help because that's based on color.

I have a boxy piece of machinery in a warehouse. I need to replace the warehouse with a white studio background. A man walks in from out of frame, and opens the lid. And that's it. I've got the mask for the machine and its lid all done, I just need to do the man now.

Of course I can get it done with animated masking and perseverance, but I'm kind of lazy. :P

[Morbid Angel]

I'm not aware of such tool. This is why they shoot stuff on green screen

[fce]

maybe this is helping you?:

https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effect...-tracking.html

[joconnell]

There's a thing called a difference matte that's supposed to do this - it'll compare a static background and some footage, and give you a matte for any pixels that are different between the two which in this case is your walking man. It's never perfect though so as dmitry says you'd be better off with a blue / green / grey screen.

[YoyoBoy]

Ugh, I remember seeing the mask-tracking tut some months ago, but but totally forgot about it. I bet that would have helped.

I was able to use the difference matte on one of the shots, but only for the man's hand.

The job is done now (5 short background replacement shots), and the client is happy. I thought for sure it was going to be an easy $1,000, but in the end it worked out to be only slightly more than my usual hourly rate (those damned wrinkles in his shirt!). But I learned a lot, so next time things should go more smoothly.

[MoonDoggie]

Nothing beats Nuke's roto tools. If you're doing this a bunch Geoff, consider renting Nuke (no need for nukex) for a month.

[YoyoBoy]

Yeah, I wish I could justify going Nuke-lear, but money is tight and comping video is something I only spend 1/4 of my life doing. There's also the compatibility issue: I have yet to work for, or with, anyone who uses it (I guess Boston is an AE sorta town).