26-08-2013, 05:44 PM
David H - it was obvious to me, reading your article, that you've not ever worked with an optical printer. And the extent that I have followed the great debate: the opinions of those arguing for extensive image manipulation reveal that no one from this group has ever discussed their concepts with an optical effects technician. Because the proposals present major technical challenges which are never addressed, and I suspect have not even been recognized.
![[Image: jpg.gif]](https://deeppoliticsforum.com/forums/images/attach/jpg.gif)
You propose a travelling matte featuring the limousine and escorts travelling across a background of the Dealey Plaza lawn which you want to be slightly enlarged.
PROBLEM 1 - the outline of the limousine and the escorts is never the same from frame-to-frame. Mrs Kennedy is moving at all times, and the size of these figures changes as it moves closer. Therefore, any matte work done involving the limousine would have to be on a frame to frame basis. Therefore, the outline of the limousine which serves as the matte would have to be drawn not once but at least over a hundred times (I would argue more). And, let's remember, the work at the end of the day is flawless- so the job of sketching out these matte outlines, frame by frame, would have to be done with meticulous care. I can conceive of how this would be approached - on an animation stand - but the time commitment is large. Before this work could begin, a series of calculations involving registration of the individual frames anticipating the move from the animation stand cels to a motion picture sequence which would line up properly with other film elements- that would have to be done and probably tested several times to see the results. This registration system would have to be standardized and duplicated frame by frame on the animation stand as each frame is prepared. Objects such as the foreground light pole which is panned past would need to be recognized ahead of time to decide what relationship it would have to the matte (in its case, it would have to be part of the limousine matte).
So a matte of the outline of the limousine would have to be created on a frame-by-frame basis - with careful meticulous work - with a corresponding registration preparation for each frame. To do this, I'd say an hour a frame is reasonable due to the need to be absolutely perfect. And I'm not sure any guarantees could be expressed that this job could, at the end of the day, have perfect results. LABOR COMMITMENT - at least 100 hours. (so when you claim that a finished product could be delivered in 10-14 days, I shake my head because we are already at that point and the work has just been prepped, not begun).
But the problems have just started. Creating the limousine matte is actually the easy part.
You propose a travelling matte featuring the limousine and escorts travelling across a background of the Dealey Plaza lawn which you want to be slightly enlarged.
PROBLEM 1 - the outline of the limousine and the escorts is never the same from frame-to-frame. Mrs Kennedy is moving at all times, and the size of these figures changes as it moves closer. Therefore, any matte work done involving the limousine would have to be on a frame to frame basis. Therefore, the outline of the limousine which serves as the matte would have to be drawn not once but at least over a hundred times (I would argue more). And, let's remember, the work at the end of the day is flawless- so the job of sketching out these matte outlines, frame by frame, would have to be done with meticulous care. I can conceive of how this would be approached - on an animation stand - but the time commitment is large. Before this work could begin, a series of calculations involving registration of the individual frames anticipating the move from the animation stand cels to a motion picture sequence which would line up properly with other film elements- that would have to be done and probably tested several times to see the results. This registration system would have to be standardized and duplicated frame by frame on the animation stand as each frame is prepared. Objects such as the foreground light pole which is panned past would need to be recognized ahead of time to decide what relationship it would have to the matte (in its case, it would have to be part of the limousine matte).
So a matte of the outline of the limousine would have to be created on a frame-by-frame basis - with careful meticulous work - with a corresponding registration preparation for each frame. To do this, I'd say an hour a frame is reasonable due to the need to be absolutely perfect. And I'm not sure any guarantees could be expressed that this job could, at the end of the day, have perfect results. LABOR COMMITMENT - at least 100 hours. (so when you claim that a finished product could be delivered in 10-14 days, I shake my head because we are already at that point and the work has just been prepped, not begun).
But the problems have just started. Creating the limousine matte is actually the easy part.