Hello,

I have a quistion,
i have a brother who is 4 years,
and i want to make a commercial in which he is stopping all the footballs from older people (not american football, but standard football whit the foots + bal)

I want to see that he is stopping the balls, kicking them back etc..
a very good keeper, from 4 years old...

BUT offcourse he cannot stop the balls in real life, so i was thinking of filming that he is grabbing in the air, or kicking in the air etc... and then, on the computer, insert the ball, so that i can make the ball fit the movement from the boy.

But how do i do that?
The ball must be in 3d, but iam not good in 3d,
but i think i can download a football or ask someone to make a 3d ball (well, i supose i can make it myself... its just a ball)

But what happens next?
Can i just insert the 3d file in Adobe After Effects and then simply add keyframes, turn around the ball, telling it to go further away or get clooser etc?

Or... is that not possible?
When you have a photo, you can make it bigger/smaller/rotate etc... and add keyframes for the movement... so i figured out, if that is possible whit 2d, then it must also be simple to turn around 3d object, and set it further or closer away, and then add keyframes for the movement...

Anyway, i just wanted to ask of this is possible and.. how can i do that?

A big thanks already!

It's possible, yes, but the thing is....it is not going to look very good if you don't have much experience with that kind of thing.

I don't really know what to tell you. I would just try to make the best out of what I had. maybe have your brother actually stopping some balls, then just speed it up in post. There are tons of things you can do to make it look like he is actually stopping the ball, when he's not.

Sorry. I'm afraid I haven't been much help. Anybody want to pick this one up?

I think the new versions of After Effects CAN import 3d objects, and move them in 3d space... but, as Durden said, if you're not very experienced with 3d its going to show. It is totally possible to practice a lot, and learn to do it in 3d, but I'd say its an easier bet to try and use some clever editing. If you plan your shots (might be good to storyboard these) and cut from a wide shot of the ball hurtling towards your brother, to a narrow shot of a ball which was gently tossed just as he blocks it, you might be able to pull it off.

Have you worked with after effects at all? if it is noew to you, then it could be real taxing - however there are options. With well planned shots and attention to lighting i'd bet you could totally pull this off using keyed shots of the ball. Given the sharp contrast of a white/black ball you could shoot low angle up at a clear blue sky and key it off that. Buy some blue gloves and you could actually get shots of real catches and such. Same could work with the grass for kicks if you find a good way to key feet out. The trick to using shots like this is to go to get the lighting to look accurate for the shot and angles, and then use as few frams as possible of interaction between the four year old and the ball. Sometimes it only takes a few frames of composited shots to imply that he is "actually" doing it. Blurs can help smudge the motion together too. Might want to pick up some books on lighting, keying, and after effects before you jump into something like this though, and have a good understanding of mattes and masks. Even still, i think this would be more convincing (if done right) than 3D.

Whatever you do, remember that less is always more in these situations. Creative shooting is priority one. The special effects should be superficial, not the focus.

All three of you: thanks!

Oke, i have two suggestions from you,

1) clever shooting, let the boy really deals whit the ball, but cut between a wide shot to a narrow shot so that i can simply trow the ball from close to him.

2)shoot a real ball in front oof the sky or a greenscreen, and work whit that, i think this should work, exept that the ball turns when someone hit it, so that would be tricky, but not impossible...

and then i have 3d, and it seems that the 3d thing is not as easy as "just adding keyframes"

I shall think about this all and try it,
I let you know what i have done!

Thanks,
Jerry

Yes! Please tell us how it works out