SEANFX

This effect has been getting some buzz lately because of this fantastic looking tilt shift time-lapse effect created by Keith Loutit.  There are a number of Photoshop Tutorials out there related to this, this one is great! so check it out.  I believe I even saw this explained in “Wired”…

But I figured if it can be done in Photoshop it can be done in After Effects.

It’s a pretty simple concept and so many other people have done a great job of explaining it, I figured why should I even bother.

But I figured I could do it one better by making an After Effects file you can use!  You can download it here.

In the file you’ll find a version for HD and SD.  You can drop in your own footage by just replacing the image I’ve included in the project file.

TIPS:

If you replace the footage un-parent the null object first, then do a replace footage command.( I used a null because I was using a digital image and I wanted to scale.)

You can adjust the blur of the image and the feather of the mask.

Keep in mind the band of focus should be narrow.  But with this technique you can move the mask around and make any part of the image have the miniature effect.

I hope this is useful.

Oh yeah, The photo is Downtown Kansas City, MO!

No I didn’t spell it wrong. I mean Nagra not Niagara.

Let me start off by saying I am not a sound guy and no sound persons job is any danger.

When I was in film school the way we would gather sound was with a Narga reel to reel recorder or a Marantz audio cassette recorder. The Nagra offered Crystal sync with the film camera. Which enabled the picture from the film camera and the audio from the recorder to by synchronized for editing later.  This was called a double system.  Get it… sound and picture… two, double system.

But who needs this any more? Nagra is still around and it looks like they have some very cool gear. But this has always been the Mercedes of Recorders not to mention the price is pretty similar.

Here’s my kit.

Zoom H2

Azden shot gun

mic cable

grip

mic mount

I’m usually a crew of one or two people so I don’t really need anything that complicated.  But even if I had more people around and I needed more mics I would still go this way.  There is a mic input and line input on the Zoom H2 which enables you to hook in a Shotgun Mic like I have pictured above or a mixer.  (I’ll do a another post on my mixer solutions later.)

But for run-a-gun productions this is a sweet system and can be used several ways.  Always remember to at least carry some ear buds with you.  Just in case you forget your head phones.

1. Double system: Don’t worry about the sound that is being recorded on the camera and the sound person can be running around separate from the camera person.  It’s a good idea to have a slate with you or clapping hands is fine too.  You just need a visual and a sound cue on the wave form to see there the two medias line up.

2. Sound Gathering: Capturing wild sounds that you find you need during post production and editing.

3. Interview Style: Recording two or more people.  In most cases you can just use the built in mic on the H2 but if you have a group or people at a little distance the shotgun mic will help out tremendously.  The pistol grip makes pointing the mic around a lot easier too.

What other sound tips do you have or what’s your sound kit look like?