Bricks in Motion
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Hi. Is there anyway(anyone) can multiply a minifigure. Example, if I have one minifigure walking can I clone that minifigure and add him in in any software?
Thanks.
Well, you could overlap a two shots like smeagolstudios does, and splice them together, but it's very difficult to learn how to do. Or you could mask each of the frames together in GIMP.
If I have one minifigure walking can I clone that minifigure and add him in in any software?
Well, I doubt Microsoft Excel would work very well.
Smart-aleck-ness aside, I don't see a very easy way to do this, though it is possible. If you're only making a copy or two and the minifigs don't overlap, splicing frames is the easiest, but you're likely to get lighting differences between the two no matter how careful you are. If you film the minifig on a green screen and your video editor can handle multiple tracks (i.e. isn't WMM), you can put in as many copies as you want and size/blur them appropriately. Otherwise, you're starting to get into editing additional frames, which is a time-consuming nightmare.
Well, the problem with greenscreening, noodle, is that it can only key in the background part that's green, not another figure on the non-greenscreen part.
Unless your camera can have an extremely high focal length (near infinity), there will be a very noticeable perspective difference between the copies and it will look very weird. If your camera doesn't have this kind of setting, you can try zooming in as far as you can from far away to increase your focal length.
Some advice: I would not embark on such an ambitious effects task until you actually master some kind of SFX software like After Effects, FXhome, or something similar. It takes a long time to learn how to do complicated effects well and make them look nice.
Can anyone do it for me? I only need to multiply a minifig by about 10.
I might be able to do it for you, all of my friends have gone away for the holidays and I've been finding myself super bored.
Although you could you post a snapshot from the scene, so we could see how difficult it would be to recreate the lighting/shadows
I might be able to do it for you, all of my friends have gone away for the holidays and I've been finding myself super bored.
Although you could you post a snapshot from the scene, so we could see how difficult it would be to recreate the lighting/shadows
Yes, that would be awesome. I will have it up some time today on this thread. It will be in black and white by the way.
I know a really good way to do it, it actually looks real!
Just get 10 of the same minifigs!
(Sorry for double post)
Thats the problem pie, I don't have 10 the same specific minifigures!
You could always buy them off Bricklink. Bulk buying is very easy there.
You could always buy them off Bricklink. Bulk buying is very easy there.
Hmm, yes. This is true. But I'm not really thinking of buying anything because I splashed out on Lego and software.
(Sorry for double post)
I will definitely have the scene up today.
I was just busy yesterday.
This is what it will sort of look like. The background and probably the camera angle will change.
I'm not a Neo Nazi by the way. Its just for my new film. I just need a marching army. 
Will you have animated the footage for each different minifigs, or will I have to multiply them myself, and could you tell me from what angle you think it will be from?
Will you have animated the footage for each different minifigs, or will I have to multiply them myself, and could you tell me from what angle you think it will be from?
Well I was thinking could you multiply the animation of one minifigure? You know, like, I animate one marching minifigure and you'd be able to multiply that animation for ever minifig. I will just have a flat panning shot OR have the camera just flat.
...there will be a very noticeable perspective difference between the copies and it will look very weird.
If you want ten minifigs marching, you need to film the same minifig marching in the ten different locations you want it, or it won't look right.
EDIT: If you were just planning on filming one minifig in that set and expecting Riley to make it ten, I'm afraid that's not an option. That would require breaking out After Effects and animating a matte frame-by-frame on top of the scene to cut the minifig out of the original footage, which would be absurdly time-consuming and then some. And it still won't look right because the copies won't have shadows. And you'll still have perspective problems.
Last edited by Noodle (October 5, 2009 (09:27am))
quigibo wrote:...there will be a very noticeable perspective difference between the copies and it will look very weird.
If you want ten minifigs marching, you need to film the same minifig marching in the ten different locations you want it, or it won't look right.
EDIT: If you were just planning on filming one minifig in that set and expecting Riley to make it ten, I'm afraid that's not an option. That would require breaking out After Effects and animating a matte frame-by-frame on top of the scene to cut the minifig out of the original footage, which would be absurdly time-consuming and then some. And it still won't look right because the copies won't have shadows. And you'll still have perspective problems.
Ah *&%$!
Riley? What you think is best for me to do?
Bricklink.
Since your lighting isn't creating shadows, if you could replace the original set with a green baseplate and animate the minifig ten different times in the appropriate spots (or five times, since it looks like you've got two minifigs), he might be able to key the green out and replicate them that way.
EDIT: Does the army have to be marching? If they're not animated, it's a simple enough process to take ten pictures with the minifig in each spot, draw a matte around them, and drop them into a single scene.
Last edited by Noodle (October 5, 2009 (09:49am))
I'll try adjusting that frame you posted and see how it goes, although animating the figure in each position will make it look much better.
You could try animating it by taking a shot of the fig, then move it down a few studs taking another shot, and take a photo for every position, go back to the first spot and animate the next frame of the walk sequence and move it down the line again, go back to the start and take a photo of the third part and so on. Then send me a compressed folder with all the frames and I should be able to get it done.
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