hdr - Tilt Shift filter for FCP

Aloha from Maui

I was wondering if there is a HDR or a time shift filter available for FCP
I would like to reproduce the look of this video





Thanks for your time
Sean

That's some pretty sophisticated masking and compositing- do that in Motion or AFX. Or get a real tilt-shift lens and 35mm lens adapter for your camera.

-Noah

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Aloha Noah

Thanks for the lens suggestion. The problem is that I already shot most of the footage in various locations around the US and it would be close to impossible to reshoot all the footage.
I used a sony EX3 to capture the footage. I tried a few simple masks and was able to reproduce the look sort of - but not quite. This looks like a time consuming project. I already spent 1 1/2 years shooting / editing the footage. I could get a slr adaptor and a time shift lens and try some footage on my ex3. I was just hoping for a simple fcp plugin.

Thanks again
Sean

Yeah the trick is it's not a simple effect if you want it to look right so I'm guessing there's not a plugin. Did you try contacting the guy on Vimeo? He might have some tips.

-Noah

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The fake tilt shift thing was doing the rounds a few months back ... I made a quick filter to simulate it and it was "ok" but far from "great". As Noah points out, its not a simple trick, and to do it properly you'd need to do a lot of masking and separating of the various planes of focus ... mine was just a simple graduated depth blur. As luck wouldn't have it my beloved lappie took a turn for the worse and decided to take an unexpected rest whilst I was still working on the plugin ... and lo, the Andy's Dodgy Fake Tilt Shift plugin was lost forever. Awww. I could probably knock it up again if you want tho? Am working today, but it is Sunday ... if it's a quiet news day I'll see what I can manage.

In the meantime (or in case I never get around to it) you can use my Region Blur plugin to similar effect:
Type: Blur
Shape: Rectangle
Scale: 100
Aspect: -0.9 (then adjust as required)
Desaturate Amount: -40
Invert: On (checkbox at bottom of the controls)

Tip: to set up the initial position of the blur region, set the Tint Amount to 100 ... it'll help you see the placement/extent of the effected region.

That effect is ridiculously simple to do - use Joe's Soft Stuff Filter(s) get them at [www.joesfilters.com] and direct link here: [www.joesfilters.com]

Or create a mask layer on a duplicated layer and then blur one of the layers.

Or create your mask in Photoshop and use Image mask.

Or use a blurred layer with an overlaid cropped (none blurred) clip.

Or a 4 or 8 point garbage matte...


On the Scenes from a rooftop clip you referenced he's used quite a hard edged blur boundary that look like a rounded rectangle or long horizontal oval for the in focus section.



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Indeed Ben, ridiculously simple to do ... but not necessarily ridiculously simple to do well. A simple blur will work to some extent (as in the methods you've detailed and also the one I suggested above) but you need a depth blur to do it properly and that blur needs to correspond to the (fake) distances involved in the actual images being processed. The result is the difference between footage the looks like someone "tried" to do a Tilt shift effect and footage that looks like someone "did" do a Tilt shift effect ;-) Generally speaking though, I think you're right, although the efficacy of the simple method hinges on whether or not the footage being processed suits the application of the effect in the first place.

Ps Sorry Sean, didn't do it. Lebanese elections threw a spanner in my plugin fiddling works ... maybe later.

Take a look at Magic Bullet Looks.

[www.redgiantsoftware.com]

It has a simple filter for faking Tilt/Shift and plenty of handles to pump up the image similar to what I think you are calling HDR.

Quote

but not necessarily ridiculously simple to do well

Agreed but not many FX are!

But what I was really getting at was that the process is very simple and easy and available for nothing or for very little cost.



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

I've used the MB Looks to get that effect with some pretty decent success. Worth a try.

Dan