[lightseeker23]

Hi everyone, I need some advice about Lightwave, i have been successful in Frontal Projection Compositing. I get nice shadows on my surfaces but I wanted to go one sec further with using Video and 3D animation. Can anyone explain to me how to do it in Lightwave or maybe another application that can get it done. I need to match up the camera movements and also be able to output just the Object and the shadow. Thankx

[colto]

OK welcome to the oh so complex world that is match-moving. Match-moving is the process of matching a real world's camera movements to that of a 3d camera's movements. This involves complex photo-optic algorithms and distortion detection. Most of the time it will aslo require that you have one of two types of scenes:

1.A moving camera with non-moving objects being filmed.

or

2. A camera that is not moving (it can rotate but not actually move. Filming on a tripod) and objects in the scene that move.

There are workarounds for scene's with both moving camera's and objects but I don't recommend doing that unless you have matchmoved before.

Next you must find software to use. This can range from $300 - $10,000. However there was once a program called Icarus which was an excellent matchmoving program and it was released for free. However since then the program has been renamed and sold under a different company. However there are several free versions still lurking around the web, and they're legal! Most of these programs (including Icarus) support export to lightwave scenes. Long story short I would definately recommend you read this book before you attempt matchmoving (though you may find the Icarus tutorials helpful enough). Hope this helps. Cheers!

[Endorphin]

fyi, Icarus has become this:
http://www.thepixelfarm.co.uk/conten...tent=pfhoe.htm