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BabaG

Q: shake n00b - speed change question

i'm just getting started with shake and have a simple linear tracking
shot (right to left) that runs too fast. i'd like to slow it down to
about 30% of the original speed and introduce a couple of keyframes to
have the shot ease to a stop, pause, and ease to resume the track.

thus far, i've been playing with the filein node and the retime options.
i tried the speed option but it seems best for a simple, overall change,
one without the keys and eases.

i also tried the remap option which seems more suited but i've not yet
gotten it to do what i wanted.

using the jspline option for remap, i tried this:

JSpline(1,1@1,360@1080,540@1620,540@1800,780@2340,1231@3693)

that didn't yield anything close to what i was looking for, no ease,
no resume.

is it possible to do this all in the filein node as i'm trying to do?
if not, what's the best way?

thanks for any pointers. i'm searching the manual but haven't found
anything specific enough to my task to solve the issues.

BabaG

MacPro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jul 30, 2010 4:10 PM

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Q: shake n00b - speed change question

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  • by stuckfootage,

    stuckfootage stuckfootage Jul 31, 2010 1:44 AM in response to BabaG
    Level 4 (3,040 points)
    Jul 31, 2010 1:44 AM in response to BabaG
    You're on the right track with the Timing tab of FileIn, but you might have better results using Hermite instead of JSpline, because it will give you tangents to tweak. Also, it will look better if you set your retimeMode to Adaptive.

    Another thing I see is that between 360@1080 and 540@1620, you're forcing the curve to speed up a bit in order to ease in. If you want the pan to stop at frame 540, you may have to get there later.

    Hugh "Slumdog" Macdonald describes a similar remapping here:
    http://www.vfxtalk.com/forum/retiming-speedramps-t12719.html?t=12719&highlight=r emap
  • by BabaG,

    BabaG BabaG Jul 31, 2010 2:26 PM in response to stuckfootage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 31, 2010 2:26 PM in response to stuckfootage
    thanks, stuckfootage. looked at the link and will investigate some of the settings it references. i found a workaround for one thing, and it may be affected by the settings described in your linked thread.

    when i went directly to the remap button to input keys, i found that, because i wanted to slow the clip overall to about one third running speed, i wound up calling for frames outside of the clip, past its end. i found that by going to the speed button and setting the speed to .3, the clip was extended. i could then go to the remap button and it would provide image for the entire range i was working with. if i didn't do this, the render just gave me black or a freeze when it ran out of clip.

    thanks again,
    BabaG
  • by stuckfootage,

    stuckfootage stuckfootage Jul 31, 2010 9:23 PM in response to BabaG
    Level 4 (3,040 points)
    Jul 31, 2010 9:23 PM in response to BabaG
    BabaG wrote:
    calling for frames outside of the clip


    Yeah, Hugh mentions that in his post. You can also just set the endFrame
    parameter to some huge number and not worry about it.
  • by BabaG,

    BabaG BabaG Jul 31, 2010 10:32 PM in response to stuckfootage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 31, 2010 10:32 PM in response to stuckfootage
    where do you set that? some of the things he mentioned seemed a
    little confusing to me, like the interface was a little different
    or something. don't know what version he was working with or when
    the last changes wold have been made to the interface.

    thanks,
    BabaG
  • by stuckfootage,

    stuckfootage stuckfootage Aug 1, 2010 12:19 AM in response to BabaG
    Level 4 (3,040 points)
    Aug 1, 2010 12:19 AM in response to BabaG
    BabaG wrote:
    where do you set that?


    Look up. It's above the reTiming parameter.
    It's actually the third parameter from the top of the Timing tab.
  • by BabaG,

    BabaG BabaG Aug 1, 2010 1:14 PM in response to stuckfootage
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 1, 2010 1:14 PM in response to stuckfootage
    thanks for helping me with this stuckfootage. much apreciated.

    here's a quote that confused me in the hugh macdonald thread:

    The last thing that could cause problems (and it's confused me many many times) is the "startFrame" and "endFrame" values above the curve.

    i take things pretty literally when dealing with computers so, in the interface i have, it says inPoint and outPoint rather than startFrame and endFrame. also, in my interface, there isn't much 'above the curve' other than buttons for load, save, undo/redo, update, always, and base.

    i tried your suggestion and put in a very large value in the outPoint field (third field down in the timing tab) and that produced a blue extension to my clip in the time view tab. even after i input my keys and curves, the image remains a freeze, presumably as indicated by the blue extension. i notice that when i go to the speed button and input a small value, say, .3, in the speed field, the entire clip extends as a single graphic in green, rather than the two-part green-then-blue graphic i get by merely entering a large value in the outPoint field.

    have i missed a button somewhere that would override the freezing behaviour? or, perhaps, i'm doing things in the wrong order. would that make a difference?

    thanks again,
    BabaG
  • by stuckfootage,

    stuckfootage stuckfootage Aug 1, 2010 5:21 PM in response to BabaG
    Level 4 (3,040 points)
    Aug 1, 2010 5:21 PM in response to BabaG
    All FileIn nodes have inPoint and outPoint.

    When you select Remap for your reTiming,
    new parameters appear below. That's where
    you'll find startFrame and endFrame.