This project is a rework of my Compositing Art Test from Full Sail University. It makes use of Maya projections in the cleanplating process. The initial challenge of the test was to remove (cleanplate out) any evidence of human activity. There is plenty in the original footage (horse drawn carts, pedestrians, vehicular traffic). Because the camera is moving, it was necessary to take into account any parallax that would result. So, I approached this problem with the following steps:
1. Run the footage through NukeX in order to stabilize the images.
2. Run the stabilized footage through SynthEyes in order to generate camera trackers and trackers for the parallax geometry that would be needed.
3. Import the SynthEyes camera solution into Maya and set up the required geometry.
4. Utilize Adobe Photoshop for the actual cleanplating and parallax geometry projection images.
5. Apply the cleanplate textures to the Maya geometry utilizing Maya projections.
6. As Maya projections do not receive shadows, I added a semi-transparent MIAX material colored to mimic the ground texture of the cleanplate and used an IBL with an overcast sky image to provide lighting.
7. Animate my CG lightcycle through the scene, following the roadway in the original footage.
8. Pull separate matte passes from within Maya for the bridge light pole and the lightcycle to be used in NukeX for final color, grain, and focus adjustment.
9. Utilizing NukeX, apply the Maya mattes to the final beauty pass images then adjust the lightcycle CG images to better match the original stock footage in color, clarity, and believability.
The end results turned out pretty well. I would welcome comments / critiques of my work. But, most importantly, I hope you like my work! Enjoy!