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Digital Manipulation This tutorial requires the free Beta version of Axogon Composer, which can be downloaded directly from here. A note concerning opening video files in Axogon: If you have Windows XP, video files will not open. There is a fix for this, though. Set the compatibility mode for the program such that you can open video files in XP. To do this, locate the Composer.exe file, and click on "properties." Under the compatibility tab, check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select Windows 98/ME, then click OK. This should allow you to open most video files normally. If you have a massive crowd scene, with dozens, or even hundreds of minifigs, then you know that it would be impossible to get enough minifigs to film the scene, especially if they are all identical, or need to look similar. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to make them on the computer. It is possible to animate them with a program like ldraw, or a type of pov renderer, but this will not always work. The result usually has a cg look to it, and it is easy to tell it is animated. Also, many minifig parts do not exist in the ldraw database, so it would be impossible to get what you need. You could buy a 3d package such as 3d studio max, but most people who make lego movies don't want spend $1000 upwards on this type of hobby. However, there is a free special effects program called Axogon Composer. While it cannot do 3d graphics, it is great for compositing. (As the name might suggest.) In this article, you will learn how to composite many pictures of minifigs into a gigantic crowd. In this example, we will use a standard lego stormtrooper, as seen below. You can use my sample, or get any minifig picture you want to use.
Now, In a basic painting program, (windows paint brush is fine.) outline the minifigure with a bright color that is not used anywhere on the minifig itself. This will be necessary for compositing later. Once you have done this, you should having a picture something like this:
Try to keep the outline as accurate as possible, because the better traced your picture is, the better the result will be. Now, we have the element that will be manipulated. If you want more than one minifig in your crowd, you should do these steps again and again until you have enough variety of minifigs. It can be animated, but if it is, it must be in a mpeg format, and you will need a way to get a perfectly consistent contrasting backround. It is also ok to make your crowd scene with clusters of minifigs, although this sometimes creates a patterned look, so it is usually more effective to use single minifig images. I recommend using bmp format verses jpg, because less artifiacts result, and the color is more consistent. In the examples, I am using jpgs to save hosting space, and make the tutoial work in netscape, which doesn't work with bmps. Open up axogon composer once you have all the minifig types you want. Remember to save often as you work. If you aren't familiar with Axogon, you might want to learn about in on Bricksinmotion.com before continuing, to familiarize yourself with it. On the first track, create a video source. Load the picture of the minifig. Once again, if you have multiple minifigs, load each of them onto a new track of video. Once you are done with this step, create another track, and choose source>solid color. Open a window of track 1, (The track with the picture of your minifig.) and use the eyedropper tool to grab the backround color. Once you have done this, click ok, and close the window. Open a window for track 2, (The track with the solid color.) Now, we will make the most distant, farthest back row of characters in your crowd scene. Right click in the window, choose create, and click on box. Make a box where you want the left-most minifig in the back row to show up in the finished shot. Do this all the way across the back row of minifigs, making one box for each minifig. Remember, the smaller the box, the smaller the minifig will appear. Also, the boxes should be rectangular, and be proportionate to a minifig. One you have finished, your window should look something like this. I am doing a ground level shot, and I will only have a few rows, so my boxes may be bigger or smaller than yours.
Now, we will start to see what the result is going to look like. Create a third track, and create a compositing>mapper element. Click ok, and open a window of track 3. Click on mapper, to open the options window for it. In the blank spot next to backround, click and choose "previous track." For "to inscribe" choose track one, or which ever track contains the image of the minifig you want to use first. At the bottom of the window, click next to geometry, and choose the first "contour" on the list. In the window, the minifig should appear. It may appear side-ways or upside down. If so, click on "rotate image" and ajust it to the appropriate angle. If done correctly, your settings should look like this (Note the stormtrooper has appeared in the window.:
Create a forth track, using mapper, and ajust the settings to be the same, except for the geometry (It should be the next one, therefore adding another minifig.) and possible the "to inscribe" might be changed if you have a different minifig you want to insert. Repeat until you have mapped ever box in the back row. Once you are done, you should have something like this:
This is the back row of troopers. Now, we are ready for the next row. Create a new row of boxes, overlaping the old ones. They should be bigger, to create the illusion of being closer to the camera. Create a new track, and insert a mapper. change the settings the ones shown below:
Notice that the backround is not previous, but instead set for track 2. If you open the window, you will notice that the other row is not visible. This is intentional. They will be added in later. With these settings, complete the next row of minifigs, each time filling in the next box. Make sure that on the rest of the mappers, the backround option is set for previous, NOT track 2. Once you have finished the whole row, it is time to reinsert the original row. Create a new track, and create a "color keyer" track. Open the settings, as well as the window. For backround, choose the track of the last minifig mapping for the original row. (The track that shows the whole original row.) In my case, this was track 8. For keyground, choose "previous." On the window, you should get a very messed up image of the two rows. Open a window of track 2, and use the eyedropper tool on the color keyer options for the color (default is black) to get the color of track 2. (In my case, that bright green color seen earlier.) Ajust the transparency threshold and the opacity threshold until the image looks good. Now, create new track, and repeat the steps in italics as many times as needed, until you have all the rows you need. Because this is a tutorial, I only did one more layer of troopers, but it gets the point across. Here is the result:
Now that we have the whole crowd, we need to insert the backround. I put together a lego baseplate background for this example. Create a track, and insert a video source clip, with the background you want to use. In another new track, make a color keyer, and set background for previous, use the eyedropper to get the right color, set keyground for the picture of the whole crowd, and ajust the opacity and transparency settings to your desire. Ajust the render settings, and render it all. Your crowd is finished!
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