Another Roto

Began roto work today on another shot of Miranda for another composite shot.

Theresa

I’m not sure it’s right to share Theresa’s personal Facebook update, but she needs all the prayers we can spare. She shared sad news last night: “Please pray for me!!! My scans show that my cancer has spread behind my left eye, my sternum, some of my soft tissue, in my tailbone, middle back, and right hip. My doctor also said I have 6 months to 2 years to live. Thanks for all your support and prayers.” We know God can always work a miracle, if it’s for the best. Let’s please pray for Theresa and her family as often as we can remember: for the miracle of her complete healing, but also for strength for whatever lies ahead for Theresa and her family. What an inspiration she and her family are to the rest of us who complain about such trivial nonsense!!

Finished Miranda Roto (again)

I had to re-do a roto of Miranda’s backside. The first version had a few big issues that Steve thankfully told me about. It’s finished, and I’m about to place it in the composite! Here’s a frame from the roto.

Light Changes Everything

I added atmospheric lighting to the composite last night, and oh…so beautiful…I want to be in that place. It looks so real, and I can’t believe the vision is coming to life.

Theresa Hodapp’s Second Lung Surgery

Our sweet Theresa (“Beautiful Young Woman”) underwent her third major surgery at MD Anderson yesterday, and her second lung surgery. Her mother, Kathy, wrote an update on her blog describing how Theresa suffered and endured very much; yet remained calm, sweet and positive through it all. She’s such an example, and puts me to shame every time I think about what she’s going through, and the insignificant things I complain about. Kathy wrote, “We know that each day will bring slow improvement and although the surgical results were distressing, we know and trust that God is in control. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. It helps us so much and strengthens us to know that Theresa is in your prayers.” Please continue to keep Theresa in your prayers every day. Thank you so much.

Session

Prepping for my third Shake consultation with Steve tomorrow afternoon. He’ll be answering questions I’ve stored up for him on the VFX shots I have lined up or am finishing.

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Lesson on Tracking and MatchMove

I completed the roto of Miranda for one of the climax shots. But it’s not looking good in the composite. Miranda’s hair doesn’t blend naturally with the environment. It’s the last major piece of the climax shot, and I’ll save up this and a few other questions for my next session with Steve W.

So today I’m learning how to track and matchmove to prepare for the next major shot: the “reverse” shot for the previous one. I’ll need to cut/roto Miranda out of a live action shot again, extract tracking data from it, and use it to match the movement in the multiplane wood I created.

Roto Miranda

Today I’m beginning a roto of Miranda. The shot is of Miranda from the back, as she approaches the secret in the wood.

Back in Business

Nervousness was growing with my increasing computer problems. After research and weighing options, I came to the conclusion that I had to do what anyone in my shoes would dread: completely wipe the mac’s hard drive clean, reinstall the operating system and all the programs. Just reinstalling the programs would take an entire day.

Choosing that course of action meant risking irretrievably damaging my “Wood” projects, if I unknowingly did something very stupid. So I held my breath the past few days, hoping down to my depths I didn’t do something very stupid.

After days of going through the process, the mac is in better shape than it’s been since I bought it! It was awfully tedious, and a handful of smaller issues cropped up that needed to be troubleshooted. But, I think this “setback” was actually a blessing in disguise. The mac and software are all working much more quickly and smoothly. I should think I’ll be getting some serious work done now!