Continue where you left at the previous exercise Compositing a Scene in Action - Part 1 or reload the setup you have saved.

If you want to reload the Action setup:

1. In Action, click the Load button.
2. Select the setup you previously saved as Gladiator_jump_part1.
3. This loads your setup and brings you back in action.

Now that we keyed the shots we don’t need the Background anymore since it does not participate in the final 3D composite; we will disable it. Then we will set the view ports to make it easier to work in 3D space.

1. In the Media menu (right side), set the Back to Off.
The background is now hidden but the backplate still exist as a layer image.
1. Press ALT+2 to display the 2-up view.
This helps to work in 3D space.
2. Click in the left viewport to put that view into focus (highlighted in yellow).
Set it to Top View; choose Top in the view list.
3. Keep Result view in the right viewport.
4. You can zoom out both views to get an overall view.
Drag in the Zoom field.

The pan keyboard shortcut is "Space-drag", zoom is "Ctrl+Space-drag". To toggle between the different view layouts, press "Alt+1", "Alt+2", "Alt+3" or "Alt+4".

To introduce depth, we will push the background further back in the scene and after that we will re-position the gladiators closer in 3D space so when we animate the camera we will feel the perspective shifting.

5. Select the main Object tab.
Object is where you find the axis controls to reposition, scale and rotate your objects.
This is also where you can apply blending modes and other image attributes.
6. Select DVE_L1 in the layer tabs which is the “Leap_Background” layer.
The thumbnail on the right hand side of the media menu updates; you can see which layer you have selected.
7. Drag the Position Z slider towards the left to push it back in the scene (around -600).
8. Increase the Prop Scale value until the layer fills the entire screen (around 200%).
Now the background looks pretty much the same as what we had before, except that it is further away and larger – this will add some realism.

1. Now select the DVE_ L2, which is the “Leap_Red” gladiator.
2. Drag the Position sliders to move the gladiator so we feel like he is aiming at the other man.
3. Select the DVE_L3 tab which is the “Leap_Black” gladiator.
4. Move him forward in space with Position Z and to the left with Position X.
Tweak the position until he looks properly positioned.

To move objects in the scene, you can manipulate the numerical controls and also select and move the elements directly in a viewer.

Now if we were to animate the virtual camera around the scene, we would quickly realize that these objects are flat and they don’t actually have any depth. We will compensate for this by curving the backplate.

1. Select the DVE_L1 tab (Leap_Backplate).
2. Under the Object menu, in the image parameters, change the Surface type from Flat to Bicubic.
Dragging one of the corners of a Bicubic surface will deform it in 3D space, using curved segments between the corners.
3. Work in the Top view.
4. Zoom out in the top view to see the entire scene.
5. Select the middle handles of the Bicubic using CTRL+Drag to draw a box around them.
6. Push the handles back in the top view to give the surface a concave roundness, much like a curved movie theatre screen.
7. Click outside of the shape to deselect the points.
8. Work in the Result view now.
9. Tweak the vertical position of the points until there are no empty areas in the Result viewer.

This is just to give you a feel for the 3D environment. These are extra steps.

1. Select the Orbit operator in the list, or press TAB+O.
2. Click and drag the cursor in the Result view to orbit the camera.
3. Click the Undo button to reset the camera back to the last stage.
4. Select the Move operator in the list to go back to default mode, or press TAB+M.

We will now animate the virtual camera around the gladiators.

1. Still working with two viewers (ALT+2).
2. Activate Autokey (right side of the interface).
3. Go to frame 1.
4. Select the Camera tab under the Object menu.
The Object menu displays the Camera settings.
5. Enable Path in the Camera Param1 options.
This is a visual representation of the path that the camera is taking when animated.
6. Zoom in and frame the two gladiators.
If you modify the Camera parameters; use the Eye Z slider to zoom in and maybe the Eye X and Y sliders to view the gladiators slightly from the side.
You can also select and manipulate the camera icon directly in the Top view while monitoring the result view.
7. Because Autokey is ON, a keyframe is created at frame 1.

8. Go to the last frame.
9. Dolly the camera back by dragging the numerical fields.
10. Zoom out and frame the gladiators from the left.
Make sure that there isn’t any black in the render frame.
11. The camera has been animated.
This created a path – a dotted line where each segment is a separate frame.
You can actually manipulate this path now – just make sure you are in Move mode.
12. Scroll the shot and look at both views.
Right now the camera starts off slowly, speeds up and then stops. This is due to the default Hermite interpolation. This seems unrealistic as usually you wouldn’t be cutting in the middle of the camera motion.
13. Click on the Animation menu.
14. Select the DefaultCam item.
15. Set the Interpolation from Hermite to Linear.
Now if you scrub, you can see that this feels like a crane shot looking at our two gladiators and it actually looks like they’re frozen in mid-air while jumping in a coliseum.

The last thing we need to do is render the result, but we’d like this to look as realistic as possible. We will tweak the rendering options to improve the result.

1. Step out of Animation and go inside the Setup menu.
The Setup menu contains all the preferences for the current Action session.
2. Press ALT+1 to display only one viewport.
3. Make sure you are in Result view.
4. Go to frame 1.
5. Enable Motion Blur.
This will render intermediate samples between each frame and blend them together to create the illusion of motion blur.
6. Set a Shutter speed of 1.5.
This will exaggerate the impression of speed.
7. Increase the Samples to about 10.
Keep in mind that these settings are quite costly in terms of rendering time, so use them in moderation.
8. You are now ready to render but before, press Save to save your Action setup.
9. Call it “Action_Leap” and press ENTER.
10. Make sure you are at the very first frame.
11. Click on Process.
This processes each frame and creates a finished clip that goes in the Source Area.
The name of the final clip will be the same as your setup.

12. Click on the Player button that has just appeared.
13. Play back the result.
We can see that the motion blur creates the illusion of speed. We can also feel the perspective shift between the two gladiators.
14. EXIT the Player and EXIT the Action module.
15. The result clip of the Action session is visible in the Source Area.

Motion blur is only visible on the render, but you can press Preview to see the final result on the current frame.

We will see how to integrate the result clip in our previous timeline.

1. Make sure the “Action_Leap” clip is selected in the Source Area.
2. Press Shift+Esc to display the Source/Record player.
3. Set your Record folder in View mode if needed.
4. Make sure the Record Timeline is displayed in the Record Area.
5. Place the timeline positioner just before the “XBALL_LOGO” clip.
6. Set the focus point to the bottommost layer.
7. Enable Sync.
This will ripple all tracks when you insert a clip.
Ripple should be set to End.
8. Set the positioner of the source clip “Action_Leap” to the first frame.
9. Press the Insert function (between the two players) to insert the clip in the timeline.

To create a smoother transition between the Action clip and the Xball logo at the end of the timeline, we will extend the Lens flare clip to the top of the Action clip, so both the Action clip and the logo will have a flare.

1. Display the Record player.
2. Disable Ripple.
3. Navigate to the beginning of the Action clip on the Timeline.
4. Set the focus point to the topmost layer.
5. Select the “Lens_Flare” clip.
6. Press E+Down to trim the head of the selected clip to the positioner.
7. Process.
8. Access the full screen player, CTRL+ESC.
9. Replay the result (Alt+L).

To continue with the exercises, click on the following link: