November 29, 2012 Workshop 19 Notes

COMPOSITE EDITING

PART I: Initiate the animation in Maya by using render layers. Note: this first part repeats the same sequence in workshop 16.

1. Within Maya 2011, go to the Surfaces module and create an plane surface for
   the ground and cone.
2. Add a spot light, go to the shadows Tab and turn on Raytrace Shadow Attributes.
3. Go to the Dynamics module and under the Effects menu, create a “Fireworks” effect
   placing the emitter above the cone.
   
4. Go to the Channel Box/Layer Editor (upper right hand corner), select the Render tab,
   and create two render layers. Using the standard technique, place the light, cone and
   plane on the first layer, and place the emitter on the second one.
   
5. Turn on the first render layer only.
   
6. Go to the Render Settings Window and setup a Maya Software rendering. Batch render
   30 frames. Using QuickTime Pro, compile the movie file as “baselayer.mov”.
7. Turn on the second render layer only.
   Go to the Render Settings Window and setup a Maya MentalRay rendering. Batch
   render 30 frames.Using Quicktime Pro, compile the movie file as “fireworkslayer.mov”.
   

PART II: Combine the two animations in Composite 2012.

1. Open Composite 2012. Select File/New and and initiate a new composition file
   on a local temp drive on a Windows Computer under a folder created with your name
   (t:) or an Apple Computer (temp).
   
   
   
   
2. Use the create button to build the project file.
   
3. Go to the File import tool and import the movie files for the first and second render
   layers, “baselayer.mov” and “fireworkslayer.mov”.
   
   
   
4. In the dialog box, find the directory where the files are located, select and import them
   into the Composition window.
   
   
   
5. Select the Output icon and the icons for the imported files, and select the “L” key to
   organize them within the window.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Within the Composition Window, hold down the middle-mouse button to launch the gate
   menu and select the “Pick List” through the east gate.
   
   
   
   
7. On the far right-hand side of the screen, go to the “Composition” category and then drag
   the “Blend & Comp” tool on the bottom of the dialog box to the Composition Window.
   
   
   
   
8. Re-arrange the icons and move the Blend & Comp icon to the right of the baseLayer
   icon, and draw a connection arrow to the “Back” input channel.
   
   
   
   
9. Similarly, draw aconnection arrow from the fireworkslayer icon to the “Front” input channel.
   
   
   
   
10. Next, draw a connection from the Blend & Comp icon to the Output icon, and note that
    the fireworks only will be visible in the output image screen on the right hand side.
11. Select the Blend & Comp icon, and in the lower-left hand dialog box also select the
    “Blend & Comp” tab. Go to the “Method” area on the right-hand side and change the
    Blend” type to “Add” and the “Comp” type to “Over”.
    
    
    
    
12. Note that the Composition Output window now depicts the fireworks over the ground
    plane and cone.
    
    
    
    
13. Now select the Output icon, and in the lower dialog box go to the Output tab, and select
    the desired format (try NTSC for practice).
    
    
    
    
    
14. Next select the Render tab in the same dialog box, and through the “File Name” option
    determine the pathway to the render output files. Also, change the File Format to “png”.
    
    
    
    
15. Finally, right-click on the Output icon and choose the “render” option, and then the
    “Start” button to generate the “png” files.
    
    
    
    
16. Finally, open QuickTime Pro and compile the PNG files into a single QuickTime movie.