Import and Composite 3D Elements in Shake

You’ve likely seen Shake at work on the silver screen more times than you can count. Now it’s easier than ever to use Shake, one of the most powerful compositing tools in the industry, to layer elements from 3D applications with video footage for convincing effects. It doesn’t matter if your 3D elements come from a PC or a Mac; Shake will import a broad variety of cross-platform file formats. Once you import and layer your files in Shake, you’ll be ready to export to Final Cut Pro or virtually any professional video editing or animation application.

Steps

Step 1: Export your 3D scene as an image sequence or QuickTime file with an alpha channel. See the adjoining Tips section for more details on export formats.

Step 2: Launch Shake and a new “script” (project file) will open automatically.

Step 3: In the Image tab, click FileIn. The “Load Image or Sequence” dialog box will open. Locate and select your 3D footage, then click OK. Repeat the process for your background footage.

Step 4: Your files will appear in the Node View tab. Drag the background footage to the left of the 3D footage. Select the background footage by double-clicking.

Step 5: In the Layer tab, click Over and a new node will appear with a “noodle” that connects it to your background QuickTime.

Step 6: In the Node View tab, position your pointer over your 3D footage and look for the “knot” at the bottom. Click on the knot and drag to the Over node. A new noodle will automatically connect them.

Step 7: Click the Play button to preview your composition. If you like, you can adjust the preview length in the box next to the time bar.

Step 8: Your clips are now layered. See the “Doing More with Shake” tip for more about additional effects. Refer to the Shake manual when you are ready to render your composition.

Sample

Watch a sample video, created by Tronic Studio, of 3D elements mixed with video footage in Shake.

Tips

Macs and PCs Connect

Macs and PCs can work together to generate incredible creative projects. Tronic, a New York-based multi-disciplinary design studio, uses Xserve to seamlessly connect their PC workstations running 3D applications to their Macs running Shake and Final Cut Studio. Tronic used this multi-platform network on one of their recent projects in which 3D elements and live footage merge together for an outrageous carnival game. You’ll see images from their project in this Technique.

Preparing 3D for Shake

Shake can import a wide variety of files. Many 3D artists render their elements as image sequences. These are usually TIFF sequences or Targa sequences, both of which work very well in Shake. In some 3D applications, you can also render your elements as QuickTime files for use in Shake.

All of these formats allow you to use an alpha channel to maintain transparent areas. If you are rendering an image sequence, check your render settings to make sure you render with an alpha channel. If you are rendering a QuickTime file, use the Animation compressor and set the color depth to “Millions of Colors+” (the plus sign represents the alpha channel).

These file formats work well on both Macs and PCs. This means that you can seamlessly transfer files between workstations, regardless of their operating system.

Nodes, Noodles, and Knots

Shake uses a “node-based” interface, which is both powerful and flexible. If you are used to working with a layer-based interface, you may benefit from a quick vocabulary lesson. Everything in Shake is a node. This includes your footage, color correction tools, and transformations. Nodes are connected to each other with thin white lines called noodles. Knots are the connecting points for noodles on each node. Shake displays nodes, noodles, and knots in the Node View tab. Image information travels between nodes through noodles to create your final image.

Doing More with Shake

Shake comes with a suite of high-quality industry standard compositing tools. In the Color tab, you’ll find color correction tools like ContrastLum (contrast and luminance) and AdjustHSV (adjust hue/saturation/value).

In the Filter tab, you’ll find great FilmGrain and Blur effects.

In the Transform tab, you’ll find a fantastic stabilizer (Stabilize) and motion tracker (Tracker).

Tools like these, combined with the flexibility of the node-based interface, give you everything you need for professional Hollywood-grade compositing.

Under the Hood

You can access almost all of Shake’s functions without ever touching a node or any other part of the Shake interface. Shake files are referred to as “scripts” because they can be viewed as text and edited by typing commands. Power users use this functionality to automate many kinds of tasks, including image resizing and file format conversions. You can access the power of Shake’s scripting language with Terminal, an application that comes standard with Mac OS X.