3D Graphics in AviSynth for Christmas

[jsada]

Are there any Filters or Plugins available that will let me do
3D graphics in AviSynth? I have seen VC Mohan's filters are
Filter's site, but they are mostly for Effects & Transitions.

I was looking forward to be able do following AVI (XVID)

If I can't do it in AviSynth what would be a good software

Adobe After Effects is supposed to be good for 3D


TIA,
J

[actionman133]

AVISynth is a video frameserver, not a 3D animation package. AfterEffects would probably be much better suited for working with video in 3D (with its 3D layer capabilities)...

PS. I haven't yet seen your zip file, because it hasn't been approved yet, so my response is based on your comments...

[jsada]

AviSynth is more than just a FrameServer

And I have been lucky enough to use with clips, photos,
transitions, effects, audio overlap, etc. time and again.

With all its Filters and Plugins you can do pretty extensive stuff.
But I looking for any imported libraries or modules from
AE or FX, that will do simple 3D graphics in AviSynth.

Hope the attachment helps in my requested info.

[foxyshadis]

AE plugin is just an API, one that Avisynth could emulate (the way GiMP emulate's photoshop's) if it was desired. But setting up an AE plugin via text could be exceedingly difficult; it's bad enough doing certain brain-dead NLE stuff, which is why so many filters are more automated than, say, premiere filters. A lot of AE filters, at least those I used while I had the misfortune to use it, required extensive work on the timeline and realtime tweaking, for fadeins and outs, parameters changing during the duration, all the different layers, and so on.

It could take pages of script, for a simple fansub-style karaoke. I've seen AE micromanagement that puts that to shame. AE, Combustion, and Motion are simply much better than a scripting environment for most of their effects.

But it's still possible to do such things, for the patient. They just aren't available now.

Thanks for reminding me, I need to delete it off here.

[Zarxrax]

As for the video you attached, It's not really 3d, so you could do it in AviSynth I think. You just need to move the video while making it grow. Perhaps you can animate a resize filter to make it grow? I'm not sure how you would move it, but I'm pretty sure you can do that as well.

After Effects is definitely way more suited for something like that though. If you want a free alternative, you might try checking out Jahshaka (http://www.jahshaka.org/). I have never had much success with this program though, as it seems to be so buggy that it always crashes on me within 5 minutes of usage. Your mileage may vary.

[jsada]

On further research I found some more open source tools out there,

OpenFX
Blender

Do you guys have any opinion on them?

[Zarxrax]

I've never heard of openfx, but I have used Blender. It's a 3d modeling program which is really overkill for something like what you showed in the video, but it should be able to do it. It has quite a learning curve though, so expect to spend a few hours getting into it.

[Cunhambebe]

I have seen VC Mohan's filters are
Filter's site, but they are mostly for Effects & Transitions.

Can you post the link, pelase? Is this one you're referring to?
http://www.ecs.fh-osnabrueck.de/avscutter.html

thanks in advance...
****************************
Edit: I have already found it..
http://www.avisynth.org/vcmohan/

[Wilbert]

Are there any Filters or Plugins available that will let me do
3D graphics in AviSynth? I have seen VC Mohan's filters are
Filter's site, but they are mostly for Effects & Transitions.

I was looking forward to be able do following AVI (XVID)

If I can't do it in AviSynth what would be a good software
Yes, that's possible. Do you have (1) the candle clip on a black background for us and (2) the background clip as a separate clip?

[jsada]

No I don't have the clips separatly.

The whole clip is from a demo DVD, for holiday greetings.

I have been playing with AE, not very impressed.

[Cunhambebe]

I have been playing with AE, not very impressed.:scared:
As far as I know After Effects is very good (and expensive too). But it can help you do almost everything with the subject "video". Blender is very good, but its learning curve as it's been remarked here, may be a little difficult. Again, as far as I know there are some guys who use Blender to make amazing effects with it.
************
Edit:
I have downloaded and watched the video file. Is that what you wanna make in AviSynth? I guess you "could" do it as far as the application lets you work with layers. Please notice there "could be" at least 4 layers there:
1.the front window (bottom of it covered with snow);
2.the snow falling;
3.the graphic showing the candles;
4.the background.
You should have these files (or at least 2 of them; the front window and the rest) to help you make a video compositing project, using the alpha channel. Curiously you said you've been playing with AE and are not very impressed. It is a piece of cake to make what you want in AE since you have those files first. Those ones can be created with any application that deals with pics. Do you know a good one which is freeware?

[jsada]

One reason I am not liking AE is, I am spoiled by scripting where
I have total control for every frame, and there is no point & click
to remember. I plan to give a shot at Blender and
OpenFX, and with time at Cinerella. Than I will be
able to give some feedback.

BTW, do you guys have any sample script to do "You should have these files (or at least 2 of them; the front window and the rest) to help you make a video compositing project, using the alpha channel."

Any pointers would be helpful.

[foxyshadis]

That's why I never liked AE, the lack of control and unintuitive design. Only after weeks of using it while reading documentation and googling did I feel I had any control over what went on, and even that wasn't much.

Motion 2 and Combustion are better, but the first is by Apple (and Mac-only) and the latter by Autodesk, two companies I possibly have even less love for than Adobe. And Combustion costs more. I really hope the open source alternatives catch up quickly.

[Zarxrax]

Lack of control? What kind of control are you guys looking for? After Effects certainly has exponentially more control for moving objects around than AviSynth does...

[foxyshadis]

Practically everything is mouse-driven. Just zooming way in on the uselessly small slider, trying to line up the beginning of one filter right where I want it, then zooming out to find the end and do it all again (and again for any transform points) takes forever. Repeat for each layer. For someone who's been doing that kind of thing for years, being able to punch in frame numbers or timecodes for everything speeds things way up; it is in fact possible to set the layer start and end that way, if you can find the keyboard command guide, although the way it's implemented doesn't always work.

For aspects where the mouse makes sense, it's great to have a gui and not a script, but not everything is better done via mouse.

Plus the buggy thing just won't import anything that attempts to decode as YUV, even if it can also decode to RGB, and tends to not import anything over 64k frames.

[liquid217]

Below is something I created with wax. Wax is a very powerful composition suite. It can open avisynth scripts, and use virtualdub plugins as well. The menu sample below, i used paintshop to create the image, and then overlayed the snowglobe on top of it. The video playing in the snowglobe is an avisynth script af various clips from the dvd. The snow was created with the particle generator, which is built into wax.

http://www.videohelp.com/~liquid217/samplemenu.wmv

Wax:
http://www.debugmode.com/wax/

[nibbles]

Wow that's a fantastic video. Flash tutorials on your website and everything.
I can't resist, Hot Wax! :)

[Cunhambebe]

Congratulations! That's an excellent job.