Any suggestions for "Flubber" type effect in FCP?

[Tim O'Connor]

I'm doing a fun, free project for the local softball team and would like to have a scene with the pitcher tossing an unhittable pitch because the softball dances a bit. I have a couple of ideas but I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions for a fast down and dirty way to do this that might not look incredibly cheesy. Mildly cheesy no problem. I do have access to a good sized green screen but can't do any roto work on this one. Thanks.

[Will Earl]

I'm not familar with FCP so I'm not sure what type of effects are available or how much control you have over them, but you could animate a distortion effect of some sort on the ball.

 

You could also stick the ball on a wire and puppeteer it in the shot (onset or in front of green) doing some wierd little dance along it's path, if your going for a slowmotion shot then get the actors to mime their actions.

[Tim O'Connor]

I'm not familar with FCP so I'm not sure what type of effects are available or how much control you have over them, but you could animate a distortion effect of some sort on the ball.

 

You could also stick the ball on a wire and puppeteer it in the shot (onset or in front of green) doing some wierd little dance along it's path, if your going for a slowmotion shot then get the actors to mime their actions.

 

Thanks. I think that the second one might work well for this because it would be easy enough and yet a bit fun for me because I'm curious

as to how believeable laying in just the isolated ball would be in a shot from the side as compared to a shot straight on from behind the batter.

[Chris Keth]

For a view from behind the plate, you could use a flexible mirror to distort the ball. You could shoot the image in the mirror of the ball against a greenscreen. It would distort and dance a lot like you describe.

[Brian A Garnell]

I'm doing a fun, free project for the local softball team and would like to have a scene with the pitcher tossing an unhittable pitch because the softball dances a bit. I have a couple of ideas but I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions for a fast down and dirty way to do this that might not look incredibly cheesy. Mildly cheesy no problem. I do have access to a good sized green screen but can't do any roto work on this one. Thanks.

 

 

Do the pitch/swing/acting with no ball, take a digital still of the ball, cut it out in photoshop, import into fcp, shrink it down to size and spinn it/move it around with the motion tab, add blur.

 

Lighting will be off, but the scene will generally have soft lighting and the ball will be spinning. It'll work for quick and dirty and mildly cheesy.

[Juha Leminen]

I could do it in CGI if the footage is shot with cam in same position. Also with moving cam

if there is no ball in the shot. Some of my uncommercial CGI here My Website