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Shadow Fixing 

Working on getting the shadow and getting it to look right has been a challenge, I have worked with multiple techiniques and color correcting nodes in order to improve the shadow work for all of the CGI elements that are part of our adverstisment campaign. To read more about this clic in the button.  

Screenshot 2024-10-22 at 9.20.53 AM.png

After

Before 

One of the most valuable lessons, I remembered this week is that as compositors one of the most important things to do is problem solving, we all have a Tool Box with things that we have learned and it keeps growing week by week, and project by project. Applying multiple ideas to fix what is challenging can be scary, but at the same time is what embraces that idea of being flexible. Taking this into account I will describe all of the processes I made to improve this shadow and all of the tools I tried to get to that result.  

The first idea that came to mind in order to fix the shadow was masking the shadow into a Color grade node in order to color correct the shadow, as time passed I noticed that one color correct was not enough so I decided to use a grade node, to keep color correcting and trying to match the shadow. Despite working with multiple color corrector nodes for multiple hours, trying to reduce highlights and shadows to make it more cohesive, I discovered this was not the solution for the shadow because of the highlights that the sand was producing because it could get to dark or to bright but not in the sweet spot I needed.  

Screenshot 2024-10-22 104847.png

Then I decided to multiply the shadow with a merge node and work with color correction nodes again, but this time with the multiply it got closer to what I wanted but it was not perfect. I also looked into the foundry website and followed a tutorial to see if maybe they had other ideas, but despite following it, the shadow was not perfect either. I read some documentation on shadows and along with professor Gaynor we came uo with a new solution, that is the one that you can see in the after of this comparison. 

Using the shadow as an alpha, I filled this shadow with parts of the shadow that was already part of the plate. Taking all parts with a roto and feathering them so they look cohesive between one and other. Then working with the general matte and feathering it so it looks more realistic as the shadow that is on the side of it. This was an easy solution, because the plate doesn't move, and I could take advantage of that. In the end, compositing is about adapting and learning new strategies in order to get to what is needed. 

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