Putting my head over another in MPEG file?

[Rudyard]

I was wondering if it were possible if I had a video of a person talking to someone and then a video of myself to replace my head over the head of the person in the first video.

E.g. In a still photo, I would just cut out the other head and replace it with a cutout of my head. Simple.

But in video I am not sure if its that easy.

I dont need a proffesional end result (unless thats just as easy!) its kind of a joke thing so any result I guess is better than none.

I have access to premier pro, vegas, ulead video studio and obviously any free utilities on the net.

Thankyou for any help.

[greymalkin]

you need a blue/green screen and a blue/green shirt

[Rudyard]

Ok, so am I to assume its not anything at all like doing it with a still picture and I should give up?

[guns1inger]

You don't need to blue/green screen it if you are happy with rough edges. However, if the original video has a lot of motion, you will find it harder to keyframe the motion of your new head to keep it in place.

[Rudyard]

You don't need to blue/green screen it if you are happy with rough edges. However, if the original video has a lot of motion, you will find it harder to keyframe the motion of your new head to keep it in place.

No the video doesnt have a heap of motion and yes I am happy with rough edges. Its actually just a clip from the 'this is your life show' and the person is sitting on the couch. I just want to stick my head over the persons.

Could you please point me to a guide or explain how I would do it using keyframes?

[greymalkin]

you have my interest as well....how an this be done in the "quick and dirty" fashion?

[gadgetguy]

Maybe this guy can offer some suggestions. (Click Here)

[garry]

In Prem Pro, import your original footage.
Then import your overlay gag footage. (video2 layer)
crop this footage down to the head and shift to the right location (for a rough image)
or wear the green t-shirt against the green background (only has to be a head shot (or cropped later to head shot) then reduced in size on the timeline and given the chroma key/ green screen effect.

You'll need to do the reading in prem pro files for the finer points.

[dipstick]

If the head you want to overlay is just a still, then you only need to cut the head out of the picture in your image editor like Photoshop or Gimp and save as a PSD or PNG with transparent layer. Import it into Premiere Pro (it will auto detect alpha chanel) and insert it in the track above your video clip. Then use the Resize, Rotate and Motion filters in the effects pallet to position size and rotate to keep up with the movement.

If you want a head that is talking and such, you'll probably need to shoot in front of a Green Screen then Key out the Green background with the Croma Key filter in the Effects Pallet.

[Rudyard]

Ok thanksgarry and dipstick - I think I can get it done like that.

Cheers for answering the pm call for help dipstick, it is appreciated.

Now to get to work!