How to seamlessly edit many videos?

[maveric]

How would you seamlessly edit many videos together without it looking "choppy". The idea would be a guy eating the same bowl of cereal, as he gets closer to finishing his hair and beard are getting longer. All in one shot from the front. No multiple angles or cuts.

[jagabo]

Cgi

[maveric]

I was doing some reading at it seems that cuts have to be used. Smooth cuts?

This is for a college project (not film/editing related) and am trying to figure this out. It is a bit difficult since I do not know the "lingo" nor how to word it on google.

The main thing is that it has to look seamless as if it were all one take.

[jagabo]

You're going to end up carefully scripting the lighting, positions, and motions then crossfading between shots. You cannot make something like this seamless without resorting to fully synthetic CGI.

[pandy]

Morphing?

[maveric]

That is true.

What about editing multiple videos together of the same scene to make it look like the same one?

For instance the same guy eating a bowl of cereal for 5 minutes but, we were only able to shoot 30 seconds at a time.

[racer-x]

Morphing?

Kinda like this...

[poisondeathray]

That is true.

What about editing multiple videos together of the same scene to make it look like the same one?

For instance the same guy eating a bowl of cereal for 5 minutes but, we were only able to shoot 30 seconds at a time.

Difficult to make "seamless". You can used a locked off camera in a controlled indoor set to account for lighting , background differences. But the actor needs to be perfectly aligned between shoots. But small things like slight head tilt, wardrobe with minutely different wrinkle pattern etc.. will cause problems. There will be a small jump no matter how skilled he is, or how skilled your wardrobe and makeup department is - and you will need to do at least some post work in the in between frames between each shot

It's analgous to how a timelapse shoot is, you will encounter those same sorts of problems. You can minimize the background problems like trees blowing in the wind, lighting etc..by using a controlled set - but you will still have those foreground discrepancies

CG can be seamless, but it's difficult to composite it realistically (and look authentic) onto a moving target unless you have a major FX budget

[maveric]

That is true.

What about editing multiple videos together of the same scene to make it look like the same one?

For instance the same guy eating a bowl of cereal for 5 minutes but, we were only able to shoot 30 seconds at a time.

Difficult to make "seamless". You can used a locked off camera in a controlled indoor set to account for lighting , background differences. But the actor needs to be perfectly aligned between shoots. But small things like slight head tilt, wardrobe with minutely different wrinkle pattern etc.. will cause problems. There will be a small jump no matter how skilled he is, or how skilled your wardrobe and makeup department is - and you will need to do at least some post work in the in between frames between each shot

It's analgous to how a timelapse shoot is, you will encounter those same sorts of problems. You can minimize the background problems like trees blowing in the wind, lighting etc..by using a controlled set - but you will still have those foreground discrepancies

CG can be seamless, but it's difficult to composite it realistically (and look authentic) onto a moving target unless you have a major FX budget

Thank you, that is insightful.

I assume those discrepancies are more of an issue when trying to align multiple videos from the same angle?

If it would not be too much trouble what would be some ways to shoot something like this when the only goal would be to make it seem like it was all shot on the same day/ one take?

[poisondeathray]

I assume those discrepancies are more of an issue when trying to align multiple videos from the same angle?

Yes, because it' s not a continuous take. You're shooting at different periods of time, maybe different days or even months. Realistically months is the time frame you want to shoot for human hair growth . (well I have a "hairy" neanderthallic friend that can grow a decent beard shadow in a day ... but that's besides the point)

If it would not be too much trouble what would be some ways to shoot something like this when the only goal would be to make it seem like it was all shot on the same day/ one take?

You lost me...I'm not sure what you're asking now ? Is "seamless" or "hair growth" no longer part of the goal ? Did you mean same shoot with multiple cuts/ cameras /angles ? Because those are some techniques used to minimize discrepancies - eg. you cut to a different camera angle. Small changes like a few hairs out of place or slightly more wrinkled shirt are not noticed by the audience. It's still critical to use a controlled set and lighting. Just look at some examples like commericals, infomercials how the edit is done and camera switches. If it's done well, it's not choppy or jolting and the illusion of being the same time is kept. Audio also plays an important role, both ambient noise, and sound track

[smrpix]

First you need to know what story you are trying to tell.

If you're trying to make the hair growth look contiguous in a single shot, the gimmick IS the story.

If your story is that he grows a beard in the time it takes to eat a bowl of cereal, you can jump freely between close up and long shots changing the prosthetic hair between takes. Temporal continuity can be suggested by clues such as the level of cereal and milk in the bowl.

You may want to consider shooting in reverse order. This would allow you to use an actor with a real beard that could be trimmed and eventually shaved off over the course of production. Again use clues like the level of cereal in the bowl to suggest time continuity.

[maveric]

I assume those discrepancies are more of an issue when trying to align multiple videos from the same angle?

Yes, because it' s not a continuous take. You're shooting at different periods of time, maybe different days or even months. Realistically months is the time frame you want to shoot for human hair growth . (well I have a "hairy" neanderthallic friend that can grow a decent beard shadow in a day ... but that's besides the point)

If it would not be too much trouble what would be some ways to shoot something like this when the only goal would be to make it seem like it was all shot on the same day/ one take?

You lost me...I'm not sure what you're asking now ? Is "seamless" or "hair growth" no longer part of the goal ? Did you mean same shoot with multiple cuts/ cameras /angles ? Because those are some techniques used to minimize discrepancies - eg. you cut to a different camera angle. Small changes like a few hairs out of place or slightly more wrinkled shirt are not noticed by the audience. It's still critical to use a controlled set and lighting. Just look at some examples like commericals, infomercials how the edit is done and camera switches. If it's done well, it's not choppy or jolting and the illusion of being the same time is kept. Audio also plays an important role, both ambient noise, and sound track

Yeah, the hair growth is no longer the goal. Just how to best edit multiple videos, shot on different days to make it look like it was done in one shot. Using one camera.

Using the same clothes, and controlling the room i.e lighting but, what kind of edits would make it look as smooth as possible?

[smrpix]

What changes from shot to shot that requires it being shot on different days? Again, what are you trying to show?

[racer-x]

You can use track opacity to help with alignment of actor movements. The camera would need to be stationary in proportion to the scene for all takes. The lighting would need to be the same. It will take a lot of work for setup and for final editing. The results would depend on the details and effort put in.

[jagabo]

what kind of edits would make it look as smooth as possible?

Why do you keep asking the same question over and over again? It's been answered several times. And you've been given several other options.

[pandy]

Morphing?

Kinda like this...

Excuse me but as a European i see no substantial difference between last few US presidents and candidates (i.e. D. Trump and H. Clinton) - sorry but leadership quality deteriorated in last 30 years so much that Trump for me is not more different than Clinton...

[maveric]

What changes from shot to shot that requires it being shot on different days? Again, what are you trying to show?

It is not required but, the project is to see if I can edit multiple videos together to make it look like one take. I used the cereal eating because, it is just eating at a table indoors where I can control lights and the placement of items.

[maveric]

Though it would not be as smooth, could I just pause the video at a certain spot then begin recording with the same placement of the shot and use a slight jump cut? Maybe some addition of fast forwarding to make the jump less obvious.

Still open to better ideas.

[smrpix]

This is a new name for you, isn't it? Don't get fungus on your SD cards.

[poisondeathray]

Though it would not be as smooth, could I just pause the video at a certain spot then begin recording with the same placement of the shot and use a slight jump cut? Maybe some addition of fast forwarding to make the jump less obvious.

Still open to better ideas.

The jump can be smoothed over slightly with a "morph cut" . For example, premiere pro has this. Or you can do it with free tools like avisynth mvtools2 as well. Basically it involves synthesizing "inbetween" frames between the 2 shots so there isn't as large as a jump by using motion vectors. It's not perfect, but sometimes can work ok on some types of material. Other techniques involve temporal smoothing a bridge section between the 2 clips, so a few frames on either side are filtered. But post work is never going to be the same as the real thing

[johnmeyer]

I'm pretty sure you can do exactly what you want using Blackmagic's Fusion. They have a version that is free to download and use. It will do what you want, but it will also take you several hours to learn.