Background with objects and sprites test

Leading up to the final video we wanted to carry out more tests so we can see how our objects will work with the created sprites and a background.

Below is the first test we did which features a background image (panoramic shot of Derry), some of our green screened objects, some Super Mario sprites and some of our own sprites as well.  We noticed a slight error with our sprites.  When a gif sprite was imported into After Effects it still had a white background.  Removing this was done by using using the Linear Colour Key filter.  The only problem with this was it removed all the white from the gifs meaning it removed the white from the eyes and mouth of most of the characters.

Test 1 - No Eyes

Ryan: Aside from the sprites looking weird with no mouths or eyes I am very happy with this test because it shows how far we've come with all of our tests.  Everything is finally coming together!  We just need to decide on the sprites movement and positioning for the final video.

Lavinia: We then added our own enemy sprites in our test video with the background image and objects to see how they sit and move in the video, in this test video we made the mistake of not having a background behind our sprites as we ended up removing one of our colours which was white, that then means it removed our eyes of our sprites. 

Fixing the issue

Before

After

The solution to the problem was to change the background colour to something that isn't apart of the sprite itself.

Test 2 - Eyes

Ryan: Thankfully this issue was easily fixed on Piskelapp.  We just needed to add a different background colour for the Linear Color Key to remove it from the sprite.  Everything is starting to fall into place and I can't wait to do the actual final video!

Lavinia: We then fixed the problem by putting on a background on our sprites. We then retested the video using the background sprites and in this video, our sprites have there eyes back, which made the test video so much better as the sprites look really well with the background image and objects, we believe this is coming along good. 

Test 3 - Doughnut

Ryan: I thought it would be good to test my doughnut sprite and have it roll down a hill during the video for Mario to jump over.  Apart from a slight dip in the movement I am happy with this and can easily tweak it.  We could use this technique further on with other sprites.

Lavinia: In this test video, we tested out Ryan's doughnut sprite, Ryan animated the doughnut to rotate, we believe this worked well and we have the idea of using this technique  in the video for Mario to jump over in the level we will create.