Realistic CRT TV Screen Replacement in After Effects
Summary
TLDRIn this tutorial by Blow Films, Leo demonstrates screen replacement techniques used in a music video for Pip Blom. The video covers how to track and replace a TV screen in After Effects without using tracking markers, by leveraging the clear shape of the screen. Leo also discusses color grading and CRT effects to enhance the realism of the shot, as well as other useful tips for filmmakers. The tutorial includes insights into using Boris Mocha for tracking and the importance of motion blur and grain for creating believable visual effects.
Takeaways
- 📺 The tutorial focuses on screen replacement techniques, specifically for Edward Zorbs' music video for Pip Blom.
- 🎥 The footage was shot by Jackob Thor Helson, a visual effects artist, known for his crisp work.
- 🖥️ The scene discussed involves a character watching TV, where the second character is introduced through the television screen.
- ⚙️ No green screen or tracking markers were used in the shot, but the clear shape of the TV allowed for simple tracking using corner pins.
- 🖌️ The tutorial emphasizes using Mocha Pro for tracking and masking the TV screen to ensure proper screen replacement.
- 🎨 Free CRT TV diode textures can be downloaded from the creator's ArtStation store to replicate the look of a CRT television.
- 🎞️ To enhance the realism of the CRT effect, the tutorial uses various After Effects techniques like Optics Compensation, Gaussian Blur, and color adjustments.
- 🔧 The tutorial uses multiple layers, masks, and effects (e.g., posterized time, Optics Compensation) to replicate the imperfections of old CRT televisions.
- 💡 To simulate flicker on the screen, effects like Strobe Light and random opacity variations are added to give the footage a realistic CRT feel.
- 🎬 A step-by-step breakdown shows how to separate RGB channels and apply CRT diode effects to enhance the authenticity of the screen replacement.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the tutorial in this video?
-The main focus of the tutorial is screen replacement, specifically how to perform it in a shot for Edward Zorbs' music video for Pip Blom.
Who shot the footage used in the tutorial, and what is his background?
-The footage was shot by Jackob Thor Helson, who is also a visual effects artist and worked on some of the screen replacements in the music video.
What makes this screen replacement different from others shown in the past on this channel?
-In this example, there are no tracking markers on the television screen, but the television has a clearly defined shape, making it easy to track the screen’s corners for corner pinning.
How is the reflection on the TV screen used in the shot?
-The clean reflection on the TV screen is used later to add detail, such as the glass reflection, after the screen replacement is completed.
Why is Mocha used in this tutorial, and what role does it play?
-Mocha is used for tracking the screen replacement. It allows the user to define the screen's corners and track its movement throughout the shot to ensure the replacement footage aligns correctly.
What are the CRT TV diode textures, and how are they used in the project?
-The CRT TV diode textures are alpha masks with offset diode strings. By shining red, green, and blue channels through these masks, the effect simulates the look of a CRT TV. These are used to add an authentic CRT effect to the television footage.
What effect does the posterize time effect have on the footage?
-The posterize time effect allows the user to lower the frame rate of the footage, giving it a more authentic, low-frame-rate look, similar to what would be seen on an old CRT TV.
How does the tutorial suggest dealing with the lack of tracking markers in the footage?
-Because the television has a clearly defined shape, the tutorial suggests using corner pinning without the need for motion trackers. The lack of tracking markers doesn’t pose an issue due to the TV's consistent shape.
What methods are used to simulate the imperfections of a CRT TV in the replacement footage?
-Several effects are used, such as the optics compensation effect for refraction, Gaussian blur to lower resolution, and adding a subtle flicker and grain effect to emulate the look of an old CRT TV screen.
Why is a null object created, and how is it used in the screen replacement process?
-A null object is created to hold the tracking data from Mocha. The replacement footage is parented to this null object, allowing it to move and behave in sync with the original television screen.
Outlines
🎬 Introduction to Screen Replacement Tutorial
In this introductory segment, Leo from Blow Films welcomes viewers to a tutorial on screen replacement, referencing his work on Edward Zorbs' music video for Pip Blom. He mentions the involvement of visual effects artist Jackob Thor Helson, who contributed to some screen replacements. Leo explains the key shot: an over-the-shoulder scene featuring a character watching TV, with another character introduced on the screen. He also touches on a previous green screen tutorial and sets the stage for this detailed After Effects tutorial.
📺 Preparing the Screen for Tracking
Leo begins by analyzing the TV shot, noting the clean reflection on the screen and the lack of tracking markers, which isn’t an issue due to the clear shape of the TV. He explains how to use corner pin tracking for accurate screen placement. Before diving into the tutorial, he recommends checking out a CRT TV diode texture from the ArtStation store, which can be used to enhance screen replacements. Leo details how the CRT diodes work by breaking them into RGB channels, resulting in a more authentic screen replacement.
🖥️ Starting the Screen Masking Process
In this section, Leo demonstrates the step-by-step process of masking the TV screen using After Effects and Boris Mocha. He describes using the pen tool to trace the screen’s edges despite the low visibility. Leo shares tips on using X and Z keys to zoom and pan while working. Once the mask is in place, he explains how to adjust the surface tool to cover the entire screen and track the motion. He covers important tracking settings like shear and rotation, and how to manage interruptions in the shot by creating a new mask around any objects crossing the frame.
🎞️ Tracking, Pre-Composing, and Adding Effects
Leo explains how to integrate the masked TV screen with the actual footage, adding it to a new pre-composition and exporting tracking data to a null object for better control. He discusses parenting layers to the null object and enabling motion blur for added realism. Leo describes using several effects—posterized time, optics compensation, and Gaussian blur—to simulate the look of low-resolution CRT TV footage. He emphasizes maintaining a balance between realism and the quality of the final composite by tweaking the effects to match the screen's appearance.
💡 Enhancing the CRT TV Effect
Leo explains how to add layers to enhance the CRT TV effect, including creating a halo around the character and simulating imperfections. He details how to use Gaussian blur, exposure adjustments, and inverted nodes to achieve the CRT effect, focusing on the subtleties of making the footage look natural. Leo also discusses creating focus shifts and flicker effects using strobe light effects and how to layer them for more realism. He stresses the importance of film grain, which was already present in the footage, and its role in completing the illusion of the CRT TV screen.
🖼️ Layering and Masking for TV Glow
In this segment, Leo goes deeper into refining the final shot by layering duplicates of the back plate and adjusting masks. He explains how these layers are manipulated to create a realistic glow effect around the TV edges and the surrounding environment. By adjusting opacity and using different blending modes, Leo achieves a balanced brightness that simulates light emitting from the screen. He also explains the importance of softening the edges and how to match the brightness of the glowing edges with the original footage.
🔧 Final Touches and Reflection Effects
Leo walks through the final steps of completing the composite by adding reflections and further glow to the shot. He explains using a flipped version of the footage to create a realistic reflection on the bottom edge of the TV frame. He uses Gaussian blur and subtle adjustments to ensure the reflection looks believable. The final step involves crunching down the gamma using an exposure effect to reintroduce details and shadows on the TV screen, finalizing the composition. He highlights that the method focuses on selling the illusion without requiring complex interactive lighting on the subject.
🔴 Working with CRT Diodes for Realism
Leo introduces the use of CRT diodes to enhance the realism of screen replacements. He walks through the process of separating the footage into red, green, and blue channels using the 'shift channels' effect, and then layering them with corresponding CRT diode masks. The goal is to mimic the unique way CRT displays handle color, creating a more authentic TV screen effect. He adds that duplicating these channels and layering them can intensify the brightness and clarity of the final composite.
🎨 Adjusting Brightness and Finalizing the Look
Leo continues refining the CRT effect by duplicating layers and adjusting brightness levels. He explains how adding a clean, base duplicate and lowering its opacity can achieve the right brightness while maintaining the CRT diode banding. Leo shows how the adjustments improve the overall look, ensuring that the brightness doesn't overpower the natural CRT imperfections. He concludes by reviewing the final result and confirming that the shot looks good, reminding viewers of the importance of balancing realism with creative intent.
🚀 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
In the final paragraph, Leo wraps up the tutorial by showcasing the completed CRT TV effect in motion, reviewing the process step by step. He encourages viewers to check out the CRT diodes and other useful assets available on the ArtStation store, along with Grain Control for After Effects. He also invites viewers to subscribe to the channel for future tutorials and content related to filmmaking and visual effects. Leo signs off, wishing everyone a great day and hoping the tutorial was helpful.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Screen Replacement
💡Mocha
💡Masking
💡CRT TV Effect
💡Optics Compensation
💡Tracking Markers
💡Null Object
💡Gaussian Blur
💡Posterize Time
💡Film Grain
Highlights
Introduction to screen replacement techniques using After Effects for Edward Zorbs' music video.
Footage was shot by Jakob Thor Helson, a visual effects artist known for his crispy work.
The tutorial covers how to achieve a realistic screen replacement without motion trackers due to the clearly defined TV screen shape.
Usage of Mocha in After Effects for creating precise masks around the TV screen for screen replacement.
Boris Mocha tracking tool utilized to grab and pin corners of the TV screen for accurate screen replacement tracking.
Applying Optics Compensation and Gaussian Blur effects to simulate the natural refraction of CRT TV screens.
Introduction of multiple layers and blending modes to create a realistic, CRT-like visual effect.
Use of the 'Posterize Time' effect to match the TV screen footage frame rate to CRT-style TVs.
Addition of subtle glitch effects using low-res VHS glitches, masked to prevent interference with the main character.
How to manually create interactive lighting effects to enhance realism in VFX shots with minimal effort.
Color correction using curves to achieve a CRT-style cyan tint by adjusting RGB channels individually.
Exploration of various flicker effects using the Strobe Light effect and custom expressions to simulate TV screen flicker.
Implementation of film grain to match existing footage, preserving visual consistency across VFX shots.
Explanation of CRT diode textures, simulating the visual artifacts of CRT screens by manipulating RGB channels.
Duplicating footage layers with key masking and tracking techniques to ensure the seamless integration of VFX and live-action.
Transcripts
hello hello my name is Leo and welcome
to a new tutorial by blow films today
we're going to be looking at screen
replacement one more time we're going to
be looking at how I did this shot for
Edward zorbs music video for pip Blom
it's a super cool music video I'll leave
the link in the description below the
footage you're seeing here has been shot
by jackob Thor helson whose work is
really really crispy and jackob is
actually a visual effects artist himself
so he has been doing some of the screen
replac ments for this music video and
then Edward reached out to me to do some
of the other shots in there and one of
them was this one over here we have an
over-the-shoulder look on our character
who is watching TV and the second
character of the music video gets
introduced through the television screen
now if you've been following this
channel you know that we've done a sad
green screen tutorial before in which we
kind of tackled the wrong way of doing
screen replacement but sometimes you
kind of have to go about it that way and
in that example we had to deal with a
piece of crumpled up green screen that
was covering the glass of the screen now
in this example if we look at the
television screen itself we don't have
anything going on there we have a clean
reflection which we can use afterwards
to add the detail of the glass back on
top of the television except for that
there are also no tracking markers in
the shot which in this case doesn't
doesn't really matter because the
television has such a clearly defined
shape if you were to just pler track
this and dedicate Each corner to a
corner pin you would probably already be
getting extremely close so in this case
as well no need to add motion trackers
otherwise you're just going to have to
do the paint over afterwards in post
before we get into the tutorial I would
like to quickly have a look at our art
station store if you scroll down all the
way to Here There is a CRT TV diode
texture it's a free product you can just
download it if you have an art station
account I believe which I think you
should actually have if you are a
filmmaker or anyone who's interested in
pre-production and post-production stuff
the CRT diodes as you can see are just
three different Alpha masks that have an
offset of the diode strings and then by
shining an r a g and a b Channel through
each of those you get a full composite
when you push out but you also get the
mo effect if you start moving around it
cool that's everything and let's get
into after effects before we get into
the tutorial I would like to ask you to
hit the Subscribe button to get updated
with all of her future content all of
her future tutorials and like other
stuff like interviews and you know just
the film making process broken down
cool all all right so I've got this
window pulled up on the right it's a
pure ref window I have some shots of CRT
TVs that are turned on we have our TV
plate in the background here and we also
have a duplicate of it later with a mask
the first thing I would like to cover is
how to get this mask going the way I
went about it is you select your
background plate and then you go to
animation and then track in Boris mocha
you open mocha or a pro and then inside
of here you just grab the pen tool and
start working around this now this is a
very dark shot so seeing exactly where
that border is is a bit tricky but there
is this luminance thing over here and if
you hold it and then like rotate it it's
it might be a bit weird if you don't
know that that's what you should be
doing because it's not like going up or
down you rotate it around and then you
can this doesn't affect the actual
footage it's just for the viewport then
it's x and z on your keyboard that you
should be thinking about Z is zooming in
by scrolling up and down and X is just
moving cool that's all you need to know
I am going to be making a mask like this
and then
this uh still tricky to see I guess it's
there I'm choosing all the edges that
are the extremes from where the
curvature is happening I don't have a
point there but you can always add a
point then just hit
control and with all the points selected
you can like drag them in and then it's
just about
refining all right once you have your
basic shape ready you can select a
surface tool up here and that's when you
drag your corner pins and because we
know this entire surface of the
television is facing the same direction
we can also just expand our surface all
the way there and if you then select
this thing let's zoom out a bit you can
see oh that seems to be looking fine and
if it's not you can just come in here
and just move these things around a bit
maybe we want to stretch it
get it further straight up and there you
go once you're happy just hit track
forward if you look down here you can
still make some changes depending on
your shot so in this case we do like to
have the shear we would like to have the
rotation and scale we don't need
perspective because there's no 3D
movement going on here large motion is
fine small motion is really only if you
want to track like camera Jitter or
something like that
and that's it if you have something
crossing the frame that you want to
eliminate you can just go in and make a
new mask like let's say this guy would
be um crossing the frame and
corrupting whatever the track is that
we're trying to get you could basically
make a general mask around your
character and then if you leave it on
top of your character that means the
tracker will believe it's also on top so
you can just select one of a you can
just select a different color over here
and you can either track them both at
the same time or you can track one at a
time and you can do that by turning on
or off these Wheels either way we
don't need this we just need this and
I'm just going to track forward and then
I'm going to hit export over here or
save
once you leave you can extract your mask
I have the mask over here onto this
duplicate and it's fully animated and
sticks to the TV now that we have a
cutout of the TV everything gets very
easy cuz the next thing we want to do is
we want to add the television footage on
there so for that I have a new pre-
composition before I dive into that
pre-m I would like to say I have also
exported the tracking information to a
new null object just layer new null
object and then you export the Boris
mocha data to that object you export the
tracking data and if you hit U you can
see that you just have all your key
frames there and everything like the
footage just gets parented to that null
object over here so as you can see we
have a few copies of this effect they're
parented to the null and we have the
motion blur turned on as well for those
layers which is just a Finishing Touch
really but you know it's necessary if
the footage is
moving we have the footage in the back
which is really just simply the footage
it's a 4x3 shot it's turned black and
white and there is some text we do know
what black and white looks like on the
CRT TVs and that's mainly these two
references over here so we're definitely
going to be blooming this out a bit and
we're going to be turning it colder
until we get to something that doesn't
overpower the shot the first thing that
I did is I positioned the shot in 3D
space so I turned the 3D toggle over
here and I moved the shot to be exactly
where the other footage should be the
best way to do this is just copy paste
one more layer of your footage behind
your black and white footage and there
you go this is as you can see it's a bit
offset but I wanted the character to be
nicely framed up in this shot and I
didn't want to make the footage too
small so that we had issues with the
edges on top of this footage I added a
posterized time effect which is just a
very simple effect that can allow you to
Redial the frame rate of that specific
clip on top of that I added a Optics
compensation effect as you can see
bulges the edges of the footage this
gives a bit more of a feeling that the
footage is being refracted by the glass
that's on top of it and then a gajan
blur of
24% so as you can see we're completely
blurring out the footage if I were to
zoom in over here you can see how
because these diodes are each showing
one single section the footage actually
looks sharper than what it really is but
most of these TVs really didn't have
that good of a resolution to begin with
so we're bling it out a bit and then
we're going to try to preserve some
detail with a few other layers I have a
duplicate of that layer and I have
masked out just the corner areas of
where the character is standing I wanted
to give her a bit more of a Halo in the
shot also emphasizing a bit that CRT
effect that some areas have been blown
out and and those d iots are burnt a bit
more into the screen so Gan blur here is
set to one the exposure takes it up a
notch and then we have an invert node
that's basically making it brighter the
opacity is set to 11 if I were to put
that to 100 you see kind of what that
effect is so it's inverted but it's
brightening up all the shadowy areas
giving it a bit of a Halo and because
it's sharper because we have a lower
gajan blur that also introduces some
details in some areas and then setting
it to 11 just really gives almost that
kind of a high pass effect in that area
we have one more duplicate that has a
gajan blur of one and a opacity that's
animated it starts from
18% and then it goes up all the way to
50 what that does is it creates a bit of
a focus pool inside of the footage but
it's not really a focus pool but it's
trying to insinuate that footage from
CRT TV is kind of pulsating at some rate
and all these little imperfections in
the footage are making sure that it
feels a bit more believable the next
thing we have is a adjustment layer and
this adjustment layer is where we really
dial in the color so if I turn that on
here you go we've added a curves
adjustment we're not playing with the
alpha Channel we are not playing really
with the RGB main Channel we're
increasing the blues we're increasing
reing the greens a little bit we're
decreasing all three of them we're
decreasing the blue greens to the same
extent and then we're decreasing the
Reds even more so the main thing is get
rid of the Reds get rid of both the blue
and the green to a certain degree in the
shadowy areas so you get these slightly
warmer Shadows almost like a purplish
tone and then on top of that you
increase the blue and green until you
get the right level of cyan that you're
looking for now on top of that I have a
super low resolution video of a CRT TV
making some weird VHS glitches I have a
opting compensation set to that it's
except for that it's the same uh aspect
ratio then I have key light going on it
so that we get rid of the blue and I
have masked out some area in the center
so we don't interfere too much with the
character and it's just a very subtle
glitch that's going all throughout the
footage that just makes it naturally
look more like a CRT TV then on top of
that I wanted to create a bit of a
flicker on the screen the way I can go
about it could technically be anything
CU you could create a solid and add a
gradient effect to it and then add a
colorama effect to it then just alt
click the evolution and set an
expression like time times uh 250 or
something like that or you could wiggle
the opacity of a white layer that you
set on top of it you could do anything
but you know in this case I was trying
out the strob light effect um I hadn't
really used it before but new adjustment
layer strob light effect blend with
original set the 93 strob duration
period strob probability random seed and
then you just set it to add um I don't
know how much of this is default but I
do know that it works really well and it
allows you to kind of get this flicker
effect that's all throughout the footage
and you can pretty quickly dial in and
even animate each of these parameters so
yeah I don't mind this effect I quite
like this on top of everything there is
a cine grain film grain so the reason
I'm adding it in here is because the
footage was already delivered with film
Grain on top of
um you know it's it's it's a way of
working it doesn't matter it like it's
fine so we just put it in here and then
all of those things come together as
being pretty nice back plate that we can
keep working
on so that back plate is actually a bit
too big for the cut out of the TV which
is why we have a duplicate of the layer
with the mask we're setting the video to
Alpha mask just for the sake of
understanding it better I'm making this
green so we know that's the base plate
for the TV and then we're keeping the
aqua for the back plate then comes an
interesting one I have pre-m 8 set to
add what is pre-m 8 it's basically the
system we just made with the null pre-m
together so I duplicated the back plate
we just made and I duplicated the alpha
mask and I duplicated the null object
and then those three things together got
pre-composed and that's this pre-m 8 now
inside of the TV plate what that's doing
is I have set that to
add as you can see it's increasing the
overall brightness of the shot but I
have it masked set to subtract so it's
really only the surrounding and not the
middle that's brightening up now the
thing is I have it set to 20% so it's
not as strong as it could be as you can
see it could be really really strong but
it's not even really going to be showing
up too much because on top of that I
have another duplicate of that green
system and this one again is set to
normal so as you can see we're cutting
it back out but we're not completely
cutting it back out this one over here I
have slightly changed the mask options
that we have on top and as you can see
right inside of the edge of that footage
we're getting a bit of a glow that it's
going in and that's the glow that's
coming from the previous brighter
version the pre-m 8 the brighter version
so there you go that's what we have here
and then we have one more duplicate of
that which I'm going to make dark green
that one is set to add set to 100% and
it goes right on top but look where it
is going so if I turn on my mask you'll
see that I have masked out this SE
at the bottom so if you look at the
position coordinates I also move down
that layer until the text bit which is
the bright part is sitting on top of
this Edge over here now I have actually
flipped the layer as well so that we
have a vertical reflection onto this
little Edge over here and then the
footage has a gion blur set to 0.5
because the background is pretty much
dark anyway and the layer is set to add
the only thing you get really is just
that text sitting on top of it and then
we have the final layer on top which is
the video again the original video with
an exposure effect that's crunching down
the gamma and if you set that on top you
reintroduce that detail from the TV it
brightens up all the values you get the
shadow on top of the TV and that's when
kind of you get everything coming full
circle and that's the way we did this
shot of course the problem you have with
this method is that you don't have any
interactive Lighting on your subject you
could manually get that in if you feel
like you really need to but in this shot
and with a lot of visual effect shots
it's about at which point can you sell
the illusion at which point does the
person stop thinking about oh I'm
looking at something fake or you're just
watching and you're like yeah they're
watching TV and it's
believable so before we go I would like
to show you how the CRT diodes work and
then we can get out of here cool we're
going to be looking at this shot for
example it's the same approach it's
basically the exact same setup if we go
inside of this bottom one what we can do
is Select these layers over here and
then hit
precompose I'm just going to call this R
duplicate call this G duplicate call
this B now we're going to separate the
red green and blue Channel by using a
shift channels effect turn off the green
turn off the blue duplicate the effect
turn off the red turn on the green turn
off the red and turn on the blue cool
set the top two to add and you've got
the final footage again now what we can
do is we can drag the CR diodes into
this project and I'm just going to be
dragging them right on top they're a bit
big as you can see you can scale them
down I'm going to drag the red one on
top of the red the blue on top of the
blue and the green on top of the green
res set that to Luma mat Luma mat Luma
mat cool there you go so the first thing
that happened is we cut out the exposure
value of these shots dra ically but we
are getting the nice color banding that
we should be getting all right so I've
duplicated the whole system including
the red two I set that to add and now we
have a bit more brightness values as you
can see if I turn that down this is what
we had and this is what we're getting
now now the next thing to do is we can
go we can go back to this shot to see
what we are working with there you go
it's still a bit dark and we're still
losing a bit of the intensity we would
like so the next thing I'm doing is I'm
adding a duplicate that's clean I'm
calling that base and I'm going to set
that to add now we can lower the opacity
until we get to something that feels
correct feels something like this feels
fine and yeah there you go you got your
bright TV but you also got your banding
going on and if I were to play this
video yeah it's looking good it's
looking good cool that's basically it I
hope this tutorial was useful again if
you want to CRT diodes come to the art
station store to be honest come to the
art station store in general there's
like a bunch of stuff that you can use
for your CG projects or your After
Effects projects um also grain Control
Grain control for those using After
Effects it's just a few effects stacked
on top of each other that allow you to
control where the grain is on your
footage and where it's not so yeah cool
be sure to subscribe to the channel if
you want to check out more tutorials or
if you want to check out our personal
work being uploaded soon and cool yeah
that's about it hope you have a good day
and cheers bye-bye
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