live action video mixed with animation

[AlanPS]

I'm about to finish the animation portion of a 3 1/2 music video. For the last minute/minute 1/2 I want to incorporate live-action video footage.

When recording the video, do I need to record 2 1/2 minutes of blank video or non-useable footage before the action I intend to use in my AS file? Or can you position the video file to start on whatever keyframe you want?

Guess I should read the help file but I was also wanting to know what video formats will AS accept? The animation is set to NTSC-size/frame-rate, with this in mind do I need to record the video or export it in a certain format/size or can video be resized/converted within AS?
Thanks

[Danimal]

This seems to me like it would a billion times easier to do in either a video editing or compositing program. Maybe I'm not understanding, but to try and incorporate live video into AS seems like way more trouble than it's worth.

[heyvern]

The render times are slower in AS importing video. A dedicated video application would be faster. Plus the sound does not come in with the video, but it can be done.

You can start the video at any point in the time line by turning off visibility and turning it on where you want it to start.

-vern

[Víctor Paredes]

You can start the video at any point in the time line by turning off visibility and turning it on where you want it to start.

i always work with video, masks, several layers with different blending... (actually today i had big problems with a mov resolution, problem which maybe i finish publishing here) a good tip -complementing vern's one- is that
if you want to turning off the visibility but not restart the video, put the video layer inside a group and turn off or on the group layer visibility instead the video layer visibility.

[heyvern]

Fantastic tip Selgin! I never would have thought of that. Actually... that is actually something I can use for an ongoing project!

You could theoretically "crop" video in AS using that technique. By hiding and showing copies of an imported video you could cut chunks out or even move them around!

-vern

[Víctor Paredes]

i'm glad, i never had wrote a tip you wouldn't know. now i can sleep in peace.

[AlanPS]

I don't own a copy of Premiere, but I have got a couple freeware editors. Anything in particular you would recommend?

I'm not concerned about using the sound from the live-action footage since the only sound is the music track.

Alan

[heyvern]

If you don't have to worry about sound from the live video you could just animate over that footage in AS and not bother with another tool. Just load the soundtrack in the project, set the start point as descibed previously. Animate over the live footage, export the animation.

It eliminates the extra step. However that LAST step of exporting is going to take a while.

I am not familiar with the open source free video editors out there. I use a mac most ot the time and iMovie handles most of my video editing I need. I also have an ancient copy of AE but it's getting difficult to use with the newer QT.

-vern