Cal U Aerial Flyover Extended
Scene reconstruction, from photography and measurements, was used to complete aerial footage of this local stadium.
Project Challenges
California University of Pennsylvania, working with Atlas Design Group, developed a promotion to raise funding for their athletic department. As a lead-in to the promotion aerial footage would be used to introduce the field at Adamson stadium. The first challenge was creating a transition from the aerial fly-by, supplied by the client, to a bird’s eye view directly over the field. In addition to the video, various photographs covering the stadium and field were supplied by both Cal U and Atlas. From this wealth of information the stadium was recreated in 3d — directly from the photographs.
The second challenge was the quality of the video. It was interlaced, highly compressed, and by today’s standards, low resolution. Tracking the scene to solve for the camera animation would prove difficult, perhaps impossible.
Creative Solution
Basic measurements along with the high-quality photography aided scene reconstruction. Animation tests were supplied to discuss how the virtual camera would continue where the aerial footage left off. These reviews were started early on in the reconstruction process and with each iteration more detail was added to the scene. This allowed the project to progress at a brisk pace.
Due to the low quality of the video a more hands-on approach was needed. An accurate solution couldn’t be found for the camera so the work of matching the virtual camera to the video had to be tweaked by hand. Rather than hide the transition it was agreed a more graphic approach was best.
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