Me and Me - Video and Tutorial

I recently experimented with video in Photoshop for the first time. This is what I got...

And a couple of my friends asked if I would write a tutorial on how I did it, so here that is as well:

Step One

What I did was set up my camera on a tripod and film two different shots, one where I’m on each side of the room. You have to be careful not to bump the tripod (like I kinda did) or it will make it hard to mask it later on. Also, try to make sure that the lighting is the same in each shot. (Having auto exposure on the D5000 adds to this challenge.)

Step Two

So, after you have both your shots recorded, bring the footage into Photoshop as Smart Objects. You have to have an extended version of photoshop to do it (not sure if CS3 extended will work as I haven’t ever used it - especially not for video). I use CS5 Extended. 

Step Three

Once you have your footage open in Photoshop, make sure both clips are in the same file with one directly over the other on the canvas. 

Step Four

Then, with whatever clip is on top, add a layer mask. Using the layer mask brush over the side of the video that you do not appear on so that the video on the layer beneath can show through. 

Step Five

Go through the video and check to see if you need to adjust the layer mask because of movements you make in the video.

Step Six

Now, check to see if the lighting in each shot is the same. If it is, then you can skip this step, if it isn’t... well, then you can’t.

Okay, so what you want to do is add an adjustment layer where you can adjust the lighting. Either the Brightness/Contrast option or the Exposure option - whichever you prefer, as long as you get the correct result. Adjust until you are satisfied.

Step Seven

This step is if you (a)couldn’t get lighting to be similar by using the method in step six, or (b) you want to add a unique look to your video.

I filmed my video with my Nikon D5000 which has Auto-Exposure, so it made it hard to get the lighting right as both videos exposed differently at different times because I was on the opposite side of the room in each clip. So to make the difference in lighting less noticeable I added a texture. 

What you do is just add a texture of your choice into the file and make it the top layer. Then lower the opacity so that it blends in well with the footage.

To finish off this step, add the adjustment layer Hue/Saturation below the texture layer, but above the video layers. Mess with the saturation and color until you achieve a Sepia-like look.

And that’s it!

I’m sure there’s an easier way to do it, but this is the first time I tried doing something like this and it worked well this way for me. If you try it, let me know how it goes! 

Thanks for reading!

-anth-