Removing a object in a moving video

[Dynamic Office]

Hi,

I'm trying to remove a cable from a moving desk but I don't know how I would do this, I can mask part of it but the the other part the cable covers up the metal frame

[Katie Houghton · Accepted solution]

You need to add back the metal frame. The only way to remove the wires is to remove more than you want.

There is a Clone Stamp tool to replace it. You can also use a separate layer on top of your video (masked to what you need for replacement) or image to replace the area with part of the desk. Of course reshooting without the wires is the easiest solution.

[Rick Gerard]

You probably need to track the video, maybe stabilize the motion, then do the composite, then put the motion back in. If the camera moves or something moves in front of the repair you need tracking and layers. This is all pretty basic stuff. Post the whole shot and we can provide specific instructions. Take a look at this tutorial I did on screen replacement. You may be able to use the same technique to replace the cables with another image that you have cleaned up in Photoshop. It may be easier than trying to use AE's clone tools.

[Roei Tzoref]

adding to the suggestions so far. it all depends on the shot but a common workflow is:

1. export a frame to photoshop

2. clean it up

3. bring it back to Ae

4. track the footage

5. attach the clean footage (aka clean plate) to the tracker null

6. us additional masks on the clean plate to better composite it into frame

if you let us see the shot, we could suggest an efficient workflow that could be easier or harder than the one I wrote down. reverse stabilization is an advanced technique but is recommended for this type of work usually. using WS effect for simple shots, or Mocha for more complex shots. you can also use the legacy tracker in Ae, but it may require expressions.