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Using After Effects with Photoshop Generative Fill

Education

Introduction

By now, I'm sure everyone has heard of the Generative Fill function in Photoshop, and it's intriguing, to say the least. Josh recently demonstrated its potential by extending and populating his studio set, but I wanted to push the boundaries further. Let's transform some generic stock footage into something epic using both Photoshop and After Effects.

Getting Started

Here are some shots we'll work with today. Our goal is to enhance them from their generic states to something far more cinematic. We'll begin by dropping them into After Effects and selecting a frame to extend. This frame looks decent as it shows our two characters at their farthest apart.

Next, we'll bring the frame into Photoshop to extend the background. The initial extension may look a bit off, but we'll select the area to replace, give Generative Fill a suggestion, and let it work its magic. Surprisingly, the result isn’t half bad — thanks Adobe!

We then bring this back into After Effects, realign the footage, add some color grading, and apply a cinematic aspect ratio. Now we have an epic-looking shot, though it feels like it’s still missing something. Let’s add a flock of birds for that extra touch.

Second Shot: Adding a Destination

In the next shot, our character appears to be arriving somewhere, but the background is empty. We decide to add a mountain, cave, or castle in the distance. With Generative Fill, the background is effortlessly created with proper lighting and color correction, saving hours of manual work.

After bringing it back into the composition, we align, parent it to the null, and add a cinematic ratio. While the shot looks better, it’s missing movement. A bit of Parallax should help. We track the scale and position using two-point tracking and import the Photoshop file back in.

Overcoming Tracking Challenges

Tracking points should not be placed where objects cross in front of them, as I learned the hard way. After setting the null object, the scene has issues: the grass in the foreground is static. While I could create a 3D model, it’s faster to hide the scene with an additional element like a tree.

I initially used a stock library tree but decided to generate one using Photoshop for better lighting match. Hopefully, it blends well enough in the final shot that no one notices the flaws.

Extending the Knight and Background

Taking it up a notch, I attempt to give our Knight character a complete body and extend the background. Generative Fill does an average job, but it aligns surprisingly well when brought back into After Effects. However, tracking and rosting work is needed for a seamless final composite.

Separating the Knight from the background and generating a clean plate in Photoshop is more intuitive now. Tracking the background and foreground elements in After Effects still requires effort, especially as the generated body looks subpar. Eventually, I scrap the initial plan, rotoscope the Knight, and only extend the scenery.

Final Touches

Just as I am about to render, I notice the top of the Knight's helmet is missing. Using a still from the video, I track and patch this part, completing the scene. Adding birds again finalizes the cinematic transformation.

Imagine the creative possibilities with tools like Generative Fill and After Effects at our disposal. With great power comes great responsibility, as the famous saying (or at least one version of it) goes.

Keywords

FAQ

Q1: What is Generative Fill in Photoshop? A: Generative Fill is a feature in Photoshop that allows users to extend or modify images by providing text-based suggestions to generate new content seamlessly.

Q2: How do you align Photoshop elements back in After Effects? A: After creating elements in Photoshop, you can bring them back into After Effects by realigning and parenting them to null objects, ensuring they match the original footage’s scale and position.

Q3: What are some common challenges in using Generative Fill for VFX? A: Challenges include achieving realistic lighting and color matches, tracking moving footage accurately, and ensuring static elements like grass in a scene blend with dynamic elements.

Q4: How can Parallax add depth to a scene? A: Parallax involves slight movements of background elements relative to foreground objects, adding perceived depth and dynamism to otherwise flat scenes.

Q5: What is a clean plate and how is it used in compositing? A: A clean plate is a version of the background with the main subjects removed, used to layer other elements and avoid visual disruptions like tracking markers or unwanted objects in VFX compositing.