How to build an element into the scene instead of pasting it over the top
Tell Vizard Agent the element has to sit inside the scene rather than on top of it. It studies the shot for the angle and scale it would have to match, cuts only the relevant part out of your reference photograph, places it in perspective, and builds anything that should be moving — water, smoke, traffic — as a separate layer over the top.
What is the short version?
A photograph pasted into a shot reads as a photograph in a shot. The give-aways are its edges, its own lighting and the fact that everything in it is completely still while the rest of the frame moves.
- Tell Vizard Agent it should be built into the scene.
- Let it measure the shot's angle and scale first.
- Say what in the element ought to be moving.
What do you need before you start?
The footage and a reference picture of the thing. Vizard Agent cuts what it needs out of the reference, so a photograph taken from roughly the same angle as your shot saves a great deal — a head-on picture is hard to place into a view from above.
- The footage. The shot it goes into.
- A reference photograph. Ideally a similar angle.
- Where it goes. Which part of the frame.
- How big it should read. Relative to something in shot.
- What should move. Water, smoke, lights, people.
What do you type into Vizard Agent?
Say what you do not want. Naming the wrong outcome — a picture sitting on top of the place — is the fastest way to rule it out, because it is the default reading of "put this in the video".
Prompt
Variants worth knowing:
- "Built into, not placed on top." The distinction, stated.
- "At the right angle and scale." What makes it sit there.
- "Only the structure, not its surroundings." What to cut out.
What does Vizard Agent actually do?
Here is the sequence on a real landscape shot that needed a structure added. The first attempt was a picture card, which is instructive: it is what the obvious reading of the request produces, and it looks wrong immediately.
- Reviews the reference photograph to see what can be used from it.
- Pulls frames from the target location to read the angle and scale.
- Studies the reference again for the shape that suits the scene.
- Reviews the footage for the position and the direction of flow.
- Opens a full frame of the moment the element has to appear in.
- Chooses which part of the reference will actually be used.
- Cuts out only that part — the structure, not the setting.
- Checks the cut for the boundaries of the structure and its details.
- Checks the moving layer is suitable for the scene's own direction.
- Builds the composite with the element placed and the motion over it.
Step two comes before anything is cut, and that order is the whole method. A structure photographed from the ground and dropped into a shot looking down the valley will never sit right, however well it is masked.
Step seven is what separates a composite from a sticker. Your reference photograph has sky, hillside and a road in it, and all of those have their own light — using only the concrete means only the concrete has to be matched.
Step nine is about direction as much as suitability. Water flowing left to right in a stock layer, dropped into a valley that runs the other way, is the sort of error nobody can name and everybody notices.
What does the result look like?
Something that appears to have been filmed. The structure sits in the landscape at the right scale, the water moves the way the valley runs, and Vizard Agent shows you the frames it measured so you can check the placement rather than just the picture.
When does this not work well?
Compositing needs a plausible geometry to work from. If the camera moves, the element has to move with it in three dimensions, and if your reference photograph was taken from a very different angle than the shot, there is simply nothing for Vizard Agent to reconcile the two against.
- A moving camera. The element has to track in perspective.
- A very different reference angle. Nothing to match.
- Elements that should cast shadows. Hard to fake convincingly.
- Reflective surfaces in shot. The element should appear in them.
- Low-quality references. The detail will not hold at full size.
How do you fix a result that came back wrong?
Say what is wrong about how it sits, not how it looks. "Too big", "the light comes from the wrong side" and "the water runs the wrong way" are three different fixes, and Vizard Agent treats them separately.
- "It looks stuck on." The reference is re-cut and re-placed in perspective.
- "The scale is wrong." Measured against something else in the shot.
- "The light is wrong." The element is graded to the scene.
- "The water runs the wrong way." The moving layer is flipped or replaced.
How does Vizard Agent compare to doing it yourself?
By hand this is masking, perspective-warping, grading and then finding a moving element that runs the right way. Each step is straightforward; doing all four so that none of them gives the game away is the part that takes experience.
| By hand | Vizard Agent | |
|---|---|---|
| The first attempt | Paste and scale | Measure, then cut |
| What gets used | The whole photograph | Only the relevant part |
| Perspective | Warped by eye | Read from the footage |
| Motion | Often left static | A separate layer, matched to the scene |
| Checking | Looks right at a glance | Frames measured and compared |
Common questions
Can it use any photograph? Almost. Vizard Agent will tell you when the angle is too far from the shot.
Does the rest of my footage change? No. Vizard Agent composites over the shot you filmed, which stays underneath.
What if the camera moves? Then the element has to track. Say so and Vizard Agent plans for it.
How does it know how big to make it? From something in the shot. Tell Vizard Agent what to size it against.
Can it add moving water? Yes, as its own layer, and Vizard Agent checks the direction matches the scene.
What about shadows? Vizard Agent can add them, and will say plainly when a shadow will not convince.
Can I use a drawing rather than a photograph? Yes, though Vizard Agent has to grade it harder to make it sit in filmed footage.
Will it match the colour of the scene? Yes. Vizard Agent grades the element to the shot rather than leaving it as shot.
How many rounds does this take? Two or three, because the placement is judged on real frames each time.
Can it do several elements? Yes. Vizard Agent measures the scene once and places each against it.
What if the reference has other things in it? Say what to keep. Vizard Agent cuts out only the part you name.
Does it work on a still image too? Yes, and it is easier, because there is no motion to match.
Can I see the frames it measured? Yes. Ask Vizard Agent for the angle and scale references it used.
Why did my first attempt look like a sticker? Because the whole photograph was used, including its own sky and light.