I have always wanted to do this. I have wanted to animate characters in poser and add background footage that i have filmed. The problem however is to get a shadow on the model like if it is under a light or anything like that. Is there any software or any techniques I can use to achieve this?

You have to render the shadows separately, and then composite them into the scene with a nonlinear video editor like Premiere. If you've ever messed with layers in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, it's a similar process.

I posted a mini-tutorial in the Director's Cut forum last year.

http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1077630

nice idea LD, what I do is render the model on blue screen or green including the background plane then composite them later together using Blue or Green Box option depended of the colors used on the model.. sometimes I create a virtual blue or green scene from (square)walls so I get exact the shadows working as in the real video, it is funny to play with.. cath

Yes the blue/green screne way is the right way. I cannot remeber which of the two handles shadows nicely for compositing though. I think its its green screen. Anyway your only other option is to use Adobe After Effects. It has a sort of "shadow catcther" thing if I recall where shadows are created based on the videos alpha channel.

the blue for daylight and the green for studio light, depended also of the background video and the colors of your figures, you have also the white screen option.. but first you have to put the original video in the scene, set the light colors correct and the shadows, if the shadows are not much visible on the video the alpha channel will help as well.. here you have to se your good eye for it.. I must say that LD idea is very nice too, I saw something like this in real production but also everything was only blue and the actors have a blue outfit on some body parts.. it will cost you more work but well with a nice final effect too.

Another option, if you're really serious about it (i.e. can spend some cash) is to use After Effects and a plug-in called real-shadows. Works fantastic.

You simply render your animation out as an uncompressed-RGB AVI (with alpha) or a image sequence (TIF, or TGA -- again, with alpha) import your animation and the background footage into AE, apply Real-Shadows, and it will use the alpha channel to create a shadow. You can then manipulate the shadow any way you want.

Actually, if you're REALLY serious about it... Maya or 3DSMax is the way to go. They have camera targetting, and you can use what's known as "matte" materials to accurately place lighting and object orientation in the scene against the live background. Blue screens and green screens are something that's used for live actors, but for CG, if you have the right program, you don't need blue screens or green screens at all. In Max, for example, you can render all seperate passes for reflections, shadows, diffuse, specular and alpha. Then composite them all together and tweek them individually if necessary in your video editing program. That's only if you have $3000 + to spend on the software, but it's how the pros do it for the most accurate results.

PS: Forgot to mention that in regards to your original question, using matte materials also allows you to alpha out the shadows with your render, so they can be composited into the video perfectly in post. No need for faking shadows in CG compositing, and no need for green or blue screen techniques unless you have to put a real actor against a CG background. But again, it requires the use of more high end software. Hope this helps. Otherwise, some of the suggestions already mentioned are good too.

I guess that the question was regarding characters rendered in Poser, so the answer was simple, If he use high end softwares he don't ask about this.. logic.. or I have to answer : go buy AE, Max or Maya.. stop with Poser if you're REALLY serious about it... lol right?

1. As noted, set up a simple plane in the background, color it pure green, and render, then composite the background. 2. I tossed Premiere and went to Vegas. I can layer much more efficiently and have an easier interface (but I'm wierd, and do little stuff). Chromakeying out the green is wonderful, and I even get the way the shadows fade without artifacts. 3. Poser might be slow, might be cumbersome, might be a bad idea -- but it takes a lot less time to learn than 3ds max, is easier to use, doesn't require buying a bunch of other plugins, and meets the needs of a hobbyist or small designer who can be just as serious about things as the pros but not nearly as much money. 4. Don't be offended -- I'm crazy. I say things like when other personalities take ov FiVE dot Will RuLE yOU All er and leave me typing into space going what the hell...

"or I have to answer : go buy AE, Max or Maya.. stop with Poser if you're REALLY serious about it... lol right?" Only if you're REALLY REALLY serious about it. LOL. ;) Actually what I meant to indicate was, Poser's animation capabilities at this point are weak at best. It's fine for fun, but it would be hard to accurately produce a convincing CG composite video using only Poser. It can be done, but might take longer than it would to learn a higher end application. But I wouldn't suggest dumping Poser at all. It can be used quite well with Max or Maya. There's plugins to export animation created in Poser already, and soon there might be software to convert Poser rigging over to 3DS rigs, which would make that even easier. I would never stop with poser, Cath. Because I suck at modeling human figures. LOL. ;)

I use the Background Prop Kit by Nerd 3D which if you are using Poser 5 you can instead of using a still picture you can use an AVI.

fido13 I use too Max, Adobe After Effect and all other stuff.. I and asked for help LOL but with little improvisation people that don't have much money to spend can create well nice effect as I did long time ago when I don't have the money to spend for the high end stuff.. :)) I love Poser too and relax doing funny stuff..why not? :) cath

Cath, I agree with you of course. :)

Finally :) hahaha j/k