Scanning...
I’ve gotten one or two questions about how I did the Scan Visor effects in Primus III (and more recently, Chiaroscuro), so I thought I’d make a post about it here. I’ve written most of this down elsewhere in the past, but it’s always nice to have some visuals.
Step 1: lower gun in-game, keep reticle pointed at object for 10-15 seconds, then raise it again. Step 2: in Theater mode, pause the recording in the middle of the gun-lowering animation, remove all HUD/UI elements, and unpause. Do the reverse (pause, restore HUD/UI elements) for the gun-raising animation at the end.
Step 3: In Premiere, edit out the pauses, so that you have a clean transition.
Step 4: Take a screenshot of the scene once the gun is lowered.
Step 5: In Photoshop, outline the scanned object, fill with a grid pattern, and make everything else green.
Step 6: Merge this colored overlay with the video, so that it fades in as the gun lowers, and fades out as it raises.
Step 7: Fade in the default scan reticle as the gun lowers, then change to the locked-on reticle after the gun is completely lowered. Begin fading in the text box after the same time.
Step 8: Add "Scanning..." text, and insert a loading bar under the reticle. Don't forget to use Freeze Frame to create a static full loading bar after it's done.
Step 9: When the loading bar is around 1/3 full, begin fading in the rest of the HUD framework. End the fade-in when the bar is full.
Step 10: In Forge, take the object being scanned and film it against a greenscreen, while rotating the camera around it.
Step 11: Shrink and crop the greenscreened footage so that it fits inside the reticle. Tint it yellow with Tint and/or Color Replace, and begin fading it in when the loading bar is around 90% full.
Step 12: When the loading bar is full, replace the "Scanning..." text with the first screen of scan info. Add the A Button prompt at the bottom as well.
Step 13: About halfway through the 10-15 seconds the gun is lowered, switch to the second page of scan info, and remove the A Button prompt.
Step 14: As the gun raises, fade out all onscreen elements simultaneously.
Step 15: Add music and sound effects: opening/closing the Scan Visor, loading bar, "recording to logbook", and A Button prompt sfx. There are others you can use, but those are the only ones I went with.
Final Timeline:
