Remove image/words from a sign

I have a video of a show on stage but there is a sign in the back round that has pictures and words on it that I would like to black out. But in a way that makes it look like it is not there... not in a way where it looks like I just put a black rectangle over it especially since performers walk in front of the sign at times. Is there a plug-in that will mask something like this and still let people walk in front of the masked object?

have a look at coremelt's SliceX, the industry standard for tracked masks:
coremelt.com/products/slicex-powered-by-mocha.html

And Welcome, Mike, to fcp.co.

Masking the sign and replacing it with something other than black is one thing.
Draw a mask (and feather the edges) and put some other video or image behind it.
And as Carsten mentioned there is software to make this process easier.

People moving in front of the sign is a different thing.
If the background is not uniform you will have to animate a mask around them, which is normally a lot of work.

so is the software Karsten Schlüter mentioned not able to black out a sign with people walking in front of it?

mgmartino wrote: so is the software Karsten Schlüter mentioned not able to black out a sign with people walking in front of it?

it can do both - blackout/replace/blur the sign, and mask the walking by people.

just got te website I linked to, they offer dozen of tutorials and xamples....

I went to the site originally and saw many tutorials, which I watched but I was not able to find tone that specifically showed something being masked/replaced and then being walked in front of as it still masked/replaced the back round object.
If you have a direct link to a video or tutorial where it shows that, it would be much appreciated just so I know before I spend $99 or more on the plug-in...

Thanks!

mgmartino wrote: …was not able to find tone that specifically showed something being masked/replaced and then being walked in front of as it still masked/replaced the back round object.…

for sure, 'cause this demands TWO processes:

sign replacement, or sign blur.
vimeo.com/144343841
vimeo.com/169516774



and masking the people walking in front of the sign.
vimeo.com/83481519
vimeo.com/83480572

These are great, but they are the tools I found when I looked at this website on my own. I still have yet to see a tool here that replaces but also lets a person walk in front of the replaced sign while it still replaces the sign.

As I stated earlier, you will not find a tool that does this without further tweaking because this tool does not exist.
Carsten also mentioned it: it's a two step process and you will have to dig a little into working with masks to achieve this.

mgmartino wrote: ...still have yet to see a tool here that replaces but also lets a person walk in front of the replaced sign while it still replaces the sign.

we're running cycles, Mike ... you lack understanding, how to accomplish your 'want'.

Not trivia task - two steps process. No 'one click done'.

Not to be overly pessimistic here... but...

When you're talking about rotoscoping people (i.e. cutting out the parts of the sign when the people are moving in front of it) you are talking about a seriously time consuming process. SliceX is a great plug-in and I have used it many times, but it will only help give you a starting point for this process. Not only will you have to "cut out" those people, you'll have to deal with motion blur (depending on what your frame rate & shutter speeds were). Mocha powered compositing tools are great for polygonal shapes but they get pretty inaccurate with organic moving objects... like people.

Rotoscopers do just this process for a living and are amazing at it. But unless you only have a simple/short clip to work on or you have been rotoscoping for years, you will probably not be satisfied with your results. Try a test with just the first person that crosses the sign and judge for yourself.

Sorry again for the negative attitude, but I've been doing this for a long time and I know how hard it can be. I do wish you the best of luck and please let us know how it turned out.

---> Jarrod