Preparing footage
Once the footage is imported to a composition program it is common to have to make some adjustments and get rid of unwanted elements. I won't go into detail about capturing the footage onto the computer but I'm sure you'll figure out that part :)
Here is an example of using footage to cover up parts we don't want in our final composition. This is done by duplicating a version of the original footage, offsetting the time, cuting and pasiting out parts and clone areas. As said before this method of borrowing areas removes the prosess of adding additional noise so it is very handy.
Don't want this shadow
By borrowing footage from the surrounding area we've managed to cover it up
Same technique is used to cover up Sean to make him disappear and here is how the raw footage looks after the corrections:
Footage after corrections
Now that we have our footage ready we have to export it to make use of it in Maya. A common file format I tend to use is .tif so the next step is simply to export the compostition (make movie) as a ".tif sequence". Naming convention is important for Maya to read your sequence right so remember to export as: "filename.###.tif". If you for some reason manage to get it wrong (as I'm not unfamiliar with) there is a savior of a free program called Sequence 911 witch automatically renames and renumbers the files.
Control on your project files is important if you want to keep from getting lost in a hairy mess of sequence files and other files so keep organized. I like the Maya project settings as a start and then use these folders to add folders for my different sequence files...belive me you will not regret this.