Archive for August, 2009
Review: Avatar 16 minutes teaser
Posted by gbalaji in Digital Cinema, Stereoscopic 3D on August 29, 2009
Avatar:
Avatar
In epic adventure Avatar, director James Cameron the director of Titanic, takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination. On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now after four years of actual production work, Avatar delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.
I watched Avatar 16 minutes teaser of the film on Digital 3D in Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai, India.
Technology used:
- Shot on: Fusion 3D camera systems powered by Sony HDCF950 HD Cameras co-developed by James Cameron and Vince Pace
- Medium: 1080p HD Video system
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Format: Stereoscopic 3D
- Method: Circular Polarizer using Silver Screen, Single Projector and Polariser Glasses.
- Digital Cinema Server: QUBE Digital Cinema Server
- Projector: Barco 2k Digital Cinema DLP Projector.
- Encoding: Left eye and Right eye are encoded in sequential order in J2K format.
- 3D Projection method: Each Left eye and Right eye are played for 144 frames per second ( normally 24 + 24 = 48 fps to give the cinematic experience of Digital 3D invented by Real D Lenny Lipton)
- Shutter Glasses: Master Image
Pros:
This film going to change the way cinema business is going to run in near future. Worth the wait for 14 years Cameron.
Cons:
• Cameron not delivered the movie in 48 fps as promised before, instead the movie runs in 24 fps. For live action adventure with fast motions and cuts the 3D experience for audience may give eye strain.
• Out of 6 people saw the movie along with me, all of them have eye strain which lasts for more than an hour to me.
• The movie needs to run in bigger theatre like Sathyam instead of 300 seater Serene.
Red One Build 20 Test by Art Adams
Given below is build 20 test done by Art Adams (www.artadams.net) for Red One Digital Cinema Camera.
For complete test results you can visit ProVideo Coalition.com (http://provideocoalition.com/index.php/aadams/story/red_build_20_torture_tests/P1/)
Arri D21 frequent asked question!
01. What is so special about the D-21?
The most noticeable difference between the D-21 and any other digital or HD camera is the picture quality it produces. The D-21 is renowned for a cinematic look that comes very close to 35mm film in terms of sharpness, colorimetry, exposure latitude and depth of field. This is because the D-21’s sensor is the same size and shape as an open gate 35mm film frame.
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02. Why is the optical viewfinder so important?
Because it helps your operator to work more creatively and more efficiently; the direct look-through from viewfinder to lens creates a crisp, bright image with zero electronic delay. Since the image in the viewfinder is much larger than that being recorded, the operator has absolute compositional control and can prevent unwanted objects from entering the frame, therebyminimising costly retakes.
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03. Who is using the D-21 and for what kind of productions?
The D-21 has been used for numerous movies, commercials and TV productions across the globe. Many prominent producers, directors and cinematographers have become loyal proponents of the D-21 over the last few years. To see a list of D-21 production credits please go to PRODUCTION CREDITS; to read about the experiences of those who have shot with the camera, please visit the NEWS & VIEWS section.
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04. What impact could the D-21 make on my schedule?
Talented and well prepared crews can easily get through more than 20 setups per day on a D-21 shoot, so even in the worst case it should not be much different to shooting on film or HD. In our experience, large-scale TV productions routinely achieve over 25 setups per day with the D-21.
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05. What impact could the D-21 make on my budget?
Though it is ARRI’s flagship model and a premium product, the D-21 is actually more affordable than you might think. Since the look of images generated by the D-21 is nearer to 35mm film than conventional HD, it is to film that the D-21 must be compared. This being the case, the stock and processing costs of shooting on film play an important part in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the D-21. In general, if a production can afford Super 16 then it can afford the D-21, though exact costs will depend on the shooting ratio and other factors. Of course, a detailed quotation for any particular project can be obtained from your usual camera rental company.
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06. What kind of a cinematographer do I need?
The D-21 is known as the film-style digital camera, designed by a company that has been making professional film cameras for over 90 years; any cinematographer with 35mm film experience should be able to create great looking pictures with it. Ergonomically, the D-21 will be familiar to anybody who has shot with a modern ARRI film camera. In contrast to the numerous pages of camera settings that typically comprise the menu structures of other HD cameras, the D-21 features a single menu page, making it far more intuitive and film-like. The D-21 credit list shows the names of cinematographers that have used the camera and its predecessor, the D-20.
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07. Do I need a bigger crew?
An experienced film crew will have no problems getting to grips with the camera system as it is straightforward to set up and operate, and has been designed with filmmakers in mind. As with all equipment, it is advisable for the crew to perform thorough preparations before shooting. It is not usually necessary to supplement the camera crew with a digital technician, unless your production has unusual complexity, but the best thing would be to discuss requirements with your cinematographer.
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08. Do I need a video village?
This is entirely up to you, your director and your cinematographer; some productions use minimal monitoring on-set and work in the same way as they would on a film shoot, while others opt for an elaborate monitoring setup. It is straightforward to get a range of outputs from the D-21, allowing many different monitoring needs to be met. Due to extremely sophisticated in-camera processing, the D-21 produces stunning pictures instantly in full colour and resolution for the benefit of those who want to see the full results while shooting.
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09. What are the D-21 workflow options?
Thanks to the unique flexibility of the D-21 you can choose between a wide variety of workflow options to suit your production needs and budget. The HD output can be either 4:2:2 or full RGB 4:4:4 and set to either ‘linear’ or ‘log’ modes. Alternatively, uncompressed raw sensor data can be outputted from the camera in Data Mode. A range of recording devices can be used for either HD or Data Mode output. Moreover, the D-21 offers an option to shoot full resolution anamorphic (2.40:1), using conventional anamorphic lenses, in either Mscope (HD-based) or Data Mode. To find the optimal recording and workflow solution for your production, please consult your cinematographer, camera rental company and postproduction/DI facility.
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10. Should I worry about make-up, costume and set design?
Commonly voiced concerns about the “hyper” clarity of HD revealing and mercilessly emphasising performers’ skin imperfections and the artifice of make-up and costume are unfounded when it comes to the D-21. No more or less care and attention to detail should be applied on a D-21 shoot than is required on a film set. The natural and forgiving look of the sensor, combined with film lenses and film-like depth of field, make the camera an excellent choice particularly for highly demanding period or costume-heavy productions.
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Rolling Shutter Plugin for Digital Cinema Camera
Posted by gbalaji in Digital Cinema, Plug-ins on August 7, 2009
Foundry launched Rolling Shutter plugin for Digital Cinema Camera for After Effects and Nuke.
RollingShutter
RollingShutter is a brand new plug-in tool for After Effects and Nuke which tackles image-distortion problems often experienced by users of CMOS cameras. Check out the following introductory video for more information:
Rolling shutter effects are commonly found with video cameras employing CMOS image sensors, which record every frame line-by-line from top to bottom of the image, rather than as a single snapshot of a point in time.
As parts of the image are recorded at different times, fast-moving objects, or objects that pass quickly through frame during camera whip-pans, become distorted with diagonal skews. Other typical distortions include image wobbles created when cameras are hand-held, and exposure problems with flashing or strobing lights.
Along with being ungainly and unwanted, these image distortions also increase the difficulty of 3D tracking during VFX post production, as the tracking points themselves can be equally affected or not deliver accurate results.
Using Local Motion Estimation technology, we can individually correct parts of the image that are moving relative to the camera, even if they are moving in different directions or at different speeds.
“The CMOS camera is becoming an increasingly important and popular tool in filmmaking,” said Tom Cowland, plug-in product manager at The Foundry. “Our new RollingShutter product will provide a helping hand to artists working with affected footage during post production. The demonstration of our initial idea, developed by The Foundry’s chief scientist Simon Robinson, received a lot of attention at NAB 2009, and encouraged by this feedback we have been working hard to productise it in a timely fashion.”
Whilst we’ve been using this tool in house here, we’ve found that the following are good correction amounts for some of the cameras we’ve been shooting with:
- RED One: 0.32
- Canon 5DmkII: 0.56
If you have any values for other cameras, please send them along.
Please note, these should be treated as a ‘guide’ as changes in camera firmware, or specifics of each shot may require some tweaking of the correction amount.
Open Source Digital Cinema Camera
Posted by gbalaji in Digital Cinema on August 7, 2009
Open Source Digital Cinema Camera from Elphel.
Technical Specs:
Sensor:
The camera uses an Aptina CMOS bayer-pattern sensor with an optical format of 1/2.5″ (5.70mm x 4.28mm) and a native resolution of 2592×1944 (5 Megapixels). It features a 12 bit ADC and supports: region of interest, on-chip binning and decimation. Aptina claims that the chip has 70db of dynamic range at full resolution and 76db when using 2×2 binning.
Lens Mount:
The camera has a standard C-mount but ships with an adapter ring that allows to mount CS-lenses as well. More adapters are in planning stage.
Resolutions:
The recording resolution can be freely adjusted to anything starting from 16×16 to 2592×1944 in 16 pixel steps. This includes Apertus AMAX (2224×1251), Apertus CIMAX (2592×1120), 2K (2048 × 1536), Full HD (1920×1080), HD (1280×720) and of course all lower resolution SD formats like DV PAL, DV NTSC, etc.
The lower the resolution the higher the maximal possible framerate. At the full sensor size (5 million pixels or 5 Megapixels) the maximal frame rate is 10 fps in normal color mode and 15 fps in JP4 RAW mode. JP4 achieves higher framerates in general as some camera internal calculations are skipped and need to be applied later in postproduction (like debayering/demosaicing).
Raw Recording:
The RAW recording mode in Apertus is called JP4 RAW. Because certain in-camera compression steps can be skipped JP4 RAW allows higher recording speed resulting in more fps. JP4 RAW requires postprocessing (DNG Converter) but in return offers the highest possible image quality.
Connectors:
SATA: Can be used to connect any external SATA device that is supported under Linux (external harddrives, raids, etc.)
Ethernet: 100MBit Network with POE (48V)
USB: USB 1.1 with 5V power supply
IDE: Used to connect internal HDD
RS232: Access to Console and debug output
Recording Media:
- Optional internal IDE 1.8″ HDD
- 2 internal CF Card Slots
- external SATA connector to connect any SATA device (Linux support required)