Multimedia
Blogs
Forum
Affordable HD
Whitepapers
Newsletters
Events
Advertisers
DCP Directory
MillimeterMark In
Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM
Cinital's Previzion HD Studio combines camera motion-tracking and scene-integration technology to enable previsualization and visual effects creation. Previzion integrates a visual-effects pipeline into one app, including 3D camera tracking, live-video I/O, keying, 3D background rendering, compositing, and realtime color correction.
Motion Capture Golden Age
By Dan Ochiva
Motion capture has gone mainstream. After walking the floor at last month's Siggraph convention, it's also apparent mo cap is entering a golden age as a growing number of new and established companies alike are churning out products to get or gain market share.
Recent Hollywood blockbusters are relying on motion capture to deliver highly sophisticated action and dramatic sequences, including Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and the upcoming Robert Zemeckis film Beowulf. Moving from an arcane, difficult science to widely accepted technique, motion-capture systems are also now dropping in price and complexity. Could motion capture be in your future?
First, don't think of motion-capture technology as solely useful for creating animated epics. The elements deployed in mo-cap technology are being spun off for other uses, too. At Siggraph, 3D virtual studio developer Cinital (www.cinital.com) announced that it had collaborated with longtime motion-tracking gear manufacturer InterSense (www.intersense.com) to create the latest in previsualization stages for Stargate Digital, which recently opened a virtual studio in Van Nuys, Calif.
The Stargate Digital stages are more than some virtual-reality gimmick — they come complete with grip, camera, and lighting packages, as well as Cinital's Previzion HD Studio and InterSense's IS-1200 VisTracker inertial-optical motion-tracking system. This setup allows a production to import 3D texture-mapped models as well as high-resolution 2D digital photographs and mix them with live video of actors, all the while drastically reducing the time needed to incorporate final video effects into postproduction. Problematic pans, zooms, and tracking shots are no longer a problem. Because there's no need to wait days or weeks to combine live-action foregrounds with computer-generated backgrounds, the companies expect drastic improvement in the budget model for virtual studio production.
Standard mo-cap systems continue to drop in price from their once-six-figure realm. Vicon (www.vicon.com), a leading developer, now sells a turnkey eight-camera system with software for $50,000. Corvallis, Ore.-based NaturalPoint (www.naturalpoint.com) knocks a decimal point off that price with its $5,000 package, which includes six cameras and the company's soon-to-be-released Arena Full Body Motion Capture software. While the setup won't necessarily compare directly to the well-accepted Vicon product, it does point to a trend of once-esoteric production technology moving to a mass market.
Another small company, San Jose, Calif.-based Reallusion (www.reallusion.com), takes it a step further with plans to make systems cheap enough to offer mo cap in a cubicle, according to the company. The new capability will be based on the company's iClone Studio software, which has garnered interest for its realtime 3D filmmaking chops. With easy-to-create actors/avatars, clothing, 3D scenes, and special effects, the inexpensive Windows-based software is currently popular for web games and training, but it is also catching on with Machinima creations as well as previz.
But previews of version 3.0 at Siggraph point to larger plans. Besides a higher realtime-resolution boost to 1080p, multicamera support, and improved water, terrain, and realtime atmospherics rendering, iClone3 will work with Animazoo's (www.animazoo.com) soon-to-be-released consumer-priced mo-cap system. Now the hardware is getting cheap enough that, when combined with Reallusion's iClone3, even the kid down the block will be turning out mo-cap animations, according to the company.
On Reel-Exchange.com
Voloh Media
Denver
Voloh Media specializes in motion graphics and post-production for SD, HD, web, and DVD formats, with inhouse capabilities of 2D/3D motion graphics, titling, compositing, visual effects, graphic design, DVD interface design, and product branding. It has a Canon XL2 and Panasonic AG-HVX200 on hand for camera work, as well as capabilities with Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, Autodesk Combustion and 3ds Max, Maxon Cinema 4D, Apple Final Cut Pro and Shake, and Sony Creative Software Vegas.
Toby Heslop
Balgowlah, Australia
Toby Heslop is a freelance camera operator and editor with experience in commercials, television news and sports, music videos, and corporate video, with additional experience in broadcast youth entertainment. Heslop has worked on the BMX Games, as well as other extreme sports and music events.
Audio Alchemy
Warwick, N.Y.
Audio Alchemy is an audio postproduction house for both film and television projects, incorporating what it dubs "Online Audio-Post," which enables it to service clients from virtually anywhere via the Internet. Five-time Emmy Award winner Dave Smith shows his capabilities on the facility's Reel-Exchange reel, exhibiting work done for ABC Sports.
Digital Content Producer's The Briefing Room
Buster Produces Main Titles and Show Graphics for Tim Gunn's Guide to Style and Others
Buster has just completed the stylized main title open for Bravo's new series, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. In the show, Tim Gunn, of Project Runway fame, lends a hand to women caught in a fashion rut. The Buster-produced title sequence combines live footage of Tim Gunn and co-host Veronica Webb, as well as dynamic motion graphics that reflect Gunn's classic pinstripe style. …
Exopolis Kicks Off New Sprint Ad for NFL Mobile Service
Multidisciplinary creative studio Exopolis has been tapped by San Francisco ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners to produce a :30 (:15 cut-down) in-stadium ad promoting Sprint's NFL mobile service. Intended for display across JumboTron monitors and LED banners, the effort is part of the new "Sprint Ahead" ad campaign, which features the use of light to convey creativity and speed. Exopolis directed the live-action greenscreen shoot and handled all animation and editorial for the spot. …
Adobe Media Player Drives Fusion of TV and the Internet
Adobe announced significant adoption of Adobe Media Player by key organizations involved in the creation, management, and delivery of online and offline content for the entertainment industry. Since announcing Adobe Media Player in April 2007, Adobe has been working closely with partners who will support and offer solutions based on the new player that will help enable new ways to brand, distribute, monetize, protect, and measure media. …
Skillset
Advanced Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Avid Media Composer/Xpress Pro/
Symphony
Oct. 24-26
Hollywood, Calif.
$995
www.moviola.com/edu
Designed for those with six months of experience editing on an Avid system, this three-day course focuses on mastering the sophisticated editing features and shortcuts of the tools. Topics include using Avid's grouping and multicamera features, advanced navigation with J-K-L Speed Racheting, and trimming tricks.
HDV Workflow
Oct. 28
New York
$180
www.dctvny.org
This one-day course offers a clear, step-by-step postproduction path in the HDV format. Students learn HDV project setup and customization, upconverting, downconverting, and the differences between working with HDV in Avid and Apple Final Cut Pro. All DCTV workshops use equipment provided by DCTV, including Apple Mac G5 systems, Final Cut Studio 2, Avid Xpress Pro v5.7, and Adobe CS3. DCTV members receive a $30 discount.
Business Intelligence: Public Access Content Gains Broader Reach through New Media Delivery
By Neal Page, CEO and cofounder, Inlet Technologies
All people, no matter their interests or location, can now broadcast themselves to the rest of the world via the power of streaming video over the Internet. This wave of media access opens up a new avenue for a traditional form of video programming: public access.
Public access (or PEG—public, education, and government) programming consists primarily of locally produced content, ranging from high-school sporting events to town council meetings to online learning. Service providers, including cable companies and telcos, are generally mandated to carry PEG content in the markets they serve without charge, and they can win the favor of these communities by providing high-quality delivery. However, communities frequently generate more events and more content than can be delivered over the limited number of channels available to them in the traditional broadcast offering. Local PEG producers are beginning to embrace the idea of streaming their content over the Web, where an essentially unlimited number of channels can be made available.
"Streaming is not just an additional distribution tool for PEG, but also the future of the programming," says Robert F. Sepe of Action Audits, an advocacy company helping municipalities tackle telecommunications issues. "There are so many content offerings from thousands of communities across the nation, much of which is relevant to individuals in and around their specific area. Streaming over the Web gives communities the ability to get more content to constituents, while giving their audience the ability to watch what they want when they want from wherever they are."
Streaming allows communities to create digital, web-only channels focused on their specific, unique content. While new services such as YouTube may suffer from limited relevancy, poor image quality, and a lack of live events, streamed PEG content need not suffer from these limitations. Community television stations already have the necessary equipment and know-how to create broadcast-quality video. They also have the manpower to offer live or semi-live events over the Web. All they need is a bridge to the Web, which the explosion of high-bandwidth Internet service providers is creating. The technology required is straightforward and readily available today, including high-speed IP access to the home, advanced encoding to ensure quality, and proper formatting for compatibility with the variety of networks and devices over which the content will be viewed.
MPEG-2 video compression has long been used to reduce the massive amount of data in video so that it can be delivered over broadcast networks. For web streaming or content delivery over telco networks, advanced compression techniques are required to further reduce the data, without sacrificing image quality. Advanced encoding is a mathematical process involving extensive analysis of the video in order to convert the data into a bitstream. The encoding uses complex algorithms to represent both the still images within the video and the motion between those images. These advanced techniques are critical in order to maintain smooth playing, artifact-free picture quality at bandwidths that are manageable/practical for the service provider—usually a 2X to 3X bandwidth reduction compared to MPEG-2. New, cost-effective equipment is available to perform this advanced encoding, and it fits well within the existing workflow at PEG production facilities. In one efficient process, the video can be compressed for delivery to both a set-top box for television viewing and over the Web to a PC. With this technology in place, providers have begun leveraging streaming to deliver PEG content to the consumer's set-top box, as an adjunct to their new broadcast offerings, such as IPTV.
Just as the growth of digital media has enabled a new world of entertainment and information for the consumer and presented new business opportunities for service providers (both incumbents and new arrivals), these options can now be leveraged by PEG programmers in municipalities all over the country. Through the addition of high-quality streaming over the Internet, PEG access providers can broaden their audience and extend their reach, offering access to anyone who has a computer and a broadband Internet connection. In addition, adding streaming capabilities can expand the number of available PEG channels, making sure that every voice in the community can be heard.
