Posts
FARO de Oriente Shot's
Recorded in the Sculpture Ride at the University City(CU) UNAM using the 3DiY camera's rig.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 3D Test Results from Jordan and Mexico
Just a little show and tell here re some 2 camera tests for the C3DV project shot in 2 disparate locations by different clubhouse groups with separate camera rigs.
Jordan
Mexico
So far, real good.
Friday, April 29, 2011 Collaborative 3D Video Project Update 4/11 – Jordan, Mexico and South Africa onboard for Principal Photography
I just want to fill you in on some of the developments in the C3DV project that grew out of the ICCN annual conference recently in Los Angeles. The movie deal capital of the western world lent the project a little of its aura and we were able to take some big steps forward, most notably during a read through of the first draft of the completed script in a very speedy, informal session in the Biltmore hotel's lobby. Among those sitting in for the reading were Freedom Reign, from the Clubhouse in Hayward, CA and Suha Syouf and Saif Atari from one of the Clubhouses in Jordan, in the Middle East. Freedom discussed ways that his Clubhouse could develop much of the CGI needs of the project and Suha and Saif jumped in to take on much of the principal, live action, 3D videography. The script, originally written in English and Spanish (the Spanish scenes already pegged for shooting in Mexico City with the members of Alejandro Jiménez's Clubhouse) will now be shot in Arabic and Spanish and subtitled to accommodate members and audiences in various languages. Skype meetings are already in the works to begin the process of reconceptualizing the English language scenes for their new setting and any issues of cultural relevance. Following the reading we looked at imagery online of the areas around the Clubhouses in Jordan for suitable location settings. It looks to be an exciting transformation for the characters and setting of (formerly) Mike and Lee, and their CGI pet dog, now more likely a rabbit.
Part of the entusiasm for the shift to filming in Jordan was instigated by inadvertently seeing a video that Saif and Suha presented of a large, metal camera jib that one of their Clubhouse members had developed (video below). The idea of the 2 cameras mounted on the jib, shooting in 3D as they swept through space, was too exciting to ignore and we instantly found ourselves talking about the possibility of working together on this project. Before the conference had ended, the small camera package was passed on to Saif and the two Samsungs are probably already mounted on the jib as I write this. We'll post some test imagery of that as soon as it comes in. Alejandro has also purchased two Kodak cameras, similar to the Samsung cameras that went off to Jordan, so that his Clubhouse will be able to start shooting their scenes fairly soon.
And I can't leave out mention of the fortiutious discovery of some beautifully drawn work by members of Paballo Diboke's Clubhouse in Soweto, South Africa. These drawings sparked a conversation with him about filming some of the 2D scenes of the artist creating the characters as depicted in the script of first being introduced as a series of drawings that are eventually transformed into full, 3D, live action charaters. Paballo readily agreed to work with his members to draw and shoot the scenes needed for this portion of video. Skhumbuzo Ngobese, Coordinator of the Clubhouse in Etwatwa, also in South Africa, offered to help out with this part of the project.
Also, while at the conference, we held a panel discussion on the state of 3diy.blogspot.com and it's plans for the future and as a clearing house for information on the ongoing C3DV project. Many people have used the blog for the various demos, many unrelated to C3DV, and we hope to be able to continue posting fun 3D project demos and ideas going forward. So stay tuned. It will also continue to serve as the project page for C3DV as filming is about to get underway on 3 continents.
Lastly, the first draft of the script was completed with the members of Jeff Sweeton's Clubhouse outside of Chicago, IL. Members at Clubhouses in Utah, New York City and Bogota, Colombia all pitched in on the writing of the script. Jeff Sweeton pulled this whole aspect of the project together over several months. Without that effort this whole post would probably be about a cool camera jib video I saw while wandering around at the conference, but not too much about what was being done with it.
Home made camera crane \ رافعة كاميرا - صنع منزلي from PBYRC computer clubhouse on Vimeo.
أحد أعضاء نادي الكمبيوتر, أنس, قام بصناعة رافعة للكاميرا تسخدم في تصوير الأفلام, حيث قام بإعادة استخدام بعض الأدوات المنزلية بطرثقة ابداعية
سيتم استخدام هذه الأداة في انتاج بعض افلام النادي و دعم مشاريع برنامج أصوات الشباب "أدوبي" و أفكار أخرى
انتاج 2011
One of the clubhouse members, Anas, has built a home made camera crane for using in film making, he resued old material avialble at his house in a very creative way
this tool will be used in film some videos at the clubhouse, and supporting the Adobe youth voices program and other ideas
produced 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 C3DV Green Screen Test - Mexico City to NYC
C3DV Green Screen Test - Mexico City to NYC from Computer Clubhouse on Vimeo.
This is just a quick test to see how some green screen shooting done at the Clubhouse in Mexico City (the boy and girl characters on a green screen) could be composed with other footage (dog, background, sound fx) created or acquired at another location (NYC). There are some chroma key issues, lighting/shadow problems, aspect ratio differences, etc. But the main point is just the facility of working w/elements from different sources. It took about an hour to put these elements together.
Friday, March 25, 2011 Setting Up the 3D Camera Rig
Here's a quickie demo of the point-n-shoot HD 3D camera rig for the collaborative 3D project. If you are at one of the clubhouses shooting scenes for this movie you will want to have a look at this video demo before you start shooting w/the rig. It's incredibly easy to set up and use but there are a few important things to remember:
Make sure the cameras are oriented in the correct left and right arrangement (they should match your eyes) and the centers of the lenses of the two cameras should be approximately 2.5 inches apart. If you are using the bracket mount that is currently with the rig (just a short length of metal bracket purchased at and cut by Home Depot) you will have the benefit of the pre-marked holes to mount the cameras into. If you're using a different bracket, just make sure there is a way to get the lenses the correct distance apart. If that angle distance widens too much, the footage may be unusable. Ideally, a bracket with slots, rather than holes, would be better for this purpose.
Once the cameras are arranged and the bracket is attached to the tripod (the cameras and tripod plate are attached with generic bolts and wingnuts that were purchased at Home Depot), and your actors are ready to roll, turn both cameras on, press record on each and then, BEFORE calling action, be sure to have someone clap their hands in front of the lenses to establish a synch point. THIS IS CRUCIAL FOR EDITING. Because the cameras aren't controlled by a single motor, it is impossible for them to start on exactly the same frame. The frame of video in each camera where the two hands meet gives the editor a perfect synch point for the rest of the shot. After the clap is complete, call action and have your actors perform their parts. THIS HAS TO BE DONE FOR EVERY TAKE. It's like the old hollywood movies when you sometimes saw someone holding a slate (or clapboard) and smacking the two top sticks together before action was called. That was done for synching sound and image. We're doing it to synch two left/right (eventually red/blue) images (the sound is already permanently in synch as they are now recorded on the same media).
Thursday, February 3, 2011 Stereographic photos with just one camera
Check out Keith's post on how to take 3D anaglyph pictures using a single camera. He has some pretty neat examples as well.
Thursday, November 18, 2010 C3DV - Tech Tests Update: CGI 3D to Anaglyph 3D
At long last, we've seen some 3d modeling conversion tests. And they look promising. As the requirements of the C3DV project call for mixing live action and animation in the same scenes, we decided early on to incorporate 3d modeling programs for the CGI material. Contributors to the project would be working in a variety of software programs--3D Studio Max, Maya, Poser, iClone, Blender, etc.--and the feeling was that we should do tests in each of these. The test were to prove that our theory of converting 3d modeling imagery to anaglyph 3d would work. And they did. You can see some early results below. The basic requirement for these artists was to emulate the double lensed camera approach to shooting live action 3d for anaglyph. To do that, each artist working on a test created two simultaneous (left and right) camera views in their program, with each virtual camera approximately 2.5 inches apart, just as w/the live action cameras (note: some programs offer far more specific control of camera placement than others). Then the outputted virtual camera files were sent off and processed for red and blue layering/blending in Final Cut in the same way as the live action footage. As we had hoped, the effect was exactly the same for both live action and CGI created imagery. The tests are extremely short and some are more effective than others, but you should be able to see an early, somewhat crude, working example of this technique in each of these. If you have any suggestions, or want to submit a test in another software, please feel free.
Poser by Sean Bryan at HCCI Computer Clubhouse, NY
3D Studio Max by Leontyne Robinson at the Harland Boys and Girls Club Computer Clubhouse, GA
iClone by Freedom Reign at Eden Youth and Family Center Computer Clubhouse, CA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)