News Stories

Queen Elizabeth II Goes 3D For Her Diamond Jubilee

[ChipChick]

…Artist Chris Levine has created “Equanimity,” a holographic portrait of the queen constructed from 10,000 pictures of the queen’s head at different angles, which sounds like it must have been really fun for the queen to sit through. Now, “Equanimity” is being combined with a replica of the diadem Queen Elizabeth II wore at her coronation. That replica, crafted by jewelers from Asprey, is made up of a ridiculous 1,000 plus brilliant-cut white diamonds and pearls, set in platinum. After being superimposed on “Equanimity,” the piece will be called “The Diamond Queen,” and will be on display at Asprey’s flagship store on Bond Street. After that, it will be on display for about one week at the Masterpiece fair in London. …

See the full story here: http://www.chipchick.com/2012/05/elizabeth-3d-diamond-jubilee.html

HOW TO COLOUR GRADE STEREOSCOPIC 3D FOOTAGE

[Digital Arts Online]

Following our interview with Pixmondo’s VFX supervisor Ben Grossman – who won an Oscar for Hugo – about how to use stereoscopic 3D to subtly affect viewers emotions, we wanted to find out how other creative techniques are being used with the new medium. We caught up with colourist Dado Valentic of Mytherapy, who worked on many early IMAX 3D projects and mastered StreetDance 3D, the first British stereo 3D film, to find out how grading can be used artfully in 3D.

Dado says that there are a few technical challenges that need to be overcome first when working with 3D footage. The first is that because of the glasses audiences wear, 3D films and TV shows need to be a lot brighter than 2D productions. “You have to take parts of the image that will disappear into the darkness and make them visible again without creating a distortion,” he says.

You also have to adjust 3D footage differently, depending on whether you’re working for cinema or TV, as bigger screens give audiences a much larger sense of depth. 3D TVs are brighter, allowing more scope for adjusting the overall look of a shot, but you can’t use a correction technique called ‘floating windows’, as this only works when the audiences are in darkness.

Dado says that some traditional techniques for increasing the perception of depth in 2D footage also enhance stereo clips. “Warmth of colour doesn’t affect depth perception but …

Below Dado takes us through grading a shot from Jet Set Films using Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve colour grading software. For each step we’ve placed the left eye frame first and the right eye second. …

See the full story here: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/?FeatureID=3360903

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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