Session 6: After the Capture: What Other Tools Exist?
Moderator(s):
Jim Whittlesey, Sr. Vice President, Technology, Deluxe Digital Media
Speaker(s):
Ray Harrisian, Stereographer, 3ality
Matthew DeJohn, VP/VFX Producer, In-Three Inc.
Peter Postma, FilmLight
Steve Owen, Director of Worldwide Marketing, Quantel
Peter Postma
Baselight is a software color correction product. It is capable of multiple streams of 4K for color correction. I’ll talk about what we added for 3D work.
Why would you perform stereo adjustments in a color corrector? Because you have high performance tools (interactive), a good environment (big screen), the right talent for it, and the right time (at least in part) in the process for color and convergence issues to be addressed.
Stereographers will get eye fatigue if they wear any type of 3D glasses all day. They can work in side-by-side or simple wipes between the two eyes. Anaglyph is good for a quick check. Checkerboard is useful for color adjustments – errors jump out when the content is viewed in checkerboard mode. Color difference view and interleaved views are also useful.
Stereo tools include a multilayer multitrack timeline, so you can ‘gang color corrections.’ You can also synchronize the color grades, transferring information from one eye to the other.
Baseline is capable of adjusting for keystone, rotation, translation, and scale, and has floating window adjustment tools.
Steve Owen
The challenges of 3D post
What’s the problem? The data needs to be perfectly synchronized, of the highest quality, comfortable to watch, meet the creative brief, and cost not much more than 2D content.
New issues for Post;
– Where does the image sit in relation to the screen? Creative choice and delivery method / screen size issues.
– Do your edits work in Stereo 3D? What are you asking the viewer’s eyes to do?
What are 5 good questions for any Post house to ask when preparing a quote for a 3D job, especially if your goal is to stay in business and make money.
1 What do the rushes look like? ‘Fix it in post’ is the wrong attitude for 3D! Quality control on-set is vital. Don’t quote a job until you’ve seen the rushes.
2 What does the customer want? For reference, Sky has posted their requirements for stereoscopic alignment on their website.
3 How much client interaction will there be? Reliable viewing and play-out is critical to a good client experience.
4 Can your pipeline cope? (Will we make money on the job?) 3D is twice the data to manage, process, move, and store. Quality matters like never before. It will stress your network infrastructure, storage, and management systems. A good 2D pipeline doesn’t guarantee success in 3D.
5 How can your technology help? Can you do more in one suite? Do you have real-time tools. Stereo 3D time-saving tools: stereo color balance, geometry correction, image analysis, and tools to report divergence.
Ray Harrisian
3ality’s stereo image processing box analyzes the left/right image down to 1/100th of a degree (or whatever the unit is) for accurate alignment.
Where to place things in space may not be obvious when it is shot, but is revealed during editing. In U2 3D every transition (e.g. many of the cuts) is a visual effect. They did dynamic depth balancing. For example, they created the effect in Post of Edge and Bono looking at each other across a cut.
Matthew DeJohn
Dimensionalization as a tool after capture (“Dimensionalization” is a trademarked term of In-Three!) is useful to create and alter content, ensure viewer comfort, and enhance artist control.
Three basic stages for dimensionalization:
– isolation of the elements
– depth generation
– paint process
– (sidebar: transparencies, particles, motion blur, etc. are handled both here and elsewhere)
Doing dimensionalization wrong results in:
– rubber sheet effect – foreground objects wrap around into background objects
– cardboard cutout effect – insufficient roundness
– inaccurate depth layout – conflicting depth cues
– lack of depth continuity
– bad compositing (ex. hair, hard edges that conflict with motion blur, transparencies (foregrounds sticking to background), no paint / auto paint)
Doing dimensionalization right results in:
– good depth, distinct separation, nuanced / detailed, natural fall-off, matched 2D & 3D depth cues, solid depth continuity, and depth that is adjustable to the client’s desire
– compositing is VFX-caliber, hair as good as green screen, stereo-accurate transparency, real image data for occlusions, high quality matters.
When to use Dimensionalization:
– Difficult to capture shots
– Prohibitive environments
– Prohibitive production schedule
– Benefits of traditional 2D shoot
– Flexibility in artistic decisions
– Failed stereo capture
– Alternative stereo capture
– Catalogue titles
Q & A
Regarding catching errors, how much is manual versus software-based detection. (In-Three) human intervention is a necessary part of the process.
When dimensionalizing, how do you know what is behind the object being dimensionalized. (In-Three) You follow standard visual effects techniques and processes.