News Stories

Technology: Disparity-aware Stereo 3D Production Tools

2.27.2012

[Philip Lelyveld comment: This article is a brief overview of developments at Disney’s 3D research group in Zurich.]

[3D Roundabout . com]

By Aljosa Smolic, Disney Research Zurich

Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) has reached wide levels of adoption by consumer and professional markets. The current success of S3D technology is due to the fact that technology and understanding about content creation has reached a high level of maturity. However, production of high-quality S3D content is still a difficult and expensive art.

S3D production has to consider fundamentals of human 3D perception as well as capabilities and limitations of 3D displays, and combine them with artistic intent. To help with this, Disney Research Zurich has developed advanced S3D production tools, algorithms, and systems, a key component of which is awareness of disparity or depth composition of the input S3D content

 

Fundamentals and limitations of stereo 3D perception

Computational stereo camera

Stereoscopic analyser

Depth script visualisation, disparity histograms

Nonlinear disparity mapping by image-domain warping

Stereo to multiview conversion

Interactive 2D-to-3D conversion using discontinuous warps

Automatic 2D-to-3D conversion for sports

Conclusion

Producing high-quality S3D requires highly-skilled and experienced individuals, and can be an expensive and difficult process. By developing tools for estimating disparity, either by involving some user interaction or being fully automatic, we are confident that we can help in the drive to make the production process easier and keep costs down, while ensuring the best possible experience for the audience.

Dr Aljosa ‘Josh’ Smolic is Senior Research Scientist and Group Leader of Advanced Video Technology for Disney Research Zurich, the research centre of The Walt Disney Company, related to ETH Zurich.

See the full article with many illustrations here: http://3droundabout.com/2012/02/6439/technology-disparity-aware-stereo-3d-production-tools.html?

3D in Advertising – Bringing the Wow Factor to Campaigns

2.27.2012

[3D Roundabout]

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Selling 3D

Whether speaking at TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) or Cannes Lions, I have come to understand that most marketers and agency creatives simply need more information. Once the costs are outlined, an explanation of how 3D actually works is provided, and the storytelling potential revealed, most ad people soon begin to envisage 3D as well within the realm of possibility, and real excitement takes hold.

First off, 3D commercials can still be screened in 2D. Launching a campaign in both formats is entirely feasible, which may assist your wide release. This option preserves the huge 3D wow factor while maintaining the penetration of 2D.

Considerations

As far as cost, for live-action 3D production, my estimate is 10 to 25 percent above shooting a typical spot in 2D (or a ‘flattie’). For bigger-budget campaigns, 3D will cost less because you have already invested in higher production value. Given the entire workflow is digital (acquisition to post to projection), you can expect some upfront costs here too.

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Depth budgets are also influenced by story genre and demographic. In Werner Herzog’s documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams for example (a film which Geneva was very proud to be part of), the positive parallax beautifully heightened the existing phenomenon of ancient cave art. In contrast, shooting a comedy with lots of gags would involve more negative i.e. ‘in your face’ parallax.

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Conclusion

Given the rapidly-increasing presence of glasses-free 3D and the sharp increase in 3D-ready playback devices, integrating 3D into your toolkit is a must. As Wayne Gretzky would say, ‘You can go to where the puck is, or you can go to where the puck is going to be.’

James Stewart is a director and founder of Geneva Film Co. a Toronto-based leader in 3D commercial production. When he is not on set, he is a regular presenter on 3D at conferences such as TED and Cannes Lions. This article is adapted from the article ’3D: It Is Where The Puck Is Headed’, first published in Strategy Magazine.

See the original post here: http://3droundabout.com/2012/02/6491/3d-in-advertising-bringing-the-wow-factor-to-campaigns.html?

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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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