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MillimeterHD Focus
Mar 22, 2005 4:14 PM
Underwater 3D, in HD
By Michael Goldman
Once he decided to make a 42-minute, IMAX 3D documentary about sharks -- called Sharks 3D -- filmmaker Jean-Jacques Mantello had no real choice but to use high-definition cameras. Early on, Mantello and DP Gavin McKinney realized they would never get the close coverage of sharks that they desired underwater using the dual-strip, 14-perf, 65mm film cameras typically used for IMAX 3D productions. Therefore, the filmmakers picked a twin HD camera solution, with custom-designed underwater camera housings, and a specially designed postproduction pipeline for transforming that imagery into a 3D, 65mm negative.
“The IMAX 3D (film) cameras are just too big for shooting underwater, and they are very noisy,” Mantello explains. “To film sharks, you have to move fast underwater and be very quiet, so there was no way that approach would work. Therefore, we chose HD cameras in housings we designed ourselves.”
He has experience with stereoscopic filmmaking that dates back to the early 1990s, and alongside James Cameron and his colleagues, Mantello and the Paris-based company that produced the film, 3D Entertainment, have in recent years been innovating methods for using HD cameras to shoot large-format underwater imagery. As with Cameron’s recent documentary work, Mantello’s team built its solution around two Sony HDW-F900 HD cameras in a stereoscopic configuration.
For Sharks 3D, Mantello designed a unique camera housing to permit the capture of side-by-side, left-eye/right-eye imagery necessary to build a 3D image during the post-production process. Mantello’s team in Paris built the housing, giving filmmakers the flexibility they needed to track and film their elusive subjects.
“The first housing we designed had a total weight of about 300lbs., including the camera, and we needed a crane to get it in and out of the water,” Mantello explains. “But we designed a second housing that weighed just 150lbs., with the camera, and that was a big improvement. We began using it three months into production. It let us get in and out of the water from a rubber boat, to really infiltrate the shark’s habitat. That housing was made of aluminum, with no soldering, meaning it was created from a large aluminum sheet that we adjusted to the exact size of the cameras. Inside the housing, we mounted the two cameras on an electronic plate with small motors that let us change angles and camera position efficiently. We also reduced the size of the electronic component of the remote control unit inside the housing.”
Mantello adds that his team relied on Fujinon 13X4.5 VS lenses, in addition to a custom-designed optical system for the housing itself.
Mantello says the journey those HD images took to a 14-perf/65mm film master actually began on the production boat used during the making of the movie. It was there that filmmakers first examined their footage in a 3D environment.
“We had two 23in. Apple Cinema HD displays on the boat in a 3D monitoring room, and we viewed the images on those monitors through a special optical rig that we designed,” he explains. “We also brought along 3D electronic shutter glasses, and that gave us a good idea what things would look like in 3D. We actually used this monitoring approach, using both Apple and Sony HD monitors, throughout the entire editing process to view 3D imagery in realtime.”
Mantello’s company then processed, edited, and otherwise manipulated the imagery at its Paris facility, mainly using a combination of proprietary software enhancements to off-the-shelf tools like Final Cut Pro HD for editing and Adobe Premiere for color correction and effects. Filmmakers then enhanced and up-rezzed the imagery using a proprietary digital enhancement and restoration tool built around a spatial and temporal algorithm. Developed in-house, the algorithm works much like IMAX Corp.’s DRM technology. The film was eventually transferred from HD to 65mm film using a Celco Fury digital film recorder.
Mantello concedes the process required a great deal of in-house R&D and massive computing power: 3D Entertainment built a SAN with over 60TB of hard disk space for the project. But he points out that the kind of work his company and Cameron and his colleagues are doing have, essentially, opened up yet another market, albeit a niche one, to high-definition acquisition—large-format documentaries shot in harsh environments.
“There are not a lot of people right now doing this kind of work, but I come from an engineering background, so for us, it was relatively straightforward,” he says. “Jim Cameron is doing similar work with his own approach. But it’s still a small market, and there are just a couple of small companies filling that market’s needs right now. We’ve figured out solutions that make it possible to make these kinds of movies.”
Fujinon introduces latest version of patented precision focus assist system
Continuing its leadership in high-quality image acquisition, Fujinon (NAB Booth #SU6370) is introducing an expanded lineup of its patented, groundbreaking focus system designed to improve the quality of HDTV image capture in field and studio applications. The latest Fujinon Precision Focus Assist system, to be introduced at NAB 2005, will be available on the company's XA101x8.9BESM HD zoom, HA22X7.3BRD HD EFP lens and the HA13x4.5BRD-S28K HD wide-angle lens. Precision Focus Assist is a built-in feature that addresses precise focus issues in HDTV production stemming from the format's shallow depth of focus and the lack of size and resolution in camera viewfinders.
"The Precision Focus Assist system represents a clear and dramatic progression for HD production," said Dave Waddell, Marketing Manager, Fujinon. "The industry has progressed to a point where overall lens quality is no longer an issue. This system provides a consistent means to achieve focus, leaving the days of unfocused, blurry high definition images behind us. It's truly a breakthrough product for a growing and dynamic market.”
This is not an auto focus system, but a focus assist that precisely adjusts the lens for optimum focus. Using this system, a selectable area of the video image is sampled as the focus point. The camera operator can adjust the user selectable point with a roller-ball type of controller, similar to a computer mouse, to position the focus point. The camera operator can then select manual or automatic focus assist. In the manual mode, there are three, colored LED's that assist in achieving optimum focus. When the automatic mode is selected, the Precision Focus Assist system takes control and optimizes the focus, ensuring the captured image will be of the highest possible quality. Additionally, when panning and tilting, the operator can follow the focus point and position it above the object of focus as the camera is moved with the controller. An added benefit of the Precision Focus Assist is that it does not require tight zooming to focus. It performs even on a wide shot.
Because the smaller viewfinders on HD cameras lack high-quality resolution, operators often believe they've achieved focus when they haven't. And home viewers with 50" HD screens can easily see slight defocusing of the HDTV image that would not be discernable in standard definition. Remote controls were recently developed to allow video operators within view of a full-screen monitor to tweak the focus by referencing the large-screen monitor, but these systems have not been widely deployed. Fujinon brings the Precision Focus Assist system to the market to address HD focus issues that weren't answered with remote focus systems.
"This system essentially allows the camera operator to tweak the original focus and gives that operator complete confidence in the images they're sending out to air," added Waddell. "The operator may not see the improvement on the camera's viewfinder, but a video operator looking at the image on a 50" monitor in a studio or truck will notice the improvement. This also puts the role of focus back where it should be -- in the hands of the camera operator."
1 Beyond to showcase industry's widest range of affordable HD solutions at NAB 2005
1 Beyond, Inc., a leading provider of digital video editing and compositing systems, today announced that it will be showcasing one of the industry's widest ranges of affordable HD solutions at booth number SL 3967 at NAB in Las Vegas, April 18th-21st 2005.
New at NAB this year will be 1 Beyond's recently developed complete graphics workflow technology for broadcasters and postproduction professionals. The new integrated solution includes the 1 Beyond Harmony SAN and Redline Render Farm combined with fiber-attached 1 Beyond Artist Pro workstations.
This new breakthrough approach to graphics workflow brings together the established strengths of render farms and high performance graphics workstations with SAN technology into a unified environment. All workstations and render engines simultaneously access the same assets in the central 1 Beyond Harmony SAN, controlled by the Sanbolic SAN software, as though they were on a local disk on each system. This is completely transparent to the user. Assets ingested once, or even those newly developed can be immediately accessed by all workstations eliminating slow copying from one to another.
Visitors to the 1 Beyond booth will also be able to see the industry's most powerful nonlinear laptop system designed exclusively for editing and graphics applications including HD. Called the 1 Beyond 3817 HD, the new laptop brings video professionals considerably more power than most desktops in a portable, fully featured laptop. It is available immediately, starting at $2,695, and fully configured for HD at just $5,995.
Also featured on the 1 Beyond booth will be the 1 Beyond HD Pro workstation, a powerful yet affordable HD digital nonlinear editing system designed to offer editors HD editing online, all the time. With prices starting at under $30,000, the 1 Beyond HD Pro editing workstation, offers affordable 10-bit uncompressed HD editing and compositing as well as realtime HDV, SD, and DV native formats.
The 1 Beyond Harmony SAN is the industry's first Shared Storage Area Network (SAN) capable of supporting multiple streams (scaleable from 2 to 32 editing, compositing, and on-air systems) of full-resolution 10-bit uncompressed HD video. With basic configurations starting at just $35,000, the 1 Beyond Harmony SAN is not only the most powerful shared HD SAN on the market, but the most cost-effective.
Founded in 1996, 1 Beyond, Inc. manufactures professional PC-based video editing and compositing systems at a fraction of the cost of traditional high-end systems. 1 Beyond delivers turnkey video systems that provide customers with the highest performance and quality digital workflow in DV, SD, and now full 10-bit uncompressed HD. The company offers a wide range of systems including award-winning laptops, desktops, mobiles, and rackmounts used in all phases of editing and compositing. All 1 Beyond's systems are designed with true open architecture and built on products that are based on world standards. This insures the customer a continued upgrade path and hence, the longest period for ROI and non-obsolescence. For more information visit www.1Beyond.com.
Leitch's Videotek introduces the new TVM-950HD multi-format HD SDI monitor at NAB 2005
Videotek, a division of Leitch Technology Corporation and a leader in innovative test and measurement technology, will debut its new TVM-950HD Multi-Format High-Definition SDI Monitor with integral, high-resolution color LCD display at NAB 2005. The TVM-950 provides outstanding performance and flexibility, setting a new benchmark for high-definition video and advanced audio signal analysis. "Videotek has a tradition of raising the bar in test and measurement by meeting the needs of customers with innovative features and functionality. The new TVM-950HD is designed to be the most advanced, versatile and intuitive HD/SD-SDI video and audio monitoring instrument available today in a half-rack scope package," says Phil Steyaert, president of Videotek for Leitch.
With 100 percent digital signal processing technology, the TVM-950HD provides accurate, stable display of single or multiple Waveform, Vector, Gamut, Audio, Picture, Timing and Data Analyzer functions in quadrant or full-screen views. The new TVM has environmentally friendly illuminated front panel controls and an ultra-quiet cooling system, with a modular platform design for easy field upgrades. Quick setup and parameter changes are possible with context-sensitive display pop-up menus and informative navigation system.
The TVM-950HD's capabilities include advanced analysis tools, an extensive alarm set with peak level reporting, metadata, EIA-608, 708 closed caption, Teletext and XDS displays. Remote interfaces include 10/100BaseT Ethernet and USB ports, supporting frame-capture transfer and mouse control. Options include HD/SD Eye Pattern, additional HD/SD-SDI, SD-SDI or analog composite inputs, eight channels of analog, AES/EBU plus embedded audio processing, with CineSound Surround display, Dolby Digital and Dolby E decoding. The TVM-950HD seamlessly integrates into broadcast, postproduction, satellite or cable facilities and is the ultimate choice for quality control, troubleshooting, or compliance checking applications.
Videotek, a division of Leitch Technology Corporation, is a leading manufacturer of high definition test and measurement equipment, 8VSB demodulators, routing switchers, legalizers, color correctors, and related equipment for the professional video and television broadcast markets. Videotek is committed to zero defects and is ISO-9001 certified. As a part of Leitch Technology Corporation, Videotek plays a significant role in enabling operations of any size to achieve a truly Integrated Content Environment. Leitch is the most trusted name for increasing performance and productivity through solutions that streamline workflow of content production, processing, transmission and management. With a sole focus on and commitment to the television industry, Leitch provides premium customer support.
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