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MillimeterMark In
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM
Using Caligari TrueServe software, Emmanuel Asset created a website where Titanic aficionados can interact with others.
Will Internet-based Teams Take Production to the Next Level?
By Dan Ochiva
Unless you've been spending your time under that proverbial rock, you can't have missed the groundswell making networking websites such as YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace today's social meeting places of choice.
Powerful graphics cards help take things to the next level: online 3D worlds. From massive multi-player games — such as EverQuest and World of Warcraft — to avatar-based social networking sites such as Sims Online, Second Life, and the MTV's recent Virtual Laguna Beach, users are learning that going online no longer means just 2D HTML.
But can the Web be used actively to collaborate and create within shared 3D spaces? Users of Caligari's TrueSpace (www.caligari.com) software are doing just that.
TrueSpace7 delivers the only fully collaborative 3D authoring environment for design and animation. Users work dynamically with full-resolution models, enjoying realtime manipulation of lighting, textures, transparency, and shadows.
As the Internet thrives for viewers, the small, innovative company behind the software might take the lead. “From the beginning, I never really saw the program as something mostly for film or print use,” says Caligari founder Roman Ormandy, “but always thought it belonged online.”
While Ormandy took a circuitous path towards his goal — he first had to make an escape from his Soviet-controlled Czechoslovakian homeland — by 1985 he had created his first Amiga-based 3D video animation package.
More than 20 years later, he remains true to his basic aim with the first modest product that just about anyone can use. “I've always believed that creativity is best served if the designer is given straightforward tools that allow direct contact with 3D objects in the workspace.”
For software that costs less than $600, TrueSpace does just that, and more. Users have access to a deep toolset with high-end chops such as polygonal editing tools, subdivision surfaces, and NURBS (nonuniform rational B-splines).
Want to animate? Turn to the keyframe-based editor with its function curves, facial animation tools, and bones with deformable skin and muscles. “Role-based” authoring, meanwhile, allows you to create a user interface appropriate for your skill level.
To output, you'll find two photorealistic rendering engines included (LightWorks 7.4 and VirtuaLight). The fast Vray renderer with global illumination comes as an option.
TrueSpace version 7.5, which will debut by year end, adds technology that allows users to create 3D shapes, skin them with photos, and then move a viewpoint around them as desired. That's an ideal way to create a realistic set for previz.
Want to try collaborative previz? Caligari's website provides no-cost hosting that allows you to invite colleagues to watch as you walk them through possible stagings for your next shoot. (They'll need to download the free TrueSpace viewer.) To manipulate objects in tandem, they need to buy their own copy of the software.
To work in a secure environment, however, buy a copy of the TrueServe server software ($5,995). Buying the software also allows you to consider a unique business opportunity: Build your own online 3D world, and invite everyone to visit.
That's what France-based Emmanuel Asset created on his Titanic 3D site (www.titanic3d.com/pages/accueil_en.htm). Site visitors design their own avatar, then go on deck to walk around, chat, and interact with other Titanic fans from around the world.
“From the company's very beginning, I have been obsessed with creating a shared 3D medium,” Ormandy says. “This is the future. Authoring and delivering are becoming a single process.” 
Digital Content Producer's The Briefing Room
BBC Motion Gallery Gets in on Google Video
BBC Motion Gallery, a division of BBC Worldwide Limited, announced the availability of short programs via Google Video. The move will allow consumers to tap into BBC Motion Gallery content online through Google Video, a comprehensive index of free and paid, user-generated and professional video content. Google Video makes it easy for users to watch and share videos and premium video producers to monetize and distribute their content.
More than 25 titles from the BBC Motion Gallery shorts collection will be available for download immediately at video.google.com. Selections include “Urban Freestyler,” vignettes of the world's top football and basketball freestylers performing amazing tricks on the gritty streets of London and “Animal Capers,” wildlife comedic shorts that utilize computer animation to shed light on the fascinating lives and loves of a variety of creatures. Other BBC Motion Gallery short programs on Google Video include: “Cocktails,” “Zodiac,” “Blue Skies,” “Weird Science,” “Living Year,” “Bodyscapes,” “Flower Power,” “Natural Remedies,” “Style Trek,” “Witness,” “Living Colour,” “Ultramarine,” and “World's Best.” …
Yamaha Licenses On2 Technologies' VP 6, VP7 Video Codecs
On2 Technologies announced a multiyear agreement with Yamaha Corporation to license its VP6 and VP7 video codec technologies.
Yamaha's decision to integrate On2 video technology demonstrates the momentum and relevance of On2's codec technology and is a powerful endorsement of the exceptional video quality and performance of On2 codecs on embedded devices.
“Yamaha has a long history of innovation in digital signal processing and system-on-silicon technologies. We look forward to working with Yamaha's world-class engineers to create the next generation of video systems,” says Dan Scherer, On2 senior vice president of global sales for DSPs and devices. …
Inbox
Rendering with Adobe Premiere Pro
Great review of the various HDV NLEs; did you ever hear back from Adobe about the poor/fuzzy rendering performance of Premiere Pro? Otherwise it looks like a good solution for my needs.
I do plan to edit 1080/50i or 60i primarily for HD format, rather than downconverting to SD, but I'd like to be able to downconvert to SD. I am basically interested in making some experimental films using a Sony Z1U either for output via digital projection or eventual output to DVD and later Blu-ray. It looked as though the problem in your article was due to Premiere downconverting to SD before doing the pan/zoom — which is of course the opposite of what it should have done (it should do the pan/zoom first, then downconvert). I imagine maybe a workaround might have been to do the pan/zoom in a separate HD-only project, then import the resulting footage into the SD project.
Though I plan to do primarily HD output, I do intend to occasionally downconvert to SD, and I plan to do a lot of scaling effects (though maybe I will use After Effects for this). It would be nice if Premiere could do this without excessive effort.
Mitsu Hadeishi
Jan Ozer responds: Sorry I wasn't clearer in the review. Premiere only downconverts when using SD presets. If you're using an HD preset, your multicam sequences will be at the full HDV resolution until your final rendering.
I did notice that Premiere quality is sub-optimal when producing SD video from within an HD preset — don't know why. While I didn't test this, I would guess that scaling in After Effects will produce better quality than Premiere Pro.
I've had good luck with a tool called AlgoSuite from www.algolith.com for scaling; you might try that if your initial renderings from AE are of insufficient quality. Hope this all helps.
The article discussed in Inbox can be found at:
digitalcontentproducer.com/workflow/multicam_roundup_part
Penthouse Sound Mixer John Grant and Assistant Mixer JD McMillin (pictured above) incorporated Non Stop Music’s online library search engine, CUEgle, into their workflow for faster, more efficient music searches.
Business Intelligence: Advanced Workflow for Music Searches
By JD McMillin, Penthouse Sound
My job as assistant mixer at Penthouse Sound is perfect. Together with mixer John Grant, I get to work all day with the thing I'm most passionate about: music. We're consistently inspired by our facility — a penthouse suite in a century-old building overlooking Madison Avenue — and the technological capabilities of our Pro Tools HD3 mix-to-picture environment.
We're set up to handle many aspects of audio production, but our primary focus is national spots and an increasing number of rich media projects. No matter what the assignment, the use of music libraries has always been a common thread. Recently, the introduction of Non Stop Music's online library search engine, CUEgle, into our workflow has really changed the way we approach this vital process.
I wish I could tell you that doing music searches has always been a solid-gold blast, but the fact is that before we found out about CUEgle, it could be a tedious job. Naturally, if a client needs a music search, they're on the move and they want it done fast — or better, five seconds ago. Like a lot of facilities, however, we haven't even come close to digitizing the majority of our CD music libraries, which typically meant I would have to run to our library room, crane my neck sideways looking for an armful of the right CDs, get back to the Penthouse suite, import them, and hopefully find the proverbial needle in that first haystack.
With the advent of a number of online libraries and MP3 searching, of course, the process isn't always that complicated, but I haven't come across one that makes it as enjoyable and efficient as CUEgle, which has cut my search time at least in half. The key difference I've found with this online music search engine is that it's extremely visually oriented. For example, Non Stop gives music an easy-to-identify look and feel, something similar to a physical CD collection since each collection has a colorful, distinctive album cover. The cover photo helps show you the mood, like it should, so it feels a lot like searching for CDs, but in a way that's faster and more efficient.
Beyond the attractive interface, this particular search engine has a lot of useful features. A recent promo spot we did for a national cable network is a good example. As often happens, the process kicked off when one of the editors from our sister editing/visual FX post facility downstairs, mad.house (www.madhousenyc.com) shot me a QuickTime video of the spot with temp music that wasn't going to be licensable and said, “The producers are going for something with this feel.”
My mission was to quickly get the best possible match for this music, which had a happy rock attitude. Once I logged on to CUEgle (www.cuegle.com), I started an Active Project folder called “Cable Network Promo 15” and got a nice display of the album covers and titles of their newest collections, including libraries such as “Asia Calling 2” and “Extreme Edge and Attitude.”
I could tell at a glance that these two and the other new entries were not what I was looking for, so I went straight to the 28 categories, which are always at the top of the page, and started my music search there. Both the client and I wanted to get this done as fast as possible, and the extensive range of genres on CUEgle, ranging from “Action” to “Atmospheric Chillout” to “Latin” and straight up “Funk R&B,” usually ensure I can narrow things down quickly.
This time, I went to “Rock and Pop” and the cover for “Alternative Rock 1” jumped out at me — I guess I just have a thing for artistic renderings of neon-colored dogs. I clicked on the album title and got exactly what you'd hope to see: the title, text description, and length of the track, along with a Play icon to launch the track via Windows Media Player (which runs on my Mac). When I clicked Play, the tracks started off very quickly, which can be no small thing if the client is in the room with you.
After auditioning several tracks, I found a top three list that I thought could work: the 1:12 “Who Dat,” the 1:00 “Flying Higher,” and the 1:13 “Hot Pink.” Here's where that aforementioned Active Project folder made a huge difference. In CUEgle, you can create multiple folders that act like online storage lockers for all your media projects, and send the tracks you find on CUEgle to them for present or future reference. The organizational convenience of this feature really can't be overstated — if you need to find tracks or continue working on a project weeks or months later, this ensures you'll find them in an instant.
All that was left at this point was to export the list, and I had three options for getting that done: .zip file to download the music tracks straight to the desktop, .xml file that I could send to the editor so he could go into CUEgle and open them on his end, or a .txt file that publishes a list of descriptions you can send. I clicked on .zip, and 20 seconds later I had the audio files on my desktop. After that, I reinserted them into the QuickTime movies and shot the files back to the editor and producer, who eventually picked a winner, then worked out the needle-drop license with a quick call to Non Stop Music.
In an environment where clients always want everything done yesterday, the workflow that online searching of CUEgle's caliber offers makes a lot of sense. Not only does it help everyone's bottomline, but it's also saving me from spending precious time staring at the walls of my CD library collection, carrying them upstairs by the truckload, and digitizing them while the clock is ticking. These are little things, but the name of the game will always be speed, and eliminating lots of little steps helps post facilities to be on the ball a lot faster.
JD McMillin is assistant mixer at New York-based Penthouse Sound, working with a client roster including 2K Sports, Food Network, Fuse, and Wendy's. For more information about the company, please visit www.penthousesound.com.
What camera is used to shoot over-the-field footage for pre-season NFL games?
Panasonic’s AK-HC 1500G Stealth Aerial Cameras has equipped its flying camera system with Panasonic’s AK-HC 1500G 1080i/720p switchable HD point-of-view camera—the industry’s only eight-line, completely redundant aerial camera system. The company exclusively flies the HC 1500G, and has also used the camera for coverage of Major League Lacrosse and pre-season NFL games.
Continue the discussion on Crosstalk the Millimeter Forum.