cinematography
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MIT's camera drones are smart enough to get the perfect shot
Over the last few years we've seen more camera drones than we can count, but getting the best footage out of them will take something extra. While many big budget productions are already using drone cameras, a system developed by MIT and ETH Zurich researchers goes beyond mere Steadicam or even subject-tracking, by allowing the director to define exactly how a shot is framed.
Create your own films on a VR movie set
When someone mentions "VR filmmaking," they're usually referring to 360-degree video, or some kind of video game environment where the story unfolds around you. One developer in Japan, however, has taken the concept in a vastly different direction. 'Make it Film' is an experimental project by 'MuRo' that lets you operate a camera inside a VR environment. Like a film director, you can frame up the shot and then hit record as characters converse or take part in an action scene. It was built on top of Unity3D and currently works with the Oculus Rift and Touch controllers.
The gorgeous faces and stunning cinematography of 'Until Dawn'
The PlayStation 4's latest exclusive Until Dawn is absolutely stunning visually. In particular? Its faces. By using 3D performance capture techniques that include strapping an HD camera rig to actor's heads (including Hayden Panettiere and Peter Stormare) to grab practically every minute detail and expression, the characters come to life in a pretty realistic fashion. What's really cool is that oftentimes once you let the DualShock 4 sit idle for a moment, the camera will zoom in on the face of whichever of the randy teens you're controlling. If motion controls are enabled, you can tilt the gamepad this way and that and the possibly doomed cabeza will follow suit accordingly. It's pretty neat!
World's oldest color film footage discovered in museum archive (video)
Cached away for over a century, the world's first color moving pictures have been shown for the first time yesterday, according to the National Media Museum in the UK. The celluloid, shot by inventor Edward Raymond Turner in 1899, was actually in black and white and it was only through a curator's research that its colorful significance was also unearthed. When the footage was first shot, each frame was run consecutively through red, green or blue gels, and the process needed to be reversed during projection to reveal the color. Fortunately, a blueprint by the inventor of how to do just that was also found, allowing the institution's team to replicate the process digitally to produce the final footage. This type of color gel processing didn't take off in the early 20th century due to the mechanical complexity, and it would have been inferior to a chemical process since each frame carried only one-third of the full color information. Still, it required a clever mind to dream it up, with an equally big brain to uncover it and finally give Turner his due. See the video below the break for the stunning un-retouched, non-hand-colored results. [Image Credit: National Media Museum]
First DSLR 4K video from prototype Canon EOS-1D C reportedly emerges
If you've been wondering what kind of eye candy Canon's EOS-1D C is capable of, you might be in luck. The crew over at EOSHD have apparently snagged some 4K sample footage from an early prototype of the unreleased, professional-grade DSLR. The clip looks slick to us, albeit lacking in the scenery department. Even so, EOSHD comments that while a "massive step up for image quality compared to all previous DSLRs" the video footage isn't as sharp as stills from the 1D X (the 1D C's less-endowed sibling) and "not near what true 4K should look like." (Of course, anyone looking for true 4K is advised to step up to Sony's $70k F65 CineAlta, so we guess you get what you pay for). You can check out the minute-long clip, unfortunately scaled to a Vimeo-friendly 1,920 x 1,080, after the break. If your discerning eye demands the raw footage, however, why not grab the few seconds available at the source link and let us know your thoughts? That's what the comments are for, after all.
Could future PureView devices support 4K video?
As we eagerly await the arrival of the 808 PureView, video professionals are pondering the usefulness of that 41-megapixel sensor. On paper, it's capable of shooting continuously-focusing 34-megapixel video that's then resampled down when compressed, but blogger James Burland wonders what it could do with less resampling. He claims that a member of Nokia's imaging team told him that shooting at 4K "might be possible," although there are plenty of issues that prevent it being achieved on the 808 handset itself. The hardware wouldn't be able to handle the storage or processing requirements, so it's unlikely Peter Jackson will be shooting on a Symbian-powered device any time soon -- but in any case it's an interesting pointer to the future of cellphone cinematography.
Canon unveils EOS-1D C and C500 4K Cinema cameras, two new lenses ahead of NAB (updated)
In a departure from its last introduction as dramatic as the C300's Hollywood launch itself, Canon has quietly announced two additional cameras to sit alongside the company's former lone flagship. You may have caught a glimpse of the EOS-1D C at the C300 launch, but what six months ago was a mere mock-up has actually become a reality, likely to ship sometime this year. More out of left field, however, is the C500 -- a higher-end version of the C300 that adds several shooting modes, dual 3G-SDI ports and a larger, permanent grip. Both cameras can capture 4K video, but in substantially different ways. Canon teases 'exclusive screening' in Las Vegas, new Cinema EOS products coming at NAB? Canon has a new 'EOS Movies' DSLR on the way too: 4K video, 35mm full frame sensor Canon C300 cinema camera hands-on (video) The $15,000 1D C, which has the same chassis and still shooting features of its less-abled cousin, the EOS-1D X, pipes 4096 x 2160 8-bit 4:2:2 video to a CF card at 24 fps. Unlike the X, however, the C swaps a headphone jack for the X's PC socket, that's usually used for hooking up strobes. The higher-end C500 requires a dedicated external recorder, but offers two full-RAW output options: 4096 x 2960, that will be better suited for motion picture capture, and 3840 x 2160 for 4K TV. Both of these modes offer 10-bit 4:4:4 at 60 frames-per-second. There's also a half-RAW option, at 4096 x 1080 or 3840 x 1080 resolutions, also 10-bit 4:4:4, but at 120 fps. The C500 also includes dual CF slots, but that recording option is only available for 1080p (which can be captured to CF concurrently). Both cameras support Canon Log Gamma, empowering colorists to correct color in post production with more versatility by capturing additional information and a higher dynamic range. Jump past the break to continue...
A Red Scarlet-X 4K tour around CES 2012 (video)
For the third CES in a row, our old friend Ted Schilowitz has stopped by to let us drool over Red's latest high-end cameras. And boy, this is one helluva camera we have this time. You may recall that last year we were shown a working Scarlet prototype with 3K video resolution and a fixed lens; but fast forward to 2012 and we have the Scarlet-X, a sturdy 4K beast that not only supports interchangeable lens, but it's also actually out on the market. Obviously, the $9,700 base price (excluding the Canon EF lens mount; Nikon and Leica mounts coming soon) is aimed at film studios instead of us regular Joes, but Ted was kind enough to spend a whole afternoon showing us all the goodness on the Scarlet-X -- we even got to play with it on the CES show floor, and unsurprisingly, this Red kit became quite the celebrity. Read on to find out how we got on with it.
RED Scarlet starts shipping for $9,750, first customer takes one home today
Announced at a curiously-timed event just minutes after Canon's C300 made its on-stage debut, we expected the RED Scarlet to be a hit with cinematographers the world abound. But we're perhaps even more impressed to see one actually make its way to a customer just two weeks after launch, than we were when RED revealed the 4K cam's low $9,750 price tag. Rental service owner Tonaci Tran (pictured front and center above) is the lucky winner, and if you happen to have a Scarlet loan scheduled with him, you could be too. Haven't had enough of the 4096 x 2160-pixel 4K cam? Check out our hands-on from RED's Hollywood launch event.
Spider-Man reboot is being shot in RED EPIC 3D, has John Schwartzman all kinds of excited
You know that untitled Spider-man project that's set to revitalize the franchise at some point in 2012? Yeah, that's being shot in 3D (not news) using 3ality rigs and RED EPIC cameras (superhotawesome news). Peter Jackson already scooped up 30 EPICs to help him shoot his next big venture, The Hobbit, in 3D, but he's been beaten to the digital cinematography punch by the producers of the next Spidey flick, who have cornered a quartet of the cameras and actually started shooting with them on set yesterday. John Schwartzman, the dude responsible for filming the whole thing, has been extolling the virtues of using such fancy gear over on the RED forums, which is also where he promises his crew will be making further comments detailing the user experience. In slightly less thrilling RED news, the Scarlet S35 is being renamed to the EPIC Lite and will suffer the upheaval of having its features and price changed -- hit the links below for more. [Thanks, Anthony]
Hyperspace Beacon: Testing the SWTOR waters
If you didn't know already, just over a week ago three writers from Massively, including me, traveled to Seattle, Washington for PAX Prime. During that time, besides catching the flu, we were able to catch a glimpse of some of the games that have yet to be released. We were able to play games like TERA, The Force Unleashed II, Guild Wars 2, RIFT, End of Nations, and many, many others. Some were pretty good; others, not-so-much -- but most seemed very polished and perfect for presentation. Of course, you all know I was there to see Star Wars: The Old Republic. I caught a lot of it. There were six of the eight classes available for demo at the gorgeous LucasArts booth. (BioWare did have a booth there, too, but the team was displaying some small game it was trying to get off the ground called Dragon Age 2.) Visitors had a chance to try out the smuggler, trooper, agent, bounty hunter, and both Sith classes. Because of the enormous lines that constantly encircled the booth, I was only able to play three of the classes: smuggler, trooper, and Sith inquisitor. For this edition of the Hyperspace Beacon, I will give you my impressions of the gameplay for those classes. However, I want to take a slightly different look at them. At E3, Massively's editor Seraphina Brennan was able to give her impressions of the smuggler class -- she covered the mechanics and so on. Although I will touch on the combat mechanics, I have decided to focus on some of the features BioWare is famous for: cinematics, character development, and overall storytelling. Follow after the break, and I will give you an honest breakdown of how SWTOR measures up to its predecessors.
