Digital Video - September 2008 - (Page 8)

IN REVIEW FRAMEFORGE 3D STUDIO 2 precision. The controls also integrate a basic intelligence that waits just a second before reacting to interpret the user’s cursor movement and apply the right context based on how the user moves the mouse. This greatly simplifies the working relationship with 3D space in the program. It isn’t a foolproof system, but it certainly works most of the time. The program features 32 different actors of four different ethnicities. It also incorporates easy aging to modify adult actors between 20 and 60 years old. The degree of control is such that you can create facial expressions on the actors — either manually, by adjusting eyes, eyebrows, mouth and eyes, or by using the Expression Builder, which features various levels of 12 emotions, from anger to surprise. Going further, the “Look At” feature allows quick adjustment of an actor’s eyes, head and shoulders without having to individually adjust each element. The program works well with realworld limitations. It will alert you if you’ve tried to position your camera beyond a hard ceiling or if you move it through a wall. For every camera placement, the program gives you the lens focal length, camera height, rotation and distance from a particular subject. If you’re working with prime lenses, you can pick from a pre-programmed list of commonly available lenses or program in your own set so that when you change focal length, the program automatically jumps from one lens to the other without letting you pick a nonexistent focal length somewhere in between. You can also set the range of your zoom lens so that you never choose a framing that isn’t possible with your equipment. Over the years I have been involved in some of the developing phases of FrameForge (which you can find more about at www.frameforge.com). As such is the case, I cannot ethically give FrameForge an objective review score — but I can offer my glowing recommendation, for what that’s worth. DV You’ll find an extended version of this review on our site. Visit DV online. DREAMING IN 3D EMPOWERING YOU TO PERFECTLY PLOT YOUR SHOTS. BY JAY HOLBEN F rameForge 3D Studio 2 is a bona fide 3D pre-visualization platform with an incredibly intuitive interface and phenomenal flexibility. It allows the user to create a three-dimensional scale location complete with actors, props, wardrobe, set dressing, basic lighting and backgrounds. You can then move through that world with virtual cameras to generate specific storyboards. The program opens in a blueprint interface where various “sets” are created. Any location is considered a set, and you can create anything — from a single closet to an entire city. Creating rooms is a breeze with intuitive and intelligent tools that allow you to drag and drop walls in your virtual location. Each wall is scaleable in whatever unit of measurement is set in the program (feet, meters, inches, etc.) and quick settings — like designating that all walls are 10’ tall — can be chosen to make the work go faster. Each wall quickly snaps to interconnect with another to make a room and can be adjusted effortlessly in clickand-drag-type movements. Once your walls are in place, you can begin to populate your set with furniture, actors and textures. dv september 2008 Starting with the doors, FrameForge introduces a simple example of one of the program’s most powerful features: hinges. Clicking on a door in a wall, you can then adjust how that door might open: from the left or from the right; out away from the room or in toward the room; and to what degree it will be open. Nearly all of the “objects” in the program have hinge adjustments to them. (An “object” includes actors as well as pretty much anything you can drag and drop into the program from its extensive and expandable library.) Hinges don’t apply just to things that bend; they also define various states of normal objects. For instance, the executive desk object features seven drawers, and each drawer is considered a “hinge” so that you can individually specify how far open or closed any of the drawers will be. For this extremely detailed level of control, one might expect to have a very complicated interface, but FrameForge makes the process easy with simple sliders. For more complex objects, FrameForge has “Control Jacks,” which are graphic representations of the X, Y and Z axis for each “hinge.” Although baffling at first, once you understand how to work the Control Jack, it’s easy to precisely position the complex joints of actors with incredible 8 www.dv.com http://www.frameforge.com http://www.dv.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - September 2008

Digital Video - September 2008 Contents Discproducer PP-100 Frameforge 3D Studio 2 First Cuts Expodisc Bird's-Eye View Instant Expert Inside Outsource Red in Combat Tools & Technology My Studio DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - September 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.