American Cinematographer - August 2008 - 78

remotely via Web browser, the rackmountable Frame Thrower is easily integrated into production pipelines. Multiple users can load or remove clips while sitting at their workstations, and because images are never compressed, Frame Thrower does not create visual artifacts. Operating at 2048x1556 resolution, every pixel in a full-aperture scan is visible. For more information, call (310) 733-3001 or visit www.digitalord nance.com. Ocula Plugs into 3-D Visual-effects software developer The Foundry recently unveiled Ocula, a plug-in collection designed to take the headache out of 3-D postproduction by automatically replicating key processes on left and right channels while enhancing the final viewing experience by providing tools to help artists polish and refine stereoscopic material. Unlike X-, Y- and Z-axis image shifting, which move the entire image plane, the Ocula tools are based on disparity-mapping algorithms created by the Foundry’s R&D team. Disparity maps track and correlate the differences in positional space and the movement between corresponding pixels in the left and right cameras to deliver pixel-level control over each image. Knowing where disparities occur, Ocula tools then apply corrections by warping, stretching and squeezing only those areas of an image that require treatment. All corrections — such as paint strokes and key-framed rotoscoping masks — can be made to the left- or right-eye channel and then automatically generated for the other eye. Using disparity-map data, Ocula’s Interocular Distance Shifter allows users to correct horizontal alignment issues by creating a “virtual” view between the original left and right eye positions, resulting in better-resolved foreground, mid-ground and background objects. (A traditional X-axis shift would move the entire image plane with less control.) Similarly, Ocula’s Vertical Aligner employs disparity maps to vertically align corresponding image features in each view, thereby eliminating the effect 78 August 2008 known as key-stoning. “Our new Ocula tools are designed to make the postproduction of 3-D imagery easier and much more efficient than before,” says Bill Collis, The Foundry’s CEO. “Along with boosting productivity and enabling precise manipulation of stereoscopic imagery, Ocula plug-ins will ultimately help artists to refine footage to new levels. This means fewer headaches in post and fewer headaches at the cinema.” Ocula plug-ins will be available for version 5.1 of The Foundry’s Nuke compositing system, which is expected to be released this summer. For more information, visit www.thefoundry.co.uk. Color Processing in Dolby 3-D Cine-tal Systems has developed a customized image-processing technology for Dolby Laboratories that facilitates the playback of stereoscopic movies using a Dolby 3-D Digital Cinema process while those projects are in production. The Cine-tal Color Processor for Dolby 3-D is aimed at producers of stereoscopic films using a Dolby 3-D Digital Cinema process for post operations such as color grading and screenings. The system employs Dolby’s advanced color processing for playback of any 3-D source material that has not yet been wrapped into a digital cinema package (DCP). Cine-tal’s solution ensures color accuracy in 3-D playback, so that the playback image matches Dolby 3-D Digital Cinema systems used in theaters. “Dolby believes it is important to provide technology that delivers content exactly as the artist intended so the audience can enjoy what the creators experienced while they were in production,” says David Gray, vice president of worldwide production services for Dolby Laboratories. Cine-tal president and CEO Rob Carroll adds, “This technology will come as a welcome advance to everyone involved in making 3-D movies using Dolby 3-D Digital Cinema. Producers can review conformed 3-D material from any source — just as they would if they were producing a conventional 2-D film. It also allows producers to review their work, confident that what they see is what they will get when the film is shown in theaters.” The Dolby 3-D Color Processor is based on image-processing technology incorporated into Cine-tal’s display systems, including its Cinemage digital monitor. For more information, visit www.cine-tal.com.

http://www.digitalordnance.com http://www.digitalordnance.com http://www.thefoundry.co.uk http://www.cine-tal.com

American Cinematographer - August 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2008