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I want to put someone inside a virtual world (based on their own paintings), ultimately to be rendered out as a Stereographic 3D movie, but with development in progressive stages/generations, initially based on readily available standard tools and techniques, later proceeding to specialist 3D modelling apps etc.  How to proceed?  Some possibilities that come to mind are:

• Initial development using only “Planar 3D” as in After Effects
  • I believe this is possible to some extent, using native features of AE.
  • In my earlier post on Adobe Production Premium CS5.5 - Orientation, I noted the existence of Mocha LE, a tracker, included in that suite.
• Subsequent development using “Full 3D” as in Blender etc.  Some relevant previous entries in this blog are:
  • Pre-Visualization Apps (for Storyboard / Animatrix / Virtual Studio)
  • 3D Modelling / Animation / Rendering Apps

So I did a web-search: Google: [after effects 3d]

World / Object Creation:

• http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/building-a-3d-world-in-after-effects
  •  Real (green screened) rap artist and audients, where the rap artist appears on a virtual a giant stage surrounded by replicated audients.
  • Explains the conceptualization, storyboarding, and high-level aspects (no screenshots) of designing a world capable of representation in After Effects, along with building and testing experiences.
• http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/fake-3d-after-effects
  • How to make a truck out of a single flat surface with cut-out sections and folds.  Like you would make one out of a single sheet of cardboard (like a cornflake packet).
  • Links to tutorial and support-files.
• http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/3d_city/
  • Similar to the truck, flat sheet (”texture”, obtained from an actual photo, realigned and stretched to remove perspective effect in photo) folded into a 3D building object.
  • Video tutorial and project files are provided.
  • {VideoCopilot.net has both free stuff (tutorials etc.) and pay-stuff.  Well-worth a check-out.}

Tracking:

• DaVinci Resolve Lite - free
  • I covered this in an earlier post.
• http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/1003284#1003284
  • Re: After Effects Tracking (by Todd Kopriva, Adobe Tech. Support, on Jul 10, 2011)
    • If you have After Effect CS5, you have mocha—and it’s often the easiest and best way to do tracking for the purpose of compositing.
    • Here’s a movie that I made just to show how simple using mocha is:
      • http://www.video2brain.com/en/videos-4351.htm
• http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/1006635
  • Q: “Mocha, or Camera Tracker?” (by andrew donaldson on Sep 8, 2011)
    • {Mocha (LE) comes with CS5.5, Camera Tracker is a third-party add-on}
    • I need to create something similar to this:
      • http://www.vimeo.com/2445692
    • …. would liked to use similar techniques, especially with the web pages tracking the buildings in city shots.
    • I have tried to use mocha to track the side of a building, but its not proving ideal. Obviously the motion tracker inside AE won’t give me the depth/perspective.
    • So what’s the best way to do this?  … Is Syntheyes/Camera tracker the way forward?
  • A1: (by ben g unguren on Sep 8, 2011 )
    • The general rule of thumb is that Mocha works great if your graphics are ATTACHED to an EXISTING surface (like a logo on the side of a building, or changing the words on a sign). If you’re trying to add something in 3D space (like graphics that “hover” around the building, and seem to actually be there), then you need a 3D solution.
    • Mocha and AE’s internal trackers give you 2D solutions. Mocha’s solutions are a bit more sophisticated, producing corner-point information that mimics 3D, but [this is key] it doesn’t produce a 3D camera.
    • Syntheyes and similar apps will give you an animated 3D camera as well as target points that simulate the world you’re tracking (target points for the ground, buildings, etc — whatever you’ve managed to track and can get a 3D “solution” for). This is A LOT more information than what Mocha or AE’s internal tracking can get you.
    • One other point: when the camera is only panning and tilting (not actually changing it’s own position) then a 2D solution can (sort of) mimick a 3D camera solution. So if all you’re doing is panning and tilting, then you could track that in Mocha, then use that data to animate objects (that are given perspective, for instance). You would be able to achieve a lot of the graphics in the video you linked to using that technique, as they’re using a lot of static cameras.
  • A2: (by Tudor “Ted” Jelescu on Sep 8, 2011):
    • I agree with Ben.
    • In most of the shots from your example Mocha can be used. I suspect that some of those shots where not really video files, but still images cleverly transformed in a 2.5d comp where camera moves can be animated in AE - so no tracker there.
    • Here’s a good tutorial for what Mocha can do:
      • http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/magic_tracking/

Generally:

•  http://forums.creativecow.net/adobeaftereffects
  • AE forum, includes posts about tracking etc.

My girlfriend’s MacBook laptop, at every system-startup, was giving the error popup: “To open NovamediaDiskSupressor, you need to install Rosetta. Would you like to install it now?”.  Caution dictated a negative user-response to this.  It was just plain annoying.

Web-search (on full error-message) revealed NovamediaDiskSupressor to be non-mal, but to be a support software needed by Vopdafone’s cell-wireless dongle of a couple or so years ago.  I don’t know if Vodafone have improved things since then, but I also had issues with it under Windows 7, where its firmware installed drivers incompatible with that OS.  So basically the whole dongle was a nuisance.

How to uninstall it (from Mac OS Snow Leopard):

• I dragged the Vodafone app to Trash
• …BUT :
  • that is not sufficient, further cleaning-up required, as below…
  • Also, when I tried to empty the trash, error popup said: `The operation can’t be completed because the item “Mac_SwapperDemon” is in use’.
    • Maybe it will work following reboot?

According to advice posted at http://benmenson.blogspot.com/2009/12/removing-vodafone-malware-that-spoils.html, repeating that at http://tumblr.mloughran.com/post/173997552/removing-vodafone-malware-that-spoils-the-snow-leopard:

• Remove the following from /Library/LaunchAgents/
  • cn.com.zte.usbswapper.plist
  • de.novamedia.NovamediaDiskSupressor
  • {Those were the only entries in this folder}
• Remove
  • mac_swapperdemon
    • from system preferences user > accounts > user login items
    • {BUT no items were listed there at all, let alone that one}
• Remove
  • /Library/Application support/Vodafone
  • /Applications/Vodafone mobile connect
• Update: also discovered some kernel extensions to remove
  • sudo rm: {OR just Trash them via Finder, I discovered}
    • /System/Library/Extensions/USBExpressCardCantWake_Huawei.kext
    • /System/Library/Extensions/ZTEUSBCDCACMControl.kext
    • /System/Library/Extensions/ZTEUSBCDCACMData.kext

Questions:

• What should and does it consist of?
  • Including anything non-obvious e.g. “tucked away”, “additional Downloads”, “obscure” etc.
• ???

Answers (as far as I can tell…):

•  _Support & Communities
  • Looks at first sight like any application’s Help dialog, but on deeper inspection is also connected web-wise and answers to questions are not restricted to Adobe products.
• After Effects
  • In contrast to Premiere, which is for conventional light-touch editing, this is for heavy effects and compositing etc.
• After Effects Render Engine
  • Render farm: Network rendering with watch folders and render engines.
  • Previously, it was possible to install render engines on as many machines as wished, but not so under CS5.5, where a separate serial number must be obtained for each machine.  For small guys like me that makes it pretty useless.   It seems likely that a more flexible option will exist in future versions.
• Audition
  • Audio editor, derived (many years ago) from CoolEdit.
• Bridge
  • A combination of media file manager, media manager, metadata editor, also does some kinds of media processing.
  • Can be run standalone or from within apps e.g. Premiere: [File > Browse in Bridge…]
• Color Finesse
  • A multi-host (including Premiere & AE) plugin that goes above and beyond typical NLE color correction.
  • On my system it only appears to be available under AE.
• Device Central
  • Simulates media appearance etc. on a range of devices such as cellphones.
• DigiEffects FreeForm
  • Manipulate a flat object into almost any shape using displacement maps and meshes in 3D space.
  • Examples: flowing cloth, animated loose filmstrips, rippling fluids, terrain flyovers, welded metal, morphs, reveals.
• Encore
  • DVD authoring.  Menus can be created in Photoshop (using special layering techniques).
• Extension Manager
  • Manage extensions (broadly like plugins) associated with various Adobe programs.
• ExtendScript Toolkit:
  • Adobe workflow command-script editor
  • An IDE (along the lines of Visual Studio) for scripts in Adobe Bridge, itself serving to automate workflows involving multiple Adobe applications.
• Flash Professional
  • A multimedia authoring program to create content for Flash-enabled platforms/devices.
• Flash Catalyst
  • A designers’ tool for creating the user interface for Rich Internet Applications.  Primary function of being a GUI composer for Adobe Flex components.
  • Can import Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, or Flash XML Graphics (FXG) files.
• Help
  • A help resource not only with local help-documentation but also capable of searching beyond, even beyond Adobe, to find solutions.
• Illustrator
  • Vector graphics editor e.g. useful for typesetting and logo graphics design. It is the companion product of Photoshop.
• KeyLight
  • An advanced chroma-keyer, tackling reflections, semi-transparent areas and hair.
• Media Encoder
  • Encodes audio and video media content.
• Mocha
  • Stand-alone tracking and roto tool to help solve problematic shots challenging the built in tools of After Effects and Final Cut by bringing advanced planar tracking and matte creation tools
• OnLocation
  • Direct to disk recorder / logger also acting as monitor with waveform monitor and vectorscope.  And no doubt much else.
• PhotoShop
  • Such a big noun that it became a verb…
• Premiere Pro
  • Primary editing app, with emphasis on productive cutting and smooth playback etc., minimising the need to render, leaving heavy effects and compositing etc. to AE.
• Story
  • A collaborative script development tool/service. There is an application for working alone on an offline version and a web-based service where you can sync up with an online version.
• Ultra
  • Vector-keyer (simple-to-use effective chroma-keying) that was once a standalone app by Serious Magic, now available as a plugin within Premiere (but not AE).  I get the impression it is regarded (or at least branded) as simple to use but ultimately less sophisticated/capable than KeyLight (???).
  • Serious Magic used to highlight its capabilities regarding reflections, semi-transparent areas and hair…
• Utilities
  • ExtendScript
    • An integrated development environment (IDE) for the creation and debugging of JavaScript code for Adobe Bridge, to facilitate workflow-enhancing automation of tasks between elements of Creative Suite.
  • PixelBlender
    • A simplifying basis for implementing image processing algorithms (filters or effects) in a hardware-independent manner, taking advantage of parallel processing / GPU etc.
    • Downside to commercial developers is that code using it may be more visible / understandable.

Wasn’t sure what to do.

• 21:00 UK time, I phoned USA support-line, via Skype, they advised me as follows:
  • Go to www.avid.com/upgrade
    • Avid Media Composer System Upgrade
      Trade Activation ID for Dongle Updater.avd
    • Requires an Activation Code.
      • That is the code beginning “MCA”, which came by email along with various product keys or whatever.
      • My such email was from 23 Nov 2011.
    • Also requires othe rinformation e.g. regarding the dongle “System ID” and “Serial No.”
    • I did that and clicked the [Submit] button
      …Nothing happened for a minute or two…
      …Then eventually…
    • Avid Media Composer System Upgrade PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!
      • Congratulations! You have successfully upgraded to Avid Media Composer 6.0.
      • Click the Download button to generate your dongle updater file.
      • System ID: xyz is now registered, including the customer information you have provided.
      • Dongle Updater Instructions
        Please follow the instructions below to update your dongle.
        1.Save the dongle updater file to your system. This file authorizes your dongle for specific upgrades. The updater file extension is .avd.
        2.Double-click DongleManager.exe. The Dongle Manager utility starts.
        { Mine is located at [C:\Program Files (x86)\Avid\Utilities\DongleManager] }
        3.Click the Update tab.
        4.Click the Open button, navigate to the dongle updater file, and then click Open.
        5.Click the Upgrade button. Your dongle is updated.
        6.Click the Scan tab to view the results of your dongle scan.
      • For additional information or to download the latest Dongle Manager application, please refer to the following tech note.
        (Current versions of the software come installed with the Dongle Manager.
  • There is also a blow-by-blow tutorial on this procedure at www.avid.com/dongle , complete with download links for the Dongle Updater applications for Windows and Mac.
• It worked!
  • As it turned out, the version on the laptop where I did that was MC 5.5, but it still ran OK with the MC-6.0-updated dongle.

There is a wealth of information and advice at the following, e.g. covering basic camera alignment and calibration, camera-matching and green screens.

http://www.dsclabs.com/tech_tips.htm

• Using a DSC Chart
• “Real World Use of DSC’s Fairburn 3-D Chart”
• “Exposure for Sony S-Log with New DSC Chart”
• “Selecting Production Parameters to Ensure that Picture Quality Accommodates the Intended and Possible Future Imaging Systems”
  • Methodical approach to configuring the camera’s matrix.
• “Establishing a repeatable baseline reference”
  • Includes S-Log
• “Matching Multiple Cameras”
• “Skin tone Waveform Levels”
• “Compromise between Color Accuracy and Signal Noise”
  • While full saturation on all colors results in the most accurate color reproduction, it can introduce more noise than is acceptable for our purposes.
  • We have found that a reduction of about 20% in green and cyan saturation (moving the green and cyan signals 1/5 of the distance towards the center of the vectorscope) is a good compromise between color accuracy and signal noise.
• “Do You Waveform Monitor the Lutted Image or the S-Log?”
  • I waveform the S-Log, the LUTs on set can wack out the waveform … and …. are … for comfort viewing only.
  • The S-Log is my neg
• “Matching the Sony EX-1 with more costly Broadcast Camera’s”
  • Unless you have a calibrated monitor, calibrated chart that is correctly lit and so forth, you can tweak all you want and not come up with the result you would like.
  • One thing that is a must with HD is avoiding washed out high-lights
• “Continuous Light Sources”
  • There is a growing trend to use fluorescent, LED and discharge light sources for film and video production.
  • One of the problems faced by these light sources is the lack of continuous spectrum activity
• “Red One and CMOS Static”
  • Every time you change a lens on a digital camera such as the Red One, be sure to check the sensor for dust. The single CMOS sensor has a static charge that attracts dust (just like DSLRs).
  • When dust is left on the sensor it appears as a soft grey blob in the image. This is not always visible on small displays and might not be noticed unless you see your work on a large display or projector.
  • Use a loop {loup?}  to magnify the sensor before blowing gently with a blower bulb or compressed air.  If blowing won’t remove the dust, then use a brush designed to clean DSLR sensors, but use it with great care.
• “BackFocus”
  • when performing a “flange-back” adjustment (as Back Focus is sometimes called) the Iris should be FULLY OPEN (so that) the depth of field is minimized
• “Are Six Colors Enough?”
• “Varicam Detail”
• “Noise, Green, Cyan, and Saturation”
• “Tips on HD”
• “Motion Artifacts”
• “Green Screen Technique”
  • I light the screen to 55-60 units on the scope and then use the vectorscope to check and make sure I’ve got lots of saturation. I’ve always had success that way.
  • It’s really more about making sure there’s more green (by 30 or 40 units) in the screen than anywhere else in the image.
• “Creating a Look”
• “Aberration”
• “Color Bar Symmetry”

A mathematical step forward likely (eventually) to improve media processing & encoding, among other things:

• http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/19/mit_fast_fourier_transform/
  • Researchers at MIT have published a paper detailing a new approach to Fast Fourier tranforms (FFT) that could increase the speeds of image and sound processing tenfold.

Just “Blog-Bookmarking” a great written tutorial:

• http://www.dvvideo.com/learn/dvPrimer/creating.php

I came across some old videos I shot on a Nokia N95 and pulled these into Adobe Premiere.  However the individual video clips were each listed with a different framerate, hovering vaguely around 29 fps (27.08 up to 29.45).   Questions:

• What does that even mean?
  • From web-search, it sounds like it’s an average, and N95 framerates within a given recording can vary wildly
    • e.g. between 6 and 38 fps.
• How do various apps etc. handle such material?
  • YouTube:
    • In 2009 at least, it sounds like YouTube went for the minimum fps in any such clip.
  • Adobe Premiere
    • Seems to go for the average
      • I dragged a N95 clip on the “New Sequence” button and the resulting sequence had the clip’s average framerate.
    • Presumably just duplicates/drops frames as required to maintain the Sequence’s framerate.
  • GSpot (video analyzer):
    • For a clip reported by Adobe Premiere to be 28.81 fps, GSpot reported it to be 29.412 fps.
      • Misleading info from one or other or both…

Read the rest of this entry »

Carbonite was drawn to my attention by a colleague, Mr. True, while we were discussing cloud-based services.

So here I just web-trawled a little. From that, it sounds like:

• One must be wary of the “small print” about throttling.
  • Then again could anyone reasonably expect massive video file type storage for such a low price?
• One alternative is Mozy
  • Some people find this better in terms of bandwidth,  service level and applications quality
  • It has apps for both iphone and android.

http://www.carbonite.co.uk/company

• Carbonite automatically backs up new and changed files. You don’t have to do anything
• One of Carbonite’s key advantages is offering unlimited backup for one fixed price
  • e.g. £41.95 / Year
• PC & Mac
• Carbonite for iPhone allows you to browse and share files from your iPhone.
• Carbonite uses the same technology as banks to encrypt your data making it completely secure so only you can ever see it.
• We have our own data centers where the the disk arrays are far more reliable than your computer’s hard drive.
• Limitations?
  • “Bandwidth throttling - Yes (35GB, 200GB)” (?)
  • “Default max file size” (?)

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22910253-Rant-Carbonite-Backup-is-not-unlimited-as-they-claim

• 2009-08-23, thedragonmas:
  • I have used both Carbonite and MOZY. I had Carbonite for 2+ years, worked as advertised, had over 450 gigs backed up no problem, always maxed out my connection. However, problem came from their client, which is a buggy piece of shit.
  • Switched to mozy, managed to re-back up all 450 gigs in 2 months using my Sprint EVDO Cellular (I get awesome speeds on my data card!).
  • Real problem with Carbonite is, when you select to backup “Everything” it in fact, does NOT backup everything. Such as video files, files over a certain gig size and what not, which will then need to be done manually.
    With MOZY, when I told it to backup EVERYTHING, it DID BACKUP EVERYTHING!
  • I am now a happy MOZY Customer. I am now pushing over 1tb of backed up data.
  • Only problem I have now, is if I need to restore my data, you get 30 days to restore your data before it is removed from their servers, and my present internet connection, that is not possible
•  2009-09-11, Kramer:
  •  I was uploading about 5GB/day for the first 50GB or so and then was throttled back significantly after that.

I saw in the Sony Vegas forum that GiveAwayOfTheDay (GAOTD):

• Zebra-Media
  • http://www.zebra-media.com/zebra_media_surveillance_system.html
    • Video surveillance and motion capture  software.
    • Some key features are: unlimited cameras (including IP and USB cameras), motion detection, SMS and MMS and Email alerts, play sound file (useful on motion detection), adjustable sensitivity for each zone, record on detection, save video into archive or file with automatically or manually selected compression, record on schedule, registration of all events continuously by intervals or on motion detected, password protection, adding a text, time stamps, watermarks to your video.
    • For each video frame, if motion is detected, the Alarm event occurs, that returns a global motion ratio, depending of the number of cells in which motion has been detected, and the level of motion in each cell
    • A sensitivity grid is applied on video frames. You can adjust the sensitivity of the detection, and mask out areas of the camera view to avoid false alarms. When the camera captures video frames in a dark environment, it is possible that the electrical background noise of the CCD video cell creates fake motion detection events. It is possible to reduce the sensitivity of to the video noise by enabling the Reduce Video Noise option. When an alarm condition is detected, the program can sound an audible alarm, or send you an email with a photo. Automatically capture photos, or record video in compressed files. Surveillance System includes an advanced player that allows to play video clips, capture video frames and perform frame overlay. Each camera has its own individual monitoring and recording settings. All settings, such as alerts, photos, and video recordings can be turned on and off using the built-in scheduler. All monitoring and alert events are logged with date and time stamps. Each camera has its own scheduled on(off) times. Building upon the interface options introduced in MS Outlook, scheduler includes event recurrence control and customizable Date Navigator. Access to all data is provided through a well encrypted password

Some alternatives indicated by reviewers:

• iSpy:
  • http://www.ispyconnect.com/
    • Open Source
    • iSpy uses your cameras, webcams, IP cams and microphones to detect and record movement or sound. Captured media is compressed to flash video or mp4 and streamed securely over the web and local network. iSpy can run on multiple computers simultaneously and has full Email, SMS and MMS alerting functions and remote viewing
    • iSpy is probably the worlds most feature-rich surveillance software. Some key features are: Unlimited Cameras and Microphones (including IP and USB cameras), Motion Detection (3 types), Motion Processing (4 types), Record on Detection, Record on Schedule, Record with Audio, Remote Access, Network Audio Broadcasting (via iSpy Server), Password Protection, Desktop Recording, Automated YouTube Uploading, SMS and MMS and Email alerts
• YawCam
  • http://www.yawcam.com/
    • Yet Another WebCAM (software).
    • Yawcam is a webcam software for windows written in java. The main ideas for Yawcam are to keep it simple and easy to use but to include all the usual features.
    • Yawcam features:
      • Video streaming
      •  Image snapshots
      • Built-in webserver
      • Motion detection
      • Ftp-upload
      • Text and image overlays
      • Password protection
      • Online announcements for communities
      • Scheduler for online time
      • Time lapse movies
      • Run as a Windows service
      • Multi languages