MOCAP IN A BOX?

An animator recently sent me the link to the GypsyGyro-18 home page which appears to show a revolutionary personal motion capture system.

The world’s easiest, most lifelike motion capture system. Learning curve is 5 minutes. Requires little or no calibration and yet delivers ultra clean data with little or no clean up. The resulting data efficiency dwarfs every motion capture system ever developed.

That's what it says. Now I have never used MOCAP in my anime projects, but I did quite a lot of it in the professional world at different studios. I have worked with both magnetic and optical systems and I have to say, based on the advantages and disadvantages of each, that the GypsyGyro-18 system seems like it may really beat them all. At a price approaching $80,000 though I wonder how personal it really is.

They do offer a much lower cost system, seen above as more of an exoskeleton, which might better fit the term "personal motion capture system". Still I have mixed feelings about this sort of thing. I personally do not like the style of the new Appleseed Movie. I do not want to do that kind of work. On the other hand,the technique could be applied to create a final effect more like the totally 2D hand drawn Jin-Roh. I don't know. Either way, this is great news for the industry whether it affects me or not.

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HDV NO MORE

As much as I may have written about the HDV medium in the past and heralded its arrival, I have come to realize that it serves no purpose in what I do. I have been excited about the Sony 3 CCD camera and other tools to make it all work for some time, but in the end, I have no need for any of it.

While it is certainly my intention to do a feature in high definition, none of the currently available HDV tools meet the standard I have chosen. The Sony camera clearly cannot have square pixels since it uses the resolution of 1440x1080. They claim it is natively 16:9, but that has to be anamorphically stretched. True HD is not anamorphic.

The greatest lack in all the HDV toolset is that none of the current crop of tools is 24P. They are all 30 or 60 fps and the Sony pipeline is interlaced! Who wants to make a film like that?! Finally there comes the hard hitting blow that HDV uses an MPEG-2 transport stream. It is not immediately editable or accessible like DV. You see, I always though that HDV would bring the speed and flexibility of working with DV to the home user, only with high resolutions. To some degree it has, but it will never be the same, even if 24P solutions do come, which I expect will be very soon. The fact is, you will always have to find a format at which to do all your work and then finally create an MPEG 2 transport stream to export to your camera or deck. This does not help me at all.

The Vegas software I wrote about previously is the answer for me. You see, I want to work in true high definition, true square pixels and true 24P at every phase of the pipeline. All I really needed was a codec that made doing so as easy as working with DV on the timeline. I have found that. It doesn't involve HDV. The only advantage to having an HDV deck might be to convert to the format to view on a high def TV, but it's a converted form and not the original, so how helpful is that. Not more than creating a DV preview as gar as I am concerned.

Vegas also has one extra plus. They list the ability to create a 24P DVD as a main feature of their tool. Most people don't even know this is possible. I have known for a while as many Japanese DVD's have been 24P for some time. This can be used for generating previews as well. Either way, I will study HDV no more.

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BACK TO VEGAS!

As much as I might wish I was talking about returning to Las vegas, what I am actually writing about is the Vegas product family from Sony Pictures.


Vegas software is an all-in-one professional solution for editing and finishing on the PC platform. With a reputation for pristine broadcast video and high-fidelity audio output, Vegas 5 software provides an integrated solution for scalable DV production, sound editing, mixing, surround sound production, and more.

That's what it says. So what does this mean for Adobe Premiere? It means I am done! I am tired of dealing with it. Adobe products will no longer be any part of my work. If you look further into that page, you will also see that they have a "Dolby certified AC-3 encoder and the latest version of our professional DVD authoring solution, DVD Architect™ 2 software." If you knew how much trouble it was to do even the simplest surround sound work on my past projects, you would see why I am ready to drop premiere like a bad habit. Still, this is only the beginning of what Sony is offering!

Yes. For those desiring to enter the world of HDV, Sony has opened the door. Contrary to what some may expect of Sony, this isn't just for their camera. If you have the JVC, this works perfectly with that too! Check it out for yourself! I think you can see where I am going with this. I am changing the way I work for the next project.

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Now They're Getting With It!

I was excited before about the great news of WACOM having lowered their prices, even on the greatly desired, but often out of reach, Cintiq drawing solution, but that was only the beginning. According to this article at Gizmodo.com, WACOM is unleashing something bigger and better.

It doesn't get much hotter than this: a 21-inch LCD flat-panel display with an integrated, touch-sensitive Wacom integrated overlay. The new Cintiq 21UX is shipping in March for just $2,500—really a pretty amazing price, considering what you're getting.

That's what it says. I was all pumped up about the price on the 18", but I have already forgotten that. We're talking about next month!! Not that I could suddenly run out and get the 18" anyway, but now, when the time comes, my sights are set on this!

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It Keeps Getting Better!

PJ Foley of FoleyFolio.com, who also works here with me at UFO Films just sent me this link!

The clarity and cleanliness of the the analog to digital conversion, and the low-latency are good enough for professional recording usage. The MicPlug is the ideal method for getting solid digital audio from a microphone into a computer.

That's what it says. Currently this is only for the Mac, but you see the potential. I currently have my professional studio mic going through a compressor and a mixer to get, finally, into an analog connection to my soundcard. It records and sounds great, but it could be better. I see potential. It does work on XP systems, PJ just told me, but it has audibe latency. Either way, I am totally down for this!

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First Sighting

Actor/Director Stephen Furst, best known to science fiction fans as Vir Koto on Babylon 5, is walking around the building today. Apparently he has directed more than one of the films done here.

I am enjoying the work here immensely and the laid back atmoshpere and normal hours are a refreshing change from past experiences. Some of my friends are at this very moment enduring 7 days a week and excess hours per day at other houses. I am glad I ended up here where I can work on cool films and just have fun!

My favorite software, Mirage is getting quite the work out here and more and more it is proving up to the task of even the most complex feature film shots. Next I will post about an incredible Dell monitor that is in my sites and I will show tips and tricks from Shadowskin. Be on the look out!

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A BIG CHANGE

A big change seems to be happening over at Bauhaus Software, makers of the popular software Mirage. Check out their new web page featuring an all new design and a focus on 2D animation.

From digital storyboarding and backgrounds, to pencil tests and inbetweening, to stunning final colored frames, Mirage provides the freedom and power to create anything you can imagine. Just $895.

As a devoted Mirage user, I can attest to the truth of these statements from their site. In my current work I am using Mirage on levels I never thought of before. As my supervisor said, standing over my shoulder, "What can't it do?"

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HIGH TIME?

Something I have been waiting for a very long time may be coming to me very soon. That something is a video codec called H.264!

What's in a video codec? Well, my work was made on a very special video codec from Sony. It came with my first Vaio machine and allowed me to do incredible quality DV work while many people I knew were fiddling with little Ulead cards and wondering what works with what. A codec is a big deal, and this one is the biggest. Read all about it in this article.

Now let me tell you why I amso excited. Production on my Daniel project began entirely in high definition, based mainly off the great things I learned at Zoic. Working in this resolution was such a hasle however, that it didn't remain that way very long. I needed the power and control that the SOny DV codec gave me which allows me to take a project from start to finish with ease. This new H.264 codec will do that for me.

I will be able to, for example, do an entire project at 1280x720 24Fps from start to the end, without having to do intermediate steps in DV or any work arounds. It will work like what I have now, but in high definition! I've been waiting for this for a long time!

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DAY 2

Well, it's day 2 working at UFO Films and it is really cool. Basically, this has to be the coolest job I have ever had. But that's not what I came to talk about!

Did you notice when I posted the information about WACOM yesterday that they had done a major price slash?! Check it out: They cut $1000.00 off the price of the WACOM Cintiq, which allows you to draw directly on the display. Of course I am thinking about it!

That's not all though. A friend also sent me notice of this incredible product! Scroll down and take a look at what Vue 5 Infinite can do! Are you seeing the picture now? A WACOM Cintiq, a little Vue 5 Infinite, and what can I make?

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