Doug Hogan » Software

ProFORMA

Doug — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:42:33 +0000

Check out this amazing piece of software coming out of Cambridge, that turns your little old web cam into a surprisingly accurate 3D scanner. It’s called ProFORMA for short, or Probabilistic Feature-based On-line Rapid Model Acquisition for long, and it works by generating a point cloud through a Delaunay tetrahedralization process. Which means it uses 2D XY vertices to generate 3D polygonal triangles, forming the mesh of the object you’re scanning. Man that sounded smart, but in truth I just Googled it and found this paper, ha.

The Delaunay tetrahedralization from Delaunay triangulated surfaces

Given a surface mesh F in R ³ with vertex set S and consisting of Delaunay triangles, we want to construct the Delaunay tetrahedralization of S.We present an algorithm which constructs the Delaunay tetrahedralization of S given a bounded degree spanning subgraph T of F. It accelerates the incremental Delaunay triangulation construction by exploiting the connectivity of the points on the surface. If the expected size of the Delaunay triangulation is linear, we prove that our algorithm runs in O(n log^* n) expected time, speeding up the standard randomized incremental Delaunay triangulation algorithm, which is O(nlog n) expected time in this case.We discuss how to find a bounded degree spanning subgraph T from surface mesh F and give a linear time algorithm which obtains a spanning subgraph from any triangulated surface with genus g with maximum degree at most 12g for g>0 or three for g=0.

Amazing Software Turns Cheap Webcam Into Instant 3D Scanner

It works by generating a 3D point cloud from the image coming through the camera and then uses some clever math to both ignore the occasional occlusion of the model by a hand and to work out where the surfaces are. Then things go over my head, involving a process called Delaunay tetrahedralisation to turn the 2D surfaces into a 3D model.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

foundry buys spi’s katana

Doug — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:57:15 +0000

This is wonderful news for fellow Compositors out there.

The Foundry has officially acquired Sony Pictures Imageworks’ in-house lighting/compositing system, Katana! Why is this so big? Well not only will Nuke in the very near future feature a complete 3D lighting package, completely bypassing traditional pipelines of 3D software lighting and giving control straight over to comp. But it’s also yet another sign that the VFX industry is moving towards…wait for it…STANDARDS!

Crazy I know, but this means more job opportunities for freelancers out there. And it also means that there might actually be a day when VFX Compositors doesn’t have to be in an expert in at least 3 seperate software packages all at once to survive. Which I for one, am GREATLY looking forward to.

LINK: Foundry Acquires Katana from SPI for Nuke

Sony Pictures Imageworks, (SPI) developed Katana as their primary internal 3d lighting and compositing package. SPI has been using it constantly since Spiderman 3 and on almost every picture since then. It is a very solid and comprehensive package “it is a pretty fully featured suite of tools that handles almost all the backend of our pipeline – everything after the animation is done and any processes are simulated- really Katana takes over from there” explained Rob Bredow CTO of SPI. “It gets everything ready for the renderer and then does all the compositing”.

On the lighting side the package, while not writing shaders, does allow nodal based manipulation of the shaders and speaks to third party renderers such as Pixar’s Renderman and Arnold. It started life as a 3D lighting package some five to six years ago, it takes assets (geometry) “assigns materials, textures, – gets the lighting rigs set up – it is the primary 3D lighting interface that all of our lighting people use” Bredow explains. The system is node based, like Nuke but covering lighting in addition to compositing.

Nuke’s taking over the world, and I can’t wait!

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

auto-photoshop

Doug — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:38:17 +0000

This video was shown at Siggraph Asia 2009 and frankly…blew my mind.

The program is called Sketch2Photo, and the name pretty much says exactly what it’s designed to do. The gist is you draw a sketch on a computer connected to the net, label those line drawings (i.e. a person=person), and then the program goes onto the web and finds candidate pictures that match the contours your draw. The next step uses some pretty slick auto-rotoscoping techniques to then match the composition you drew and, VUALA!

Too good to be true? Well watch the video below to decide for yourself.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I really hope that it’s everything it promises to be and more, because I could think of a few uses for VFX artists out there that’s for sure!

LINK: Sketch2Photo: Internet Image Montage (PDF Paper)

LINK: Amazing Program Turns Sketches Into Photo Montages

PhotoSketch allows users to create photomontages from basic stick-figure sketches – you don’t even have to have any kind of artistic talent to convey your idea. As explained in the video below, the tool takes a simple sketch of the desired montage elements and pulls photographs that correspond to them from Google, Flickr and Yahoo.

The program then decides from a variety of matching results which ones work together the best and merges each disparate image element into a cohesive whole. It even matches them to the scene with the correct color tones and adds shadows as needed. The whole process takes about 15 minutes.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Nuke 5.2v1

Doug — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:52:24 +0000

Alright everyone, get an email ready for your IT department because Nuke 5.2v1 has been released!

New features include…

Metadata – “No idea what to use this for, but I’m sure something cool”
Precomp Node
DiskCache Node
Tile Node – “CamQuake is itching for an update now!”
Monitor Output
Dockable Progress Panels
Input Processes and Viewer Processes
Frame Ranges
Panalog, RedLog, ViperLog, and REDSpace LUTs
REDCODE (.r3d) Files - “FINALLY!!!!!!”
Python Panels
Python Callbacks – “VERY COOL”
Stereo FrameCycler – “Glasses not included”
3D

LINK: Nuke 5.2v1 Release Notes

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

RIP Toxik (2005-2009)

Doug — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:49:00 +0000

Oh, Toxik. I hardly knew thee. You had such promise in the beginning, being one of the first compositing systems to adopt an OpenEXR work flow. But you just never seemed to find your place in a world dominated by the ghost of our late friend Shake, and the rising young star that is Nuke.

The years went on, and you slowly faded away into the background. Never getting the widespread adoption that you and your developers so craved. The why’s and how’s aren’t important anymore. But I think it’s safe to say we all saw the end coming.

And then we got the news this morning, that Autodesk has pulled your plug. It’s a shame to see you go, but I think it was just your time. So goodbye Toxik. I’m certain that you’ve gone to a better place and that we’ll see bits and pieces of your source code scattered like ashes across the VFX world.

Toxik is survived by Inferno, Combustion, and Flame. I hope your brothers don’t suffer the same fate as you. But only time will tell.

At least you’ve been put out of your suffering.

LINK: Autodesk stops development and sale of Toxik

Development efforts for Autodesk® Toxik™ compositing software have been transferred to Autodesk® Maya® 3D modeling, animation, visual effects, and rendering software. Autodesk Toxik is no longer available for purchase as a standalone product.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

hi spore, I’m maya

Doug — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:14:33 +0000

‘Spore’ Art Directory Ocean Quigley (awesome name btw) made some waves on his blog when we announced that with the newly released patch 5 for the game, players and 3d artists can actually export out the creature they create in game directly into Maya. This isn’t just a simple .obj either, because the exporter will give you Normal, Diffuse and Specular maps and a fully rigged and weighted character. All ready for animation and rendering in your favorite package of choice.

No other game has ever allowed you to do this, so I’m really excited to see what people do with this new ability. And yet another thing that I think the VFX world can learn from it’s Gaming cousin. This could be a glimpse at the direction 3D character modeling is heading in the future. Where a creature artist will have a software package that procedurally evolves his character based on what he needs to do to survive and the environment he lives in. A very big idea, and really makes me want to dust off my Galactic Edition copy of the game and give this exporter a go this weekend!

A full tutorial on how to do this is over at Ocean Quigley’s website so just follow the link below!

____________________________________________

LINK: How to export Spore creatures to Maya

First, get a creature. I’m using Jomeaga ‘s creature “Recruit“, because it’s cool looking and asymmetrical (that’s the other major new feature in Patch 5). Go to paint mode, so you can see what it’ll look like textured, then open up a cheat window by pressing “control-shift-c“.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

weta gets nuke

Doug — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:41:35 +0000

The Nuke worldwide take over has just added one more major studio to it’s bed post.

Welcome WETA!

Things are starting to get pretty exciting. And I think it’s safe to say that this is a major sign that Shake’s days at VFX studios is numbered.

LINK: Weta Digital Purchases Site License Of Nuke

Since receiving critical acclaim for its VFX work on this project, the company has gone from strength-to-strength producing astonishing effects for Jackson’s subsequent blockbusters King Kong and The Lord of The Rings. Weta Digital’s talents have also been employed by many other Hollywood directors and can be seen on box office hits including I, Robot, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Day The Earth Stood Still and Jumper. In total its efforts have netted the company five Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects

Paul Ryan, chief technology officer at Weta Digital, commented: “With ambitious projects on the slate, we need to ensure we have the best tools at our disposal. Our long-standing relationship with The Foundry and our faith in their product development, support and focus on producing a truly useful artist tool set, have given us the confidence to make this investment. We have a lot of challenges ahead and are looking forward to seeing the difference that Nuke makes to our workflow.”

Mat Welford, head of 2D at Weta Digital, added: “We have been employing The Foundry’s software here at Weta since purchasing Furnace for some tricky work on The Lord of The Rings Trilogy. Since taking on the development and support of Nuke, The Foundry has demonstrated the same commitment they have always applied to their plug-in business. Nuke is a great compositing tool that extends the parameters that a 2D artist usually works within. My team and I are looking forward to putting it through its paces on a large project.”

Bill Collis, CEO of The Foundry, commented, “Weta is one of a few studios that sets the bar when it comes to VFX. The Foundry has been lucky enough to enjoy a very collaborative working relationship with them for many years. Their work on Avatar has been key in helping us develop our stereo plug-in set – Ocula – and we are delighted that, having been using Nuke on a smaller scale, they have taken the decision to roll it our across their site.“

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

goodbye sabre, hello nuke

Doug — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:56:24 +0000

Some really great news has just come off the wire for all us Nuke Compositors out there! FXGuide is reporting that ILM has purchased a bunch of Nuke licenses. Raising the question, “Is ILM shelving their proprietary compositing system Saber?”

Well I’m sure they wouldn’t completely throw out their old pipeline, because the cost to do so would just be enormous. But it is very cool to see a major studio finally jumping on board the Nuke wagon! And promises for some exciting opportunities for the future.

Welcome to the family ILM!

LINK: ILM Purchases Nuke Site Licence

Hot on the heels of its management buyout, The Foundry has completed a major deal with Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm Ltd’s multiple Academy Award-winning visual effects studio. ILM has purchased a site licence for Nuke.
ILM’s visionary work has earned thirty-seven Academy Award® nominations for Best Visual Effects.

Lucasfilm’s chief technical officer, Richard Kerris, commented, “ILM has a history in providing breakthrough imagery for production, and to do that our artists need to be equipped with the best possible tools. We believe Nuke is a forerunner in the compositing field. The Foundry’s investment in research and development and its customer-focused approach have produced a flexible, artist-focused toolset. We are excited to work with The Foundry and to see where these new possibilities will take our work.”

“Nuke allows us to leverage our 3D pipeline while remaining in the compositing environment, which puts a great deal of power into the hands of the compositors,” explained Pat Tubach, ILM’s compositing department supervisor. “We work on very complex shots and the remarkable speed at which Nuke operates means our artists can focus on the art of visual effects and not have their creativity impeded by a software speed limit.”

Bill Collis, CEO of The Foundry, commented, “ILM is a huge force in the world of visual effects and we are thrilled that they have chosen to add Nuke as a key tool in their compositing workflow. We are very excited to see where our working relationship takes us.”

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

foundry freedom

Doug — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:45:23 +0000

Today brings some good news for not only The Foundry but also Nuke artists out there in general. Read the full article over at FXGuide, but the nickel version is that The Foundry has successively negotiated a management buyout from Windcrest Holdings and are independent once again!

LINK: The Foundry Announces Management Buyout

Since NAB, we’ve heard rumors from around the world that The Foundry was no longer going to exist as a company due to financial problems at Digital Domain. However, to steal a quote from Mark Twain, the reports of The Foundry’s death are greatly exaggerated. Thankfully for artists and those who wish for a diverse software market, The Foundry has announced that they are independent once again….

_________________________________

The next 12 to 18 months should be critical as several major players will most likely replace their Shake pipelines or begin the transition to a new compositing software package. On the Toxik side, an OSX version was supposed to ship in March and is now about two months overdue. Layoffs at Autodesk towards the end of last year and recently have impacted all areas, including each of their products’ development staff. Eyeon has been improving their Generation app while development continues on Fusion 6, which was announced at SIGGRAPH 2008 but hasn’t shipped yet. These aren’t easy economic times for any company, as spending on upgrades and purchases has declined dramatically in the last 6 months.

This is really great news. And I’m very excited to see The Foundry continue to thrive and dominate the market with Nuke.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

avatar e3

Doug — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:20:59 +0000

The flood of news is starting to pour in from E3. And so far, one of the show stoppers was of course, James Cameron’s video game adaptation of ‘Avatar’. The promises are great, and honestly I’m more than a little bit skeptical. But will this decade long experiment work? Or will it fall short like so many before it. I really don’t know which side of that fence I fall on yet. But you can’t deny that James Cameron is a fierce visionary. Check out the Ubisoft presentation below for more details from the man himself.

A stereoscopic video game?! That’s either going to blow my mind or hurt my eyes like hell. But again, only time will tell. So while we wait, check out the concept art for both the film and game. It looks pretty incredible. Though I still have no idea what the hell the film is about. But it sounds pretty close to his Cameron’s original treatment.

LINK: Summary of the Avatar Scriptment

We begin on planet Earth a hundred years hence, and it’s pretty depressing. The planet’s ecosystem has been so exploited by humankind that it can barely even shelter us any longer. Stripmining, air pollution, and every other form of exploitation and abuse have lead to mankind living in a tired world. “A cross between THX-1138 and a Calcutta train station,” says the scriptment.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh