tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-133728012024-03-07T11:17:18.060-08:00GoPro/CineForm InsiderThis is not an official news source for CineForm or GoPro product releases, just some bits and pieces of stuff I happen to be working on. My work and hobbies are pretty much the same thing. -- David NewmanDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-74880408880029245172019-07-16T10:41:00.000-07:002019-07-22T15:35:35.729-07:00GoPro Virtual Lens
Grab the image with your mouse to reframe the image.
Within the shader code above is the math to simulate GoPro lens look within 360° source. The same math is very useful for "correcting" lens distortion. The shader code is licensed under MIT or Apache 2.0.
I would love someone in the comments to convert the lens radial distortion equation phi = 85.6r - 10.91r² to a Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-19329906107142199172019-05-09T16:13:00.000-07:002019-05-09T16:13:38.767-07:00Know Your Fisheyes
When you say a GoPro is a fisheye lens, which one do you mean? GoPro is less "fisheye" than you likely thought, somewhere between stereographic and a rectilinear (non-fisheye, pin-pole style lens -- the one people say is non-distorted.)Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-38429977534667635282017-10-25T08:22:00.001-07:002017-10-25T08:22:43.078-07:00CineForm Goes Open Source16 years is a long time for a piece of software to remain useful. The CineForm codec, initially developed in 2001, was designed to enable real-time consumer video editing. CineForm, Inc. was a team of engineers that knew image and video processing, but very little about codec design (which likely helped.) Back then, DV (remember mini-DV tape?) was popular but too slow on the consumer's Pentium Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-26011117611494952252017-08-23T13:46:00.001-07:002017-08-23T15:04:14.327-07:00Eclipse resultsAfter my last post, here is the follow up with the results
Eclipse 2017 Edit from David Newman on Vimeo.
One thing I wish I did, was set an additional camera for video with a locked exposure. The light levels changed fast when approaching the totality, too fast for long interval time-lapse to deliver the real-time experience. Also the auto exposure of the TLV and night-lapsingDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-6266092598542979592017-08-18T09:38:00.002-07:002017-08-18T10:04:38.515-07:00Shooting the Eclipse 2017 with a GoProI'm planning to find my way into the path of totality, and be there with a bunch of GoPro gear. I've been asked many times how to shoot this event with a GoPro, so here are my thoughts. Disclaimer: this is my completely unpracticed opinion on shooting a total solar eclipse with a GoPro.
Some basics. The whole transit from start to finish, somewhat depending on your location, is about 3 hours. Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-7667563065202019912017-05-03T15:00:00.001-07:002017-05-03T15:00:08.853-07:00GPMF - GoPro's Metadata FormatHave you ever noticed how little metadata you get from a video file? Take any JPEG or RAW photo from an iPhone, a GoPro or a DSLR, and you will find extensive metadata stored in Exif, a photographic metadata standard that stores hundreds of properties such as exposure, focal length and camera model etc. For your average MP4, MOV or AVI, not so much, particularly without the various Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-65926591169963675822016-09-18T21:33:00.000-07:002016-09-19T10:04:09.167-07:00Protune 3.0
There is new firmware out for your HERO4 Black and Silver cameras, and it adds a key feature most often requested by professionals, exposure lock. This will be my third blog entry in the series in what makes Protune the best shooting mode on your GoPro. See the previous posts on the extended Protune 2.0 features for Hero 3+ and the original Protune post for HERO2.
Protune Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-28822082712953086712016-04-05T12:00:00.000-07:002016-04-24T20:16:22.906-07:00Lens curvature, and Embracing its Perspective-Distorting Goodness
When you think of GoPro video, you may often think of extreme sports, or maybe great life moments, but rarely narrative cinema. The super-wide "fish-eye" lens, which has everything in focus, goes against many learned instincts of the cinematic language of storytelling. In late 2009/early 2010, coinciding with the rise of GoPro and the HERO HD, the DSLR video revolution began. This enabled Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-42305796536380081252014-03-08T18:19:00.000-08:002014-03-09T16:09:44.631-07:00Protune 2.0There is new firmware out for your HERO3+ cameras. I'm going to expand on some of the new HERO3+ Black Edition features related to Protune:
New advanced Protune™ controls for Color, ISO Limit, Sharpness and Exposure
Changes the Protune default settings for Color to "GoPro Color" and Sharpness to "High"
Protune History
Protune was originally introduced in a firmware update to HERO2,Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-48367440306878012832014-02-13T12:17:00.002-08:002014-02-13T12:43:42.373-08:00QuickTime 16-bit
This might be beating a dead horse, but QuickTime truly
sucks.
For those using 16-bit (deep color) applications, always use the Force 16-bit encoding option, it is the highest
quality and surprisingly, it is often the lowest data rate.
Now for the weird reason.
QuickTime loves 8-bit, it prefers it greatly, and support
for deep color is difficult at best. OverDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-70930505072511273152012-12-30T21:09:00.001-08:002013-01-05T12:52:39.701-08:00Rethinking Time-lapseSince I got my hands on the HERO3 Black Edition, I've been doing significantly more time-lapse. This is not because the stills are so much better than HERO2, and they are, it is due to the new video modes at 2.7K and 4K, combined with Protune. There is no need to time-lapse with JPEG sequences with this camera, unless you know you need a very long interval. Most time-lapse shoots thatDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-85390198739038533072012-10-16T21:01:00.000-07:002012-10-17T20:36:21.205-07:00Why I shoot Protune -- Always!If you are reading here and you don't yet know about Protune, read this entry first : Protune
Here are some images that should speak for themselves. This wide dynamic range scene, outside lighting to the right (frosted glass windows,) indoor shadows in the back left, showcases the improvements the Protune curve offers for color correction:
Stock mode converted within CineForm Studio&Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-9380292857041033072012-10-10T20:46:00.000-07:002012-10-17T20:34:29.245-07:00Protune<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->If you haven’t heard already, Protune™ firmware and GoPro
App for the WiFi BacPac are now available -- get them now. While my team worked substantially more on
developing the GoPro App, this blog is about the origins and design of Protune.
Before I geek out on why and how Protune is so cool, some
readers may want to know what it is and does (and may Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-48918514660491793052011-08-21T11:04:00.000-07:002011-08-21T14:22:11.947-07:00How did we do that? As regular readers know, I have had a team in the 48 Hour Film Project every year since its beginning in San Diego. This year we came second in the whole competition, competing against a record 64 teams. We also received the audience award for our premiere screening and best sound design. We do not have a professional team; we only do this once a year with friends and family. For example, Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-1622152193974357692011-06-05T16:43:00.000-07:002011-06-06T14:21:53.988-07:00GoPro Hero 3D with LCD/viewfinderClearly there is no better 3D camera system for POV shooting than GoPro Hero 3D kit. If you already have a couple of Hero HD cameras, adding $99 for the 3D housing, sync cable and accessories is a no-brainer -- you got to do it. But what about non-POV, hand-held shooting? The 2D GoPro Hero HD allows you to add the LCD BacPac, for simple point and shot image framing, but the connector it uses (Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-15050634108011273212011-05-26T15:10:00.000-07:002011-05-26T20:54:32.882-07:00MVC 3D camerasWe are starting to see a range of cool new 3D consumer cameras, like the Sony HDR-TD10 and the JVC GS-TD1, both great companion units to a GoPro 3D Hero setup. ;) The new Sony and JVC cameras record to a single 3D file in a Multiview Video Coding format (MVC) which is very cool, yet it currently has limited video editing compatibility. MVC simplifies the capture down to one video file for 3D, Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-12293443753347812812011-05-19T10:06:00.000-07:002011-05-19T10:22:09.525-07:00Curves - CineStyle and S-Log, a workflow choice.The tweets have coming fast with lots of recent activity around shooting curves, particular with the release of Technicolor's CineStyle (tm) profile for Canon DSLRs. I'm all for specialized encoding curves as I once helped developed the Log-90 curve used in the SI-2K (helped by Jason Rodriguez.) What Technicolor has done for Canon was a harder task, to squeeze the most out of an 8-bit heavily Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-12724978052564691762011-04-14T20:27:00.000-07:002011-04-14T20:37:16.810-07:00My annual FreshDV NAB interviewSee me exhausted after 4 days of our most exciting NAB every, discussing some of the impact of the GoPro acquisition of CineForm (yes it was that way around, we had many express their surprise that we brought GoPro.)My FreshDV interview .Technical corrections to the above. Sorry Resolve, I had temporarily forgotten your name. And I meant Phantom, not Viper, in the very end of the interview.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-52349430062252796032011-04-04T16:01:00.000-07:002011-04-06T10:15:18.853-07:00GoPro and CineFormI know I own everyone a nice long blog entry on the recent GoPro acquisition of CineForm. Yes the team at CineForm is very pleased about this. In the meantime (with NAB so near), I there is no way can do better than this quote from John Hewat over on DVInfo.net:"CineForm and GoPro make what I consider the two easiest, smoothest products that I ever get to use. I'm very pleased that they're Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-21390732315569014952011-01-24T23:27:00.000-08:002011-01-27T08:35:24.845-08:00Another overstatement that 3D won't work.Roger Ebert, blog post : Why 3D doesn't work and never will. Case closed. with the help of Walter Murch, tries to use some science to explain that 3D won't ever work, but gets the science wrong.Here is my reply (on his blog) in response to his post:While there are issues with 3D presentation, the claim that the "convergence/focus" issue makes 3D unsolvable is false. There is an error made in the Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-29671786679416627252010-12-10T14:42:00.000-08:002010-12-10T14:52:13.815-08:00Stopmotion / Timelapse Stereo RAW conversionsIn the last few posts I have enhanced to support for camera RAW to CineForm RAW conversions, and this feature was released as part of the Windows Neo4K or Neo3D builds yesterday (Dec 09, 2010.) The DPX2CF tool itself has since undergone one more update to support stereo conversions of RAW sources. DPX2CF v6.02 Download (replace in C:\Program Files (x86)\CineForm\Tools)The syntax for raw Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-1805229388363202262010-11-30T20:13:00.000-08:002010-11-30T21:52:39.671-08:00Follow up on the Camera RAW to CineForm RAWNow that you have your Camera RAW images in a CineForm RAW file (see last post), remember to set the demosaicing quality/look in FirstLight. There are currently 9 different demosaicing filters to select from, each we slightly different image characters for detail and sharpness. This is just another control you have over the development of motion RAW sequences. Click on the image to the left forDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-43416819781686777032010-11-28T15:10:00.000-08:002013-02-22T09:08:50.683-08:00Camera RAW to CineForm RAWFor a while now I've been wanting to finish a Camera RAW to CineForm RAW converter, so after the long weekend of Thanksgiving, I've completed the first pass. As CineForm RAW is a motion format and camera RAW typically not, this particular hack is mostly for those wanting the highest quality processing for stop motion or timelapse video/photography.
So far I've only tested with Canon 7D .Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-46884936097036242312010-11-13T20:26:00.000-08:002010-11-14T13:16:54.886-08:00Why use an intermediate for DSLR video?I had two inquiries today on using native DSLR in today's modern NLEs vs CineForm intermediates. Both these users who knew to use CineForm for finishing, multi-generation and effects renders, but wondered if the native DSLR decoding of the NLE was now the same quality. While CineForm has been known for its performance and workflow advantages for mixed media, sometimes users forget we are Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13372801.post-91564277500009835822010-08-01T13:32:00.000-07:002010-08-01T14:38:57.163-07:00Film Festival in a Box.. a box with an external fan on high.This blog entry discusses how we at CineForm successfully presented the San Diego 48 Hour Film Project in HD (for the fourth year,) while the 90 other city locations for this competition are still presenting in SD off DVDs. This is a common problem for film festivals in general, so many of the short programs are still shown SD only, often using the cheap Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11820803180730920007noreply@blogger.com5