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Aerial Cameras Stabilized

Bruce — 2012-05-16T16:01:00Z

Heller Keeps Eclipse in the Air

When a high-end production being shot in New York requires aerial cinematography, chances are they call Brian Heller. And the first place he turns to is Pictorvision for the Eclipse aerial camera stabilization system.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Heller says. “Eclipse gives me the freedom to make shots that no other aerial equipment can get.

“Last year I had a bit of a challenge shooting a major amount of footage for the CGI department on a big feature. They needed steady shots off the ledge of a six-story building in the middle of Manhattan. Shooting in Manhattan is a challenge by itself but to up the anti, we had to deal with gusty wind conditions,” Heller adds. “However, with all this around me, I literally didn’t have to do anything to keep the horizon level. The Eclipse did it perfectly and automatically.”

Because of his intimate knowledge of the challenges of shooting in and around Manhattan’s congested but unique architecture, he’s often called on to capture beauty shots of the city. One job was really fascinating. “It was for the New York Historical Society,” he recalls. “While I’m often shooting beauty shots for various commercials, those shots will usually end up on a television screen – even if it is a big one. The Historical Society shots are going to be seen on an 80-foot screen at the entrance of the Society’s building. I knew I had to get shots with no discernable movement. Not a problem with Eclipse. It always remains stable, even at high speeds of 120 knots. Other systems usually can’t handle over 80 knots.”

Ask Heller what more he likes about Eclipse and he’ll enthusiastically give you a laundry list. “It might sound like a little thing, but the fact that the gyros do not tumble or topple from rapid (sharp turns) helicopter maneuvering is a big deal. It can save a lot of frustration,” he starts. “Then there is the immediate start-up of the optical gyros – a few seconds vs. a few minutes.

“And, the increased payload is really important,” he continues. “I don’t need to worry about the camera/lens package – especially when I need large zooms like the 12 to 1. It can handle all of them.

“For aerial shooters, one of the more difficult helicopter shots is straight down,” he adds. “The pilot cannot see through the floor of the helicopter. With Eclipse, the operator can roll, pan, and tilt through 90 degrees straight down and allow the pilot to concentrate on following the course.”

The Pictorvision Eclipse was recognized with a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award at the 84th Annual Academy Awards for Technical Achievement.

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Solar-Powered Recording Rig is Mobile

Bruce — 2012-05-14T16:04:00Z

Band's drummer hit upon the idea of creating solar-powered mobile recording rig.

The video for Karmic Juggernaut’s new song, “Oo Wah Hoo,” documents the band’s inspiring and utterly fresh take on the recording process. Piloting a Subaru Outback topped with a plane of solar panels and freighted with a bank of batteries, the band toured its favorite locations in the great state of New Jersey to record each instrument in the glory of the outdoors. In the video, what you see - acoustic guitar on the beach, drums in the forest, wailing solo on the mountainside, and more - is what you actually hear. No lip-synching is afoot. In order to keep the power consumption low and the fidelity high, the project relied on the one-rack space, eight-channel, Metric Halo ULN-8 preamplifier/converter/interface for all studio functionality, save for microphones and a computer.

Everyone involved in the recording and filming of the far-flung “Oo Wah Hoo” recording session goes way back. Some met in grade school, others in middle school, but all ran around the same artistic and musical circles in the seaside city of Asbury Park, New Jersey. JR Skola, a fellow engineer and filmmaker who now heads Brooklyn-based Dawn of Man Productions, produced the video and provided the Metric Halo ULN-8 to make the recording happen. But it was the band’s drummer, Kevin Grossman, who first hit upon the idea of creating a solar-powered mobile recording rig.

“This mode of recording combines all of the things that I love to do: hanging out with friends, being outside, and making music,” Grossman explained. And to allay any suspicion that the video is first and foremost a green technology PR stunt, it’s worth noting that it was only after highlighting the glories of recording outside that he said, almost as an afterthought, “and while I could have run the whole thing from my car engine with a power inverter, I thought, ‘why not let the sun do it.’ Solar may not have the lowest carbon footprint yet, but it’s worthwhile to promote alternative technologies.”

The solar panel technology consisted of a “standard off-the-grid setup” of three 15-watt solar panels, a battery bank with protection against over- and under-charging, and a power inverter to generate the AC power required for the gear. In general, the solar was enough to record acoustic instruments indefinitely, but the band’s vintage tube amps required both the batteries and the panels and thus enforced a finite session recording time. Although you wouldn’t know it by watching the video, “lighting, weather, and our mere 100 amp-hours of battery life made recording the amplified instruments a challenge,” according to Grossman. A MacBook Pro running Logic Pro was power-light, as was the efficient Metric Halo ULN-8. Although the band had a large collection of mics at its disposal, workhorse Shure SM57s and AKG 414s captured most of the tracks.

The locations featured in the video are all places where the members of the band and their friends hang out. “They’re all places that we find inspiring,” explained James McCaffrey, one of the band’s guitarists. The first location was, in some ways, the easiest. The crew trudged through knee-deep water to beat high tide on their way to Sandy Hook Gateway. There they recorded bass, but only via the Metric Halo’s DI. “We recorded the bass on top of one of the old munitions bunkers at the abandoned Fort Hancock, but it was mostly for the inspiration and the shot,” Grossman admitted. “However, we did have birds flying all around us, and I pointed that fact out to everybody. I marveled, ‘this is THE recording studio!’”

Next, they drove to Monmouth Battlefield, where General Washington had, centuries before, attempted to attack the rear of the British Army column and where Molly Pitcher famously took the place of fallen soldier to fight beside her husband. Grossman and McCaffrey played a vintage Yamaha console organ outside the site’s old farmhouse. As the sun sank, the band, Skola, and some friends gathered around a bonfire at Pat’s 30 Acres, a picnic ground in their hometown.

“Percussion instruments are meant to be played in a circle around a fire,” laughed Grossman. “You need that heat... that energy.” Without breaking for sleep, the band recorded through the night. “Our friends were worried about talking during the recording,” Grossman added. “I said, ‘don’t worry about it, have a good time!’ So yeah, if you solo those tracks you can hear people talking and the fire cracking in the background. It’s tough to hear over the instrumentation, but it’s in there.”

With the sun set to make an appearance on the eastern horizon, the band decamped to Belmar Beach for the acoustic guitar recording that opens the video. “We had been up for more than 24 hours at that point and we were looking and feeling groggy and a little bit slimy,” Grossman confessed. “James and I jumped into the ocean to shower up, and JR videoed it.” Later that same morning, the crew returned to Pat’s 30 Acres to record McCaffrey’s electric guitar. “The reflections coming off the trees and the pond were magnificent,” Grossman added. A month later, the team reconvened at the Delaware Water Gap near the Appalachian Trail to record guitarist Randy Preston’s blistering solo. “We had one of the 414s facing the mountain, and the sound is gigantic,” said McCaffrey. “There’s no better place than a mountain to record a solo!”

Similar sessions at Allaire State Park for drums and Asbury Park Casino (a cavernous abandoned space) for vocals rounded out the track. “All along, we were worried about bothering people,” said Grossman. “But everyone - state park rangers included - thought what we were doing was cool.” The sound of the track makes Karmic Juggernaut extremely happy. “We’ve recorded songs and soundtracks in multi-million dollar studios,” he continued, “but with just the Metric Halo ULN-8 and the acoustic beauty of un-walled space, ‘Oo Wah Hoo’ outshines them all.”

In the future, expect Karmic Juggernaut to pack enough solar panels to cover an entire band. “We’re working toward a full live performance using only power from the panels,” Grossman beamed.

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Pocket Motion Controller

Bruce — 2012-05-11T16:02:00Z

Single-Axis Controller with Microstepping Drive.

Galil Motion Control announces a stepper motor drive option for their DMC-30000 Pocket Motion Controller Series. The new DMC-30017 combines a single-axis motion controller with a 6A microstepping drive. Like other products in the DMC-30000 Series, the DMC-30017 offers higher performance, better power efficiency, smaller size, and a lower price than prior generation, single-axis controllers.

“Now Galil offers a single-axis controller/drive package for stepper motors in addition to servo motors”, said Lisa Wade, vice president of sales and marketing. “The already released DMC-30012 combines a single-axis motion controller and 800W drive for servo motors. The new DMC-30017 contains a 6A microstepping drive for stepper motors.”

The DMC-30017 contains a microstepping drive for operating a two-phase bipolar stepper motor. The drive produces 256 microsteps per full step or 1024 steps per full cycle which results in 51,200 steps/rev for a standard 200-step motor. The maximum step rate generated by the controller is 3,000,000 microsteps/second. The DMC-30017 drives motors operating at up to 6 Amps at 20 to 80 VDC. There are four software-selectable current settings: 0.75A, 1.5A, 3 A, and 6A.

Designed for compact size, the dimensions of the DMC-30017 controller/drive package are 3.9” x 5.0” x 1.5”, and no external heat sink is required.

Like other products in the DMC-30000 series, the DMC-30017 is higher speed than Galil’s prior generation single-axis controllers; The 125 microsecond servo loop update time is twice as fast and the 15MHz encoder frequency and 3 MHz stepper pulse output are 25% faster. Other features of DMC-30000 controllers include PID compensation with velocity and acceleration feedforward, non-volatile memory for user programs, multitasking for simultaneously running up to four programs, and I/O processing for synchronizing motion with external events. Modes of motion include point-to-point positioning, position tracking, jogging, contouring, electronic gearing, ECAM, and PVT.

The DMC-30000 provides optically isolated inputs and outputs as a standard feature. I/O include forward and reverse limit inputs, homing input, 8 uncommitted digital inputs, 4 uncommitted digital outputs, 2 uncommitted analog inputs and 1 uncommitted analog output. Two daisy-chainable Ethernet ports are included and an external Ethernet hub is not required. A 115 kb RS232 port is also provided.

In addition to the DMC-30012 controller/servo drive and DMC-30017 controller/stepper drive packages, the DMC-30000 Series is also available as a controller-only model which can be connected to a stepper or servo motor amplifier of any power range.

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Pneumatic Guitar

Bruce — 2012-05-09T15:58:00Z

Automated guitar mimics motion of human hand.

When employees at Clippard Instrument Laboratory set out to make a new exhibit for their 2012 trade show schedule, they wanted something cool and unique that would draw attention to their pneumatic and automation products. Their answer is a pneumatic guitar that plays more than two dozen songs with over 36 notes running on 50-psi air pressure.

Rob Clippard, the guitar’s primary designer and developer, recalls part of the challenge was making the guitar. “We had myself and a few other engineers working on it, sometimes pulling all nighters,” he says. Others working on the project include Chris Rhodes, Jerry Grotelueschen, Brett Vidal, Bill Clippard and Ed Ehrhardt.

The main design challenge was trying to mimic the motion of the human hand. “If you asked 100 engineers how to do this, you might get 100 different ideas on how to build a pneumatic system,” says Clippard. He adds one of the hardest parts was the “fret,” or the control of what would be the left hand that holds down the strings along the guitar’s neck. “You have to come off the strings with a certain velocity to mute the string at the correct time while sliding your hand to position your fingers for the next set of notes,” he explains. “Engineering the movement, positioning, and force feedback systems for this application is hard to replicate in a more cost-effective solution as pneumatics.”

There were marketing challenges with the exhibit too. “With this exhibit we are getting people to think about new applications with pneumatics,” explains Clippard. “We are also trying to show that Clippard does more than sell pneumatic components. Our engineers use creativity to design for development, assembly, to test; among other functions, to simplify the tasks for other companies in terms of effort.”

The pneumatic guitar has 58 electronic valves and 62 miniature pneumatic cylinders from 5/32” diameters up to ½” bore that help mimic the motion of the human hand “fretting” , “picking” and “strumming” the six guitar strings.

A Wi-Fi card and iPad with a midi player app control of the pneumatic guitar. All other guitar parts are standard, off-the-shelf units, except the manifolds.

Engineers at the company normally custom design their own manifolds in house with Solidworks CAD software. But with this job, they were able to use a vector-based drawing program for tracing the outline of the guitar to guide laser cutting of the manifold and valve subplates.

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Camera Accessories

Bruce — 2012-04-30T16:01:00Z

Producer/Director Doug Jensen uses OConnor accessories for wildlife and landscape filming.

When Doug Jensen formed Vortex Media, OConnor tripods and heads became a permanent part of his camera package. So, when the company began manufacturing a new line of camera accessories, Jensen took notice. “So, this year I’ve outfitted my Sony PMW-F3 camcorder with the O-Box matte box, Universal Camera Baseplate, O-Grips handgrips and CFF-1 Follow Focus System,” he explained.

Recently, while shooting stock footage in three U.S. national parks, Jensen said that he would have missed several opportunities to shoot wildlife and landscapes with fast-changing lighting if it weren’t for how quickly and efficiently OConnor accessories allowed him to work. “They are strong enough that I don’t need to take them off the camera and put them away after every set up,” he says. “I keep the set-up in a large camera case and can pull it out and place it on the 1030B tripod to be ready to shoot in a matter of seconds.”

Jensen explains, “The O-Box is built like a tank even though it’s lightweight. Plus, the smoothness and precision of the CCF-1 can’t be matched.” Jensen usually shoots wide-open at T2.0-3.0 apertures with PL lenses up to 300mm, and must use a follow-focus system that doesn’t have any sloppiness. He adds, “I do my own focusing and I need to nail it every time because there are no retakes when you’re shooting documentaries, reality, news or landscapes and wildlife. The CFF-1 gives me a consistent feel and control, no matter which lenses I’m shooting with at a given time.”

Jensen shoots with a matte box outdoors because it shields the lens from stray light flares and protects the front from the elements. “It allows me to use glass filters that are impossible to replicate in post,” he says. “Although some cameramen use computer software to clean up their shots, for me here is no substitute for a real polarizer and grad filters. The polarizer needs 360-degrees of rotation, and the grad filters need a wide range of vertical adjustment. The O-Box allows both of those functions quite easily. It also gives me the ability to keep both a polarizer and a .6 ½ grad filter loaded 90% of the time.”

When he needs to take his camera off the OConnor head and tripod, the quick-attach O-Grips make shooting handheld with his F3 comfortable. Pistol grips are perfectly situated for manoeuvring the camera smoothly and comfortably, and an articulated arm allows him to get the O-Grips into any position.

For handheld shooting Jensen moves his viewfinder from its normal mount near the rear of the camera to the cheese bar that is built into the top of the O-Box. “There are several sturdy, threaded, mounting points that I can use to put the viewfinder in a forward position for handheld,” he says. “Having a matte box that is built to mount accessories saves me the cost, hassle, and the extra weight of adding additional articulated arms.”

Jensen also appreciates that he can mount O-Grips directly to the matte box instead of using rods, explaining “they move with the O-Box if I need to slide it forward or backward to accommodate a different lens length. The O-Box and O-Grips become one unit that is superior to handles or grips that mount to rods.

Doug Jensen’s Vortex Media captures images for stock footage, documentaries and other on-air productions as well as for his series of training DVDs which focus on a range of subjects from specific cameras to various styles of image capture.

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Video Coverage Onboard

Bruce — 2012-04-27T15:52:00Z

Carnival Cruise Lines uses professional camera equipment to provide coverage of on-board and shoreside activities for its guests.

James Riccio, Carnival’s supervisor of AV media, said Carnival Magic was the first ship to begin using JVC ProHD cameras, followed by two other ships replacing their tape-based Sony cameras with ProHD models. Carnival Breeze, the newest ship in the fleet, will feature two GY-HM750s and one GY-HM150 camera, and plans are in place for two additional Carnival ships to begin using ProHD cameras this year.

Each ship produces a live morning show, which features the cruise director, usually in one of the ship’s lounges, discussing the day’s activities. It’s a simple production – two GY-HM750s on tripods capture the action. The cameras are tethered to “camera panels” that tie them directly to the ship’s broadcast room (which also serves as a control room and edit suite), where graphics are added and the show is distributed throughout the ship. Currently, Carnival Magic and the upcoming Carnival Breeze are the only ships in the fleet that have an HD infrastructure; the other ships downconvert the HD footage and distribute it in SD.

After the morning show ends, the video crew covers a variety of on-board events, contests, and activities, which are recorded to inexpensive SDHC media cards, then edited using Adobe Premiere Pro in the broadcast room. With JVC’s native file recording, footage can be accessed immediately—no transcoding or ingest required. “We love ProHD’s durability and solid-state recording,” Riccio said. “We have events that happen on a regular basis, especially on our at-sea days, and we want to get them on TV as soon as possible.”

For each cruise, the video team also assembles a documentary filled with trip highlights, including shore excursions. Videographers join passengers on shore excursions, and Riccio said the small, handheld GY-HM150 is the ideal camera for recording memories without being intrusive. Plus, its compact size allows them access to historic buildings and other areas where a full-sized camcorder would not be permitted. “We like to blend in,” he added. “It’s less intimidating, so guests feel more relaxed.”

On occasion, the video team is hired to record weddings and other celebrations during a cruise. As a result, particularly when he is shooting a wedding, Riccio appreciates a new feature in the GY-HM150 that allows simultaneous recording to two media cards. “We’ve never had a problem,” he noted, “but that’s an event that you don’t want to lose. Having that redundancy provides peace of mind that the footage will be there.”

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Loudspeakers Made with Heat from the Sun

Bruce — 2012-04-25T15:44:00Z

Sustainable process improves quality while significantly reducing costs and carbon footprint.

Technomad redefines sustainable AV with a new partnership that brings solar technology to its already-green plastic loudspeaker manufacturing process. The move slices production costs up to 30 percent while reducing the company’s carbon footprint — and introduces a revolutionary process to the professional audio and AV space.

Technomad has long been associated with sustainable manufacturing, producing durable, weatherproof MilSpec loudspeakers using recycled plastic. As a result, Technomad loudspeakers are often specified into AV projects with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements.

Technomad recently teamed up with LightManufacturing LLC, which developed a uniquepatent- pending method of molding plastic with solar heat. The company’s unique Solar Rotational Molding (SRM™) systems eliminate greenhouse gasses associated with traditional rotational molding while reducing manufacturing costs — an unusual combination in a world that equates ‘green’ with unaffordable.

LightManufacturing now molds most of Technomad’s popular Vienna and Vernal loudspeakers at its California facility, with larger models to follow.

“Technomad is the first company in the professional audio industry to take advantage of solar thermal energy,” said Rodger von Kries, vice president of Technomad. “We’ve always worked on the cutting edge of green manufacturing, being the first company to use 100 percent recycled plastic to make loudspeaker cabinets. The LightManufacturing partnership brings new advantages by reducing our costs while benefitting the environment.” LightManufacturing’s SRM process uses computer-controlled mirrors to concentrate heat from the sun onto a mold and melt the plastic inside. The sun’s thermal energy is used directly, avoiding the costs of making electricity with photovoltaic panels. The process delivers higher quality parts at a lower cost than traditional rotational molding, with typical savings of 10 to 30 percent. The nearly silent SRM systems use no natural gas or external AC power, and the hardware costs less than traditional rotational molding systems.

“This partnership shows that the solar molding process can deliver high-quality, reduced-cost parts for manufacturers right out of the gate,” said Mark Severy, a consultant at LightManufacturing. “Technomad came to us with a 15-year history of making world-class products. We met their requirements for outstanding quality, lower cost — and zero carbon emissions.”

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Foo Fighters Back to Basics with Analog Equipment

Bruce — 2012-04-23T16:03:00Z

Songs recorded in a garage with some microphones and a tape machine.

Foo Fighters took home five statues at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, including prestigious Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance honors, winning for an album produced entirely using a 32-channel API 1608 console. For its Wasting Light album, the band went back to basics, switching off the computers and tracking and mixing to tape via the all-analog API console, with the help of engineer James Brown and producer Butch Vig.

Nominated in a total of six categories, Foo Fighters won for Rock Song: “Walk,” Rock Album: Wasting Light, Rock Performance: “Walk,” Hard Rock/Metal Performance: “White Limo,” and Long Form Music Video for “Foo Fighters: Back and Forth.”

In his acceptance speech after the band received the Best Rock Performance award, frontman Grohl said, “Rather than go to the best studio in the world down the street in Hollywood, and rather than use all the fanciest computers that you can buy, we made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine.” Commenting that winning the award “shows that the human element of making music is what’s important,” he continued, “It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer, it’s about what goes on in here” – pointing to his heart – “and it’s about what goes on in here” – pointing to his head.

Vig, who had last worked with Grohl on Nirvana’s Nevermind album two decades ago, said, “The API sound is great for rock. We drove the 1608 and colored the album with the pleasing sound of its subtle distortion.”

Less than a year later, the album made a clean sweep of every rock category in the Grammys.

At Brown’s request, the API 1608’s expansion slots had been outfitted with sixteen API 550A three-band EQs, eight API 550b four-band EQs and eight 560 graphic EQs prior to recording. “The 1608 had a way of gelling the mixes,” said Brown. “I can’t exactly put my finger on why or how, but the reality of it was pretty undeniable.”

Automated Processes, Inc. is a provider of analog recording gear with the Vision, Legacy Series and 1608 recording consoles, as well as its classic line of modular signal processing equipment.

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African Safari Filmed in 3D

Bruce — 2012-04-20T15:45:00Z

Litepanels® Goes to Africa for McNeely's Latest "Outdoorsman" Adventure.

Renowned wildlife photographer Buck McNeely and his company Outdoorsman International made television history by being the first to film an African Safari in 3D. To light the adventure, McNeely chose to use fixtures from Litepanels®, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company.

“We had a kit of two MicroPro LED lights and brought the new Sola ENG Fresnel on-camera light as well,” McNeely explains. “We mounted the Sola ENG on my Panasonic HDX-900 camera and ran it off the Anton/Bauer DIONIC HCX batteries. The MicroPro light, which offers self-contained power via six AA batteries, simply mounted on top of our other cameras and we could also hand hold it to fill and illuminate subjects.”

Most of the production occurred during daylight hours but McNeely used the fixtures as fill lights on faces that were in shadows and for the interiors of lodges and sheds. “On several occasions we used them to light the aftermath of a late afternoon hunt to illuminate close ups of an animal’s features,” he adds.

“We chose to use the Sola ENG in certain situations where we needed a powerful yet portable light that puts out a stronger beam,” he says. “Since it also has a dimmer knob, I could fine tune the level of illumination.

“I don’t know what I did before Litepanels lights,” he admits. “They are versatile and can go anywhere due to their low power consumption, battery or AC operation, compact form, and light weight. The lights have become an important part of our production team as we travel the planet seeking high adventure and filming events for our television series.”

Buck McNeely is founder of Outdoorsman International and producer/host of the world’s largest syndicated adventure series “The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely”. The groundbreaking 3D Safari episode aired February 25, 2012.

Litepanels was founded in 2001 by 5 professional gaffers and engineers who saw the future and pioneered LED (light emitting diode) lighting for motion pictures, television and the audio-visual industry. Their Emmy® award-winning technology has now been used on thousands of productions worldwide and is trusted by the world’s leading broadcast organizations.

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Tintin Movie Enabled by Weta's Virtual Production Technology

Bruce — 2012-04-18T15:48:00Z

Weta Digital's Animation Build with Autodesk

Virtual production, driven in a large part by real-time Digital Entertainment Creation (DEC) software from Autodesk has evolved significantly since the process was used for the landmark release of “Avatar” in 2009. Peter Jackson’s New Zealand-based Weta Digital studio, long known for its technological innovation, used Autodesk software to take the virtual production process to new levels of real-time performance capture for the animated feature film “The Adventures of Tintin.”

Autodesk Maya and Autodesk MotionBuilder were important parts of the overall vfx pipeline and an integral part of the performance capture and motion edit process. Maya plugins (both off the shelf and proprietary) were used as part of the various simulation pipelines including solutions for hair and cloth. Autodesk Mudbox was also used by many of the artists as part of the modeling pipeline.

“The ability to digitally capture the subtleties of an actor’s performance and to move digital environment data between pre-production, production and post-production has opened up the moviemaking experience,” said Joe Letteri, Weta Digital Senior VFX Supervisor. “We’re able to build a virtual set that gives directors the ability to construct shots with the actors in the environment, just like they would on a live-action set. The data captured on set is used for lighting, modeling, textures and the rest of the post-production process. While the underlying technology is similar to what we used on ‘Avatar,’ we had a better understanding of the tools we needed and were able to realize workflow improvements that enabled us to streamline the movement of capture data from the set to final production.”

The virtual moviemaking process for “Tintin” included Weta Digital artists previsualizing and building the digital environment of the film in low resolution using Autodesk Maya 3D animation and visual effects software and loading that data into the virtual environment. The live performance of the actors on set was captured using Autodesk Motion Builder real-time 3D character animation software, providing a consistent platform that enabled production teams to more rapidly create, iterate and refine the look of the movie throughout the production.

Applying virtual production techniques to a fully computer-generated (CG) film meant Weta Digital was able to create an on-set environment that connected to the visual effects process and allowed Steven Spielberg to work the way he would on a live-action set. He was able to craft his shots and get the take he was looking for, all within the context of the world of “Tintin.” The actors were not only able to interact with each other live on-set, they could interact with props and fully inhabit the world in body and in voice.

“Autodesk’s latest technology is enabling filmmakers to enter an incredible new world of moviemaking,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “It is helping make the techniques accessible to a broader range of filmmakers, and enabling them to better express and exhibit their artistic intent. What Weta’s artists and innovators have been able to accomplish by animating and imbuing these beloved fictional animated characters with human performance is truly spectacular.”

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Magnetic Bearing Controller is Compact

Bruce — 2012-04-16T16:11:00Z

4- x 17- x 17-inch controller contains elements to control magnetic bearing system.

Calnetix Technologies, a provider of high-speed motor generator technology, announces the availability of its latest technology development, the Insight™ 3600 magnetic bearing controllers. These compact, panel-mounted units are the company’s third generation of magnetic bearing controllers, offering control of advanced permanent magnet bias magnetic bearings in up to five independent axes.

According to Herman Artinian, Vice President of Business Development at Calnetix, magnetic bearings are becoming essential components of high-speed rotating systems, helping to eliminate rotational friction as well as the need for lubrication. Magnetic bearing controllers monitor shaft position and provide the electrical current to maintain the magnetic fields that position a rapidly spinning shaft.

Applications for the controllers include roller coasters and other rides.

Each Insight 3600 controller contains all the elements necessary to operate a magnetic bearing system, including:

A sensor interface to drive and demodulate up to five sensor coils, providing the position of the rotor in real time,
A powerful DSP (digital signal processor) that regulates power amplifier current to drive the bearing actuators based on position sensor data,
Power amplifiers rated at 3600 VA (Volt Ampere) per channel, and
A comprehensive GUI (Graphical User Interface) for programming and for remote monitoring and diagnostics of the system

The Insight 3600 is a compact controller with all of its capabilities in a 4- x 17- x 17-inch package.

The Insight 3600 controller is available for use with the company’s advanced Powerflux™ and Xcelflux™ magnetic bearing products. The company specializes in high-performance, high-speed motor generators and advanced magnetic bearings and control systems. Calnetix’s patented, underlying technologies have been in use in high-speed machines.

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Acoustics Problems Solved By New Rigging

Bruce — 2012-04-13T15:40:00Z

Arts center exchanges a hydraulics system with new technology for high speed control of custom shell ceilings.

When The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville needed to renovate its multi-purpose hall’s acoustical system, Director of Production Services Peter Bell had to solve a wide range of rigging challenges. The heart of the arts center, the 2,400-seat Whitney Hall, presents a year-round range of performances including touring Broadway shows, productions by the Kentucky Opera and the Louisville Ballet, and Louisville Orchestra concerts. To meet the acoustical requirements of so many different groups, Whitney Hall uses custom Wenger Diva shell ceilings, which can be adjusted to improve the sound quality.

The Center’s technical staff determined that it was time to stop using hydraulic hoists to control the ceilings. J.R. Clancy was part of a team headed by the general contractor, Sullivan & Cozart. “When we came in, everything was dead-hung,” said Brett Cooper, Clancy project manager. “We installed 17 line shafts onstage, both for the shell ceilings and for some working line sets for shows.” The 17 onstage line shafts include six that can travel at 40 feet per minute (fpm), seven at 120 fpm, and four at 200 fpm.

“We installed eight additional line shafts on the front of house side: six to run the acoustical reflector panels (ARPs), and two to run a moving light bridge up and down,” Cooper said. “One of the ARPs actually split the proscenium opening, so it had two line shaft connections—one front of house, and one on stage—and they had a system on this panel so that if the fire curtain came down, it would release the ARP. But if they had to use the fire curtain in an emergency, you can see the problems they might have. We pictured this panel swinging from one line.”

Cooper worked with Clancy engineer Greg Dale and Wenger Corporation to replace the single panel with two: one over the stage, and one in front of house, each with its own line shaft mechanism. To increase the maneuverability and effectiveness of two more front-of-house panels, Clancy developed a spring encoder that allows the acoustician to tilt the ARPs to whatever position works best for the performance. “The panels were either always flat or always tipped in one position,” said Cooper. “Now they could go up and down on our new line shafts to get the reflectivity desire.”

Bell brought yet another issue to Clancy’s attention: One of the ARPs shared rigging with the light bridge, so moving the ARP into position required that the light bridge be raised or lowered. This situation limited the bridge’s usefulness as a lighting position. Clancy placed two line shaft hoists to raise and lower the bridge, and provided a separate line shaft for the ARP. “Now when they lower the ARPs down where they want them to be, they can fly out the light bridge,” said Cooper. “They can have stage lights and do spots up there when they have rock and roll shows.”

With the acoustical rigging issues solved, the Clancy team could address some other problems that Bell brought to their attention. In an effort to undo some original design issues, Bell required motorized rigging for the house lights that had been dead-hung on the house grid, where they were very difficult to access for simple maintenance. “The house lights here involved someone harnessing up and walking out on floating beams to change a light bulb,” Bell said. “Now we’ve put in Clancy’s PowerLifts, and we can lower the lights to the floor. What was a three-man job, can now be done easily by one.”

To handle the rigging complexities of many acoustical panels, Clancy supplied its SceneControl 500 rigging control system to run all 32 hoists. This intuitive touch-screen system allows operators to set simple or elaborate cues, and group hoists to move together. “All the hoists are in the SceneControl, and we’ve grouped the positions of the acoustical panels for orchestra, and for rock and roll,” Bell said. “Now it takes about 90 seconds to change the acoustics from the rock and roll setting to the orchestral setting.”

At Bell’s specific request, Clancy designed a joystick system for backstage use, to match the controls of the hydraulic system. “They had joysticks on the locking rail with the old system, and they wanted to keep what they were used to,” Cooper said. “So they can operate the new line shafts with joysticks—there’s a joystick where the set number would be for that line shaft on the locking rail. We had not done that before, so we created that for them.”

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Music Mixing for "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"

Bruce — 2012-04-11T15:43:00Z

Academy and Grammy Award winning composer, musician and producer Trent Reznor, founder of the group Nine Inch Nails, has upgraded his private studio.

Trent Reznor chose Solid State Logic’s (SSL) Duality SE console on advice from producer/engineer Alan Moulder while they were mixing the soundtrack for the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They used the Duality to complete mixing the tracks that Trent composed with Atticus Ross, as well as the soundtrack’s two cover songs: Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrant Song,’ featuring Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Bryan Ferry’s ‘Is Your Love Strong Enough?’ by Reznor and Ross’ side-project How to Destroy Angels.

This was the second soundtrack that Reznor and Ross worked on together, the previous being the Oscar-winning The Social Network. “We began the mix for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on an SSL AWS 900, the console we used to mix our music for The Social Network,” says Reznor. “As we started the mix process, I felt as though I wanted to move to a large format console. While the AWS 900 is a spectacular analogue console—and made a massive difference to our sound when we switched from using a dedicated ICON controller—the channel count became limiting for the Dragon project. I discussed it with Alan, who has been my friend and engineering wizard since recording Nine Inch Nails’s The Downward Spiral in 1994, and we decided to take a chance on Duality mid-way through the project.”

“Duality is like an AWS on steroids,” adds Moulder. “It has a similar layout, so it was great to take the studio to the next level and not have to re-learn a whole new console. I really love working with the EQs, and having dynamics available on each channel is great. I really like how easy it is to do recalls. We would work on a track, park it and go on to another one if we felt we were getting bogged down creatively. Because you can use two or three people to do a recall on Duality, the reset process was really quick.”

Reznor is no stranger to SSL. The original Nothing Studios in New Orleans, which he opened in 1994, featured a 4000 G+ console. This is where he recorded albums like The Downward Spiral and The Fragile. When he moved to LA in 2005, he built a home-based studio around a DAW and controller, later replacing the controller with an AWS and then the Duality.

“Right now we are completing mixes for the new How To Destroy Angels album on Duality,” explains Reznor. “We’re in a world where technology is our friend and all the keyboards, instruments, outboard gear, plug-ins, and the like are just toys to be employed and deployed as best you can. But having what the Duality has provided for us in a very elegant way has certainly embellished and eased the creative process.”

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NHL Broadcast Meets Guidelines

Bruce — 2012-04-02T16:01:00Z

Mobile speaker carts roll the PA on and off the field during teh recent NHL Winter Classic.

The NHL Winter Classic is a throwback to the bygone days when professional hockey was played outdoors in the chill wintertime air. But more than that, it is the NHL’s so-far-successful attempt to claim New Years Day in the same way that baseball claims July 4th and football claims Thanksgiving Day. This year’s contest took place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia between the hometown Flyers and their rivals, the New York Rangers. Despite the Flyers’ loss, the 47,000 fans in attendance enjoyed the experience, as did the nearly four-million viewers who watched on NBC. Clair Global provided house sound and a broadcast mix for the between-period performances by hometown superstars, The Roots. They used three unique, Clairconceived and Clair-deployed solutions: mobile speaker carts that allowed the line arrays to be lowered and flipped out of site lines as needed; custom modular diffusion/ absorption panels that were used to convert an equipment room at Citizens Bank Park into an acoustically favorable studio control room environment; and the Clair CF 1090 Fractal Antenna for the RF system.

“The NHL and broadcasters in general have strict height requirements so as to maintain sight lines and a clean broadcast image,” explained Kevin Sanford, president of Wireless First, a Clair Global subsidiary. “With only two week’s notice, we engineered and constructed a solution to meet these guidelines.”

“We brought in ten rolling carts that allowed us to lower and flip the PA out of site lines as needed and that allowed us to easily roll them into position on the field,” said Jason Spence, music engineer with Clair Global. “The NHL team was very impressed by how well we stayed out of their way. The ability of Clair Global to conceive and construct such an involved solution in just two weeks is, to me, as impressive as the solution itself. I don’t know of any other company that could pull it off.” News of Clair’s accomplishment spread quickly, and the carts are already rented for future events like the Jets halftime entertainment and upcoming Canadian sports events.

“A music truck wasn’t part of the plan at the NHL Winter Classic, so we needed an acoustically-controlled environment in which to prepare a broadcast mix,” explained Spence. “Again, Clair Global rose to the challenge and constructed modular mobile acoustic panels that we could use in whatever space we encountered. It turned out to be an equipment room. Where others may have thrown a bunch of packing blankets around to simply suck the life out of the room, the Clair panels offered frequency-balanced absorption on one side and diffusion on the other. We turned the equipment room into a well controlled room that sounded really nice.”

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Military-Grade Protective Film has Glass-Like Surface

Bruce — 2012-03-30T15:27:00Z

Premium version of patented film protects mobile devices and more.

Featuring the same Military-Grade Protection and Nano-Memory Technology™ consumers have come to expect from the invisibleSHIELD, the HD line offers premium features like Advanced Clarity and Glass-Like Surface to accentuate the sharp images and vibrant colors in the newest advanced gadget displays.

The invisibleSHIELD – ZAGG’s flagship product – is a patented military-grade mobile device protection solution. The virtually invisible and indestructible film is made to extend the life of smartphones and tablets, and is available in over 5,000 designs for the most popular mobile devices.

“In 2005, ZAGG pioneered the invisibleSHIELD line, the first protective solution of its kind for the mobile industry. Since that time we have shipped more than 30 million invisibleSHIELDs, including over 15 million in 2011 alone,” said Derek Smith, chief marketing officer for ZAGG. “We continue to innovate and improve this product line to address consumer needs and lead the industry in mobile protection.”

The premium invisibleSHIELD HD will be available for $19.99 for a smartphone screen cover.

In a recent data study conducted by the NPD Group, a leading retail market research company, ZAGG is the number one mobile device accessory brand in the U.S. For more information about ZAGG or any of its products.

ZAGG Inc., based in Salt Lake City, offers innovative mobile device accessories that protect, personalize, and enhance the mobile experience. The company designs, produces, and distributes branded screen protection under the invisibleSHIELD® brand, keyboards, keyboard cases, earbuds, mobile power solutions and device cleaning accessories under the family of ZAGG® brands. In addition, the company designs, produces and distributes cases, earbuds, and headphones under the iFrogz brands in the value-priced lifestyle sector. The company’s products are sold worldwide in leading consumer and electronics retailers, wireless retailers and their affiliates.

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PipelineFX's Render Management Product Prepares LMU Students for Studio Life

Bruce — 2012-03-28T16:17:00Z

Render Management Product Expands Creative and Professional Opportunities for Students; Double Rendering Output for Lab.

Jobs are hard for anyone to find right now, let alone grads looking to break into desirable markets like animation. To get hired, candidates must show both serious talent and applied experience with professional tools in a team-driven workflow. Students at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television are no strangers to this challenge. But for awhile, their intentions to meet it head on were held back by their school’s limited and inefficient rendering pipeline.

Qube! is a render farm management product for leading visual effects houses like Digital Domain Media Group, Arc Productions, Method Studios, and Image- Engine. These studios use it to ensure that their rendering pipelines run smoothly, even under the strain of production demands. The new hires these organizations take on will also be working with Qube! as it helps them maximize their creative output and hit key deadlines. The very things that LMU students were having trouble doing.

Before Qube!, LMU’s lab was experiencing a severe bottleneck. The lab was filled with isolated desktops that limited students to rendering on single workstations. This created a system of long render times that tied up computers and prevented students from accessing their project work.

“We needed to get the students back on track,” said Mark Allen, LMU’s Animation Technical Services Engineer. “We needed something that was powerful for the students and easy-to-maintain for the technical team. Qube! was a turnkey fix that fit right in and cleaned everything up. Our rendering capabilities improved almost immediately.”

Before, students used to work on their animations with few test renders, leaving no time for corrections if their project needed significant changes at the end of the term. Qube! allowed them to achieve faster iterations through distributed rendering so they could get to the final product, and any necessary changes, much faster. This created a situation where students were improving and showing off more creative output at a much quicker rate; it also made them a lot more relevant to the outside world.

To Mark, the changes were significant. He could see their progress and knew that Qube! was teaching the students real skills that they could apply to real world jobs. “Since we got Qube!, students don’t have to learn a tool and then throw that knowledge away when they graduate,” says Allen. “A lot of major studios use Qube! and many of our graduates move on to work for these companies. This is a great way for them to become ready for these roles.”

Today, LMU’s animation program is dynamic and strong. A rendering bottleneck no longer governs its lab, and students are becoming valuable assets that can be easily plugged-in to any studio environment.

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Loudspeaker has Unique Enclosure Configuration

Bruce — 2012-03-26T16:11:00Z

H-PAS design technology makes it possible for any loudspeaker manufacturer to build a loudspeaker with full-range bass in boxes that are much smaller than comparable speakers.

Atlantic Technology has signed an agreement with SpeakerCraft to collaborate in the development of new loudspeaker systems using Atlantic’s revolutionary H-PAS® bass configuration technology. Through their application of H-PAS technology, SpeakerCraft will be able to provide their customers with loudspeakers that will deliver deeper and smoother bass in much smaller cabinets than was previously possible.

The agreement will result in the development of several new SpeakerCraft products expected to come to market starting later this year and beyond.

H-PAS, or Hybrid Pressure Acceleration System, is a unique enclosure configuration that combines elements of several different speaker architectures—acoustic suspension, bass reflex, inverse horn, and transmission line—to produce exceptional bass response and low distortion while utilizing cabinets that are considerably more compact than those of speakers with similar performance.

The H-PAS configuration was originally developed by Philip Clements of Solus/Clements. In 2009, Atlantic Technology assembled a team of audio engineers and computer scientists to create, in collaboration with Clements, a proprietary algorithm that could be used to apply H-PAS to a wide range of enclosure shapes and sizes. In January 2012 the United States Patent and Trademark office issued the first patent on H-PAS enclosure architectures; Atlantic Technology expects to obtain additional patents on the technology in the coming year. “We are excited to be working with SpeakerCraft,” said Atlantic Technology’s President Peter Tribeman. H-PAS technology will provide them a new opportunity to significantly differentiate their products in the marketplace.”

“We’ve been very impressed with H-PAS technology,” said SpeakerCraft’s President Jeremy Burkhardt. “The articulate low bass response and remarkable clarity of voice are exactly what our customers want. It will be a huge benefit for custom installers to be able to move away from oversized boxes without sacrificing performance. In addition, since H-PAS uses higher resonance drivers, its’ bass reproduction is exceptionally ‘quick’.

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Sports Shoe Reel Closure System

Bruce — 2012-03-23T16:02:00Z

Lacing system for sports shoes such as laces, buckles, ratchets, and Velcro straps are known for their deficiencies rather than their efficiencies and benefits. Until recently, though, these systems were all that were available.

Designers at Boa Technology Inc., (Denver, CO) have developed a reel that can be used in a strap configuration. This was done to reduce a few of the standard parameters for reels, including reduced size, decreased cost, and maximized strength.

All the components for the S1 27mm Reel Closure System for specialized S-works shoes were designed by Boa, even though they collaborated closely with each specialized component manufacturer they worked with. Just as they work with all their partners, Boa provided instructions on proper application of the Boa Lacing System, then consulted at various stages of the product process — including visits to partners’ factories — to assure proper installation of the system.

The final system was designed to have a glove-like fit with smooth, even closure and no pressure points. The fit is exemplified by the use of micro-adjustable reels that offer seemingly infinite degrees of fine-tuning, which also offers one-handed adjustment with a quick turn of the Boa dial. Because the closures are quick-on/quickoff devices they allow users to save time when seconds count. Yet, once locked into place the reels stay that way. Finally, a simple faucet or hose can be used to clean muck and grime from the lace guides, which helps to extend the life of the system and assure it’s ready for the next use.

Ultimately, Boa needed more than a simple solution to the challenge, they needed to be competitive as well. Their goal was to produce a device that was nearly 40 percent lower in cost, could provide precise adjustment with only 1mm of resolution per click, be half the height and at least 2mm smaller in diameter than previous low-power reels, plus incorporate only one active lace (instead of two) to increase the overall strength of the system itself. The lacing system consists of four primary components: the knob, the spool, the housing, and the lace.

By meeting their own challenge, Boa was able to create a product that was far superior to the ratchets and Velcro typically used in cycling. The S1 Reel weighs far less than older systems, provides secure holding power, increases breathability, and has much higher resolution than comparable products that offer 3-5mm of incremental adjustment.

The company went through between three and five prototype iterations before they found the right design.

The original concepts, for example, used different types of reel mechanisms. Once they solidified a design then subtle tweaks brought the S1 Reel into focus.
Rapid prototyping parts were produced by ZoomRP. com through their online service. Boa uses SolidWorks for their development of the final parts. From SolidWorks, they can easily export an STL file to upload to ZoomRP.com for production of parts.

All of the components were built using an SLS (selective laser sintering) process using a Nylon material. Laser sintering uses a high-temperature laser to melt and fuse specially designed plastic or metal particles into a three-dimensional part. SLS offers one of the widest ranges of materials to choose from, including filled thermoplastics. Overall capability of the SLS process includes layers at and average of 0.004-inches thick. The process produces strong finished parts that come close to production-like materials. Since there is no tooling required, prototype parts can be produced quickly and at low volumes.

Once the parts came in they were seldom tweaked. ZoomRP.com offers extremely high tolerance parts, to +/-0.1 to 0.2mm accuracies. Because most of the clearance specifications on the needed parts was around 0.2mm parts had to be accurate or they didn’t fit properly and wouldn’t work. The company only ordered parts that were wet/dry blasted. And, since they were prototypes used for testing, no color was required. Plus, it was easy to order parts through the ZoomRP.com web-based interface, even though the company’s behind-the-scenes customer service is excellent should it be needed.

The most difficult part of the project was in the production of the components. It is very difficult to build such small features. The largest piece of the Boa S1 Reel Closure System was the knob, which was only 27mm in diameter.

Overall, the S1 Reel Closure System project turned out well. The device is being used on a number of shoes manufactured by some of the largest sports shoe manufacturers in the world, as well as for medical braces. Pro cyclists, including over 100 pro peloton riders, have been wearing shoes with the S1 Reel System this year.

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Vinten Supports New Season of "Are We There Yet?"

Bruce — 2012-03-21T16:21:10Z

Shooting three episodes in a week means your equipment has to work all the time.

When cinematographer Bill Berner began to gear up for the new season of the multi-camera comedy, “Are We There Yet?” he said it was a no brainer, that Vinten, a Vitec Group brand, would be his support of choice. “We are on a ludicrously tight schedule on our show,” he explains. “We have no time to deal with equipment failures, or even regular maintenance. Every piece of gear must work flawlessly all the time. On our budget, we can’t afford to keep a spare ped and head around ‘just in case’. With the Quattro-L, Quattro-SL and Vector 70’s it’s been a non-issue.”

“Are We There Yet?” which is loosely based on the movie of the same name, poses an unusual situation for a multi-camera production. Instead of shooting one episode a week in front of a live audience, Berner and team shoot three episodes without an audience in a four-day week. “We have to move quickly, but we don’t give up production value to do it,” he explains. “With Vinten pedestals we can do on-camera moves as well as repositions easily and quietly during scenes without any fuss. Our floors are, to be kind, less than perfect, and the wheels on the Quattros are forgiving. The Quattro-SL is particularly useful on wing cameras because the smaller footprint lets us get into doorways and tight corners with ease.”

Carol Wetovich, who is Berner’s go-to operator in one of the center positions, gets the lion’s share of on-camera dolly-like moves. “The Quattro-L ped and Vector 70 head help me create many camera moves that are normally reserved for a dolly set up,” she explains. “I don’t need any assistance from a dolly grip or focus puller. The ped moves so smoothly, it’s a pleasure to work with.” “Are We There Yet?” shot at Connecticut Film Center in Stamford, is produced through Cube Vision, the production company owned by Ice Cube and Revolution Studios and distributed by Debmar-Mercury.

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Kinect Goes Way Beyond Gaming

Bruce — 2012-03-19T15:45:00Z

Independent developers are applying Microsoft gaming technology for physical therapy, autism therapy and other health care applications.

Kinect, the voice and gesture recognition technology from Microsoft, has not only transformed gaming, but has inspired innovation and creativity across industries. In Spain, Microsoft gaming technology is being used by Tedasys for gesture-based operating room application.

At the University of Missouri (US), physical therapists are monitoring the gait of senior citizens to prevent accidental falls. Physical therapists at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK use “Kninect” for the rehabilitation of stroke patients. And children with Autism are using the Microsoft technology for skill building programs.

And then there is TJ from Geomagic. He used a quick scan of his head from a Kinect, and turned the scan into 3D polygons, which he then swiftly transferred to SolidWorks software and was able to print in 3D. The scan data created from Kinect was not super-high quality. It has different purposes or outcomes from the highend engineering done by GeoMagic in Solidworks.

Entertainment Engineering asked Microsoft what they think about the development of applications for Kinect outside of gaming and entertainment. A spokesperson from the company provided the following responses:

Q: What is Microsoft doing to develop additional applications of Kinect technology ?

A: The company will be launching a commercial program to give businesses across the globe the tools to develop applications that could improve their own operations. To date, Microsoft has enlisted more than 250 companies for the commercial program, including American Express, Boeing, Citi, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Mattel, Siemens, Telefonica, Toyota, Unilever, and United Health Group.

Q: How is Microsoft embracing additional apps for Kinect?

A: Since we first launched Kinect more than one year ago, the creativity from developers has been phenomenal. We embraced the innovation with the Kinect for Windows beta SDK for academics and hobbyists last year. And on February 1, 2012, we released a Kinect for Windows sensor and accompanying SDK that includes a commercial license and is optimized for developing applications that take Kinect beyond the living room. We love the innovative applications we’ve seen already from early adopters – it’s been phenomenal and we believe the best is yet to come.

Q: How is motion capture with Kinect different from other motion-capture systems?

A: Kinect is not simply a 2-D digital camera device. The Kinect sensor combines an infrared sensor, an RGB camera, a multi-array microphone and Microsoft proprietary software to track body movement and facial expressions, even respond to voices. We designed Kinect from the outset as an entirely new way to interact with games and entertainment and nothing like it exists.

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