Using GoPro footage more and more in a professional environment, I made this little tool to help speed up the process of getting gopro footage ready for compositing inside of Nuke.
The first step is to properly prepare your footage for Nuke (you can directly import a cineform codec .avi or .mov but it is very VERY buggy and will crash a whole lot...)
Convert your gopro footage to the cineform codec using "filmscan 1" if possible
Be sure NOT to have any LUT applied from GoPro studio, as this will result in 2 LUT's applied.
You can have sharpening applied inside GoPro Studio if you wish but you will get better results from Nuke's tools.
Use the CF2DPX.exe to convert your shot to .dpx frames
Protune Colorspace
Cineon - Nukes default import
RED Log - This has nice compression/range
2.2 Gamma - Straight conversion
rec709 - straight conversion
Protune Lut (Aprox) This is an approximation of the protune LUT.
Bypass colorspace conversion for (.MP4) - Used for non cineform files or if colorspace LUT was pre-applied
Remove Chromatic Aberration - what is says on the can, automatic removal of edge chroma artifacts.
Undistort Lens - Generic - not based of a lens grid solve (that should be in the next version)
Please feel free to use and share as you wish but do so at your own risk and ect....
Please leave a comment below if you like it or have feedback for bugs or feature suggestions!
Over the past few months I have been building up a quadcopter or "drone" for aerial photography and video. I have posted a load of videos up on youtube already but I will cover some build aspects here for people who want to look at building their own. It was not overly complicated but it did involve a LOT OF READING!.... reading and research will save you lots of $$ and possible first lift off crash.
I already had RC building experience so I didnt find this challenging to build but if you are not confident with a soldering iron, or used to the RC world of controllers and tech jargon - you may want some help. There are loads of videos on youtube and forums filled with people who are willing to help. Patience is key & do it right first time.
You will need
A frame kit of sorts ( DJI, Tarot, HobbyKing )
Motors and Electronic Speed Controllers or "ESC's"
Propellers between 8" to 10" - I recommend the Graupner E-Props 10/5"
Flight Controller ( DJI Naza-M, KK2, AeroQuad )
Lipo batteries - 3 to 4 Cell
Lipo Charger and safe pack
Radio System (2.4Ghz with at least 6 channels)
Camera Gimbal - loads to choose from but the Tarot Hero3 Gimbal seems like a clear winner for $$
First off is the kit, I chose the DJI Flamewheel F450.. very similar to the ready built phantom but with the ability to customize and upgrade. The frame kit was $220 AUD and included the motors, esc's, 2 sets of propellers, wire and a few other extra's.
The main build part is the base plate where the esc's and power wires are soldered onto the bottom board. Take your time!! check your + and -, also once completed and checked with a multimeter cover the joints with hot glue blobs.. this will protect them from moisture in the air.
The next steps are to install the electrontics such as flight controller, reciever & motors. I chose the DJI Naza-M with GPS for my flight controller... not the cheapest option out there but was worth the $$.. I picked up a version 1 for $260 USD as they are being phased out for a version 2.
The stock 920Kv motors have a surprisingly big punch for such a small motor!
For radio gear I went with the Futaba T8J as it was not only cheaper but has an amazing system called S-Bus.. basically a digital signal to the Naza-M not an analogue send.. this is not only more accurate but you will only need to connect one cable to control everything!! I have been warned against Spektrum for quad use as it can cause issues and "fly aways!"
Once assembled and the calibration process is complete its important to do a check without the blades on the motors!! the motors and propellers need to spin a certain direction so check that they are!!
First motor startup
After this check your pretty much ready to fly! do a few flights without any camera or extra fpv gear attached.. if there is an issue and the quad goes down its better that nothing expensive gets damaged.
Here is my first flight!
After at least a few flights of practice its now time to start adding things, My weapon of choice was the Tarot GoPro Brushless Gimbal and some Tarot carbon fiber land legs.
They can be picked up from HobbyKing for aprox $150
My testing of the gimbal after building
Some more information how I placed the battery, receiver, gimbal, legs, GPS ect...
And finally some results!!
To achieve these results for just over $1,000 is amazing and the best part is almost anyone could do this!! its also fairly easy to fly with GPS
More to come and thanks for reading
Friday 2 August 2013
THE WOLVERINE
Myself and the amazing crew at Rising Sun Pictures have been working on the latest Wolverine movie and its been receiving some great reviews! Without going into too much detail here there is an incredible breakdown video on the RSP website to check out all the amazing effects work undertaken.
So I have been fairly busy with work these past few months but never fear! I will be posting some Vray for Maya and Nuke tutorials up soon that will cover,
- Studio lighting using mapped area lights and light casting geometry.
- How to make your shaders look more realistic and what to evaluate when creating a shader.
- Quality settings and how to handle IR+LC maps to get better final quality renders without loosing too much speed and minimal noise.
- Compositing vray's aovs in Nuke using entry level custom built gizmo's for material ID's and multimattes.
"RSP contributed a large package of VFX shots for Warner Brother's upcoming comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.
Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have ruled the Las Vegas strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt's growing ego. But lately the duo's greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they've grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from guerilla street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show looks stale. But there's still a chance Burt and Anton can save the act - both onstage and off - if Burt can get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place."
