check it out http://shorpy.com/

Time-lapse Wind Turbines from Ben Roberts on Vimeo.

Time-lapse Test Compilation [ tl-001a - tl-007 ] from Ben Roberts on Vimeo.

Here is some more Time-lapse shot last weekend. I choose the same 1 second interval but after a great friend and fellow work mate, ioxu checked it out, I decided to speed things up. This has [...]]]>

Time-lapse Wind Turbines from Ben Roberts on Vimeo.

Time-lapse Test Compilation [ tl-001a - tl-007 ] from Ben Roberts on Vimeo.

Here is some more Time-lapse shot last weekend. I choose the same 1 second interval but after a great friend and fellow work mate, ioxu checked it out, I decided to speed things up. This has now been speed up by x4 using frame blending to get the blades on the turbines a bit smoother. Again same camera Canon 5DMkII with my 50mm 1.2 L lens. Next time I think I’ll shoot at 5 or 10 second intervals for a lot longer and see how it turns out. Check it out on vimeo for a HD720p version.

Time-lapse Test Compilation [ tl-001a - tl-007 ] from Ben Roberts on Vimeo.

So here is my first go at some time-lapse. I’m still working out intervals and how I’ll record the data. This is a compilation of 7 shots taken with my Canon 5DMkII using my EF 50mm f1.2L USM lens. I used the Yongnuo Digital [...]]]>

Time-lapse Test Compilation [ tl-001a - tl-007 ] from Ben Roberts on Vimeo.

So here is my first go at some time-lapse. I’m still working out intervals and how I’ll record the data. This is a compilation of 7 shots taken with my Canon 5DMkII using my EF 50mm f1.2L USM lens. I used the Yongnuo Digital Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3a Intervalometer. I had to set the camera to full manual settings, shoot to 5616×3744 JPG because I was not getting enough bandwidth off my Memory Card to do RAW+JPG or even just RAW (will investigate further) and using the “Standard” Canon Picture Style Profile. I also used Nuke to de-flicker the sequence a bit, as the luminance shifted quite a bit from frame to frame. There is still a fair bit of flickering, so I am trying to find a more procedural workflow to remove this. Check it out on vimeo for the HD720p version.

New Zealand from Chris Benny on Vimeo.

Another Cloud Reel… from Delrious on Vimeo.

The San Mateo County Fair from Delrious on Vimeo.

Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly from Tom [...]]]> So I’ve started doing some time-lapse, which on the whole has been fairly successful - I’ll post more on that soon. Meanwhile check out some of these crackers …

New Zealand from Chris Benny on Vimeo.

Another Cloud Reel… from Delrious on Vimeo.

The San Mateo County Fair from Delrious on Vimeo.

Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly from Tom @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

Twin Peaks San Francisco Sunrise (HDR time-lapse) from Chad Richard on Vimeo.

Pixel’s Revenge timelapse showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

And here’s a great Vimeo channel I just stumbled across, Time Lapse in HD.

I have to make me self one of these DIY dolly’s. Bloody great results and cheap as!

DIY Dolly for Canon 5D II - TEST from Niels Kjær Olsen on Vimeo.

Here’s the cheap canon rip-off intervalometer I bought off ebay which saved me around $300 compared to the canon one. It’s a Yongnuo Digital Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3a Intervalometer. The only downside is it doesn’t have an off button - wadayagonnado?

I stumbled across this graph plotting noise vs ISO on the 5DMkII. I was perusing the cinema5D forums when this popped up. Here’s the link to the cinema5D thread which also has some brilliant Highlight Tone Priority tests, thanks to AdamJ for the orginial post on canonphotogroup.com. Extemely interesting that ISO 1250 seems to have less noise [...]]]>

I stumbled across this graph plotting noise vs ISO on the 5DMkII. I was perusing the cinema5D forums when this popped up. Here’s the link to the cinema5D thread which also has some brilliant Highlight Tone Priority tests, thanks to AdamJ for the orginial post on canonphotogroup.com. Extemely interesting that ISO 1250 seems to have less noise than 160.

Here is some custom Nuke noise, similar to those noise functions I posted as Shake Noise3d. I will call it Nuke Noise. Not to be mistaken with Nukes built in Turbulence or fBm pixel generation methods. We have Nukes noise function (noise (x,y,z)) being called via some User Knobs. Again there’s control over Frequency, Seed, [...]]]>

Here is some custom Nuke noise, similar to those noise functions I posted as Shake Noise3d. I will call it Nuke Noise. Not to be mistaken with Nukes built in Turbulence or fBm pixel generation methods. We have Nukes noise function (noise (x,y,z)) being called via some User Knobs. Again there’s control over Frequency, Seed, Amplitude, Time Offset and Amount.

And here’s the Nuke code, tested under Nuke v5.2v1 on Mac OSX 10.6. If this doesn’t copy & paste into Nuke, you may need to grab the script. I’m still sorting out how to post code in wordpress.

set cut_paste_input [stack 0]
version 5.2100
push $cut_paste_input
Multiply {
value {{”(1*(noise((frame+(timeOffset*100))*freq, (seed*5), 0)*2-1)*amp+(amp*.7))+amount”}}
maskChannelMask -rgba.alpha
name Noise
selected true
xpos -116
ypos -156
addUserKnob {20 parameters l Parameters}
addUserKnob {7 freq l Frequency}
freq 0.15
addUserKnob {7 seed l Seed t “\t\t\t\t\t\t” R 0 100}
seed 2.5
addUserKnob {7 amp l Amplitude}
amp 0.5
addUserKnob {7 timeOffset l “Time Offset” R 0 100}
addUserKnob {7 amount l Amount}
amount 0.75
addUserKnob {26 “”}
addUserKnob {41 channels_1 l channels T Noise.channels}
addUserKnob {41 value_1 l value T Noise.value}
addUserKnob {26 “” l mask T “”}
addUserKnob {41 maskChannelMask_1 l “” -STARTLINE T Noise.maskChannelMask}
addUserKnob {41 maskChannelInput_1 l “” -STARTLINE T Noise.maskChannelInput}
addUserKnob {41 inject_1 l inject -STARTLINE T Noise.inject}
addUserKnob {41 invert_mask_1 l invert -STARTLINE T Noise.invert_mask}
addUserKnob {41 fringe_1 l fringe -STARTLINE T Noise.fringe}
addUserKnob {41 unpremult_1 l “(un)premult by” T Noise.unpremult}
addUserKnob {41 invert_unpremult_1 l invert -STARTLINE T Noise.invert_unpremult}
addUserKnob {41 mix_1 l mix T Noise.mix}
}

Now I’ve had a play with my MkII, I’ve found the need to get into some proper focal distance calculation’s to make life easier when shooting video. Since it’s all manual exposure and focusing, it’s a change from going all auto. I’ve been practicing holding focus on my two daughters at play with my 50mm [...]]]>

Now I’ve had a play with my MkII, I’ve found the need to get into some proper focal distance calculation’s to make life easier when shooting video. Since it’s all manual exposure and focusing, it’s a change from going all auto. I’ve been practicing holding focus on my two daughters at play with my 50mm @ f1.2, a bloody hard task … I found this example on wikipedia.org on how to calculate the hyperfocal distance for the lens I have on the 5D MkII - Canon EF 50 mm F1.2L USM. Here’s another piece of the puzzle - COC.

http://mysite.verizon.net/spitzak/conversion/index.html

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/tech/index.html

Feature Shoot: http://www.featureshoot.com/ Flak Photo: http://www.featureshoot.com/ The Big Picture: http://boston.com/bigpicture/ Tim Barber: http://tinyvices.com/Tim_Barber_portfolio_TV08_1 Aperture Foundation: http://www.aperture.org/ Tiny Vices - A must see smorgasbord: http://tinyvices.com/ Vincent Laforet: http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/ Lost and taken: http://lostandtaken.com/

Here are some techy sites on digital photography, film making and technology.

Cineform Insider: http://cineform.blogspot.com/ Prolost: http://prolost.com/

http://jblyth.com/blog.html

And here’s the shake code, just copy and paste into shake:

Noise3d = Fade(0, (1*(noise3d((time+(timeOffset*100))*Frequency, (seed*5), 0)*2-1)*Amplitude+(Amplitude*.7))+amount, float Frequency = 0.4351687, float seed = 0, float Amplitude = 0.408525735, float timeOffset = 0, float [...]]]> Here we have the noise3d function being called via some local variables. I find it really useful for some many different things. A must have …

And here’s the shake code, just copy and paste into shake:

Noise3d = Fade(0, (1*(noise3d((time+(timeOffset*100))*Frequency, (seed*5), 0)*2-1)*Amplitude+(Amplitude*.7))+amount,
float Frequency = 0.4351687,
float seed = 0, float Amplitude = 0.408525735,
float timeOffset = 0, float amount = 1);

// User Interface settings

SetKey(

“nodeView.Fade14.t”, “0″,
“nodeView.Fade14.x”, “-4545.27051″,
“nodeView.Fade14.y”, “1045.57825″

);

Cinefex #123! - Cinefex #123 covers Inception, Prince of Persia, The A-Team and The Last Airbender. I really love this cover.The visual effects [...]]]> Get your daily dose of visual effect news with live rss feeds from your favourite sites. Make sure to let me know if you want other news sources to be listed here …

VFXBLOG

FXGUIDE

VFX PLANET

I’ve been wanting to start a collection of bokeh’s to use for different projects at work, replicating the characteristics of the circles-of-confusion for different lens and apertures. Once I get a decent collection together I’ll post them with tutorials. Meanwhile here’s a crazy looking one I’ve combined in Photoshop by shooting straight at an [...]]]>

I’ve been wanting to start a collection of bokeh’s to use for different projects at work, replicating the characteristics of the circles-of-confusion for different lens and apertures. Once I get a decent collection together I’ll post them with tutorials. Meanwhile here’s a crazy looking one I’ve combined in Photoshop by shooting straight at an LED with my Canon EOS 350D, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/4000, Manual Mode, EFS 18-55 mm lens [ set at 55mm (x1.6) ] and a hand crafted one from Adam Paschke. It’s totaly impractical because of the colours, but hey it looks cool and that’s all that matters, right?

Here’s also some links which go right into camera and lens optics and talk about the bokeh.

Paul van Walree. My favourite because he gives a shit load of examples and pictures …
http://toothwalker.org

Wikipedia on bokeh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh/

Ken Rockwell has some “interesting” ideas on bokeh.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/bokeh.htm

Harold M. Merklinger is a bit of an export in optics. He writes some good info here and includes some nice side profiles of bokeh characteristics.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/bokeh.shtml

I’ve just come across this application which appears to do some really nice DOF post processing. It also has some really nice explanations and examples on DOF and Bokeh.
http://www.dofpro.com

Jump to List of Functions Below…

You can access information in any node and use it in a different node by [...]]]> I am constantly looking this stuff up in the shake doc’s, so i posted it here so i can easily reference it. Thanks go to the original author Matt Plec.

• Jump to List of Functions Below…

Linking Parameters

You can access information in any node and use it in a different
node by linking variables and parameters.

To use a parameter inside of the same node, just type the parameter
name. For example, the Move2D node links the yScale to be equal
to the xScale by default. To get the expression editor in Shake, just
enter any letter into the text field, press Enter, and a plus sign appears
next to the parameter. Expand the parameter and edit away…

To use a parameter in a different node, use the node name, followed by the
parameter name, separated by a period:

node.parameter

This example links the value parameter from the node Fade1 and
multiplies it by 2.

You can declare a variable anywhere in the script. However, to make it available
in the interface, you have to prefix it with the curve declaration:

curve parameter_name = expression;

For example, to declare the my_val variable for the above example:

curve my_val = 1;

You can clone entire nodes in the GUI by copying the node and then pressing
Ctrl+Shift+V. This links all parameters in the copy to the original.
If you modify anything in the copy, the link on that particular parameter is
gone, so be careful of onscreen controls.

To view linked nodes in the Node View, press Ctrl+E.

Linking to a Parameter at a Different Frame

You can use the syntax parameterName@@time to look at a value at a different
frame:

Move2D1.yPan@@(time-1)

looks at Move2D1’s yPan parameter at the previous frame.

Variables

You can declare your own variables, as shown above. However, each image node
also carries with it the information about that node, using the variables width,
height, and bytes. When you are referring to these, they work
exactly the same as above. For example, by default, the center of rotation on
Move2D is set to:

width/2

This places the center at the midpoint of the current image.

When referring to these from a different node, you place the node name before
the variable:

node_name.width

In some cases, problems may occur. For example, in a Resize node, if
you put the Resize equal to width/2, you cause a potentially loop
because it is changing width based upon a value that is looking for the width.
To solve this, Shake always refers to the input width, height, and bit
depth when you refer to these from inside of that node. Therefore, width/2
takes the incoming width and divides it by 2. When you refer to the width, height,
and bit depth of a different node, you use that node’s output
values.

At any time, you can also use the variable time, which refers to the
current frame number. For example, put cos(time/5)*50 into an angle on
Rotate for a nice rocking motion.

Expressions

The following examples of using expressions, which can help out the lazy compositor
by doing your work for you. In any parameter, you can combine any value with
a math expression, trig functions, an animated curve, a variable, or even a
conditional expression. For example, as mentioned above, the center of an image
can be found by using:

xCenter = width/2

yCenter = height/2

These take the per-image variables width and height and divides them by 2.

You can type an expression in any field. Some functions, like ColorX,
WarpX, and TimeX, even support locally-declared variables. See
ColorX for more explanation, and also a list of examples.

If you are using the command line method, you may have to enclose your expressions
in quotes to avoid problems with the OS reading the command. For example, instead
of:

shake my_image.iff -rot 45*6

use

Precedence

The above operators are listed in order of precedence – the order Shake evaluates
each operator, left to right. If this is a pain to keep up with ( and it is),
make liberal use of parentheses to force the order of evaluation. For instance:

a = 1 + 2 * 4 -2

This expression does “2*4″ first since the “*” has precedence over “+” and
“-” which gives you “a=1+8-2″. Then from left to right, Shake does “1+8″, giving
“a=9-2″, finally resulting in “a=7″. To add and subtract before multiplying,
use parentheses to control the evaluation.

a = (1 + 2) * (4 - 2)

This results in “a=3*2″ or “a=6″. Parentheses have the highest precedence in
an expression.

All of the math functions can be found in the include/nreal.h file.
You can declare your own functions in your own .h file.

To set an expression on a string (text) parameter, you need to add a : (colon)
at the start of the expression, otherwise it is treated as text rather than
getting compiled and evaluated.

Arithmetic Operators
*	Multiply
/	Divide
+	Plus
-	Subtract
Relational Operators
<	Less than
>	Greater than
<=	Less than or equal to
>=	Greater than or equal to
==	Equal to
!=	Not equal to
Logical Operators
&&	And
||	Or
!	Not
Conditional Expression
expr1?expr2:expr3	If expr1 is true (non-zero), then to expr2, else do expr3
Global Variables
time	Current frame number
Image Variables	These are variables carried by each node.
parameterName	Value of parameterName from inside that node.
nodeName.parameterName	Value of parameterName in nodeName from outside of that node.
parameterName@@time	Allows you to access a value at a different frame. For example:    Blur1.xPixel@@(time-3) looks at the value from 3 frames earlier.
bytes	The number of bytes in that image. This takes the input bit-depth when called from inside of the node, and the output bit-depth when called from outside of the node.
width	Width of the image. Takes the input width when called from inside of the node, and the output width when called from outside of the node.
height	Height of the image. Takes the input height when called from inside of the node, and the output height when called from outside of the node.
_curImageName	Returns the name of the actual file being used for the current frame. Useful when plugged into a Text node:    {FileIn1._curImageName}
dod[0], dod[1], dod[2], dod[3]	The variable for the Domain of Definition xMin, yMin, xMax, yMax, respectively.
In-Node Variables	These are channel variables used in nodes such as ColorX, LayerX, Reorder, etc. Check the documentation for specific support of any variable.
nr, ng, nb, na, nz	New red, green, blue, alpha, Z channel
r, g, b, a, z	Original red, green, blue, alpha, Z channels
l	Luminance channel for Reorder
n	Null channel. Strips out the alpha in Reorder when used like this: rgbn
r2, g2, b2, a2, z2	Second image’s channel for LayerX
Math Functions
abs(x)	Integer absolute value. abs(-4) = 4. Be careful, as this will return an integer, not a float. Use fabs for float.
biasedGain(value, gain, bias)	This gives a ContrastLum-like curve that gives rolloff between two values.
cbrt(x)	Cubic root. cbrt(8) = 2
ceil(x)	Truncates to next integer. ceil(5.3) = 6
clamp(x, lo, hi)	Clamps x to between lo and hi    clamp(1.5,0,1) = 1
exp(x)	Natural exponent. exp(0) = 1
fabs(x)	Float absolute value. fabs(-4.1) = 4.1
floor(x)	Truncates to next lowest integer. floor(5.8) = 5
fmod(x,y)	Float modulus. Returns the remainder in float.    fmod(11.45,3) = 2 , ie, (3×3+2.45 = 11.45)
log(x)	Natural log. log(1) = 0
log10(x)	Returns base 10 log. log10(10) = 1
M_PI	A variable set to pi at 20 decimal places
max(a,b)	Returns maximum between a and b    max(5,10) = 10
max3(a,b,c)	Returns maximum between a, b, and c.    max3(5,2,4) = 5
min(a,b)	Returns minumum between a and b.    min(5,10) = 10
min3(a,b,c)	Returns minumum between a, b, and c.    min3(5,2,4) = 2
a%b	Modulus. 27%20 = 7
pow(x,y)	Returns x to the y power. pow(2,4) = 16
round(x)	Rounds number off. Values below x.5 are rounded to x, values equal to or above x.5 are rounded to x+1. round(4.3) = 4
sqrt(x)	Square root. sqrt(9) = 3
Noise Functions	These are ideal for WarpX and ColorX.
noise(seed)	1 dimensional cubic spline interpolation of noise
noise2d(seed,seed)	2d noise
noise3d(seed,seed,seed)	3d noise
noise4d(seed,seed,seed,seed)	4d noise
lnoise(seed)	1d linear interpolation of noise
lnoise2d(seed,seed)	2d noise
lnoise3d(seed,seed,seed)	3d noise
lnoise4d(seed,seed,seed,seed)	4d noise
fnoise(x,xScale)	1d fractal noise based on noise()
fnoise2d(x,y,xScale,yScale)
fnoise3d(x, y, z, xScale, yScale, zScale)
turbulence(x, xScale)	A cheaper, rougher version of fnoise().
turbulence2d(x, y, xScale, yScale )	Continuous 2d noise
turbulence3d(x, y, z, xScale, yScale, zScale)	Continuous 3d noise
rnd(seed)	Hash-based pseudo-random numbers. Non-hash based RNG (like rand() or drand48()) should not be used in Shake because they can’t be reproduced from one machine to another, and even on the same machine, repeated evaluations of the same node at the same time would produce different results.
rnd1d(seed, seed)	1d random value
rnd2d(seed,seed,seed)	2d random value
rnd3d(seed,seed,seed,seed)	3d random value
rnd4d(seed,seed,seed,seed,seed)	4d random value
Trig Functions (in radians)
M_PI	A variable set to pi at 20 decimal places.
acos(A)	Arc cosine in radians
asin(A)	Arc sine
atan(A)	Arc tangent
atan2(y,x)	Returns the radian verifying sin(a) = y and cos(a) = x.
cos(A)	Cosine
sin(A)	Sin
Trig Functions (in degrees)
	Hmmm, yummy trigonometry! Welcome back. For those of you who may have forgotten, here is a helpful chart for some commonly used equations.
acosd(A)	arc cosine in degrees
asind(A)	arc sine in degrees
atand(A)	arc tangent in degrees
atan2d(y,x)	returns the angle verifying sin(a) = y and cos(a) = x.
cosd(A)	cosine in degrees
distance(x1,y1,x2,y2)	calculates the distance between two points, (x1,y1) and (x2, y2)
sind(A)	sin in degrees
tand(A)	tangent in degrees
String Functions
stringf( “xyz”, …)	Since you basically can write books on this, here is an example. Otherwise, it is recommended to purchase a book on C. There are also several examples under the Scripts documentation. This example takes the scriptName parameter and uses the system function echo to print it:    extern “C” int system(const char*); const char *z= stringf(”echo %s”,scriptName); system(z);
printf( “xyz”, …)
strlen(”mystring”)	Returns the length of the string
strsub(    const char *string, int offset, int length )	Extracts a string from another string.
Curve Functions	The curve functions with implicit time (Linear, CSpline, etc.) all assume that time is the first argument, so the following statements are identical:    LinearV(time,0,1@1,20@20) Linear(0,1@1,20@20) You can, however, adjust the time value explictly with the V version of each curve type. For more infomation on spline types, jump to About Splines. These are the cycle type codes: 0 = KeepValue 1 = KeepSlope 2 = RepeatValue 3 = MirrorValue 4 = OffsetValue
biasedGain(x,gain,bias)	Gives a smoothly ramped interpolation between 0 and 1, similar to Shake’s contrast curve. gain increase the contrast, and bias offsets the center.
Linear(cycle,    value@key1, value@key2, …)	Linear interpolation from value at key1 to value at key2, etc.
LinearV(time_value, cycle, value@key1,    value@key2, …)	Linear interpolation from value at key1 to value at key2, etc.
CSpline(cycle,    value@key1, value@key2, …)	Cardinal-spline interpolation, a.k.a. Catmull-Rom splines
CSplineV(time_value, cycle, value@key1,    value@key2, …)	Cardinal-spline interpolation, a.k.a. Catmull-Rom splines
JSpline(cycle,    value@key1, value@key2, …)	Jeffress-spline interpolation
JSplineV(time_value, cycle, value@key1,    value@key2, …)	Jeffress-spline interpolation
NSpline(cycle,    value@key1, value@key2, …)	Natural-spline interpolation
NSplineV(time_value, cycle, value@key1, value@key2,…)	Natural-spline interpolation
Hermite(cycle,    [value,tangent1,tangent2]@key1, [value,tangent1,tangent2]@key2, …)	Hermite-spline interpolation
HermiteV(time_value, cycle,    [value,tangent1,tangent2]@key1, [value,tangent1,tangent2]@key2, …)	Hermite-spline interpolation