HDR with a 3D rig

[jonnycom]

We've been playing around shooting some HDR test with our 3d rig set to zero IO with 2 R1's not upgraded to MX and 2 Ruby lens. Doing the composite in AE with a luma key..... I think we are getting at least 16 stops of DR.

http://vimeo.com/11774969

http://vimeo.com/12828140

[michael zaletel]

That rocks Jonny!

I was just thinking about this possibility the other day looking at 3D Film Factory's Pro Beam Splitter Rig. What kinds of tools does AE CS5 have for HDR? I suspect this could be even bigger than shooting 3D with a beam splitter. Can you post the link for the 3D MegaRig?

-michael zaletel

[Andrew Rieger]

We've been playing around shooting some HDR test with our 3d rig set to zero IO with 2 R1's not upgraded to MX and 2 Ruby lens. Doing the composite in AE with a luma key..... I think we are getting at least 16 stops of DR.

http://vimeo.com/11774969

I wanted to do the exact same thing! How exactly are you doing this in after effects? I have never used the program before but I am curious. How do you deal with the differences in depth of field between the two footage sources? Even though you are shooting wideangle, there should be some DOF differences between T4 and T22. Could you do this with an 85mm lens or would it only work on wideangle lenses with super deep dof footage?

[jonnycom]

Andrew, your right there was a DOF difference because we were stopping down the dark camera but it was not that bad because they were wide angle lenses but it was there, we should have used ND's and that would solve it, with any lens.

As far as doing the composite in AE we used CS4 and just a luma key trying to find a edge feather that worked...... I'm not sure if it would be easier in CS5, I should check.

I agree Michael, I think there could be some cool applications for this type of motion HDR...

I will post some pics of the rig soon.

[FocusOptics]

Jon, thanks for using a pair of my wide angle 14-24 Rubies on your 3D rig. The footage is amazing.

Stuart

[Steve Das]

Good Job..looks more 3D than theatre 3D..
could be good reason to go for 2 Scarlets over 1 Epic

[Andrew Rieger]

I wonder if you could shoot both HDR and 3D at the same time with this set up. An underexposed right eye and an overexposed left eye? The HDR really does seem almost 3D in this scene. Add realm 3D and the effect will seem very very life-like.

[jonnycom]

Andrew, We are going to try something like that, so far we have been using 2 Red One's that have not been MXed. Currently we only have 1 MX but this week we will be shooting 3d on a golf course and want to see how far we can push the DR in 3D. Next week when we have 2 MX's in the rig we are going to shoot some Gamma&Density charts to see what we are really getting out of the MegaRig.

We are processing some HDR stuff shot over the weekend with the rig and it's looking good so far, here are some pics to give you an idea of the harsh contrast of the setups we are going for.

[Tom Mitchell]

i Think the epic has a solution for this so you can do HDR-3D as you like.

because the epic can shoot 120FPS at 4K there's no reason why it cant shoot at 50FPS ) and change the shutter angle for alternate frames (2 burst frames, within the 180 divided in to say 60 +120). red talked about HDR and the epic already, so I am assuming this is how there going to do it)

then you have 2 epics on a 3D rig and wola. HDR-3D (with MX style chips UBER latitude)

[Dan Hudgins]

I was talking about this before, it seems that the older sensor/board had some "black sun" problem and could not be used over a wide range, but they said the "black sun" problem has been fixed.

My software can fuse two sets of images together after you grade each.

To avoid a kink in the transfer curve, the shadow image should have the upper midtones and higher rolled off.

The highlight image should have its foot and sholder roll off as well, that should reduce the noise in the fused image, and let you get higher mid-tone contrast so the images look more "film like".

The images can be cropped, resized and rotated if needed also to get better register.

Its good to shoot a grid chart before shooting so you can align the cameras and twin footage easer later.

[AStamper]

I always toyed with the idea of shooting like you did, then exporting the image sequence to photoshop then use their HDR work to stitch them together.

I don't know if it would work but I've thought about it as an interesting workflow. One day I'll do a still life for a proof of concept maybe.

[jonnycom]

Here is another motion HDR clip. We did not shoot a grid or do any fixing in post as the optical pathway is virtually perfect with the OmniRig, once it is dialed down to zero it really is zero. We did the tone mapping in CS5 AE.

http://vimeo.com/12828140

[Brandon Kraemer]

Here is another motion HDR clip. We did not shoot a grid or do any fixing in post as the optical pathway is virtually perfect with the OmniRig, once it is dialed down to zero it really is zero. We did the tone mapping in CS5 AE.

http://vimeo.com/12828140

this looks pretty amazing... like where this is heading. IMHO... better use of a 3D rig, and no glasses required.

[Dennis Guskov]

2 burst frames, within the 180 divided in to say 60 +120

wouldn't it produce different motion blur?
or maybe I'm missing something here?

I proposed the idea of recording "exposure cycles" (instead of conventional shutter) to RED back when it was first developing the camera and asked for ideas from users to make their great camera greater. I don't think they heard me then, but now, looking at this idea, could this be the same thinking behind this?

[DCC Erickson]

Reminds me of something tangental - watched a docu about the rock band Queen - they used to sing the backup harmonies with lows, mids, and highs assigned. Then double and triple track with each singer also doing a pass singing the other two parts - how they got that shimmering, amazing tone.

[Brandon Kraemer]

Reminds me of something tangental - watched a docu about the rock band Queen - they used to sing the backup harmonies with lows, mids, and highs assigned. Then double and triple track with each singer also doing a pass singing the other two parts - how they got that shimmering, amazing tone.

Which is why their sound will endure for a long time, and auto-tune gimmicks will not, IMHO.

Another tangental example akin to this... how Brian Eno recorded David Bowie on Heros, setting up three mics at increasing distance from David, each on it's own gate. As he increasingly sang louder, the gates would open up one by one adding to the depth of the track and filling the sound with the natural reverb of the space.