Course

October 20 download pdf
October 27 download pdf

Here are Kate and my gnotes from the following classes:

August 25 download pdf
September 01 download pdf
September 08 download pdf
September 22 download pdf
October 06 download pdf


The rest are coming soon.

Editorial: Craft & Tools, Craft v. Tools.
James Haygood



James Haygood, one of the pre- and post-millenial decades' most respected editors, will discuss editing process, the way in which contemporary tools both influence and impede editorial choices, and the possibility of a new workflow that first enables and then depends on a more explicit integration of editorial activity into the broader production effort.

VFX: Pipeline, Bottlenecks, Workflow, Process.
John Nelson




John Nelson, accomplished visual effects supervisor of such monumental efforts as Iron Man, Gladiator, and I, Robot, speaks about the role of VFX in modern filmmaking, how the discipline has been integrated into the larger production process, and opportunities for refining elements of the effects workflow.

I have uploaded my powerpoint presentation as a PDF for everyone's reference. Enjoy!

Flatbed Presentation

Gestural Interface Questions:

1) The gspeak gripe sheet indicates finger angle. Can finger angle in orientation to other fingers be a variable for commands? Additionally, an the thumb be normal to the palm as a command?

2) Is there a character input system designed for gspeak? Is it intuitive? Is there any feedback when you enter a character?

3) Gspeak is an optical system. How far beyond the central space can it see? Does it lose sensitivity outside the immediate area? If so, how much?

4) Can the angle and orientation of the (Ikea) table be modified to fit different purposes? How difficult would it be to modify (adjust the table, adjust the projector, etc.)?

5) Dare I ask? How much does the gspeak system cost? Can it be replicated commercially and/or economically?

Cinema Production Questions

6) How do visual effects artists replicate lighting in shots with live action? Do they consult the gaffer or cinematographer's notes or simply execute by trial and error?

7) Random and specific: what is the most effective and accurate method for creating shots with turbulence (earthquakes, spaceships, etc.)? How do you coordinate performance, camera, and post effects to achieve this dynamic?

8) Has anyone figured out how to effectively keep sound edits in sync with picture cut revisions? Can collaboration between picture and sound editors occur in a live simultaneous environment?

9) How common are pickup shoots for large-budget features? And to what complexity are these pickups permitted? How much original content is scheduled beyond principal photography?

10) What roll, if any, does the production designer play in post? Is there anything a production designer should be able or would like to do with footage after it is shot?

g-Speak Questions
1. Has a formal database been developed for g-Speak?
2. How is excess data currently handled within the system?
3. How easy is it to enter text?
4. What other external technologies can be used?
5. Is there more sample code than what we already have? Is there any current database code with the Java application?

Production Questions
1. On average, how many people are involved in the editing process? How many of these people play an integral, hands-on role?
2. What types of notes are kept during the editing process?
3. How is versioning done?
4. How common is it to do multiple edits of the same scene and show all to gather feedback? Multiple iterations at once vs. single iterations continuously.
5. What happens to all the leftover footage?

Project Pitch Documents
I would like to focus on the Bin structure and capabilities within an editing environment. I think it would be beneficial to tag clips with notes, key phrases, inspiration pieces, pre-vis element, etc, aggregating any elements accumulated during the pre and post production phases in one location.

Download Pitch Outline

5 Questions regarding the interface:
1. Can the interface distinguish readily between right and left hands?
2. How much processing power is required simply for gestural recognition / interface elements (projector screens, logistics)
3. How many physical tags can be tracked at any given time?
4. Can physical tags track orientation similar to the finger tags?
5. How is text input handled at the moment? Is it handled?

5 Filmmaking Questions:
1. What kinds of custom hardware are being utilized among key depts. in the modern workflow?
2. Software? Is most of it custom?
3. How much of the film is director oriented - and how much is primarily constructed and managed by splinter groups (animators, effects artists, etc) working entirely on their own volition?
4. How important are aesthetic concerns when designing a program for any given dept. versus straight functionality?
5. How have the role of traditional storyboards changed (or been antiquated) by modern live action film techniques - are they still necessary within the spectrum of previs?

Both of these may be out in time for our class to compare them to our own techniques-
PS3 EyePet Trailer
360 Project Natal Interface

DimP Prototype Video Player is free and downloadable (Windows and an OSX port) for an alternative control schema regarding timeline control with "gestural" motions using the mouse. You can download it and try it out for yourself

For the third Immersive Moviemaking class, we were asked to come with ten questions (five technical and five production-related). I ended up with eleven.

In connection with the general theme of pipeline & workflow reform, Prof. McDowell -- acting as co-chair of the Joint ASC / ADG Technology Committee -- guest-edited three volumes of American Cinematographer, the American Society of Cinematographer's (ASC's) primary journalistic organ. These appeared as Authoring Images in May 2007, August 2007, and March 2008.

With some small difficulty, you can access a kind of archive of these materials online. The site, desperate for your exemplars, encourages you to fill in all sorts of personal information... for some person.

There's great stuff throughout all three -- it's certainly worth looking through and referencing the various case studies -- but please read the transcripts of the Committee's round-table discussions (that's the assignment).

If one desires, one may click this link to access the short video montage I created for last week's CTIN499 class. To review the interfaces:

1. The Gamepod interface from eXistenZ, a film by David Cronenberg in which he explores avatars and abstractions.

2. An interface from Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which Data competes with a regional master playing a game that utilizes a 10-input interface attached to the user's fingers, allowing game manipulation through finger movement.

3. Another interface from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which allows the user to control several simple holographic projections with literally the blink of an eye.

Without further adieu, the video link.

interface

experimental organic interface

http://tomgerhardt.com/mudtub/

fold loud
http://www.vimeo.com/2059708

sixthsense a wearable gestural interface MIT Media Lab

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySPDjtVnHIA

music video

http://www.sophiegateau.com/film/


virtual fish pond

http://www.vimeo.com/2276476

Here are the videos I talked about.

The following video explores possible future interfaces either in development or slated for development at Microsoft. Through an elaborate production, several sophisticated devices are introduced and applied to daily circumstance.

I think this video is a compelling presentation both in style and substance; undoubtedly a great pitch product for the interest of investors or users. Short and sweet! I think it is very interesting, especially in the context of the 499 course, that the bulk of the interfaces presented are touch-based. I am not sure I agree with this direction, though it certainly works well in many practical circumstances. This video also presents many interesting ideas on data transfer (capturing it through a view-finder, placing a phone on a table, etc.). Gesture will need to compete with these data transfer conveniences for the notion to stick to the popular market.

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090228/microsoft-office-labs-vision-2019-video/

Making Movies is Hard Fun: Building Tools for Telling Stories
Michael B. Johnson, PhD.

Here are some resources I assembled for CTIN499 ("Immersive Moviemaking"), a class on using gestural input systems to shock us into revising assumptions about the preproduction/production/postproduction distinction. As a computer programmer, I am most sympathetic to this goal. The combined approach has been implemented in the CS world for some time now: Smalltalk (by coding in the debugger), Max/MSP, and other "live" languages distinguish between "programmer" environment and "user" environment either barely or not at all; Ruby and LISP problems are often worked out in an interactive prompt before they are copied into source code (this is sort of like previs in movies, I believe). Unfortunately, even though these solutions have been around for decades, most programming still takes place in dead source code files which are then compiled, linked into a binary, run as an application, and then shut down to start over again.

These are a few interfaces that I chose to show in class, I also have an analysis of other, more common, gestures below, downloadable in a word docx.

Carville

http://www.vimeo.com/3605050
Razorfish has created a variety of Microsoft Surface applications including DaVinci, a physics engine application similar to Crayon Physics. One of their more unique applications is Carville, which is intended to be used at a car dealership. Carville allows users to interact with a ficticious town by moving tangible objects, such as buildings and objects within the application, such as trees, fire hydrants, and animals. Users can also drive a car of their choice with a single-touch controlled steering wheel. By driving to certain locations, users can discover more information about the car such as safety
ratings and special features.

Fontplore
www.fontplore.org | http://vimeo.com/5664292
Fontplore uses a custom built multi-touch surface to explore a font database and help to visualize what selected fonts will look like on various documents. Fontplore uses objects to control the interface. The main navigation object allows a user to rapidly move through the large font database. The second object allows a user to perform commit actions such as save and print based on its placement over a font and its rotation. Both objects have colored light feedback to show the system’s action state.

Guten Touch
http://vimeo.com/3288753
“Guten Touch is an interactive art installation that involves people into a natural relationship with technology.” Guten Touch promotes natural interactions with projected images on a touch wall to engage people in human-friendly experiences.

David Morin
David is an independent consultant currently representing the Media & Entertainment division of Autodesk Inc. in the Los Angeles area.

After earning a B.Sc.A. in computer science from Laval University (Quebec City, Canada) in 1982, David first worked as an artist in traditional media. In 1991 he joined Softimage, a 3D software company, where he participated in the early development of 3D software technologies, supported product sales and marketing in various functions worldwide, opened the Softimage office in Santa Monica, California, headed the Special Projects Group first as Director when Softimage was acquired by Microsoft, and as Vice-President when the division was sold to Avid Technology. In 2000 David joined Manex Entertainment as President of the MVFX division, a visual effects house. In 2001 he retired from the industry to concentrate on personal projects, and in 2007 came back as an independent consultant. David currently represents the Media & Entertainment division of Autodesk Inc. in the Los Angeles area.

Current Titles
Consultant, Autodesk
Chair, Autodesk Film CTO Advisory Council
Chair, Joint Technology Committee on Virtual Production
Co-chair, ASC-ADG-VES Joint Technology Subcommittee on Previsualization

Ron Frankel
President and Founder of the previsualization company Proof, has been a pioneer in the integration and development of previs into the film production process. He was the first to introduce Directors such as Steven Spielberg, David Fincher and Darren Aronofsky to the use of previsualization as a combined technical and creative film-making tool. Ron is a driving force behind integrating previs throughout the various film production departments, moving previs beyond its roots in visual effects to serve Directors, Cinematographers, Production Designers and VFX Supervisors. Recent collaborators include Zack Snyder, Alex McDowell, Marc Forster and Tarsem Singh.

Through this integration, Ron continues to develop bleeding-edge previsualization processes in other visual platforms such as video game development, commercial production and experience design planning. He has provided previs solutions to create immersive environments for the Museum of Modern Art, New York (in collaboration with Imaginary Forces, Greg Lynn and Alex McDowell) and provided motion capture planning for video games such as Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Blitz (in collaboration with Midway Games, Chicago).

Ron has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and a Masters of Architecture from MIT. He is the Co-Chair of the ASC/ADG/VES Previsualization Committee and is a founding member of 5D. His work has been published in Cinefex, VFX World, American Cinematographer and the New York Times. In addition to his work at Proof, Ron has taught classes in animation and previsualization at SCI-Arc and Otis College of Art and Design.

Current Title
Co-chair, ASC-ADG-VES Joint Technology Subcommittee on Previsualization

CTIN 499 is a course about moviemaking and media production; about gestural interface and new technologies that immerse practitioners more completely in the work of creation; about making production profoundly nonlinear, so that its elements are brought into re-entrant contact with each other. And so it's about process: the organizational structures and the flows of effort -- human and technological -- that together shape media production. Film, whose own methodologies are sliding and being pushed sideways from analog to digital, will serve as an anchor for our inquiry, but the workflows that attend animation, interactive media creation, experience design, and game production are the topic no less.

Just abutting film's imminent transformation, human-machine interface is about to slip the bonds of the mouse-based GUI's twenty-five year monopoly. What's next is the spatial operating environment. The SOE's acknowledgment of the embodied, real-world nature of humans and pixels alike enables a new style of interaction: gestural, direct, as expressive as hands must be allowed to be.

In this project-centered course, then, we'll survey present-day workflows (with frequent guest-addresses from industry domain experts) and so form an understanding of where and how and by what forces true nonlinear production is currently impeded. In parallel, student teams will undertake three comprehensive tool-building projects. Each team will focus on one particular production domain in order to (1) conceptualize and storyboard a new tool or toolset; (2) author a proof-of-concept video 'simulation' of the tool; and finally (3) construct a working, interactive prototype of the tool atop the g-speak SOE.

By year end, the three-project packages from the class's teams should provide a compelling glimpse of future production workflow.

[ instructors: alex mcdowell & john underkoffler; syllabus; flower street annex location; schedule: tuesdays 6-8.45p ]