3D Digital Intermediate workflow with Cineform Neo3D:

Cineform’s Neo3D application finally allows for serious workflows in editing, Digital Intermediate (DI) and Color grading in full Stereoscopic 3D, at an affordable price. Affordable price does not in this case, mean a compromise in quality. In fact it actually has features that the bigger black boxed solutions will be taking a look at, in order to catch up. Staying in 4:2:2 or full 4:4:4 colorspace and the innovative use of “metadata” for non destructive or non baked-in workflows is what puts Neo3D ahead of the game.

Is this a promotional article? Hardly. Real Vision only reviews technology, and methodology that makes sense. Cineform’s Neo3D is one such offering. Some features worth mentioning and borrowed from the Cineform website:

Full 3D editorial workflow: Using Neo3D, you have a consistent 3D editing workflow that is cross-platform compatible with Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Media Composer, Vegas, and other editorial and effects tools in a manner similar to editing any CineForm 2D file.

First Light™ 3D: the heart of Neo3D. All 2D and 3D adjustments are implemented as Active Metadata under control of First Light. The First Light application is kept active during editorial and allows adjustments of 2D and 3D Active Metadata parameters.

Display Support for most 3D monitors: Real-time formatting of CineForm 3D media into a selectable 3D presentation format during 3D decode based on the 3D monitoring setup: dual-link stereo, passive polarized, active shutter (page flip), or anaglyph

Keyframeable 3D Adjustments (all real-time):

- Convergence: horizontal, vertical or rotation (skew) between Left and Right eyes

- Stereo color adjustments: white balance, exposure, saturation, lift, gamma, gain, and more

- Crop/zoom including pan and scan

- Titles, metadata, and graphics overlays

- Individual Eye Adjustments for color and image flip useful for beam-splitter 3D rigs

- Keystoning Adjustment: Allows correction for camera toe-in/out

- Depth Tilt to adjust relative depth of primary objects in a scene

- Ghost Busting to reduce high contrast ghosting visible on some passive displays

- 3D file creation and synchronization, including slipping one eye relative to another when sources are out of alignment.

What is First Light™ 3D?

The video above is worth watching to get a firsthand overview of what a non-destructive and meta-data driven Stereoscopic 3D DI workflow is all about. This is the heart of a Neo3D based workflow. First Light sits in the background and serves up the “look” and “feel” that you design for your 3D videos and serves that up to ANY video application such as Non Linear Editors (NLEs), Stereo 3D playback software and third party preferred color grading or compositing tools.

Food for thought from Real Vision -The Future with Neo3D and stereo3D DI:

You already knew that this was not just another product review; there would be more! That is the only reason that RealVision would ever invest time in documenting already readily available information on the web.

So to get started here is some food for thought, some of which can be implemented right away, or otherwise worth thinking about.

1) RealFlex 3D Camera Interaxial Tech for Neo 3D:

Once a 3D video has been shot either by a beamsplitter or parallel 3D camera setup, changing the “3D volume” is near impossible. More expensive applications such as Nuke with Ocula and systems such as SGOs Mistika allow for doing this with varying degrees of success based on the scene or shot. Simple H.I.T (horizontal image translation) does not change interaxial or re-shape the 3D volume of a scene, it only allows for moving the entire “volume” forwards or backward into 3D space.

Real Vision had shown a more cost effective and surprisingly effective approach using AfterEffects, called the Real:Flex method to shape 3D Volume or change the interaxial, after-the-fact. To use this with Neo3D would entail:

• Laying the left and Right videos on the Aftereffects Timeline, prior to using FirstLight.
• Setting the desired interaxial using the RealFlex method
• Then rendering / converting the the video segment out via the CineForm Codec.

This by itself does not add to the workflow, as in most cases the proper in and out point will be set beforehand while “shaping” the new interaxial, and may thus actually speed up the transcoding and muxing process of the raw left-right videos to Cineform format.

We hope that Cineform looks at the underlying technology (usually morphing and warping) that goes into the RealFlex method and implements this in upcoming versions of NEO3D, thereby making it a more powerful product for Stereo 3D work.

2) Neo3D + Metadata = Gamechanging Stereoscopic 3D

The Cinedeck recorder is fast becoming a must-have for serious s3D production. Rather than copy-paste, visit the dedicated website. The interesting part is that it now supports direct recording in stereo 3D via the Silicon Imagining Si2K cameras. The Si2K cameras in turn support Cooke i/DataLink lenses…

What does this all lead to?… The image above shows how consumer grade cameras such as the Sony NEX can literally “dial in” the amount of de-focus needed to effectively blur out the entire background, something we call the Circle of Isolation in an image when shooting live. For good stereo 3D, we know that any semi-blur imagery is disastrous and will hurt audiences by causing eye-strain when trying to fuse such imagery. Yet Directors are accustomed to Depth of Field as a creative story telling tool…

If a 3D camera rig were based on Cameras such as Si2k with a pair of Cooke i/Data lenses, we effectively get on a frame-by-frame basis, very important lens parameters such as Depth Of Field, T-Stop, Focal Length, Zoom and even lens distortion (as these are based on serial numbers of Cooke Lenses). This metadata which is available for every frame of video recorded is in-valuable for later manipulation for creative stereoscopic 3D production.

Some benefits:

• The resulting stereo video file, when used in compositing packages such as Nuke, could allow for effects such as complete background de-focus based on Depth of field meta-data within a NEO3D video clip.
• For Stereoscopic Match Moving (pdf link) in software such as Syntheyes, PFTracker, Nuke and AfterEffects – This would require Cineform to write plugins for these packages so as to transparently read this embedded meta-data.
• 3D rendering applications such as Maya and Lightwave can benefit from such a Cineform plugin that could parse meta-data and transfer these readings to virtual camera and lights used in the 3D package

Almost all of todays block-buster movies rely heavily on a mix of Realworld imagery and CGI. It gets even more complicated in a stereoscopic 3D production. NEO3D has the potential to be the ‘carrier’ or speaker of a common language via metadata between the various tools used in s3D productions.

Imagine being able to encapsulate, again, on a frame by frame basis, nuances in T-stop, focus, color temperature settings etc, from an on-location or post production session directly in background video plates via Neo3D. Then applying these parameters to 3D software to apply to the virtual camera, lights and environment. A final grade will always be done… But the ability to do everything in a “non baked in” and non destructive format via metadata and Neo3D is what would be the Gamechanger for s3D production.

The future looks good for a workflow based on metadata and a platform or conduit such as Neo3D. Already almost any application dealing with video on either the MAC or PC can take advantage of the transparency of background workflow done by Cineform’s Firstlight and Neo3D. We hope that the above food for thought furthers this into new territory!