Re: Wk7 - Computational Camera
Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 12:11 am
Kendall Stewart
11-13-12
Computational Camera
CMLab, National Taiwan University
http://graphics.csie.ntu.edu.tw/
http://graphics.csie.ntu.edu.tw/publication.php
This lab is developing a better way to perform matting and compositing for films. Matting and compositing are very common techniques used for special effects, where a subject is placed on a background where he/she/it was not originally shot. This is a process that is traditionally achieved through use of a blue/green screen, or a process called rotoscoping. Both require carefully controlled lighting and intensive user interaction. The CMLab created an algorithm that can pull alpha mattes of complex shapes from natural images. They then extended that algorithm to video, allowing complex mattes like smoke.
The CMLab’s model can also capture how a foreground object refracts and reflects light. This foreground object can then be placed on a new background where it will refract and reflect light from that scene. This program is also equipped with new techniques to make realistic shadow composites, by recognizing photometric and geometric properties of the background.
(green screen technology used in Avatar)
National Taiwan University’s research on matting and compositing relates to work that I hope to be a part of in the near future. Though I have taken few film classes while at UCSB, my ultimate goal after completing my art degree is to somehow be involved in the entertainment industry. When filmmakers are first starting out, they rarely have the budget for entire sets of green screen. This lab’s research would help me and many other first-time filmmakers to achieve an expensive look, without breaking the budget. And if the field I decide to go into is special effects, then this advanced matting and compositing algorithm will make my job easier.
11-13-12
Computational Camera
CMLab, National Taiwan University
http://graphics.csie.ntu.edu.tw/
http://graphics.csie.ntu.edu.tw/publication.php
This lab is developing a better way to perform matting and compositing for films. Matting and compositing are very common techniques used for special effects, where a subject is placed on a background where he/she/it was not originally shot. This is a process that is traditionally achieved through use of a blue/green screen, or a process called rotoscoping. Both require carefully controlled lighting and intensive user interaction. The CMLab created an algorithm that can pull alpha mattes of complex shapes from natural images. They then extended that algorithm to video, allowing complex mattes like smoke.
The CMLab’s model can also capture how a foreground object refracts and reflects light. This foreground object can then be placed on a new background where it will refract and reflect light from that scene. This program is also equipped with new techniques to make realistic shadow composites, by recognizing photometric and geometric properties of the background.
(green screen technology used in Avatar)
National Taiwan University’s research on matting and compositing relates to work that I hope to be a part of in the near future. Though I have taken few film classes while at UCSB, my ultimate goal after completing my art degree is to somehow be involved in the entertainment industry. When filmmakers are first starting out, they rarely have the budget for entire sets of green screen. This lab’s research would help me and many other first-time filmmakers to achieve an expensive look, without breaking the budget. And if the field I decide to go into is special effects, then this advanced matting and compositing algorithm will make my job easier.