Directors Lens
A tool to rapidly create shots and edits of a 3D animation
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Directors Lens
Directors Lens is a new tool designed for animators and film directors to interactively explore a large collection of shots over their 3D animation, and rapidly create and compare multiple edits of the same animation. Designed in mind for virtual production and rapid prototyping of synthetic movies, the tool assists the filmmaker in exploring the cinematographic possibilities of his 3D scene.The Directors Lens engine generates shots encoding classical framing rules related to shot size (such as long/medium/close-up/extreme close-up shots), shot type (internal, external, apex, parallel, subjective) and shot composition (gaze room, rule of the thirds). The engine also selects shots according to continuity editing rules (jump-cut, 180 rule, change in size, and motion continuity). The tool is now developed as a plugin in Motion Builder. The tool connects with Vicon Streaming plugin in order to let the user reframe selected shots, and shoot free camera motions using a Virtual Camera System.
What's new?
| NEW! Apr. 2014 | We're presenting the new version of Directors Lens at FMX 2014! The software is completely integrated in Motion Builder and offers new features! Do come and visit us at FMX (marketplace, Booth 3.8) | NEW! Nov. 2013 | Talk and live demo of our Directors Lens tool at INRIA Grenoble. Marc Caro (a french filmmaker) tested our prototype! |
Features
- Automatic generation of stereotypical shots including: internal, external, apex, subjective, with ranges from Extreme Long Shots to Extreme Close-ups, and with medium, high and low angles
- Possibility of navigating through the set of shots depending on the targets to frame, the size of the shot, the type of shot, the visibility of targets (and more)
- Ability to store a frame composition, and re-apply it on different targets
- Ability to record free camera motions, and reapply them on different targets.
- Ability to connect with a Virtual Camera System
Directors Lens Motion Builder plugin
Directors Lens is now implemented as a plugin in Motion Builder 2014.Here is a video quickly edited from our FMX session!
Some snapshots are available here.
Video (old Ogre3D implementation) and white paper
Here is a short video demonstrating the concept of our tool (old 2011 implementation using Ogre3D).The paper describing the work is available: (presentation at ACM Mumtimedia 2011). The directors lens: an intelligent assistant for virtual cinematography
Contacts
Marc Christie, INRIA Rennes Bretagne AtlantiqueCampus de Beaulieu,
35042 Rennes Cedex, France
+33 299 847 525
email:marc.christie@inria.fr
Directors Lens has been co-developped by William Bares (College of Charleston, USA), Roberto Ranon, University of Udine, Christophe Lino , INRIA and myself.
The Motion Builder Plugin has been developped by Emmanuel Badier and myself, mostly inspired by the manifold surface representation we proposed at the Symposium on Computer Animation 2012 with Christophe Lino.