View allAll Photos Tagged visualeffects
Nikon DG-2
magnifiying cup for my D300 eyepiece that can swing off. In the "Use" position.
I use this when photographing props, textures, miniatures, even things further to see a little bit better and make sure i'm in focus.
Hilti PD38
this is a laser range meter. you point and press the big button and it gives you the distance, very accurately.
Pros:
- works good in sunlight
- shock/drop protected
- it can calculate area and volume for you but i usually don't have to do that on the fly.
- it has bluetooth connectivity to a pc (windows/BOO) or a pda (again windows/SUCK). so when i press the button and take a measurement, it sends the number over to the pda in an excel spreadsheet cell. VERY NICE and saves me from human error and my bad penmanship. surveying a location or set by myself (as i'm usually forced to do) this is a time-saver. when i have an assist with me, we can do a lot of data collecting very quickly.
Cons:
- the bluetooth only talks to PC/Windows machines. it's stupid because all it's doing is sending a number, i wish they would have an SDK or something.
- they don't make this anymore. but you can still find new ones in stock remaining in stores and at their own warehouse.
I'm saving up for the Leica Disto D8 which has a color screen, and everything my Hilti does. The good news is Leica will work with software people to try and get their laser meters to work with your software via bluetooth.
The bad news is the D8 doesn't look like it has much protection, I have dropped my laser from serious heights and it's survived. (yet for some reason the plastic sheet protector for the screen has never come off).
wired shutter remote with lock trigger. essential when doing run-n-gun hdri and your not tethered/firing from the laptop. if you press the shutter release while the body is on the tripod and/or panorama head, you risk shaking the camera.
i always try and hang a small sandbag on my tripod near the top of the tripod to firm it up. i rotate the head, wait a beat for the camera to settle and then fire from the remote. i bracket exposures between 5 and 11 shots per angle. i usually only do 4 angles every 90 degrees.
i pack two of these, when i travel, and they're packed in separate bags. it's exactly when you need to replace one that you can't find one for a hundred miles...
Suunto PM-5 Clinometer
with this and your brain to do a little math, you can calculate height, slope and vertical of almost anything. good for big surveys of things like trees, houses, terrain.
Calculated Industries Frame Master II
This thing has saved my ass more times than i can count. When you and the editor are tired and stupid from no sleep, this thing is a god send. it can convert any timecode/filmcode/frames of any rate. The Foot+frame conversion to Minutes:Seconds with one button push is great, push the button again and it shows time code (ndf, df). You can program a frame rate in memory and it will convert for that as well.
the button layout, the ease of use, even the sturdy build of this thing (which has lasted easily over 10 years) is awesome. i have tried every software/iphone framecode/timecode calculator out there and none are this easy and this fast.
the ONLY con is it is not backlit but that is the only complaint i have.
p.s. Calculated industries don't make these anymore and don't plan to. somebody write some letters!
Nikon magnifiying cup for my D300 eyepiece that can swing off.
I use this when photographing props, textures, miniatures to see a little bit better.
Leatherman.
don't get the keychain, mini or ones with plastic colored handles.
if it's not heavy, grey and can hurt you, you probably have the wrong one.
this one has sawing knife for rope, a finer knife for cutting filament, screwdriver, wire cutters, pliers. and optional bit-kit.
Leatherman 830160 Surge Pocket Multitool with Leather Sheath
i also like the Gerber multi-tools as well.
25 foot tape measure
sometimes lasers don't work especially for props or pieces with nothing to bounce off of.
- english and metric
- really bright tape with BIG numbers so you can see them in darker corners, etc.
- backside of tape has a vertical read scale to make reading up and down walls easier
- the tip has a hook and is magnetic, very helpful when you're doing measuring alone. the magnet is strong enough to hold the whole tape fully extended.
i have broken 2 of these (this is my 3rd). they don't make them anymore because i think they finally got smart and evolved the model to have a rubber casing to protect from drops.
[UPDATE: BROKEN]
nikon mb-10 extra battery and vertical grip.
my D300 fires pretty fast, so i don't use it that much when doing sphericals. i do use it for still photography of textures, photogrammetry elements and reference stills.
Nikon MB-D10 Multi Power Battery Pack for Nikon D300 & D700 Digital SLR Cameras
Green Cube Solo!
made of pine. exactly 12" cubed. open on one side and padded inside. it also holds the chrome/grey ball.
i actually bought this to hang framed photos at my place. now i use it to layout tracking markers evenly across floors and walls.
Pros:
- it can screw onto a tripod
- it is self leveling
- three modes: vertical line, horizontal line, crosshair
Cons:
- good for about 30 feet
- not great in sunlight
affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/build-...
hp ipaq pda - the only reason i own and use this is to work with the Hilti PD38 laser meter i mentioned before www.flickr.com/photos/alba/3751662822/in/photostream/
NDs you can for use for vfx when shooting plates with no crowd control, a locked off long exposure will usually get rid of the moving people.
wratten filters:
wratten 47b and 47
wratten 58
wratten 25
used for checking contrast and spill on greenscreens, bluescreen and redscreens. i don't use these too much anymore since pulling mattes and correcting spill has gotten to be so good.
i have the Tri-color Wrattens protected in Gepe slide mounts with Anti-Newton glass (Anti-Newton glass is glass thats been treated to prevent air pockets that occur when 2 pieces of glass are pressed together, light passes thru the air pockets and causes small rings of light also known as "Newton's Rings" because the phenomenon was discovered by Sir Isaac Newton)
My question is when did Sir Isaac Newton have time to be VFX Supervisor?
Golf tees.
I Stick in these in the ground or grass if i don't have time for a more elaborate tracking setup. they are super neon bright, so i only need the tip to show. easy to key out and big enough for the tracker to track them.
tamrac filter case, stuffed with various ND, Pola and gels
ND filters help with shooting areas with people walking through. ( i think photoshop can do this automatically now).
Students at work in 3D Animation & Visual Effects' spacious "ant farm" computer lab.
Find out more about VFS's one-year 3D Animation & Visual Effects program at vfs.com/3D
all at attention
the Pelican 1510 (Left) Exterior Dimensions (L x W x D): 22.00" x 13.81" x 9.00" (55.9 x 35.1 x 22.9 cm)
the Pelican 1620 (Right) Exterior Dimensions (L x W x D): 24.81" x 19.37" x 13.87" (63 x 49.2 x 35.2 cm)
unless i need to get in them constantly. when on set i leave them upright for a smaller footprint (it's all about square footage when on set/location) and because i actually have a little pad and theyre a good height to just sit on.
the green tape is so people can see them in the dark (safety first kids)
Pelican 1620 Case
"the big one"
i call this my 3D case, since it's filled with mostly markers and a green cube and the chrome/grey ball.
ready to roll with convenient slide out handles.
the smaller one gets carried on. the bigger one gets checked in and is usually pretty heavy so i'm always paying an extra 50 bucks for weight or something. sometimes i will ship it ahead of travel or even fedex it. yes, it's expensive.
The British a Capella band The Magnets had their show at the CAPe - Centre des Arts Pluriels d'Ettelbruck, and I just couldn't believe how good these guys were. Check them out www.youtube.com/user/TheMagnetsvideos
Prints, workshops and more
Actual model shoot with the Triceratops Megazord. The wires we're manipulating allowed the head and mouth to move. Maybe even the tail? I don't remember. From left, me and Rick Shick.
Here's the Mega Thunderzord scene that puppet ended up in.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKC5B7k5r4w
Watching it again, I see now that we were attempting to match directly to Japanese footage. Not bad for a bunch of kids.
Actual model shoot with the Dragon Thunderzord. The wires we're manipulating allowed the dragon to appear as if it were writhing in mid-air. From left, modelmaker Todd Rex, me, and a guy whose name I don't recall.
Here's the Mega Thunderzord scene that puppet ended up in.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKC5B7k5r4w
Watching it again, I see now that we were attempting to match directly to Japanese footage. Not bad for a bunch of kids.
Download National Emblem of India (High Quality vector file in EPS format)
Click on the link given below to download:
psd-help.blogspot.com/2009/09/national-emblem-of-india-ep...