Enhanced immersion 3D POV video concept

[Nick3DvB]

Try SVP, it's free and it will interpolate the missing frames for you, not sure if it's motion vector analyzer can cope with fisheye video, would be interesting to find out...

[Skaven252]

Thanks for the tip! I'll look into it... looks like I'll have to figure out how to and where to bolt this one on in my AviSynth -> VirtualDub -> Vegas Movie Studio pipeline.

SVP sounds awesome though, looks like it does the interpolation by morphing between the frames, rather than by just crossfading them.

[Nick3DvB]

Yes, I've had it running at 144fps on my CRT and it looks great. You could try and add SVPflow / MVtools2 to the your avisynth script but if you use "DirectShowSource" then SVP manager should intercept it anyway, it has an option for "variable frame-rate repair". The only problem I have had so far is that some encoders ignore the frame rate flag so even if you set their fps to match you get slow motion or speed-up.

[Skaven252]

Upgraded my "Telehead" rig a bit. I'm now using a pair of Braun Sixzero cameras instead of the VIOs., and a Zoom H1 instead of H-2. The microphone is the same awesome 3Dio Free Space.



The VIO POV.HDs (see previous page) had a bunch of problems:

• The imaging units, while compact, are attached to bulky recording units via a cable. This made the setup a bit unwieldy, as I had to strap two bricks to my chest.
• The battery life is quite short with the 4 AA batteries
• There were frequent issues with variable framerate and dropped frames, making it difficult to sync and pair the footage

None of that with the Sixzeros. Rock solid constant framerate. Better low light performance. Lightweight and compact - the rig is now fully handheld without bricks dangling on cables. And all this at half the price of VIOs. I first considered the Sony HDR-AS15 (superior low light performance), but they totally botched the form factor for that (worth another rant).

The Zoom H1 audio recorder is more compact than the H-2, and simpler to use (one press to record), plus the tripod mount socket is conveniently located.

Handy extra: the cameras emit a clear beep when they start recording. This makes it very easy to sync the footage.

First test shoot: Wintery walk through the Söderhallarna mall (YouTube)

The only real issue with the Sixzeros is white balance. All fluorescent indoor footage gets awfully yellow. I guess I can fix that in post.

[cybereality]

Cool video, man!

[BOLL]

Nice result! Did you use the fluffpuffs on the ears as you were walking around?

[Fredz]

Very nice video, it's getting better ! It would be nice if someone could try to view it on the devkit or a DIY HMD and tell us what it looks like.

[Skaven252]

Nice result! Did you use the fluffpuffs on the ears as you were walking around?

Yep, the 3Dio Free Space comes with wind shields, and it's a pretty good idea to use them outdoors. I don't like the rumbly sound of wind blowing on mikes.

Here's a new (unlisted) video shot with the handheld "Telehead". A sunny cold winter day in Norrmalm, Stockholm. I used a tone mapping curve to reduce the contrast in the darkest silhouettes a bit, seems to work well against ghosting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yutkBYLOmI

As mentioned earlier, the setup used here is 2 x Braun Sixzero, mounted on top of the 3Dio Free space microphone.

The video has not been fisheye corrected, so it looks characteristically "action cam distorted". It's such a laborous (and lossy, and inconvenient) pass to defish it with AviSynth + VirtualDub for editing in Vegas. I wish there was a more convenient option. Preferably a plugin for Vegas. The only such I was able to find, did not do the correction properly, the result looked warped. It needs a 3rd degree polynome to work right, and most plugins are 2nd degree only.

Interestingly, though, this fisheye distortion may make the video optimal for wide FOV HMD viewing. You don't need to apply the "Carmack Warp" on the footage, because it's already warped. But it would have to match the required amount of warping precisely to look correct.

[Skaven252]

My Oculus Rift devkit arrived yesterday, so I immediately proceeded to test my videos with it.

I could fairly easily set the Rift as the preview device in Vegas. The videos' Convergence and Keystone needed to be adjusted quite a bit to look good on the Rift display. I'm actually surpised how well the fisheye of the action cams I used matches the Rift lens distortion. The image looks more or less rectilinear without the realtime warping.

I rendered new versions yesterday and uploaded them to YouTube. So, if any of you have the devkit or another similar HMD, feel free to try these.

To view these, set YouTube to "Side by Side" and make it full screen, and duplicate the display to the Rift. No warping needed, the warp is baked into the video footage.

• Roller coaster ride
• Sunny winter day in Stockholm, skaters
• Running and climbing in a park (even very close-up objects like the monkey bars look OK on the Rift)