Andersson Technologies LLC will be demonstrating the latest SynthEyes 2008+1 (2008.1) release of its versatile and affordable camera tracking application at NAB Booth SL7406 in Las Vegas, April 20-23. The new SynthEyes release will be demonstrated using the 64-bit OS X version; the leading-edge 64-bit OS X capability was announced in January.
New stereo film-making capabilities headline the new release, with automated stereo tracking, cross-linking, and solving. Camera-to-camera constraints help produce stable and chatter-free results, providing the option to lock any axis of the relative position or orientation to known or to-be-determined values, reflecting the mechanics of the stereo camera rig. For advanced rigs, animated inter-ocular or vergence constraints can be set up, including “hold” regions to eliminate chatter. For example, in a shot where the inter-ocular distance is static to begin with, then decreases, a hold region can eliminate chatter during the stationary portion.
Other new features support both stereo and regular single-camera shots, particularly concentrated in the SynthEyes image preprocessor. Highlights include—
* Simplified lens-distortion workflow
* Floating-point and half-float processing and storage
* Cubic distortion support
* Arbitrary lens-distortion curve presets
* 3-D Color LUT support
* Mirror imaging for mirror stereo rigs
* Keystone-correct camera re-aiming
* Batch sequence rendering
* Enhanced scriptability
These capabilities combine to make SynthEyes a powerful tool for 3-D film-making pipelines, in addition to its traditional strengths in visual effects and stabilization.
* Background
SynthEyes offers a complete high-end feature set, including tracking, stabilization, 3-D stereo, motion capture, and mesh building. It handles camera tracking, object tracking, object tracking from reference meshes, camera+object tracking, multiple-shot tracking, tripod (nodal, 2.5-D) tracking, mixed tripod and translating shots, zooms, lens distortion, and light solving. It can handle shots of any resolution—DV, HD, film, IMAX—and can solve shots with thousands of frames. A special feature simplifies and speeds tracking for green-screen shots. The image preprocessor can help remove grain, compression artifacts, off-centering, or varying lighting.
SynthEyes offers complete control over the tracking process for challenging shots, including an efficient workflow for supervised trackers, combined automated/supervised tracking, incremental solving, and a hard and soft path locking system. You can set up a coordinate system with tracker constraints, camera constraints, a line-based single-frame alignment system, or manually. SynthEyes exports to about 25 common animation and compositing packages, standard.
* Credits
Selected projects using SynthEyes include Australia, Bedtime Stories, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Defiance, Doubt, Fast & Furious, Gran Torino, Hannah Montana: The Movie and Best of Both Worlds (3-D), The International, John Adams, Magnificent Desolation (3-D), My Bloody Valentine 3-D, and The Spirit; television shows such as Caprica, Fringe, Leverage, and the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
* System Requirements
SynthEyes is offered for four platforms: 32-bit Windows, 64-bit Windows, 32-bit OS X, and 64-bit OS X. Windows versions support XP or Vista. The 32-bit OS X version supports OS X 10.4 or 10.5 (Intel/PowerPC); the 64-bit OS X version requires OS X 10.5 Leopard (Intel). We recommend 2-4 GB for 32-bit versions, 4 GB or more for 64-bit versions. See the web site for more information.
* Pricing and Availability
SynthEyes 2008 is available now. SynthEyes 2008+1 will be available a few weeks after NAB. SynthEyes 2008 licenses start at $399 for 32-bit versions. The 64-bit OS X version is $599. The 64-bit Windows 2008+1 will be $499; presently it is $449.
SynthEyes 2008+1 is a no-charge dot release for existing SynthEyes 2008 customers and will be available for testing via the support web site in mid-April.
The company website offers a free demonstration version of SynthEyes (currently 2008) at http://www.ssontech.com