FXguide caught up with one of our favourite Mac (and PC) software companies, Realviz. makers of Stitcher, Imagemodeller, ReTimer and others. Fxguide tracked down Luc Robert, one of the founders of the company and asked about their new Matchmover Pro or ‘Corsica’ and the future of the innovative line of image processing products.
fxg: At NAB you demonstrated MatchMover Professional product, code-named ‘Corsica’, how is it different from version 2.5?
LR: Yes, ‘Corsica’ has many powerful new features, including: Simultaneous scene and multiple object tracking, Survey data management; Motion control data management; New patent-pending interface components and advanced workflowoptimization.
fxg: With the new version it is possible to move between automatic and manual tracking, can you tell us more about how that works?
LC:Automatic and manual tracking are just two different modes of modifying the collection of 2D tracks used for 3D solving. They can be run one after the other, in any order.
A common workflow is that the user starts with the automatic tracking, then does some editing operations (edits some tracks, deletes other tracks, create tracks where he needs to have 3D points reconstructed,…), then runs the 3D solving. All tracks produced by the automatic tracking and not changed by the user are flagged as “automatic”, all other tracks are flagged as “manual”.
In another workflow (typically for tough shots, which automatic tracking cannot handle), the user starts with a few manual tracks, then runs the automatic tracking to extract more track information. The tracks created by the user are used by the automatic process to create automatic tracks, based on the fact all the tracks (manual and automatic) should follow a consistent motion in 3D. By using the matte definition tool within MatchMover Pro Corsica, the user can in particular identify specific areas of the footage where he would like the process to create more tracks.
fxg: What are the output formats and compatible file types does it export?
LC: Tracking data can be exported at the following formats:
REALVIZ proprietary ascii (.rz3)
Softimage 3D 3.8 (.xsi)
XSI – Softimage 3D 3.9 (.xsi)
Maya (.ma)
Lightwave3D (.lws)
Cinema4d (.c4d)
3DSMax (.ms)
Combustion (.cws)
Flint/Flame/Inferno (.action)
Shake script (.shk)
Shake tracks (.txt)
Image or matte sequences can be exported at the following formats:
QuickTime (.mov)
AVI (.avi)
Bitmap (.bmp, .rle, .dib)
Cineon (.cin)
Jpeg (.jpg)
Maya (.iff, .tdi)
PNG (.png)
PNM (.ppm, .pgm, .pnm)
Softimage Pict files (.pic)
SGI (.sgi, .rgb)
TGA (.tga)
TIFF (.tiff, .tif)
fxg: How does the program handle lens distortion ( especially on wide angle lens)
LC: Lens distortion is computed automatically by MatchMover Pro Corsica, just like any other camera parameter. And just like any other camera parameter, it is also possible for the user to force MatchMover Pro Corsica to use a given value, for instance computed on another shot.
fxg: How does the new version look like it will compare in terms of processing speed?
LC: The processing speed hasn’t actually changed, but what has is the smoothness, versatility and efficiency of the workflow.
fxg: Retimer 2.5 runs on IRIX, NT and Linux, yet Matchmover does not run on IRIX and is planned for OSX. Does this represent a significant shift in the direction Realviz is moving re operating systems ?
LC: Not really. ReTimer 2.5 runs on NT. The associated batch runs under NT and Linux. The ReTimer SD/HD plug-ins run on NT and Mac as plug-ins for AfterEffects, Combustion, Final Cut Pro. Making MatchMover Pro available on all three platforms (Linux, Mac and
Windows) is very important for us, and it will be this year.
fxg: We are a great fan of Stitcher, in the last few years there has been a great growth in HDR and Image probes. What plans do you have for expanding Stitcher in the area of HDR? LC: Thanks. I love it too! We have our plans to integrate HDR images in a further release of Stitcher. We have actually already invested some R&D research in this.
fxg: Image modeler , 3.5.1 when will we see a version 4?
LC: At the present time, details are not yet available, but later in the year, we should be able to tell you more……
