American Cinematographer - September 2006 - 105

around the

lips and eyes. (Mova
expects that future versions of Contour
will automate more of this process.)
Contour allows for multiple
actors to be captured simultaneously,
allowing for complex group scenes. The
performers' hand movements and
gestures can also be captured. Contour
relies on the ability of its cameras to
have an unobstructed view of a given
surface; if a hand is holding an object
and only the outer surface of the hand
is visible to the cameras, then Contour
will only be able to reconstruct the
outer surface.

Contour
users on-set

was

designed to offer

creative control that is

close to what

they expect with tradi¬
cinematography. Although it typi¬
cally takes an overnight render to

tional

reconstruct a full-resolution

capture

session, the system provides a low-res
preview version of the finished 3-D
reconstruction image that can be
quickly generated on-set, allowing the
cinematographer to properly light the
subject for a desired effect and the

director to check the

performance.
Reducing the amount of time required to
create full-resolution imagery is simply a
matter of applying more computing
power to the processing. Full-resolution
images in real time on set are possible
with Contour today at a cost that could
be justified by a large-scale production,
but within a few years, given the steady
advance of computing power, it will be
within the reach of

more

modest

also be

adapted for
use on any moving camera platform,
even a Steadicam or Helmetcam, giving
the user great creative latitude.
The system can even be used to
capture the geometry and textures of
textiles in motion. Clothing is timeconsuming and difficult to faithfully
simulate with CG animation techniques,
but Contour can capture a garment's
exact geometry, motion and texture
once it has been treated with a phos¬
phor-based dye. Rather than donning
the form-fitting Lycra suits necessary for
marker-based mo-cap work, actors can
can

Contour will capture

the fabric's motion
simultaneously.
Perlman also foresees using
Contour in conjunction with traditional
stop-motion animation. "You just mix
the phosphor in with the material being
used, such as clay or silicone," he
explains. "The Corpse Bride was done
with puppets made of silicone over
and the actor's motion

metal armatures, while

Wallace &

Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Habbit

production budgets.
Contour

be costumed for their characters, and

done with

modeling clay. You
phosphor in at a lowenough density that you wouldn't
notice it under normal stage lighting -
you'd just see the normal colors of the
silicone or the clay. But when you turn
off the lights, it will glow, and because
the phosphor is just a powder that is

was

would mix the

mixed in, there will be a random pattern
to it.

"A

complex shot like Wallace
driving through people's
gardens in a car is very expensive,
because it contains so many different
objects that must all be animated," he
and Gromit

OSCAR* 2004 to Horst 8urbulla for the
invention and continuing development of the
Technocrane

telescoping

camera crane.

IBC 2006 Amsterdam,
8

■

12.

September, Stand 11.228
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