matt trent | archives
PhotoCamp @ MooseCamp 2008
Alright. Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I've been alternating between being swamped with work and playing outside in this wonderfully sunny and mild weather we've been having.
For those not in attendance, I gave a short overview at PhotoCamp on what I did to create some of the black and white shots from my trip to Sicily last year. I did a very rapid overview of what it takes to mimic black and white film in software using the DxO Film Pack, some B+W Photoshop actions I'd found, or my own hand-done methods. After that, I showed the original Photoshop files of several of my photographs, and went step-by-step through the combinations of masks and Curves/Levels adjustment layers to tweak the intensity and detail in different portions of the photos.
In my opinion, cameras should capture what you experience, not light. While the end result of my photographs doesn't correspond to the actual photos that fell on the CCD very well at all, it does a much better job capturing what I felt at that moment.
Links:
PhotoCamp @ BarCamp 2007 talk
This year at PhotoCamp, I gave a short overview of the concept of computational photography, how it stands to impact digital photography in the years to come. Along with my talk, Andrew Ferguson discussed the ins and outs of blogging about photography, and Duane Storey gave one of the best non-technical overviews of HDR imaging I've heard. Kris Krug moderated, and I think a good time was had by all.
Here are my talk slides. I tried to not ramble incoherently about something overly-technical this time, and tried to keep the message clear, and show off something people can go home and try today. Even if the full magic isn't there, they can get a peak and kick the tires.
The story goes something like this: Due to the complexity of darkroom techniques, and the limitations in what kind of image manipulations we can perform optically while exposing the print from the negative, we have come to view the light that falls on the piece of film in the camera (or the sensor) as the final image. In the old days, it was either impractical or impossible to perform much alterations to the image, so it wasn't attempted.
Digital photography requires computers. No matter how hard you rub the CF card on your monitor or printer, you'll never get an image from your camera to appear. For all intents and purposes, your computer is a giant brain capable of applying a vast number of image manipulations photographs.
There is all this computation available, and the most that people can think to do to their photographs after they are taken is to adjust the white balance.
Given this idea, I demonstrated DxO Optics Pro, the RAW processing software I current use. Optics Pro is one of the better steps in the direction of computational photography available to end users. They meticulously measure all the combinations of digital SLRs and major lenses and can correct the optical distortion and noise automatically. All of this can be done with existing tools, but the idea is that it's automatic and just happens when the image is downloaded off the camera.
Finally, I ended with wavefront coding, a more advanced application of the same basic idea. With wavefront coding, a special lens is used produce a blurry image that is recorded by the sensor. However, this blurry image has several interesting qualities to it. 1) The blur is invariant of the distance of the object and 2) the blur can be corrected in software. The result is an unblurred object with unlimited depth of field, without stopping down the lens to a small aperture, which can be very useful.
It's a very interesting area of work, and a large component of my PhD research. I can't wait to see and share more about it in the future.
PhotoCamp, BarCamp 2007 style
I should have posted this a week ago, but as I state in every post, I'm too busy for my own good, and too lazy the rest of the time. This is pretty much straight stolen from Kris, with some additional commentary by yours truly.
This weekend is BarCamp Vancouver and I'll be heading up a PhotoWalk on Friday night and a PhotoCamp on Saturday. Here's some shots from last years late night photowalk at BarCamp.
PhotoCamp itself is a mix of presentations and open discussion on a number of topics, mostly chose on the fly. I believe this is the 5th in the series of them, and the 3rd that I will be taking part of. Previous editions have seen a healthy mix of areas from photographic technique, digital workflow, practicalities of preparing images for display, and more abstract technical concepts.
I'll be giving a 15 minute or so talk again this time around. I'll be giving a short presentation of some of the assumptions that people have made on how photographs are taken, and how these assumptions are no longer valid when moving into digital photography. Then, given these new possibilities, I'll discuss some possibilities of how this can influence new directions in photography and give some simple examples of how this is starting to work its way into software. This time around, I promise it'll be much more practical knowledge, and I'll even have a demo to prove it.
If you're interested in photography, cameras, or just want to take a cool walk through East Van... it would be great to see lots of you out there. Here's the details. Get in touch if you have any questions.
PhotoWalk
- signup on FaceBook
- meet at WorkSpace
- 11pm, Friday August 17th
PhotoCamp
- signup on the Wiki
- @ Workspace during BarCamp Vancouver
- TBD, Saturday August 18th
Sadly, I don't think I'll be making the photowalk, as I'm going to see Tipper, who is quite possibly my favorite musician, play instead. Last years was good fun. You should go, even if you won't get to see me.
Daft Punk
So, once again, I'm way behind on stuff. Big surprise, I suppose. There's been so much running around between work, school, preparing for travel, and trying to have a life, that even the things I've made a concerted effort to include here have fallen by the wayside.
Anyway, I got to see Daft Punk perform live in Seattle a couple weekends ago. Basically, I don't even know where to begin on this. The show was quite possibly the most amazing concert I've ever seen. With out gushing too much, Daft Punk has been one of my favorite acts as long as I've been listening to electronic music, and I've always wanted to see them. Combining an amazing musical set with what I can only describe as a full visual assault of lights and LEDs all synchronized to the music (and apparently triggered directly from their live PA rig), they produced nothing short of a religious experience for those in attendance.
But, rather bore with dry descriptions of what the show was like, I've tracked down the best videos of the set I could find online. While they pale in comparison to actually being there, they give a much better description than any of my words. The photo above is one of the few that really gives an impression of how bright and saturated it was actually there. I didn't take any photos myself, was too busy dancing.
Summer Travel
Trying to continue my semi-monthly update schedule, I bring you where I'm going and what I'm doing outside the confines of Vancouver for the rest of the summer:
- Seattle from July 29th to 30th -- A surgical strike to see Daft Punk
- San Diego from August 4th to 9th -- SIGGRAPH graphics conference
- Los Angeles from August 10th to 14th -- Visiting friends
- Washington, DC from August 24th to 25th -- On the way to Sicily
- Sicily from August 25th to September 4th -- Sightseeing with the family
- Washington, DC on September 5th -- On the way back from Sicily
As always, if you happen to be any of these places at the same time, get in touch with me at site+travel@matttrent.com. The details are also on dopplr.com, if you're on that. If you aren't, I have invites. Additionally, there is BarCamp in Vancouver August 17th to 18th. But that's the subject of another post.
Photo ride
Last Tuesday, a myself and some fellow bike/camera enthusiasts tried a new (to us, at least) experiment of a "photo ride".
The photo ride follows the same basic concept of the familiar photowalk, where people meet at a location and walk around together taking photos of their surrounds and each other. The biggest problem I have with photowalks is the choice of surroundings is effectively limited to where you start the walk. In the course of the last photowalk, we covered slightly over 2km in 90 mins and never left Gastown. While this can be a good challenge to improve your photographic eye and find new possibilities in familiar places, it can also be pretty boring.
With the inclusion of bikes, the radius of exploration for a photo ride can easily be 15 km or more in the course of several hours, and gives us command over the majority of Vancouver. Everyone brings a suggestion of a spot to check out, we pick a general route to cover them, and head off. At each location, bikes are put aside and cameras come out and people explore for a while, and people can call to stop along the way if they see something interesting or think of a new spot as we pass it.
The first experiment proved that the idea has a lot of potential. There were a number of logistical challenges I'd not really considered until the ride got under way. For starters, the ride feels like it would work much better if there was a specific set of stops to visit. Simply riding along trying to find photo opportunities is challenging, since the scenery goes by so fast. Which ties into the next issue: If one is looking for photos while on their bike, how does on keep their camera somewhere easily accessible, but still reasonably safe, while riding? Some had their camera bags attached to their bikes, I had mine on a short strap around my neck. There's definitely some room for experimentation and improvement there, and I predict every one that comes regularly will be a pro at riding no-handed while holding a camera by the end of the summer.
Even with the mediocre weather on Tuesday, we managed to go from the VAG, through Gastown, down to Railway Street, and up to the Science World gazebo to meet fellow biking friends in slightly over an hour. Sunny days and longer rides can only turn out even better. I'm thinking of making it a twice a month event for the summer, and will be posting updates at the new Photo ride Flickr group.
To San Francisco
Alright. Sadly a short post here, but there is more to come shortly. My new corporate lords have proclaimed that I must go to the mothership to learn about all that is good and right about Dolby. So, I'm flying down to San Francisco on May 29th, have a day and a half of presentations on cool audio technology, and will be there through Sunday or Monday (June 3/4). Not sure on much beyond that yet. Still working out flights with HR and whatsit. Got a hotel the first 2 nights, will sort the rest.
Anyway. What to do? Where to go? Where's the good beats? Who will sell me dope hoodies?
Mexican food a must, handguns preferable.
Poignant question
Are we willing to consider the irony that our unceasing communication with one another -- the dozen extra phone calls that we all now make each day; the two dozen pointless e-mails -- is making us less human? And that we might have more important things to say if we could re-master the lost art of shutting up, for at least a half hour every now and then?
Indeed.
Dorkbot
I'm overloaded on other stuff at the moment, so no fancy write-up this time. Once again, it was cool to sit in on. I ran away pretty quickly at the end because I was so hungry.
Sumo Robots
- Started in Japan 20 years ago
- Moved to North America about 10 years ago
- Different classes of sizes/weight/etc...
- Best 2 out of 3
-
Often start from a kit -- but more fun to build your own
- Motor + wheels
- Microcontroller + software
- Sensors to detect edge, opponent
- Batteries
-
Tricks and ingenuity to figure out what works best in the ring
- Links
Hacking the human
- Steve DiPaola
- Associate professor @ SFU
- http://dipaolo.org
- Can we create new expression systems by modeling living/cognitive
- Parameterize a knowledge space -- communicate emotions compactly
- Explore some space -- PCA
- Build up complex conceptions from the base set of reproduceable elements of the space
- Build cross-parameterizations between different sets of expressions
-
Similar to PostScript
- Revolution of desktop publishing
- Set of primitives to describe 2D images
- Just because we show it to you doesn't make it real
My thoughts
- How universal are these metaphors?
- Can these really map to this space as precisely as necessary to make this happen?
- Can computers explore instead of optimize?
- Can interestingness become an optimality condition?
Crash course in UBC EngPhys
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Overview of projects in UBC engineering physics program
- Robot competitions
- Wall plotting system
- Props to Brightside
- Flying rotary unit
- Optical mouse as skateboard speedometer
BrightSide got bought
I can finally say it. We've been bought by Dolby. I'm beyond excited. Not a whole lot more details I can provide than what's contained in the press release, which is pasted below.
Dolby Signs Agreement to Acquire BrightSideSAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BrightSide Technologies Inc., a privately held provider of high dynamic range (HDR) image technology, for cash consideration of approximately $28 million. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed prior to the end of the third quarter of Dolby's 2007 fiscal year.
BrightSide is a development-stage technology company focused on enabling the capture, distribution, and display of more vibrant video on mass-market LCD TV sets, as well as front-projection and rear-projection TVs.
"Dolby has built its strong reputation and brand by delivering products and technologies that make the entertainment experience more realistic and immersive, and BrightSide's HDR image technology complements that strategy," said Bill Jasper, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dolby Laboratories. "Acquiring BrightSide reflects our long-term focus on delivering innovative technology solutions to our licensees and their customers."
About Dolby LaboratoriesDolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) develops and delivers products and technologies that make the entertainment experience more realistic and immersive. For more than four decades, Dolby has been at the forefront of defining high-quality audio and surround sound in cinema, broadcast, home audio systems, cars, DVDs, headphones, games, televisions, and personal computers. For more information about Dolby Laboratories or Dolby technologies, please visit www.dolby.com.
Certain statements in this press release, including statements relating to Dolby's expectations concerning its ability, and Dolby's expectations concerning how BrightSide's HDR image technology complements that ability, to deliver innovative products and technologies that make the entertainment experience more realistic and immersive and to deliver innovative technology solutions to its licensees and their customers and the benefits that may be derived therefrom are "forward-looking statements" that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, and as a result of certain risks and uncertainties actual results may differ materially from those projected. The following important factors, without limitation, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: Dolby's ability to develop and deliver innovative technologies in response to new and growing markets in the entertainment industry, including markets using imaging technologies; Dolby's ability to expand its business into non-sound technologies, including imaging technologies; competitive risks; risks associated with integrating and operating BrightSide's business; and other risks detailed in Dolby's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including the risks identified under the section captioned "Risk Factors" in its most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Dolby disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. S07/18042