Accelerometers continued.

[DaveT]

I've been reading up on accelerometers…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer

I’m continuing from this post
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12410

Auto 'level Frame.'
Say you’re shooting a wedding with a Scarlet, cause the writers have gone on strike again, and you’re desperately trying to pay off a sub-prime mortgage.
Set the tripod down and start shooting cause the bride has just snogged the best man and you don’t want to miss the shot.
You have neglected to set the tripod level.
The Accelerometer notes that the cam is off horizontal and inserts the angle into the metadata.
Back at ‘Wedding videos are Art Too ltd.’ you suck the clip up into AE (or what ever Post app,) select the Red metadata plugin, and the clip is instantly rotated to horizontal.

 

[millrick]

why not have a 'steady-shot' function on the lens too????
...just asking...

 

[Halo1000]

Its not an accelerometer you need, its an inclinometer..........however, the whole thing is academic anyway cause if the old tart is getting it on with the best man your hope of getting paid just went right out the window, so who cares if the camera is level or not........

 

[Ravell]

Cool idea but I dunno...that's a pretty sophisticated addition for something that's REALLY easy to do manually.

 

[Eugene]

Ummm, just get a better tripod, or a laser lever.

(photo from luminous-landscape.com)

 

[Noah Kadner]

Ummm, just get a better tripod, or a laser lever.

(photo from luminous-landscape.com)

Ha- exactly!

Noah

 

[beckspace]

I don't know about this being a replacement for a laser lever, but can it be a good replacement for Matchmoving? 3D tracking is an art. Good FX can only be done with it properly made. But what if the cam's XYZ comes along the data stream?

the use of an accelerometer built in the cam is not so far out idea

They can measure inclination, machine vibration, dynamic distance and speed with or without the influence of gravity.

For more the matchmoving apps are precise, the shooting must be precise to be matchmoved too; Because sometimes is raining, or there is smoke, or have too much blur in the image, or noise, too many elements moving, or just there is no information at all like a white sky. And most of the time we have to do 2D tracking because is hell easier

Now... an accelerometer doing this job? It can be tested; iphone has a jailbreak app that records the 3 vectors acceleration at any frequency, lets say 24hz. Just attach the iphone at the cam's base, and find a way to translate the acceleration data to XYZ coordinates for each frame of the AE's cam. I don't have a clue how to calculate this, CAD, I believe.

nevertheless, it will be precise in handheld movements? My guess is... perhaps not if the shot is not too long

But for tilt and pan on a tripod an accelerometer would matchmovie for sure