Sam Edwards
Well-known member
Hey Christopher,
It really seems like there are two aspects to what you are trying to accomplish: removing lens distortion and geometric correction.
In high end visual effects we routinely remove lens distortion from shots to simplify camera tracking and rendering cgi. So Flame and Nuke have great tools for that built in. We generally add the distortion back in at the end of the chain to make things look 'real' but you can obviously skip that step.
The workflow usually starts by shooting a grid with the lenses in question and using a lens distort node to correct it. If you're really obsessive you can shoot the grid at a couple of focus depths because a lens may add more distortion as it focuses closer. Zooms will require that you shot at a variety of focal lengths.
If you want really great geometric correction you should look at camera projection, also available in Flame and Nuke. It would allow you to apply tilt-shift style transforms in post. It's the computer equivalent of projecting your image onto a flat plane from a correcting angle and rephotographing it straight on. It's better than using a corner pin because it is constrained to perspective-correct angles.
You might want to look into doing your conform on a Flame. It sounds like the right artist could really bring your vision out. Jon Montgomery is a great Flame artist/owner in Chicago, but he may be busy and/or expensive.
I think this is an interesting take on imaging and you should follow your vision.
Good Luck!
Sam
It really seems like there are two aspects to what you are trying to accomplish: removing lens distortion and geometric correction.
In high end visual effects we routinely remove lens distortion from shots to simplify camera tracking and rendering cgi. So Flame and Nuke have great tools for that built in. We generally add the distortion back in at the end of the chain to make things look 'real' but you can obviously skip that step.
The workflow usually starts by shooting a grid with the lenses in question and using a lens distort node to correct it. If you're really obsessive you can shoot the grid at a couple of focus depths because a lens may add more distortion as it focuses closer. Zooms will require that you shot at a variety of focal lengths.
If you want really great geometric correction you should look at camera projection, also available in Flame and Nuke. It would allow you to apply tilt-shift style transforms in post. It's the computer equivalent of projecting your image onto a flat plane from a correcting angle and rephotographing it straight on. It's better than using a corner pin because it is constrained to perspective-correct angles.
You might want to look into doing your conform on a Flame. It sounds like the right artist could really bring your vision out. Jon Montgomery is a great Flame artist/owner in Chicago, but he may be busy and/or expensive.
I think this is an interesting take on imaging and you should follow your vision.
Good Luck!
Sam