First play with FoolControl

[Hywel Phillips]

Just spent the day doing some tests with my new MacBookPro and
Foolcontrol, thought I'd post send some feedback and a request. (I've sent directly to
Mikael as well of course)

Bear in mind that this was me playing around rather than a real shoot, so I may have more
thoughts when we've used the camera in this mode for real.


The main thing I want to use Foolcontrol to control is focussing of Canon lenses via
internal lens motors, using a laptop as a combined monitor and control station.


It works really well and I can't wait to use it on our next shoot!


My set up today was:


RED Scarlet
REDlink wifi set to ad-hoc network
Canon 17-55 EF-S f/2.8 lens
Paralinx Arrow wireless transmitter for video from brain HDMI out
Paralinx Arrow receiver -> BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder via HDMI
thunderbolt into Macbook Pro Retina (late 2013, basic 2.4 GHz model)
Griffin PowerMate control wheel


This gives me wireless transmission of camera state, wireless control over the
camera and wireless video feed with low latency (I haven't tested but it's pretty
good by eye). Wireless focus with the lens internal motors kicks ass.


In fact the whole experience is absolutely awesome. I'm going to knock up a
little "tray" for 1st AC to have as her focus control station. She can sit behind me
as I operate, and she can remote focus. That's moderately handy on a tripod or
dolly, very handy with a shoulder rig, and will be even more handy when my Ronin
gimbal arrives.


The main feedback I have is that controlling focus via the slider in the main
foolcontrol window is very crisp, the keyboard shortcuts are great. But... it is hard
to use it in that configuration because you really want the video feed from the camera
to take up most of the screen, and using the Griffin PowerMate isn't as good as using
the trackpad and slider, at least not as I have it set up (using the powermate dial rotate
right and rotate left to simulate shift left and shift right key- is there a better way?)


Using the shift keys on the keyboard isn't quite as snappy as the slider focus control
and trackpad, for me. Then the powermate makes it worse because it sometimes seems to
have a bit of lag and ends up sending one or two more "shift" commands than I wanted, and
there's definitely some lag or hysteresis in the system somewhere if you change direction.


I know, I should have sprung for the RED THC if I wanted all these problems solved (and
I still might, when I have the money). But the Foolcontrol + laptop solution definitely
seems like it's going to be workable.


Request:


Could we have an option to break the focus controls out into a separate window of their
own, or docked to the bottom of the camera video feed window?


I'd really like an option to have the focus control slider as wide as possible across the screen, with
the other focus commands accessible eg clear all focus marks.

Actually, can clear all focus marks be a keyboard shortcut, too?


Then ideally I'd like a way to map that slider more precisely to the powermate control-
I'm not sure exactly how. It may not be possible given the powermate is a fairly simple left-right-click
control rather than a very precise encoder-controlled thing like the RED tactical hand controller
(it does cost 20 pounds instead of 3000, after all, so I'm not expecting miracles!)


Is there a way of changing how much shift in focus distance a press of the shift key creates?
A smaller step here might help if that's possible.


And is there a way to slow down the focus transitions when you use the keyboard
ABCD shortcuts to rack focus? That's when the focus happens fastest at the moment,
but this is exactly where you'd usually want some control over the rate of the focus pull.


Oh, the other request I had is an option to have the screen feed window resize to exact
pixels- so that for a video feed which is 1080p, you can resize the window to be exactly
1920x1080 pixels and display the video feed without any scaling.


I guess my other comment is one for RED- better antennas on the REDlink transmitter,
to improve the range. I think we'll be fine but a higher safety margin would help


Look forward to trying it all out at the next shoot, and overall I'm impressed.

Cheers, Hywel Phillips

 

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

Thanks for the feedback. Will reply in detail on your questions and requests asap.

 

[Hurcan Yilmazer]

and It is not necessary but one more thing to add to the setup might be using splashtop software and app to view the video feed from your tablet or phone(for the client maybe?) It is as fast as your wireless network. Im getting really fluid results with 300mb wireless usb dongle . (and it is free)

also since it sends the sound signal if you are recording sound in camera you can actually hear the recording sound from your headphones that are connected to your phone or tablet. So your phone becomes a directors hand screen better than Christopher Nolan's

 

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

Instead of spending too much time working on a to do list with your suggestions I opened the project in Xcode

new version 1.01 available for immediate download adds a few things :

- new foofocus HUD : resizable window (from 960 to 1920 pixel) wide now duplicates the manual AF precise focus slider in a separate window. Includes focus distance reference, 1:1 magnify button, markers, clean marker button… This window will auto open if AF is on manual. you can close it and reopen with a UI button if needed.

- fool screen video preview will now auto-default to 1920 x 1080 size upon being detached from the ‘camera window’. If you resize it down for some reason you simply need to attach and detach it again to resize it to 1920. Might add some resize button or preferences in a future version.

- When using griffin powermate or keyboard : I’ve just changed the caps lock step multiplier to 10 instead of 5… and you can also add the alt key to make it x5 + x10 = x50 smaller steps. Will add a preference to set the multiplier value for caps lock key in a future update…

other notes :

- The ‘Clear Marks’ button already had a shortcut, actually two : dash or forward slash will clear all focus markers… was listed at the very bottom of the inline doc and also works within the new window.

- Will look into making smooth transition for focus marks recall… right now it simply jumps to the stored value.
It can be tricky if we send too much commands in a row it could create a lag or if we send not enough it might create “steps”. Will analyze how it works when manually focusing with the slider as it is pretty smooth and see if I can do it programmatically with eased start/stop over a variable time period.
Meanwhile one alternative that could work at least for some specific shots : use the ‘in camera’ rack focus feature. Unfortunately we cannot set the rack focus points via REDLink yet so you’d have to :
- switch to AF rack focus mode (can be done in foolcontrol)
- set A, B , C, D focus points in camera, set rack focus speed pref.
- jump to A <-> B <-> C <-> D from foolcontrol UI while in rack focus mode.
Once we are able to set those rack points with REDLink it might be more efficient than sending a bunch of focus commands to try to fake it. But I’ll still see what can be done when I’ll free some time.

I will always push new features to the OS X version as it is a more powerful system overall with lots more potential but I must say the iPhone version I’m working on now will also have some pretty rad features… in particular with motor driven focus control…

Mikael
fooly dedicated to support my users with same day delivery code

 

[Maz Mawlawi]

Mikael,

will your app be able to connect to something like the Viewfactor VF-Comm and control focus on canon lenses via ipad/iphone? I am tired of waiting on info about the optitron 2 and RED may take for ever to release their 2 axis controller... and I need a solution now for gimbal use.

 

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

Yep should be able to connect to any REDLink compatible device.
Now works with ethernet and REDLink bridge connection. Will confirm as soon as I can test on Mark's offHollywood's HOTlink or VF once those are released too...

Just posted an early screenshot of the focus controller on foolcontrol iPhone in this thread :

RCP modules thread

Still in beta but works amazingly well... It is not trying to simply fake a physical unit but goes beyond that with features not possible on a regular or electronic FF system... like you can increase range precision while keeping focus marks intact.

 

[Maz Mawlawi]

That's perfect!!!! I'm sold!

 

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

I will post a video demo of that UI page once all features are polished in a day or two...

 

[Hywel Phillips]

Thanks Mikael I'll check the new focus features out as soon as I can!

Cheers, Hywel

 

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

Just tested rack focus on iPhone app in dev... Works wonderfully well so will add this to the OS X version asap.

 

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

Request:


Could And is there a way to slow down the focus transitions when you use the keyboard
ABCD shortcuts to rack focus? That's when the focus happens fastest at the moment,
but this is exactly where you'd usually want some control over the rate of the focus pull.

Done... new 1.05 upgrade available as of today includes 'Bezier smoothed' adjustable speed rack focus between markers and more...

foolcontrol reduser thread