PHFX tools 2020 Update - frameAndFocus + ratioToRes + More

[Phil Holland]

Hello all and hope you are doing well. Normally around this time of the year I try to drop a few useful things. I don't see any good reason to break the tradition.

I am extremely happy to announce two new tools to the PHFX tools family.

http://www.phfx.com/tools/

 

[Phil Holland]

frameAndFocus


First up is something I've been really looking to create for a while. A web based, user customizable, frame guide creator. While there are framing tools in various software packages and hardware, what they lack often is consistency when working outside of a specific ecosystem. But the one thing all of these ecosystems deal well with is pixel resolution, and that's where this comes in.

frameAndFocus allows you to create a frame guide that you can then export as a accurate resolution transparent PNG that you can download and overlay onto your dailies, edits, and even supported monitoring paths.

You have the ability to define your Main Frame, a Focus Frame, apply a Rule of Thirds and/or Center Overlay, shade out the potential Letterbox region, as well as create an embedded Watermark to help protect your images on and off set.

The combination of the Main Frame and Focus Frame allows for creating useful guides for Frame Extraction workflows, i.e. 8K capture with 6K extraction. And I've allowed for the Focus Frame to be defined by Pixel Resolution, Extraction Percentage or even a given Aspect Ratio.

These generated frame guides can also be easily shared via the Share URL or simply forwarding the created PNG along.

These are similar to the guides I've been using on prod like to make them at whatever


Here's just one example of what you can create with frameAndFocus:

 

[Phil Holland]

A quick chat about new tool #2.

ratioToRes/

ratioToRes is the direct result of working for so long on productions destined for cinema, television, or streaming services. And often, all 3. We live in a world of two main delivery containers: DCI and 16x9.

You all likely know the differences at this point if you are familiar working with RED, but just in case you need an example. You've likely stumbled across actual 4K and UHD 4K. The DCI spec is indeed slightly wider with 4K being 4096x2160 while UHD 4K is 3840x2160. When you start adding aspect ratios for given productions into the mix, this is where things can get a little hairy. Particularly for features that will end up in theaters and in home.

So I've created this tool to help filmmakers, producers, studios, etc. to get a grasp on the major delivery targets of 8K, 4K, 2K as well as their 4320p, 2160p, and 1080p brethren. There are several notable sub-targets in there useful for delivery to devices as well as for planning potential dailies or proxy resolutions. And just because it's me, I've tossed the as of yet truly undefined 12K and 16K specs in there for whenever that day comes for others.

 

[Phil Holland]

Now the fun stuff. Because frameAndFocus has been on my mind for a long while and I just needed to get down to coding it, I've integrated it with several of my other web tools. Notably checkout formatCompare and you'll discover new frame guide links that are useful for frame extraction workflows.

A quick example:
- formatCompare - RED Monstro 8K VV, 8K 2:1 with 6.5K WS Extraction

And by clicking that button midframe you actually get a link to the accurate frame guide you can literally forward to post of VFX or your momma:
frameAndFocus - RED Monstro 8K VV, 8K 2:1 with 6.5K WS Extraction


There are other integrations going on and more coming. I've also added a few more frames to the random preview images to make things a bit more fun.

Overall though I hope you find these useful for whatever workflow you are exploring. These particular tools were born out of trying to clarify, simplify, and just optimize common questions or tasks. I personally use frame guides a lot and often just for watermarking or stamping dailies with some useful info.