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Posts Tagged ‘Transforms’

Video: Fotodiox tutorial transforms portable scanner into a 4×5 digital camera back

14 Mar

Photography gear company Fotodiox has published a new video showing viewers how to turn a portable scanner into a 4×5 digital scanner back for use with large format cameras. The video tutorial is based on a concept published by Randy Sarafan on Instructables.

In Fotodiox’s version of the project, the team uses a Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner, which costs around $ 180 on Amazon; other models could also be used, video host Sean notes in the tutorial. The scanner is paired with a CameraDactyl 4×5 camera ($ 200) and a 5×7 Fresnel sheet ($ 5).

Sean notes that the digital back cannot provide the same level of quality as 4×5 film, but he says that it’s ‘such a cool idea, I had to try it.’

The project kicks off with Sean grinding the scanner’s glass using 600 grit silicon carbide and a small piece of glass. This transforms the panel into ground glass, which is then paired with the sheet of Fresnel glass for more even light distribution. The ground glass is reattached to the projector and the Fresnel is attached to it using ordinary duct tape.

The camera was then duct-taped to the projector, as well, with Sean noting that he used the CameraDactyl model partly because it is very lightweight.

After opening the aperture and focusing the image, Sean covered the back of the camera with a dark object to keep light out, then hit the ‘scan’ button on the digital back. The scanning process took about 20 seconds and the result was a ‘4×5 film look’ from a digital scanner.

As far as downsides go, Sean notes that this scanner arrangement can’t capture color images and that the image is captured off the ground glass, which means the texture from the glass results in grainy images. Photographers may also have to deal with scan lines in some images.

Ultimately, though, Sean explains: ‘I get a really shallow depth of field. It just has this really nice vintage 4×5 film look.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The Animaionic docking station transforms Mac Mini into a workstation for professionals

28 Dec

A new Kickstarter campaign is seeking funds for Animaionic, a Mac Mini docking station that supports external GPUs and SSDs. The team behind the campaign says that Animaionic was created specifically for the creative community, offering it the graphics capabilities and storage it needs at a price ultimately lower than that of the Mac Pro.

Apple’s Mac Mini, a small square-shaped desktop computer, starts at an affordable $ 799, but doesn’t offer the level of performance needed by professional filmmakers and photographers. The Mac Pro desktop is a more powerful alternative, but with a starting price of $ 5,999, the model is too expensive for some creators.

The Animaionic docking station aims to solve this problem by transforming the Mac Mini into a proper workstation. The model supports two PCIe graphics cards and up to four SSDs, according to the Kickstarter campaign, for up to 8TB of additional data storage capacity. The docking station also features an SD card reader, two USB 3.1 ports, Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, Ethernet and an audio mini jack.

When used with a pair of AMD Radeon Vega 56 graphic cards, the Animaionic team claims the Mac Mini with docking station offers considerably higher performance in a number of popular applications, including 4.5x greater performance in Final Cut Pro X, 10x in Apple Motion and 25x in Luxmark.

The Kickstarter campaign is offering Animaionic to backers who pledge at least £699; shipping is estimated to start in May 2020.

Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The DoBox Pro (sort of) transforms your iPad Pro into a laptop

01 Nov

A new Indiegogo campaign is seeking funding for DoBox Pro, an accessory designed to transform Apple’s iPad Pro into a ‘full’ laptop. The DoBox Pro features an array of ports alongside a keyboard and trackpad, enabling iPad Pro owners to use Ethernet, HDMI, USB-A accessories and more.

The iPad Pro is one of the most popular tablets on the market, offering consumers powerful hardware combined with a large high-quality display and access to some of the best mobile apps for creatives. The product naturally comes with restrictions inherent to tablets, however, forcing some users to carry around a laptop in addition to the tablet.

Though tablet docks with built-in keyboards aren’t a new idea, they’re generally limited to just the keyboard functionality. DoBox Pro expands beyond that, adding in a large trackpad that utilizes iPadOS’s pointer Accessibility feature, which is similar to, though not the same as, a laptop’s cursor.

The DoBox Pro features a built-in 16,000mAh battery, which is more than double the capacity of the iPad Pro 11’s 7812mAh battery, plus a backlight for the keyboard and support for M.2 SATA storage with capacities up to 2TB. The laptop base can be connected with the USB-C port found on the newest iPad Pro models and the Lightning connector on iPad older models.

The product is being funded on Indiegogo, where the team behind it is offering DoBox Pro for pledges of at least $ 119. The ‘early bird’ units are expected to start shipping to backers in April 2020.

Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung researchers create AI that transforms still images into talking portraits

24 May

Researchers with the Samsung AI Center in Moscow and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology have published a new paper detailing the creation of software that generates 3D animated heads from a single still image. Unlike previously detailed AI systems capable of generating photo-realistic portraits, the new technology produces moving, talking heads that, though not perfect, are highly realistic.

‘Practical scenarios’ require a system that can be trained using only a few—or even a single —of a person rather than an extensive image dataset, the newly published study explains. To satisfy this requirement, researchers created a system for which ‘training can be based on just a few images and done quickly, despite the need to tune tens of millions of parameters.’

Using generative adversarial networks, researchers were able to animate painted portraits in addition to images, producing, among other things, a talking, moving version of the Mona Lisa. As demonstrated in a video detailing the study (below), final results vary in quality and realism, with some being arguably indistinguishable (at least at low resolutions) from real videos.

The researchers explain in their paper that the use of additional images to train the system results in life-like final results:

Crucially, only a handful of photographs (as little as one) is needed to create a new model, whereas the model trained on 32 images achieves perfect realism and personalization score in our user study (for 224p static images).

Some other issues remain with this type of system, the researchers note, including a ‘noticeable personality mismatch’ between the person featured in the still image(s) and the talking individual used to animate the portrait. The researchers explain, ‘if one wants to create “fake” puppeteering videos without such mismatch, some landmark adaptation is needed.’

The technology remains viable for purposes that don’t necessarily require a personality match, but rather the simple animation of a character that exists only as a small series of still images. Thus far, the technology only works on faces and the upper parts of one’s torso. It’s unclear whether the researchers plan to expand the system to include other body parts.

Samsung’s study joins past AI-based portrait work from NVIDIA, as well as non-portrait AI image generation, including the system NVIDIA debuted earlier this year — one capable of rapidly converting simple sketches into complex landscape images.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Modular PITTA camera transforms into drone, action, and security cameras

04 Jan

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PITTA, a modular ball-shaped 13MP camera that transforms into a drone, is currently blasting its way through a campaign on Kickstarter. The small, sphere-shaped modular camera launched on the crowdfunding platform with a $ 50K goal, but as of this writing it has already raised well over a quarter million dollars.

Eyedea, the company behind PITTA, describes its product as a multi-purpose device:

It’s not just aerial, not just handheld, not just wearable or mountable, it’s all of these. It’s a complete system packed into a single device.

Here’s a quick intro video from the company’s Kickstarter:

In its most basic form, PITTA looks like a simple black sphere, which is the 200g/7oz camera body. The sphere-shaped body features a 13MP sensor, support for 4K/30fps recording, and “software image stabilization.” Additionally, the body contains various sensors including GPS/GLONASS, gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer, magnetometer, object detection and visual tracking hardware, and optical flow positioning sensors.

Joining that is an Action Cam Module, Charging Cradle, and Drone Module. When docked in the Charging Cradle, PITTA can be used as a stationary security camera or livestreaming camera.

When used with the Action Module, PITTA can be attached to a tripod or other mount and used as an action camera that supports burst shot, 60fps slow-motion recording, livestreaming, and time lapse, as well as direct sharing to the major social media platforms.

The Drone Module, meanwhile, transforms the camera sphere into a drone via a snap and twist-to-lock design. The resulting camera drone is controlled using a smartphone and companion app, which itself offers several operation modes. PITTA as a drone supports taking panoramas, hovering in place, orbiting around the operator, auto-following the operator, as well as a “Come Back Home” function, terrain awareness, auto-landing, and GPS. The slow-motion and time lapse functions aren’t available in drone mode.

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PITTA is being offered to Kickstarter backers who pledge $ 290 for a Kickstarter Exclusive Basic Kit or $ 320 for a Kickstarter Exclusive Full Package, though other pledge packages are also available. Shipments to backers are expected to start in May 2018, though as with any crowdfunding campaign, plans could change, so proceed with caution.

To learn more or pledge for your own, head over to Kickstarter by clicking here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Photographer transforms disabled kids into Justice League heroes for touching photo project

02 Sep

Last year, photographer Josh Rossi made headlines all over the world after he used his skills as a photographer and retoucher to turn his daughter into Wonder Woman. It was a fun passion project, but the viral outpouring of support it generated inspired him to do something more.

And so Josh and his wife Roxana teamed up with costume designer Julie Whiteley to find ‘the REAL Justice League’ and show them for the superhumans they are.

Roxana scoured the world to find six children with varying disabilities and diseases, who have shown incredible strength and resilience. The final Justice League lineup consisted of: 5-year-old Kayden Kinckle, 3-year-old Sofie Loftus, 9-year-old Teagan Pettit, 2-year-old Mataese Manuma, 7-year-old Zaiden Stolrow, and 5-year-old Simon Fullmer.

Each of the kids suffers from a disease, disability, or condition that makes them seem weak on the outside, and Rossi’s hope was that this photo project would showcase their inner strength. So they created costumes that cost up to $ 10,000 per child (donated to this good cause), photographed them, and then delivered poster prints to the family and taped the children’s reactions.

Here are some behind the scenes photos from the process, followed by all six reaction videos.

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You can read each of the children’s individual stories on Rossi’s website. From rare cancers, to heart conditions, to a young double amputee, these kids really are incredible humans. And, of course, you can see all of the final images in the gallery below:

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To see more of Rossi’s work, visit his website or follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

All photos by Josh Rossi and used with permission.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Shadow Graffiti: Typographic Sundial Transforms Building Facade

25 Jun

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

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Integrating the shadows cast by everything from stop signs to public benches into street art often requires the luck of seeing the piece in action at just the right time of day, when the shadow is in just the right spot for everything to line up as intended. Catching it in action feels like serendipity and adds a little bit of magic to ordinary urban settings. But in the case of this particular work of shadow art, you could literally stand in front of it all day and just watch it transform before your eyes. The lettering attached to the facade of a building in India’s Lodhi District changes its angle as the sun moves across the sky, acting like a sundial.

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‘Time Changes Everything’ by Indian street artist Daku requires the sun’s harsh light in this location and the stark white facade of the building to even be visible to passersby, virtually disappearing on a cloudy day or at night. Get close to the wall and look up, however, and you’ll get a new perspective on the piece, viewing the words upside-down. The theme relates to the passage of time, with words including ‘age,’ ‘illusion,’ ‘season,’ aim’ and ‘memory.’ They start out in italics and then shift into prime legibility at noon before leaning in the other direction.

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The installation is part of the first dedicated public art district in India, turning the neighborhood into a gallery that’s available to everyone. ST+ART India invited 25 local and international street artists to contribute to the project, which aims to make art accessible for wider audiences “while having a positive impact on society.” Check out more of Daku’s work on Instagram.

Puzzle Facade: Play a Building Like a Giant Rubik’s Cube …
Transcending Tags: 16 Typographic Works of Urban Art …
Abandoned Intervention: Sliding Facade Reveals Decay …

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[ By SA Rogers in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

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Ruins to Art: Timber Addition Transforms Abandoned Building

27 Oct

[ By Steph in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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An abandoned traditional building on the coast of Madalena, Portugal has come back to life with a sculptural wooden extension that emerges from the back like a living organism. Cella Bar by FCC Arquitectura and Paulo Lobo leaves the original structure intact, merging the vernacular architecture with a wholly modern aesthetic in pale curving timber.

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Missing elements of the abandoned building, like the doors and windows, were restored to make it look just as it did when it was first built, minus the charming weathering on the stones. The interiors were transformed to suit the building’s new purpose as a restaurant, the wooden floors flowing out the rear doors, onto the original terrace and continuing onto the roof of the addition.

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“The new extension is a contemporary creation, exposed to a completely different language,” say the architects. “It is an organic, dynamic construction that contrasts with the orthogonal, classic language of the building where it is embedded. The design is defined by great plasticity, both in terms of forms and materials, and is markedly inspired by the natural environment around the site. Several features of that environment are present in the architecture of the building, including the outline of the island, rocks, whales and wine casks. The new volume acts like a giant sculpture, tailored for its location.”

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Loki camera rig transforms into four ultra-portable forms

20 Aug

UK company Scratch Ideas is seeking £25,000 in funding on crowdsourcing site Kickstarter for a new camera mount it’s calling ‘Loki’. Loki can be transformed into a dolly, underslung rig, shoulder rig, and cage, and folds up into a portable rectangular brick about the size of a battery grip for transportation and storage. Click through for more details

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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LxMeter transforms your smartphone into a light and flash meter

05 Aug

The LxMeter from Italian manufacturer Optivelox has introduced an accessory that turns your smartphone into a light meter. It’s similar to the Lumu light meter, but provides flash meter functionality and is capable of working with Android devices via a dedicated app. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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