Tag Archives: Digital Camera

Sci-Tech

Video Producers Using Unreal Game Engine For AR Graphics And Sets

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LAS VEGAS —  A couple of years ago, ChyronHego announced a partnership with leading game developer Epic Games to integrate the Unreal Engine with ChyronHego’s family of augmented reality (AR) graphics and virtual sets solutions. With the integration, news broadcasters and other customers of ChyronHego’s Neon and Plutonium software will be able to leverage Unreal’s industry-leading rendering and real-time special effects capabilities to add powerful new photorealistic and hyper-realistic elements to their on-air virtual sets. Only a decade ago, editDROID and other Laserdisc based systems were still commonly in use with a much more rudimentary set of effects possibilities- this new Neon and Plutonium software system is an industry wide ‘game changer’.

Here is a look at 2017’s  ChyronHego’s live use demo-

“In an environment that’s more competitive than ever, our broadcast news customers are on a constant search for innovative ways to tell a better story and captivate viewers,” said Olivier Cohen, senior product manager, virtual solutions, ChyronHego. “Virtual sets that harness the amazing graphics capabilities of world-class gaming engines are the wave of the future for news, sports, and weather broadcasting, and Epic Games is the perfect partner to take us there. The integration with Unreal is just the latest link in our CAMIO Universe strategy to place the industry’s most powerful storytelling tools at news producers’ fingertips and drive template-based, unified news and weather workflows.”

“Since we launched Unreal Engine 4, it has become one of the world’s most powerful rendering engines for the game industry — but its flexibility, real-time performance, and robust set of tools make it ideal in just about any type of content creation workflow,” said Marc Petit, general manager, Unreal Engine Enterprise at Epic Games.

Augmented Reality Broadcaster set

“ChyronHego’s AR and virtual set solutions for broadcast production are the ideal match for Unreal Engine. By partnering with one of the leading broadcast graphics providers, we can continue to expand our presence in the broadcast, film, and entertainment industries.”

ChyronHego will work to integrate the CAMIO graphic asset management server with Unreal Engine, including creating broadcast-specific camera movements. Unreal’s 3D graphics engine enables producers to generate AR graphics through the templated workflows of the CAMIO Universe. Via custom user interfaces built with ChyronHego Live Assist panels, producers can then present the AR graphics on air using ChyronHego’s Plutonium and Neon virtual set and robotic camera tracking solutions.

Unreal GFX Engine logo

Cohen added, “As one of the world’s most powerful rendering engines from one of the world’s foremost gaming companies, Unreal will bring new levels of openness and scale-ability to our virtual set solutions. Unreal Engine is easily customizable and expandable, and five million users around the world will benefit from Epic Games’ vast reach across the global community of gamers and game developers. It means news broadcasters will be able to render effects in their virtual sets that rival anything their viewers have seen in the gaming world, with special effects like real-time shaders, bumps, sliders, and highly photo-realistic objects.”  For the Silo, Lyndsey Albright. 

Supplemental- The Revolutionary Video Toaster and Amiga Computer system 1991. 

Sci-Tech

Astrophysicist Wins Millions Of Dollars For Blackhole And Quasar Study

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Schmidt Futures Grants Lehman Astrophysicist $2.94 Million USD For Study of Quasars, Black Holes

BRONX, N.Y. – (August , 2020) – A Lehman College astrophysicist has been awarded a $2.94 million grant by Schmidt Futures, for a five-year study about the structure and evolution of the universe, black holes, quasars and dark energy.

Where have all the quasars gone?

Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic initiative, founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt. Eric Schmidt is the former CEO of Google. The grant will award $1.8 million directly to Lehman College and the remainder as a subaward to the University of Montreal.

“This by far is the biggest project we’ve ever attempted,” said Matthew O’Dowd, an associate professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department and writer and host of PBS Space Time. “It’s quite ambitious…and will define the next five years of our scientific lives.”

O’Dowd will lead a team of researchers and students from Lehman, the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and the University of Montreal as they study data collected from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (previously referred to as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), currently under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile. It is an 8-meter-class telescope coupled to a 3.2-gigapixel camera – the world’s largest digital camera ever fabricated for optical astronomy.

A photograph and rendering mix of the exterior of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory building on Cerro Pachón in Chile. Image credit: LSST/NSF/AURA

The observatory, the first in the U.S. to be named after a woman, will survey the entire sky of the Southern Hemisphere every three days for the next decade, O’Dowd said, and will map the dynamic nature of the universe. Each single snapshot will cover an area 40 times the size of the full moon.

O’Dowd’s team will develop a machine-learning pipeline (also known as artificial intelligence) for the observatory “to analyze the flickerings of thousands of distant quasars whose light in the very distant universe is powered by violent storms of matter falling into gigantic black holes,” he said.

Due to the enormous dataset and the non-linearity of the problem, machine learning methods are the only viable method for integrating these effects into a model and analyzing thousands of quasars in real time.

“I believe I have assembled the only people in the world who can do this before LSST begins operation, including some machine learning leaders who have just taken faculty jobs at the University of Montreal,” he said. “So that’s our plan: to develop new machine-learning techniques and build them into an analysis pipeline for (the observatory).”

“People are fascinated by these things and we hope to extend their curiosity about the wonders of the universe,” O’Dowd said.

Once the team begins work, O’Dowd will invite Lehman graduates, post-doctoral fellows and current Lehman undergraduates to participate in the project.

“This project is exciting and will help us attract excellent grad students and if it also helps influence other students to come to Lehman, then that’s fantastic,” he said.

“This is an excellent project that will push the limits of precision of measurement and very difficult computing to clarify important questions in cosmology and high-energy astrophysics,” said Stuart Feldman, chief scientist of Schmidt Futures. “We are delighted to support this path breaking work.”

“This is an incredibly prestigious award and we are incredibly proud of Matt,” said Dr. Pamela Mills, dean of the College’s School of Natural and Social Sciences. “He is very good at communicating science and is an amazing physicist. He is, and has been tapped, as one our young leaders.”

Sci-Tech

Limelens Smartphone Lenses Take on the Traditional DSLR Camera

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Due to rapid advances in technology, the quality of smartphone cameras is now on a par, if not better, than some point-and-shoot cameras and entry-level DSLRs.  With the increasing demand for smartphone accessories to maximize users’ photographic potential, Limelens offers superior quality smartphone  lenses at a price within reach of the masses. Limelens lenses capture intricate detail that a smartphone camera could not achieve on its own.

Limelens product range includes The Thinker, a dual macro/wide lens and The Captain, a 190 degree fisheye lens, with more smartphone camera accessories to follow. The lenses boast incredible framing capabilities, removing the limitations of the smartphone camera to produce stunning photographs with a greater choice of photo angles, framing and composition.

Available at www.limelens.com for $99 USD, the Limelens introductory Set includes both lenses as well the Limeclip attachment that fits over 40 devices including leading smartphones and tablet brands.

(See compatibility here)  Limelens is taking advantage of the exponential growth of smartphone users and their insatiable desire to share their pictures on social media platforms.

Faye Jones, the Communications Director of Limelens says “While purists may argue about the limitations of smartphone camera capabilities, stand-alone cameras cannot compete with the portability of the smartphone and the public’s desire to share their photos instantly.  Online photo sharing has become a way to express identity, rather than compete”.  Jones says

“Limelens has recognized that people are choosing smartphones over conventional cameras and we have responded to this trend with the introduction of Limelens, a range of sleek, intuitively designed smartphone lenses that are compatible with major smartphone brands”.

The quality of smartphone camera images, and the features they offer, means that less people are spending money on regular cameras. According to data from Japan’s Camera and Imaging Products Association, camera sales have been steadily declining. In 2010 sales were at a high of 120 Million units but sales have reduced to 30 Million in 2015.  For the Silo, Dawn Ryden.

  • Limelens offers a versatile attachment compatible with 40+ devices whilst ensuring the lens is stable and is easily attached and removed.
  • Limelens offers users the ability to take photographs with wider angles, in order to capture all elements of their photograph.
  • Limelens offers users the ability to capture incredible details of their subject, of which a smartphone camera alone could never accomplish.
  • Limelens provides smartphone photographers with a sense of community, encouragement and inspiration for their projects, no matter their distance, experience level or ability.

About Limelens:

Limelens was founded by UCT (University of Cape Town) student and entrepreneur Tyler Bodmann and has been in development since August 2014. The Limelens team includes Joel Bronner, Faye Jones, James Badenhorst and Michael Dickens. Limelens is driven to create products with the intention to intrigue and enable its ever-evolving photographic community to see, capture and create differently. The Limelens philosophy implores a vision of adventure and discovery through this new creative medium to accumulate to a movement so aptly called The Limelife. Launched in the Spring of 2016, Limelens smartphone accessories offer users the ability to take photos with wider angle and incredible detail while maintaining image quality.  Compatible with over 40 smartphone and tablet brands, Limelens is the most versatile lens attachment available to smartphone camera users.