Open Source Digital Cinema Camera based on Elphel

Apertus February News Update

Apertus February News Update

Hola amigos, February is upon us, and so is another news update for the Apertus Project.

Introducing Apertus
Our new Project Leader, Sebastian Pichelhofer, has created a video introducing the Apertus Project and explaining our intentions. The video has subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Catalan (just press the "CC" button on YouTube's player to choose the one you prefer)


As an Apertus Community member, consider it your duty to share this with contacts, friends and professionals whom you think might find this to be of interest.

The video's URL is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvI7rJ_AZys

Apertus Stereo Rig
Community members Nathan Clark and Winne Yang have developed a new Apertus rig for stereo 3D cinematography. Needless to say, we've all been blown away by their ingenuity. Congratulations goes out to them and their stunning machinists!!

file.php


file.php


New Dictator Concept (Dictator II)
Sebastian has started working on a new concept for the Dictator hardware interface. He is currently applying for art sponsorship/state funding (based in Vienna, Austria) to develop a prototype unit.

The new design came about when he started to create a 3D model of his previous Dictator concept. As pointed out by Sebastian, there were several design flaws with the prior design:
- The wheels would always be getting in your way when the operator tries to reach for the buttons next to the LCD
- Having buttons left/right of LCD requires the text on the LCD (showing each button's function) to take up pretty much the entire display.

In the new design, the buttons are located above/below the LCD (in a similar manner to the Arri Alexa layout), which solves the problem of wasting the limited space available on such a small screen.

dictatorIIconcept04.jpg


Sebastian's new design concept is focused on allowing a DOP to also operate the DICTATOR with only one hand when shooting with a shoulder rig.


New Website (launching soon)
Work is continuing round the clock on our revamped website http://dev.apertus.org/

Public access is currently denied whilst the new site is a work-in-progress. Data from the current site has been edited, reviewed and transferred into a layout that is professional, sleek and easier for new community members (and non open-source users) to understand. No release date has been set as of yet, but take our word for it that things are going to be DAMN cool when the new site launches (hopefully soon...)!


Community Map (on new Apertus website)
Apertus is an International Project, and it is simply remarkable to realise just how far our community of engineers, developers, artists and followers extends across the planet. Here is a snapshot indicating where some of the Apertus Team members are situated:

community_map.jpg



Preparing Apertus for the Libre Software Meeting
The Libre Software meeting is not until July, but plans are in the works for how to best grow our community and spread awareness of the Apertus project at this international summit.

Sebastian has suggested that we make an Apertus film about the event, with the possibility of streaming talks and presentations live to the web with Elphel cameras. Nathan is also interested in having a real-time stereoscopic Apertus rig, setup and functioning in our booth. The awesomeness of all this is still sinking in!

Michael Green has offered to run a workshop on the future of cinema and where our project fits in. This will also give us the opportunity to discuss a wide range of digital cinema topics.

Sasha is then planning on delivering a 10-20 minute presentation examining how we've fostered an international community of engineers, developers, artists and followers through our project website and online forum. The intention is to follow this up with a discussion analysing the success/disadvantages of our forum and whether its implementation is a viable strategy that other open source projects might benefit from.


Following up on the VLC issue from January's newsletter
In last month's newsletter, we mentioned that newer VLC versions were not displaying the data stream generated by the Elphel camera correctly. Following up on this issue, we can now say that the problem has been alleviated. To correctly display a live-stream through VLC (Version 1.1.11 and later), either flash your Elphel camera to an image compiled from the latest source code or manually install the fixed streamer as described here:
http://apertus.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2190

As a quick fix -if you don't want to rebuild an entire Elphel camera flash image from source- you can replace the camera internal /usr/local/bin/str binary with this one:
http://apertus.org/forums/download/file.php?id=285

Run "sync" on a camera terminal afterwards to clean crc checks with the changed file. If you have any questions or feedback, reply on our forums in the following thread:
http://apertus.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5&start=30


2012: The Year of Apertus
As the next key stage of development approaches, we'd like to thank everyone for providing so much critical support and feedback. Members from Telenoika: AudioVisual Open Creative Community (Barcelona, Spain) have contacted us to express their interest in developing software tools and/or plugins for working with Apertus camera footage in Blender (http://www.blender.org/). All progress here will be reported in the following months.

2012 is already shaping out to be a spectacular year for Apertus. However, we can also foresee that greater contributions will be necessary before we're in a position to release our powerful new prototype. At present, there are but one or two bottlenecks stopping our design from meeting the desires and requirements of industry professionals. To combat this, we're gearing up for a flight that will make Apertus surge on the radar.

Unfortunately, our projected flight-path is also going to take us right through the storm clouds. As this month's newsletter draws to a close, we extend a special invitation. Dear friends, collaborators, radicals and colleagues, help spread the word of our project and join us as we prepare to break through the very roof of the stratosphere. Stay tuned to our forums and website as more information regarding new developments will follow shortly.
 
I don't quite understanda how does this camera really works and how do you market this? Is it made available world wide and how much?
 
kicap said:
I don't quite understanda how does this camera really works and how do you market this? Is it made available world wide and how much?
Click to expand...

Read around our website: www.apertus.org and also the Elphel wiki: wiki.elphel.com to get an understanding of the camera.
And there is very valuable info on our FAQ: http://apertus.org/faq

Simon Shasha said:
I just want to verify - this sensor is available to purchase for $1100?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, this is rather interesting. But unfortunately Panavision has not been very responsive in emails in the last years so I am not really up to date (their website content is also years old).
 
Last edited:
Have you guys ever considered making a Kick Starter for this? I bet you'd get a ton of support. This seems amazing. I know of a guy who's raised $30,000 in under a month with a self cleaning tiny Betta fish tank. I bet you guys would raise a lot of money and get some backers. Worth a shot for something this amazing.
 
skital said:
Have you guys ever considered making a Kick Starter for this? I bet you'd get a ton of support. This seems amazing. I know of a guy who's raised $30,000 in under a month with a self cleaning tiny Betta fish tank. I bet you guys would raise a lot of money and get some backers. Worth a shot for something this amazing.
Click to expand...

Shhh, I can't spill the beans yet. All I can say is that we are working on preparing exactly this ;)
 
Actually I CAN spill some:

-) Yes, we are currently preparing material to start a crowdfunding (kickstarter) campaign to develop our own Apertus Sensor Front End.
-) The sensor we currently favor is the CMV12000 from Cmosis (http://wiki.elphel.com/index.php?title=Sensors_table#Hi_speed_sensors)
-) It will be amazing and lift Apertus into a whole new level of possibilities putting us in direct competition with the current big players
-) It will cost a lot of money
-) It will be open source/free software/open hardware.
-) We will go public with it once everything is ready. We decided to rather spend more time in preparations to make it a really good and complete campaign, then if it still fails we can at least go down with dignity ;)


If you fear you could miss the epic start of it all be sure to subscribe to our newsletter: http://apertus.org/newsletter
 
Sebastian, that Cmosis sensor looks great! Would you happen to know what type of dynamic-range it would be capable of?
 
All good, found it:

"CMV12000 offers a dynamic range of 60 dB, extendable to 90 dB through several HDR (high dynamic range) operation modes. The sensor pixels have a very low parasitic light sensitivity (1:50,000) enabling high efficiency global shutter operation, which allows the sensor to capture extreme fast moving scenes without image distortion. One of the unique features of CMV12000 is the novel pixel structure, which combines pipelined global shutter operation with correlated double sampling (CDS). This technique, pioneered by CMOSIS, yields an unprecedented low noise level below 13 e- and a full well charge of 13,500 electrons. The global shutter CDS also significantly reduces the sensor matrix's fixed pattern noise (FPN) for better image quality.

CMV12000’s on-chip A/D converter can be operated at 8-bit, 10-bit or 12-bit resolution. In the faster 10-bit mode, 300 full frames per second are acquired. At 12-bit, CMV12000 still realizes a frame rate of 180 fps. The sensor's advanced architecture allows for row windowing and row sub-sampling. Up to 32 separate partial windows can be defined for an accelerated readout. Averaging several pixels raises these frame rates and increases the dynamic range."


60dB is 20 stops of dynamic range, 90dB is 30 stops...wow.
 
Good heavens - why didn't I read about this before?

1. The current setup with Elphel 353 looks interesting. Is there some sort of catch or can it really shoot 2592x1120 at 25fps? For $2380?! WTF, that's awesome.

2. An APS-C sensor that can do 4K 300fps looks frikkin' insane. Bring it on, sign me up. How can I help?

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
bruceallen said:
1. The current setup with Elphel 353 looks interesting. Is there some sort of catch or can it really shoot 2592x1120 at 25fps? For $2380?! WTF, that's awesome.
Click to expand...
Max framerate at 2592x1120 is 24.2 FPS in JP4 RAW mode. If you reduce resolution a bit you will get 25FPS easily. The only catch I can think of now is that the software to display a live video stream when shooting in JP4 RAW mode is still in development (I show how it looks in the youtube video). But the price of the Elphel camera to do this is just ~1300$

2. An APS-C sensor that can do 4K 300fps looks frikkin' insane. Bring it on, sign me up. How can I help?
Click to expand...
Spread the word, help the community to grow, provide feedback during development or even participate in the development yourself :cheesy:
 
OK, this is hilarious. I woke up this morning and was like "I had an insane dream that I was on DVXuser and these guys were trying to make an awesome 4k 300fps camera"... then I was like "no you idiot - I think it actually happened!"

So let me figure this out - Elphel and Cmosis and you guys are related how exactly? I think it is:

1. Cmosis make this sensor Ephel is looking at using for their next camera module?
2. Elphel's job is to integrate this Cmosis sensor into a working package with processing chip to make a camera module?
3. You guys make the software (well, the community does since it's open source) - which runs on a computer attached to the camera module? Or on that controller device you showed?
4. You guys also design ways to integrate the raw camera modules into a more cinema-friendly configuration?
5. You guys also work on 3D rigs integrating those camera modules?

So... if I have suggestions like lens mounts, ND filters, timecode, etc - who does that go to? You guys or Elphel?

Personally I think that that sensor gives you 2 key niches: >60fps and stereo. I wouldn't count on 4K to be an advantage for that long (lots and lots of 4K cameras coming to market). However:
- being able to shoot 180fps at 12bit or 300fps at 10bit at 4K is fantastic!
- being able to shutter-sync for 3D at the same time is awesome!

This really puts your camera in a different league. There are a lot of people who would be prepared to use a beta system just to get those advantages. We don't need something fancy. We just want this as soon as possible :)

Basically, all we need is:
1. capture of images in mostly-reliable fashion that can look BEAUTIFUL when properly processed
2. some kind of live video feed
3. have a lens mount that doesn't totally suck
Just those 3 things have worked fine for film cameras for decades.

If you can make better images than anyone else for less money, your camera will be used on major films because that's what's important. Not necessarily for A-camera stuff (there workflow becomes more important) but for specialist shots, sure thing.

Beyond that, there are a list of very very useful things:
AUDIO / TIMECODE: recorder can capture a track of audio at the same time. This would allow novices to record ref audio (and sync with Pluraleyes)... and pros could record timecode as analog audio from their Sound Devices / Denecke / Ambient box. Later in Avid you can decode from the analog audio recording to get actual timecode.
PORTABLE, BATTERY-POWERABLE: obviously this increases the amount of use cases
DOES NOT OVERHEAT AND DIE EASILY: This kinda depends on how much it costs. If the thing goes kaput after running for two hours and needs to have an ice pack stuck on it but it is so cheap that you can have 5 bodies on set and just swap out another one while the first one cools, no problem.
HAS NON-CONFUSING WORKFLOW: We need a reasonably-easy way of playing back on set and making dailies. We also need a way to make high quality files at the end that makes sense to post people.

RE: the physical design:
1. if you pick a lens mount with a shallow FFD then people can put all sorts of lenses on it with adapters (PL, Nikon, Canon).
2. but if you just stick a PL-mount on it, folks will likely be happy too
3. built-in ND filters would be nice (but a luxury - don't hold up cam development for this - next version can have this).
4. say hi to guys like HotRodCameras (www.hotrodcameras.com), SolidCamera (www.solidcamera.com), etc. They will do the work on lens mounts necessary to help you make your camera "pro cinema friendly"
5. extra points if you can make Cooke /i and Arri LDS systems work and record metadata per frame - but hey, RED still can't do Arri LDS :)

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the input Bruce.

Some more clarifications:

-) When I said "It will cost a lot of money" I meant the development not the retail price!
We will try to keep the retail price as low as possible but the image sensor alone has a retail price of ~1000€ or ~1300$ so you can't expect us to be able to match prices of sub 1K$ Canon DSLRs.

So let me figure this out - Elphel and Cmosis and you guys are related how exactly? I think it is:
Click to expand...

We know the people from Elphel Inc. and they are aware of the Apertus project, support us by giving technical support and they donated some hardware and let us use their webspace for our website, etc..
Apertus is an independent community project though. Elphel builds "general purpose" camera modules and recently started to focus on their core business: building panoramic camera solution (like they did for Google Street View). We take these "general purpose" modules and turn them into "cinema purpose" equipment (software and hardware) also like for a Stereo 3D rig.
Cmosis manufactures image sensors and we (Apertus) consider buying their sensors, that's it :)
 
CMOSIS's chip seems like a good pick. The weakest point in it I see is the 60 dB (10 f-stop) dynamic range. But like other chips I've seen, it offers an high-dynamic-range mode that changes it to 90 dB (15 f-stops). What artifacts are associated with this mode, I wonder?

I might be able to help --- I don't know with what exactly --- but I'm all about home-grown products.
 
Sebastian Pichelhofer said:
Thanks for all the input Bruce.

Some more clarifications:

-) When I said "It will cost a lot of money" I meant the development not the retail price!
We will try to keep the retail price as low as possible but the image sensor alone has a retail price of ~1000€ or ~1300$ so you can't expect us to be able to match prices of sub 1K$ Canon DSLRs.
Click to expand...

Are you frikkin' serious?! That''s awesome. Let's look at what's coming if you're a crazy guy like me who wants to be cool like Peter Jackson and shoot 48fps 4K :)

- Currently, the cheapest cam that can shoot 4K 48fps with synced shutters is... a RED EPIC-X.
- In late 2012, JVC will introduce an approx 4/3rds sensor interchangeable-lens 4K 60fps camera that might have genlock option... for $10,000. I guess that I could buy the PAL version and shoot 50p, then slow down 4% to 48p. But that's a bit of a pain and the PAL version is likely more expensive.
- In late 2012, Canon will probably release a 4K DSLR video cam but they've said it'd only be 24fps and JPEG codec. Probably no genlock either. They do have an interesting high-fps RAW recording patent so presumably will go for higher fps RAW later - in 2013? 2014 more likely.
- Nikon have stated their tiny 1-series cams (using an Aptina sensor?) can do 4K 60fps video... but I doubt they'll put genlock on them.
- Sony and Panasonic probably have some cheap 4K stuff coming... but again I'm guessing that once they put genlock on them, the price skyrockets. This is very stupid since they need good 3D content to sell their own TVs and projectors but anyway...
- maybe RED will upgrade Scarlet so that it can shoot 4K 48fps... but currently it only does 3K 48fps and has really expensive proprietary SSD storage.

So yeah... I don't think we're going to have cheap genlocked >24fps 4K from any of the major manufacturers until 2014 or so.

Which sucks, because I want to shoot in 2013. A-camera will probably be Red Epic... but I badly need a cheaper, lighter B-camera solution.

So yes... I really hope that Cmosis will be ready by 2013 or so to give you guys a sensor! And that the price hasn't increased to likr $15K or something...

Anyway, so where is the bottleneck? Lack of money? Lack of resources? Waiting on manufacturing?

I guess I'd better just head over to the Apertus forums and see if I can help.

Sebastian Pichelhofer said:
We know the people from Elphel Inc. and they are aware of the Apertus project, support us by giving technical support and they donated some hardware and let us use their webspace for our website, etc..
Apertus is an independent community project though. Elphel builds "general purpose" camera modules and recently started to focus on their core business: building panoramic camera solution (like they did for Google Street View). We take these "general purpose" modules and turn them into "cinema purpose" equipment (software and hardware) also like for a Stereo 3D rig.
Cmosis manufactures image sensors and we (Apertus) consider buying their sensors, that's it :)
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the explanation! That's pretty awesome. BTW, panoramic camera solutions have a good place in VFX cinematography too. EG special shoots, environment maps, etc.

OK - really really psyched about all of this!

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
Hi, very interesting project, the one with the APSC CMOSIS chip would be insane, and here lies my problem. In fact I see two problem, I have seen many insane project that had died because of the complexity etc of the project. I doubt Red would have survived the many delays if they did not have the backing of a billionaire. The second thing is that such a camera would require a whole infrastructure data management etc that would invalidate its use for 90% of circumstances and users.

Would it not be better to get something intermediate, like an aps version of a 2.5 k chip like the one that you have. A 2.5 k raw camera, with good low light quality and (very very important in my view) very good native DR, at least 12.5/13 stop. I think it would cater for a much larger market and perhaps much more feasible in a not too long future. With the advancement of technology lately in the large chip camera, in the space of 1 to 2 years the landscape can change completely.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top