5D.SlowMo

PURPOSE
To extend a sequence length by interpolating 2 frames by doing motion estimation and using the motion vectors to effectively do a morph. In many cases a smooth and pleasing result is obtained, but there are cases where SlowMo will not succeed. This is an on-going R&D project at 5D to try and improve and augment the algorithms used.

INPUT CLIP
Motion Estimation Clip: the motion field is derived from this clip. This is the sequence to be stretched in time.

BEFORE YOU START, PLEASE READ
This effect should be treated as a tool as it creates frames onto disk for the rendered output. As there are more output frames than input frames the result cannot be returned directly to the reel.

PROCEDURE:

Load the clip to be stretched in time.

Load SlowMo.

Open a Monitor. All you will see is the input image. No rendering of the effect can be done at this stage.

Use the Box Corner controls to define a box around the region of the image which is moving. As you change the corner values you will see the bounding box drawn in black on the monitor display.

Track the movement with the box throughout the sequence. The smaller/tighter the bounding region, the faster the rendering will be.

Use the Between control to set the interpolation value for each pair of frames. If at frame 0 the Between value is 5 then the output will be 5 frames interpolating the movement from frame 0 to (nearly) frame 1.

Pop up the Plug In options.

Click on select for a browser and use it to choose the output directory you want. You cannot enter the file name directly into the Plug In text box.

Either type in the name you want to use for the output in the browser Selection box, or select a previously generated image.

NO WARNING IS GIVEN ON OVERWRITING EXISTING IMAGES

Click on OK.

Render the sequence.

All the output frames will be rendered to disk.

The progress monitor and after completion the rendered reel display, will show only the last frame created from each set of inbetweens.

Use File Load to import the images, creating a reel, so you can see the result.

TIME EDITOR CONTROLS

Betweens (Min: 2 Max: 1000 Default:5)
How many inbetween frames will be created between 2 frames.
Note: you can use the animation curve associated with Betweens. This will give a 'stepped' sequence of interpolation and you will not easily know how many frames you will get.

Thresh ( Min 0.5 Max 400.0 Init 2.0 )
If some of the motion vectors appear incredibly wild reducing this control will help to minimize any unwanted distortion. Most of the time it will have little effect and is best left around this value.

Bounding BOX
Corner1 XY and Corner2 XY (Default: full screen)
The Region Of Interest is be defined by the black bounding box. Only the image within this area will be interpolated. Keeping it as small as possible, but covering the required image area in both frames, will speed up the analysis phase of the processing.

P I CONTROLS

THE OUTPUT FILES
Only targa (.vst) image format files can be created.

select
Pops up the file browser for chosing the output directory and selecting or entering the name of the output frame sequence. If you select a file that already exists you do not have to remove and frame number or extension. Only the 'stem' of the name is used. If you type in a new file name you only need to enter the 'stem'; no number or extention is need. e.g. select fred00012.vst - only 'fred' is taken for the output 'stem' name. enter jim57 - 'jim' will be used.

file name text box
The selected file name (without extention or numbers) will be displayed. You cannot enter text directly into this box. You must use the browser.

SPACE REQUIREMENTS

On rendering, a great many frames can be created. It is necessary to play through the sequence to find the total number of frames; from this the approximate space requirements can be found. As you move the monitor through SlowMo you will see the estimated space and frame total update. These values will keep increasing until you go back to frame 0. The estimation will then be reset.

Getting the correct estimation for the output sequence:

Set up shuttle play marks to either end of effect. Put the start on frame 0, and the end AFTER the last frame.
Use the shuttle to go to the start.
Play the sequence through ONCE.
The total space requirement (+/-) and number of frames that will be created is displayed. Check the space against the 'df' value of the output disk.

NOTE: Loading the generated frames into a clip will require further space; possibly the same again plus.

RENDERING

When you have set up the ROI and Betweens required, render the sequence from the render options from within Jaleo. The '******' line at the bottom of the Plug In window, will change to 'GENERATING' (foreground mode only). The SlowMo-ed frames will be written to disk and the reel output is also created. The reel output will contain the last between frame created. After rendering load the created output as a new clip.

Notes:
1. You should NOT use the edit marks to render a partial sequence. It is necessary that you start at frame 0; otherwise the first set of betweens may be defective/weird.
2. The numbering of all rendered output will start from 0.

5D.SlowMo

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