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Tech Focus | 3D

DSC Labs' Fairburn Chart Gives 3-D True Perspective

As 3-D takes center stage, the Fairburn Chart becomes an invaluable aide for Filmmakers and Creatives in the quest for 3-D perfection

(Toronto, Canada) Corresponding with the growing popularity of 3-D productions, orders for DSC Labs’ recently released Fairburn 3-D Chart have been on the rise. Designed in collaboration with Emmy® award-winning Director of Photography Sean Fairburn, the DSC 3-D Chart provides videographers and filmmakers with a calibration tool that lets them properly balance and align cameras as well as check zoom, focus, rotation, keystoning, grayscale and colorimetry accuracy. Stephen Pizzo, co-founder of Element Technica, whose series of groundbreaking Technica 3-D Rigs are designed to precisely position a pair of cameras to achieve realistic stereoscopic digital video for broadcast and cinema, highly recommends the Fairburn 3-D Chart. “At Element, we are always using the DSC 3-D Chart for critical alignment here in the shop as part of our product testing regimen. Every one of our rigs, Neutron, Pulsar or Quasar, goes through a complete alignment test in each of the three configurations: Side x Side, Under/Thru Beamsplitter and Over/Thru Beamsplitter. The DSC 3-D Chart allows our technicians to check critical alignment using a few Allen keys rather than a complicated image analyzer.”

Designed for use with a 3-D beam splitter and side-by-side stereographic rigs, the DSC 3-D Chart includes 15 test elements for pinpointing even the most critical differences in aligning 3-D cameras. For matching colors, this 3-D Chart includes a hexagon-shaped version of DSC’s trademark ChromaDuMonde multi-hued pattern. Also included are 18% gray patches for users migrating from the film world.

Fairburn 3-D Chart Feature Highlights:

* Horizontal and vertical alignment (white cross through middle and small crosses)
* Focus fans in corners (maximum contrast for ease of viewing, even in low light)
* Zoom ring (to see zoom disparity between the camera’s focal length) line 5 pixels wide
* Keystone correction (colored balls and white rings in corners)
* Horizontal scale in centimeter and inches (to see exact IO offset at parallel)
* Mini gray scale at bottom steps 1, 6, 11 with DSC true black background
* 18% gray scale chips (at the top of chart on RT and LT)
* ChromaDuMonde color reference in hexagon shape, matches vector scope orientation
* RIGHT and LEFT words on white lines, used as orientation detectors
* Arrows up and right also used as orientation detectors
* Red R and Blue L to show color and eye reference (Red Right eye - Blue Left eye)
* Red R and Blue L show image flip or flop orientation
* RGB and CMY have been added at the highest printable value
* Focus fans at the center are for zoomed in focus aides
* Scale on far R and L to measure horizontal and rotational offset
* Center cross

“DSC charts are used by professionals worldwide to calibrate and match their cameras to obtain the same ‘look’ throughout their entire production,” comments DSC Labs President, David Corley. “In addition, the Fairburn Chart allows them to calibrate their 3-D rigs so that both cameras see exactly the same image; discrepancies are readily identified and remedied.”

Resources:

http://www.dsclabs.com/

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