anamorphic Archives - TFerradans.

Anamorphic

Anamorphic Mumps Corrector – AE Preset

January 8, 2017

Here’s an upgraded version for the anamorphic mumps correction tutorial I posted last year. Featuring a free AE preset that will let you apply the adjustment directly to video! I made this episode in collaboration with Lucas Pfaff.

USEFUL LINKS:

Place the Preset in the right folder!

WINDOWS: C:/Program Files/Adobe/After Effects /Support Files/Plug-ins or /Presets
OSX: Applications/Adobe After Effects /Plugins or /Presets

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Anamorphic

Variable-Strength Diopters for Anamorphic Shooting

January 16, 2016

2015 was the year of the variable-strength diopters. They’re popularly known as single focus solutions. Yes, I am talking about the Focus Module (FM Lens), Rectilux and Rangefinder. The FM had a good headstart, released to the public in late 2014. The Rectilux and the Rangefinder started shipping almost at the same time, mid 2015. As much as you’d like, this is not the time I’ll throw them against each other. This comparison is coming soon. For now this is an in-depth explanation of how they work and why it took so long for them to show up. This is probably the nerdiest and most technical post I’ve written so far. Hold on to your optics and don’t hesitate to ask questions!

Variable-Strength Diopters in History

It all starts with the Iscoramas, back in the late 1960s. Iscoramas were the first anamorphic adapters that could go on any taking lens and not deal with double focus. That is: focusing both lenses – taking lens and anamorphic – at the same distance. Set your taking lens to infinity and use the Iscorama’s focus ring. Iscoramas sold already attached to infinity-fixed-focus 50mm lenses. Isco Optics had developed their own way of achieving this result and patented its optical design.

This decision shot Iscoramas’ prices through the roof forty years later. You can find a few patents on Google. Here are two for the US and one for Europe (patent one, patent two, patent three). All filed by Isco or Schneider GmbH (the evolution of Isco Optics). The patent prevents other companies from making any lenses that work the same way. This pushed the Russians towards their synchronized focus rings for taking lens and anamorphics. It also deprived the world of any other single focus anamorphic adapters. Genius, from a business standpoint.

Light travels

This was an impossible barrier for the longest time. Nobody could make a single focus adapter based on the same principles. Oh, yeah, and what are these principles? Let’s consider a three-part optical chain consisting of A + B + C. A is the focus group, B is the anamorphic group and C is the taking lens group. A > B > C is the path light follows from the outside world to the sensor.

Glassworks:

The taking lens, or rearmost optical group (C) sits at infinity. The anamorphic block goes in the middle (B) also set to infinity. A third optical part, the focus group (A) consists of a variable-strength diopter. We all know what diopters are and what they do by now. A variable-strength diopter is a combination of optical elements that acts as a diopter. It does so by changing the maximum focus distance – infinity – to something else. While regular diopters have their power set in stone (or glass, haha), variable-strength diopters range from +0, at infinity, to +1 or +2. These powers drag infinity down to one meter or half a meter!

So why do the other components of the system have to be focused at infinity? Anamorphic adapters perform best at infinity, with sharper focus and their nominal squeeze factor. Second, if you’d set the variable diopter at the +0, or infinity position the other lenses are expected to see an image at infinity, and the variable-strength diopter will bring “infinity” closer as you change its strength. Plus, this allows you to have distance marks on your single focus solution like the Rangefinder does, that relate directly to the diopter strength that is being used, converted into its maximum focus distance. Before I proceed, I thank John Barlow for this explanation, more than a year ago. I haven’t found an easier one to understand out there yet.

Why did we take so long to figure this out?

Now we know how the variable-strength diopter affects the entire system, but what took them so long to get here? My guess would be that everyone kept thinking about making a full single focus anamorphic adapter, and then hitting the patent wall. The moment they disconnected both parts – anamorphic block and variable diopter – the solution was found, since there were no patents preventing anyone to make variable-strength diopters.

The requirements were hard though, since the glass had to be big enough to fit in front of most anamorphic adapters without (too much) vignetting and image quality couldn’t afford any hits – which is a serious issue with any other “photographic” variable-strength diopter you can find on eBay, as Jim Chang shows in his post at Rapido Technology’s blog – since anamorphics usually mess up your image quality enough. This technical demand is the cause for the high prices – plus R&D expenses!

And what is an Iscorama?

Revealing the trick: an Iscorama is basically a high quality anamorphic block set to infinity fused with variable-strength diopter that ranges from +0 to +0.5 (which limits minimum focus at 2m!). Good thing for us we now have plenty of high quality anamorphic glass available – Isco Cinelux and Blue Stars, Kowa B&H, Hypergonars and so forth -, both modern and vintage, to suit every kind of look.

Whereas the Iscorama is more like an Apple computer (sleek design, light and powerful but you don’t have much control over what goes on in the inside), the alternative to them would be PCs, cheaper, bigger, but they allow you to control every aspect of what goes under the hood. You can pick your taking lens, your anamorphic and even choose from a few options of variable-strength diopters. Later, if you wanna tweak it, each of these elements can be replaced and upgraded at your will.

Anamorphic

Anamorphic Cookbook – Intro.

January 15, 2016

HEADS UP! This is an old draft of what I envisioned the Cookbook to be. It changed shape a lot in 2020! Here’s the new Cookbook!

This is my second take on a Guide for people interested in anamorphic lenses. My first compilation, the Anamorphic on a Budget guide, was also my graduation work at University of São Paulo (Brazil). It explains most of the basics about the lenses and a little bit of their history, but there’s a lot of it dedicated to my final project, Zona SSP. This time I don’t have a project in mind. The Anamorphic Cookbook is the result of almost five years of experiments with various lenses, systems and cameras. I’m trying to bring everything I learned during this time into understandable (even though very technical at times) writing for all of those who are entering the anamorphic world or already experienced shooters who want to learn a thing or two about lenses other than the ones they’re used to. MOST of it isn’t science, but as close to it as I could get through repetition, discussion, analysis and comparison. All of what I write is true for me and if you get different results please don’t hesitate and shoot me a message or, even better, leave a comment, so the whole discussion can be public.

What should you expect to find in this book? Actually, before that and even more important, what are you NOT gonna find in this book? For starters, I won’t tell you what lens to buy, or what’s the best lens for beginners simply because there is no objective answer to these questions. I’ll analyze dozens of lenses, give you charts and comparisons tell you which style of shooting works best with this and that lens and it’s up to you to decide which one you feel more confident with. All adapters have their drawbacks, some will bother you more than others.

Another thing I’m doing is dedicating a lot more space to talk about taking lenses and their effect on the resulting image. Why do we keep hearing vintage optics work “better” than modern glass, the effects of multicoating, zooms versus primes, why does everyone love the Helios 44, and other questions like these. The order of the chapters might look a bit odd at first but I’m doing it the way I believe people should learn these subjects. For example it’s essential to understand diopters before we get to talk about any anamorphic adapters. Diopters are, by far, the most underrated subject when it comes to anamorphic filmmaking and these tiny pieces of glass can boost the character of your production tremendously by directly affecting bokeh and stretch factor, but nobody ever seems to really care about them. It’s always “do I need diopters with that?”

Since Anamorphic on a Budget was published there was an increase in the number of cameras featuring anamorphic modes and such, like the GH4, Ursa Mini, Alexa 4:3, and the never forgotten and super convoluted workflow of shooting raw on Canon cameras. Plus, everyone’s eyes are always shining and asking manufacturers “Will this firmware update offer an anamorphic mode?” even though I get the feeling that most users don’t grasp the advantages of such modes versus simply cropping the sides of a 16:9 frame. This time I’ll do my best to try these cameras personally and explain why these or those settings are a way to improve (or simplify) your workflow.

As any film school will teach you, you first got to learn the rules and know them by heart before you start breaking them. Anamorfaking is possible, but if you don’t understand how the real thing works, there’s a great chance your fake will yell “FAKE!” and bring your production value down instead of up. In this section I’ll talk about flares, filters, mods and post processing, all of them cheaper than the real thing, which is what makes them interesting.

There are also a few odd uses and unique products to be included, such as the Letus AnamorphX-GP for the GoPro Hero 3 (and 3+), Moondog Labs’ lens for iPhone, using baby anamorphics with phones, hacking and slashing bulky lenses to make them friendly, a detailed explanation about Variable Strength Diopters, yadda yadda. Lots of bits and pieces that I tried to connect together and eventually jammed into what might seem a random spot.

The anamorphic community is small and spread across the globe. If we weren’t so united this guide would not have been possible. Having a few safe havens is key. The EOSHD forum and the facebook group Anamorphic Shooters are my go-to places whenever I have questions or want to share any discoveries. There is still a lot to go, but I’d like to thank a few individuals in advance – this list will probably increase with the following chapters. Rob Bannister, Richard Gale, Cosimo Murgolo, Jim Chang, Andrew Chan, Alan Besedin, Matt Leaf and John Barlow helped me a great deal with several aspects of my research and deserve the recognition. Thank you very much for all the enriching discussions and explanations, guys.

This guide is still at its earliest stages and I have plenty of writing ahead. If you wanna stay updated about the Anamorphic Cookbook, subscribe to my youtube channel for all kinds of video, follow me on Instagram, send your name and email to news@anamorphiccookbook.com and I’ll let you know when new content is available! Also, you can just visit this blog every once in a while.

Anamorphic

Anamorphic on a Budget – SLR Magic Ep 04 – Achromatic Diopters

December 27, 2015

Let’s talk about the most accessible achromatic diopters in the market and how they stack up against more popular options.

USEFUL LINKS:

All the RED links on this post are part of eBay’s Partner Network, so if you purchase anything through them, you’re helping me to keep this project going.

You can support this project on Patreon. Make your contribution and help the Anamorphic Cookbook!

Anamorphic

Anamorphic on a Budget – SLR Magic Ep 03 – Rangefinder

December 20, 2015

Third episode of this series, now it’s the Rangefinder’s time to be carefully analyzed. Paired with the Kowa B&H anamorphic adapter, the Rangefinder turns this amazing double focus lens into single focus. I had a blast running around and shooting without worrying about constantly checking focus.

USEFUL LINKS:

All the RED links on this post are part of eBay’s Partner Network, so if you purchase anything through them, you’re helping me to keep this project going.

You can support this project on Patreon. Make your contribution and help the Anamorphic Cookbook!

Anamorphic

Anamorphic on a Budget – SLR Magic Ep 02 – Anamorphot 2.0x-50

December 13, 2015

The second episode of the SLR Magic series goes over the bigger and heavier Anamorphot 2.0x-50, closer to a double focus system, it doesn’t perform so well at fast apertures, which let me down a bit. The Rangefinder turns it into a much better lens, so keep an eye for next week’s video!

USEFUL LINKS:

All the RED links on this post are part of eBay’s Partner Network, so if you purchase anything through them, you’re helping me to keep this project going.

You can support this project on Patreon. Make your contribution and help the Anamorphic Cookbook!

Anamorphic

The Anamorphic Cookbook – Draft.

December 11, 2015

I was drawing my plans for next year and started to think a good (better?) Anamorphic Guide might be something interesting to work on. EOSHD’s guide is barely ok and now that I look at my own guide, it has its flaws plus there’s a ton of things I learned AFTER writing it that could benefit future readers. Also, the game has changed with the arrival of FM, Rangefinder and Rectilux, totally warping whatever was the standard for double focus and projection lenses. We have more options to choose from instead of using adapters all the way, SLR Magic is making their anamorphic lenses, DSO is coming up with the Olivia, John is always a little box of surprises and so on. 2016 might be the year when Iscoramas officially lose their throne.

So I was thinking of starting such enterprise. I have a rough idea of most chapters and you can see the list at the bottom of this post, but if I’m working on my non-existent budget, this can take a while or not happen at all. Some friends suggested me to start reviewing other kinds of gear so I can get sponsors for the Youtube channel but, you know, I’m not that much into other gear! HAHAHA! These lenses are my thing and if you guys can help me stick to it I will continue to deliver good and new content on a constant basis.

Here’s a brief story of my life so you understand what I mean when I say I have a non-existent budget for this. I’m a film school graduate from Brazil – University of São Paulo -, and the Anamorphic on a Budget guide was my graduation work because I fell in love with the lenses and had the hardest time finding information about them online. Information in Portuguese was NONE, people literally didn’t know what anamorphics were. After that I moved to Vancouver, Canada, where I still am and went through Vancouver Film School’s 3D Animation and VFX program. During this year I got depressed and lost 25 pounds – you can see me getting them back through the first reviews – but being here motivated me to translate the guide to English. I also met a LOT more people interested in anamorphics compared to what I had in Brazil, and started to make the videos, which also taught me plenty new things – about the lenses, about having an eye for image quality, about talking to a camera (that was one of the hardest parts) and about what interests the audience. Now I’m starting a Creative Writing program at Langara College and will freelance with camera work and VFX to pay for school and get food on the table. I still have money coming from Brazil, but the conversion rate is almost 3:1, so it’s more of a last resort.

Back to the book, I was thinking of two very different paths. Path number one would be Kickstarter for this project alone which is a one-time thing. Be a backer and get a digital copy plus version updates, whenever they’re available. The second path is Patreon, and it entails a monthly payment for anyone who’d like to support my research and weekly videos since I’ve already spent some money on them (larger Dropbox account for the original RAW chart files, clearing customs for the SLR Magic gear, Rapido clamps, a ton of step rings that were only used once, a larger bandwidth plan for the website due to increased traffic, renting lenses once or twice, replacing my tripod that snapped in half and that kind of thing) and having a better budget will allow me to dedicate more time and put more effort into the project, pushing for more than one post per week, going into subjects other than lens reviews such as “WHY SHOOT ANAMORPHIC?”, or how the lenses work, how diopters work, more test shots and experiments, you get the idea. Plus, supporters will be able to provide input about what they want to see reviewed next, first chance to buy whatever gear I decide to sell – yes, this will be happening, there’s no need for me to have 30+ lenses while attending to Writing school – and some other cool stuff (like oval apertures, custom t-shirts and whatever I can come up with). The point is neither the channel nor the blog will be paid and there will be a free content anyway. The goal is to increase the amount and quality of content!

Later on, if the book succeeds, I’m considering a fancy printed version, since it will look and feel awesome, but I need to get the content going first!

Rough chapter list and what they will include initially. Very likely to be expanded.

Introduction
– Origins
– Hollywood (failed attempts / it’s a hit!)
– What is the “cinematic look” (flares, bokeh, artifacts, aspect ratio)
– Recent/Famous uses and extra material (True Detective, Total Recall, Interviews, Bordwell, etc)
– Fetish vs Storytelling (flare and bokeh for themselves vs using these elements to strengthen a story)

Anamorphic Storytelling
– Wider frame composition
– Negative space
– Cinematic experience (inherited epicness)
– more in this chapter. needs research and not of the technical kind.

Lenses vs Adapters/Attachments
(LOTS of individual lenses info in this part, I plan on renting a few cine lenses for tests and all, plus all I’ve gathered from the published and unpublished reviews).
– Renting vs owning gear
– Cine lenses
– Adapters (1.33x, 1.5x, 2x, odd values such as 1.75x, 1.9x, 1.42x)
– Taking lenses and their effects on the anamorphic (russians, Zeiss, Canon L, zooms vs primes, light loss, why is the helios 44 so amazing? taking lens sets)

Diopters and Achromats
– Visual differences (benefits from using diopters, added shaprness)
– How diopters “affect” stretch and bokeh for the better (“the diopter look”)
– Single Focus Solutions (or Variable Strength Diopters): how do they work? FM, Rectilux, Rangefinder comparisons.

Anamorfake
– Cinemorph filter (both the front one and the Sigma version)
– How to make a flare filter
– Modding the Helios 44, Pentacon 29, 135mm, etc (aperture mods)
– DSO lenses (vs MotionSix, etc)
– Faking in post (crop, wide angle distortion, optical flares)

Gear
– Cameras (GH4, 5D3, 50D, BMPCC, Ursa, RED…)
– Monitors and EVFs with anamorphic desqueeze

Post
– Destretching (AE, Premiere, FCP, Nuke, Photoshop)
– Dealing with mumps (irregular stretch along the frame)
– Corner Pin (to fix mild misalignment)
– Tracking and compositing (VFX post)

Older Posts →