New DIY HD Cinema Camera Project

Jose A. Garcia · July 11th, 2007, 07:48 PM

Here's another clip. 2k(2.39:1)@24fps.

I know this can make little or no sense to you so I'll explain.

The clip is actually a message for a friend of mine. He's a film student and knows about this project. He's looking forward to shooting one of his short films with this camera once it's finished or at least ready to film.

He's so excited about this that every time we start talking about the camera he says "Come on... Make me cry" (of happiness, of course). He always says he can't believe he'll be able to shoot 2K Digital without having to spend thousands.

So in the clip, the message I write on the piece of paper means "Now you can start crying".

You can download two versions:

http://www.cus-cus.net/dani/Test02-2k.wmv
http://www.cus-cus.net/dani/Test02-2k.mov

Jamie Varney · July 11th, 2007, 08:55 PM

Very nice footage footage Jose! I keep getting more and more excited about the possibilities!

Anyway, is it possible to tell which FPGA the Micron demo board uses? I am just looking for a part number to get a rough idea what kinda processing power is required.

Jose A. Garcia · July 12th, 2007, 03:07 AM

I can't upload the demo board manual where you can find all hardware descriptions. You can find it at www.framos.co.uk clicking on "Products", "CMOS sensors", "Demo Boards" and "Demo Camera System".

Wayne Morellini · July 12th, 2007, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose A. Garcia

What do you mean?

Polling is how often it checks per second, which is done by software in USB I understand, and is one of it's problems that slows down performance, but would yield some better consistency in data-rate. Or, it could be an master timing clock, that regulates the actually speed.

Things are set lower speed, but also made to tolerances. Overclocking can reduce life of the part, and there was something else I can't remember. I'm not saying not to do it, just that things are not as simple as they might seem sometimes.

Steven Mingam · July 12th, 2007, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose A. Garcia

Steve, I can provide you with raw bayer material from my cam. Do you want anything in particular? Resolution? Colors? Lighting?

Just tell me where I can upload it.

Well, anything that could cause problem, lot of color, edges. For the resolution, 1080p, 720p and the ones you're planning to use (but for performances issues, you should _really_ use mod16 resolution).
If you don't have any server space, uploading will be an issue tough... can you access http://dl.free.fr ? It's not overloaded with ads... ("file to send" > "fichier à envoyer")

Thank you very much !
(btw do you have the full datasheet for the micron sensor ?)

Take Vos · July 12th, 2007, 04:27 AM

Jose,

Are you using gamma correction on your footage?

Jose A. Garcia · July 12th, 2007, 04:43 AM

No. I wanted to know what the sensor could do by itself. The software does have controls for gamma, contrast, gain, white balance... But that clip's not corrected in any way. I must say I really like the results.

Take Vos · July 12th, 2007, 05:04 AM

Could you please make one with gamma correction, in low light conditions. Keep gain and bias, etc on 0.

I want to know if what the Pike is doing is the same, I am already doing gamma correction and the company says that that is the problem. Which is completely weird, as everything should be gamma corrected.

Cheers,
Take

Jose A. Garcia · July 12th, 2007, 05:14 AM

Wayne, I'm thinking about adding a big computer fan to the final design to avoid very high temperatures but if anyone knows of a better procedure, please say it. I wouldn't like to loose 900euro and the possibility to shoot 2k because of that.

Jose A. Garcia · July 12th, 2007, 05:47 AM

Take and Steven... I'll shoot something for you asap.

Steven Mingam · July 12th, 2007, 05:56 AM

Well you are not "overclocking" any hardware device, you are just forcing windows to look more often at the USB port if something's happening... By decreasing the time you react to usb activity you gained a bit of fluidity but nothing will burn because of that. The hardware is still running at the same frequency...

[edit] err, in facts that's totally wrong. The usb master is polling the bus every 1ms (1000Hz)(that's why it sux btw ;)) so that's why they overclock their usb mouses : to get the refresh rate of the mouse at something better than 125Hz, but you are not concerned by this kind of hack, you're not using a mouse . I wonder why you gained something by doing so...

Jose A. Garcia · July 12th, 2007, 05:59 AM

Great then. I was worried about that.

Jose A. Garcia · July 12th, 2007, 05:57 PM

I've been talking with an Omnivision representative. Appart from the sensor and the demo board they offer me different solutions to make the camera portable.

We've been talking about different options but two of them sound very interesting.

One of them includes the board, a minipc fanless embedded system and a small touchscreen lcd. The minipc is really small and it has 1Gb of ram and up to 1,8Ghz processor. It also includes 4 usb ports and a compact flash slot or a 40Gb HDD.

The other option exchanges the minipc for a panelpc, so it includes the touchscreen lcd as part of the whole computer.

The conversation made me think, and I've been looking for mini-itx computers and carputers (computers for cars). I found many different options at very good prices that could be perfectly used to build a standalone camera. Many of those computers boot in just a few seconds and if they just have Windows and the camera software, I think they can handle the capture without any problem.

What do you think?

Igor Babic · July 13th, 2007, 01:01 AM

http://www.commell.com.tw/Product/SBC/LS-371.HTM

Jose A. Garcia · July 13th, 2007, 03:37 AM

Wow! Do you know the price?

July 12th, 2007, 04:27 AM	#126
Take Vos Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Amsterdam The Netherlands Posts: 200	Jose, Are you using gamma correction on your footage? __________________ VOSGAMES, http://www.vosgames.nl/ developer of Boom Recorder and Mirage Recorder

July 12th, 2007, 05:04 AM	#128
Take Vos Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Amsterdam The Netherlands Posts: 200	Could you please make one with gamma correction, in low light conditions. Keep gain and bias, etc on 0. I want to know if what the Pike is doing is the same, I am already doing gamma correction and the company says that that is the problem. Which is completely weird, as everything should be gamma corrected. Cheers, Take __________________ VOSGAMES, http://www.vosgames.nl/ developer of Boom Recorder and Mirage Recorder

July 13th, 2007, 01:01 AM	#134
Igor Babic Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Zagreb, Croatia Posts: 171	Is this small enough? http://www.commell.com.tw/Product/SBC/LS-371.HTM

July 11th, 2007, 07:48 PM	#121
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	Here's another clip. 2k(2.39:1)@24fps. I know this can make little or no sense to you so I'll explain. The clip is actually a message for a friend of mine. He's a film student and knows about this project. He's looking forward to shooting one of his short films with this camera once it's finished or at least ready to film. He's so excited about this that every time we start talking about the camera he says "Come on... Make me cry" (of happiness, of course). He always says he can't believe he'll be able to shoot 2K Digital without having to spend thousands. So in the clip, the message I write on the piece of paper means "Now you can start crying". You can download two versions: http://www.cus-cus.net/dani/Test02-2k.wmv http://www.cus-cus.net/dani/Test02-2k.mov

July 11th, 2007, 08:55 PM	#122
Jamie Varney Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Columbus Ohio Posts: 36	Very nice footage footage Jose! I keep getting more and more excited about the possibilities! Anyway, is it possible to tell which FPGA the Micron demo board uses? I am just looking for a part number to get a rough idea what kinda processing power is required.

July 12th, 2007, 03:07 AM	#123
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	I can't upload the demo board manual where you can find all hardware descriptions. You can find it at www.framos.co.uk clicking on "Products", "CMOS sensors", "Demo Boards" and "Demo Camera System".

July 12th, 2007, 04:43 AM	#127
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	No. I wanted to know what the sensor could do by itself. The software does have controls for gamma, contrast, gain, white balance... But that clip's not corrected in any way. I must say I really like the results.

July 12th, 2007, 05:14 AM	#129
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	Wayne, I'm thinking about adding a big computer fan to the final design to avoid very high temperatures but if anyone knows of a better procedure, please say it. I wouldn't like to loose 900euro and the possibility to shoot 2k because of that.

July 12th, 2007, 05:47 AM	#130
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	Take and Steven... I'll shoot something for you asap.

July 12th, 2007, 05:56 AM	#131
Steven Mingam Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 91	Well you are not "overclocking" any hardware device, you are just forcing windows to look more often at the USB port if something's happening... By decreasing the time you react to usb activity you gained a bit of fluidity but nothing will burn because of that. The hardware is still running at the same frequency... [edit] err, in facts that's totally wrong. The usb master is polling the bus every 1ms (1000Hz)(that's why it sux btw ;)) so that's why they overclock their usb mouses : to get the refresh rate of the mouse at something better than 125Hz, but you are not concerned by this kind of hack, you're not using a mouse . I wonder why you gained something by doing so...

July 12th, 2007, 05:59 AM	#132
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	Great then. I was worried about that.

July 12th, 2007, 05:57 PM	#133
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	I've been talking with an Omnivision representative. Appart from the sensor and the demo board they offer me different solutions to make the camera portable. We've been talking about different options but two of them sound very interesting. One of them includes the board, a minipc fanless embedded system and a small touchscreen lcd. The minipc is really small and it has 1Gb of ram and up to 1,8Ghz processor. It also includes 4 usb ports and a compact flash slot or a 40Gb HDD. The other option exchanges the minipc for a panelpc, so it includes the touchscreen lcd as part of the whole computer. The conversation made me think, and I've been looking for mini-itx computers and carputers (computers for cars). I found many different options at very good prices that could be perfectly used to build a standalone camera. Many of those computers boot in just a few seconds and if they just have Windows and the camera software, I think they can handle the capture without any problem. What do you think?

July 13th, 2007, 03:37 AM	#135
Jose A. Garcia Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sevilla (Spain) Posts: 439	Wow! Do you know the price?