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Some people complain about the barrel distortion common with WA
lens converters, but I find the curvature useful for making pans and tilts
smoother-looking (without the curvature, straight lines "swing"
more in angle with camera movement). It turns out that we see in spherical
(curved) perspective, with the same advantages for keeping tilting and swinging
points of view from being unsettling, for maintaining more consistent-looking
near-to-far distance proportion relationships, and for showing kinder representations of rounded objects (like
people) near the image edges than a very wide angle "rectangular-perspective" view would.
More on this is in my article,
"On Seeing and Perspective".
In this example, the VX-2000 is fitted with the Sony VCL-ES06 .6X WA
lens converter, which can show a very wide angle of view (the .6X rating appears
to be inaccurate...). The top frame shows the original, with obvious linear
distortion showing; the other two are frames with different amounts of
correction applied in Adobe Premiere. In order to maintain as much as possible
of the original horizontal angle of view, black bits appear at the top and
bottom of the "corrected" frames - but much of this is masked when
viewed on a TV (it can also be covered, using the "Clip" video filter,
making a slightly "letter-boxed" framing).
The procedure for making these
corrections is as follows (with the unavoidable softening of corner detail due
to its being "stretched" during processing):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Cut the clip to be treated to isolate it (remembering that the curvature
varies with lens zooming...).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Apply the "Camera View" video filter, selecting only
"Distance", and setting it at "150" or "200" (for
2nd or 3rd example, below) and the background color as black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
"Export Movie", and "Import" the result.
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o
Put the new clip on the timeline, copy it, and paste the copy directly
above it, on track V2 or above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Apply the "Sharpen" video filter to the copy, open the track,
and move the "rubber band" to "15%".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
"Export Movie", and "Import" the result.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Put this new clip on the timeline, and apply the "Lens
Distortion" video filter, selecting only "Curvature", and setting
this to "-25", or "-30" (for 2nd or 3rd example, below).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
"Export Movie", and "Import" the result.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Put this new clip on the timeline, copy it, and paste the copy directly
above it, on track V2 or above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Make a 640x480-proportion graduated mask in a drawing program, nearly
black over much of the center, smoothly moving to white in the corners - save as
a "psd" file.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Apply the "Sharpen" video filter to the copy, open the track, and
move the "rubber band" to "50%" this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
Specify the transparency type as "Image Matte", with the
graduated mask "psd" selected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
o
"Export Movie", and "Import" the resulting clip,
substituting it for the original.
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If you can stand the loss in sharpness
and the increase in artifacting resulting in the image from the processing, and
if you have selected the variables appropriately for your particular gear, you
should have a "distortionless" image - but after viewing it, you may
find that you prefer "distortion" in your WA views...;-)
Return to VX-2000 Review Return to
Camcorder Comparison Article
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