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Expert 3D Scanning & Modeling
Photo-Realistic Digital Doubles
Photogrammetry Specialists
Serving North America:
Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans
Vancouver BC, Toronto ON, Montreal QC
April 2017
Volume 7 Issue 4
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Octagon Ready 3D Characters
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3D Bodies, Props, & Buildings
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TNG Visual Effects and its subsidiary,
TNG Visual Effects Canada Inc., combine to make a
network of
3D scanning services on-the-ready for any North American entertainment industry project. We specialize in the creation of photo-realistic 3D digital assets. Many characters, vehicles, cars, sets
,
props
, animals, sculptures, and buildings have been added to our scope of work since our inception in 2010.
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The TNG HQ in sunny Southern California.
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Our teams know how to work with producers, directors, coordinators, A-list talent, and other agencies. We are seasoned, fast and efficient, and our work is always guaranteed. Our strength is our ability to travel at a moment's notice. Call us for your next
3D scanning project
, we are here to make you look good!
A Behind-the-scenes look at
TNG.
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TNG: Making You Look Good Since
2010
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Nick Tesi, Founder
The 1st quarter is behind us as the bell has rung on quarter 2. We are coming out of multiple locations and not stopping until you get the service you're looking for.
April is a great month, Easter is almost here and we are as busy as the Easter Bunny. I wish you all a Happy and Holy Easter Season full of love and the miracle of life with your family and friends.
At
TNG Visual Effects we are constantly striving to innovate and develop new, improved approaches to
3D scanning. Our crack-team of technolog
y experts, scan-techs, and 3D artists constantly push the bar higher day by day.
We are continuing our deep dive into
photogrammetry and continue our research into the use of drones to expand our offerings in 2017.
As always, we will continue to provide Expert
3D Scanning Services to our customers. Our job is to make you look good, guaranteed.
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"...the projects were delivered with such precision of timing and quality that there is no doubt in my mind that experience and attention to detail are key assets for
Nick Tesi and his group.
You guys rock!"
Andre Montambeault, Head of Advertising
Rodeo Visual Effects Company,
"Nick is dependable and will go the extra mile to make sure that we get what we need. I would recommend him and his company to any project needing 3D scanning."
Al Lopez, President
Stargate Studios
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Did you know that all of our featured characters are
TNG Originals? We build them from 3D Scans every month for our newsletter. They are inspired by
characters that we meet along the way, in the coffee shop, at the gym, or at the mall.
You may remember:
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Betty from the TNG Diner serving up digi-doubles.
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Katie, the TNG Sweetheart, and her evil twin.
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Visit our
Work Page
to see more TNG Originals. If you are interested in purchasing one of our high-resolution 3D models call us at 877-879-2937.
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Photogrammetry is emerging as our go-to technique, using high resolution photography to build a highly accurate 3D model. Photogrammetry can be used for environments and subjects of all sizes.
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| 3D Structured Light Scans & 3D Modeling |
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At TNG Visual Effects we use Artec hand-held scanners to do structured light scanning of
heads, bodies and
props.
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Lidar is used for 3D scanning environments and large objects.
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Character Development
at Any Cost
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Digital characters keep showing up everywhere in entertainment and daily life. Apparently, they are here to stay. This is happening in every genre, from commercials to episodics, plus films. They are in casino slot machines plus automated systems. They are all over the web and the world in many different applications. They inhabit more and more space all the time.
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| Dynamic, photo-realistic 3D characters are an essential component in entertainment today. |
Those of us in the VFX industry work hard to keep building better and better digital-doubles every year to keep up with the increased demand. As the tools get better, the CPU's and GPU's get faster, software improves as does other elements of the hardware, we are able to keep pushing the boundaries of possibilities.
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Photogrammetry is fast and efficient.
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When time is pushing you to go faster and budgets are pulling down prices, the need for efficiency and ingenuity keeps you on your toes, constantly looking for better methods.
To service this industry is challenging, its appetite is continuous, its demands are unceasing, but the reward of seeing your work in a great collaborative effort on-screen is unmatched. It is a great feeling to know you contributed to entertainment, an ever changing industry.
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Three D characters do the dangerous scenes.
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Our hat is off to all who fight the good fight every day to develop more technology, flexibility, and enthusiasm for innovating better
digital-doubles
as it is literally changing the face of entertainment, the web, and the world.
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How to Shoot Pictures for a
3D Photogrammetry Scan
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A Photogrammetry 3D Scan is achieved by taking multiple pictures from different angles of the same subject. The two pictures are mathematically intersected to produce a 3D shape. Each picture relies on line-of-sight, so having more pictures will result in more detail and processing time. A standard character turn-around might have an 8-point rotation. If we divide 360 degrees by 8, we find the subject is being shot at 45-degree intervals. By shooting at 25 degrees, 20 degrees, or even 10 degrees, you would have more images with more data that's observed via line-of-sight. By adding in these more incremental pictures, it'll help twofold - a better alignment as well as more detail.
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Single-camera Photogrammetry.
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In addition to thinking about a horizontal turn-around, and how many incremental shots you'll want, the positions of the camera can be varying heights, and thus we have a vertical playground as well. You may only need a high angle and a straight angle for some subjects - others you may want to add a low angle. And depending on your subject, you may have multiple high angles or multiple low angles.
Like any other photography, the camera's settings will make or break the photogrammetry capture session. The fundamentals of photography must be understood by the technician including the relationship between the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, light intensity, focal length, and the distance from the lens to the subject.
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| Statue caught with Photogrammetry. |
Any camera will be able to perform
photogrammetry
, however, if you want your results to have a great solid alignment, micro-details, and high accuracy, then you'll really have to pinpoint all the variables, comprehend them, and find the most ideal settings. And just like photography and other means of
3D scanning
, certain materials or surfaces will be more challenging, and will require alternative methods. For that reason, it's good to run tests on different sized objects.
Alignments in 3D rely upon unique shapes. This makes aligning a flat wall to another flat wall a less accurate operation compared to aligning two scans of the front of a human face. The nose, eyes, mouth, and ears act as alignment markers as they are unique shapes. The steepness of the angle of the cameras will affect the alignment and coverage on the 3D model.
If your subject requires more depth, you should seek to elongate your depth of field by manipulating the camera's settings and your distance. Noise is a common problem in photogrammetry, and can be due to low light conditions. Photography requires ample use of light in order to dial in the variables that you require for your given project.
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| Photogrammetry to capture beard & hair details. |
The software that you process the images with in order to create the 3D result will also have variables that can be edited for the sake of better results. Inaccurate data can be filtered out. And so you can see a lot of automation occurs in this process, but without a proper understanding of photography, 3D scan alignments, and technical processing, the results can vary wildly from a melted army-man toy to a 100 million point dense cloud masterpiece that can be decimated to any number of millions of polygons that you require.
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Lidar
is still a great go-to for scanning large scale subjects. The measurement is accurate and it can easily replicate cars, trucks, trains and planes. It also works well on
buildings
of all sorts both inside and out. The applications for Lidar 3D scanning extend beyond entertainment and include forensic anthropology, as well as creating accurate 3D records for preserving historic structures.
The historic Pt. Fermin Lighthouse.
Photogrammetry
, an up-and-comer in the 3D scanning world, works great in conjunction with
Lidar
scans; the high resolution photography captured with either a DSLR or a drone can complement the Lidar data as needed. At TNG we are all about innovating with the newest technology in order to make our end products better and better.
Logistically, it's hard to get a hand-scanner around buildings, and large vehicles. That's why Lidar has been one of our longest-running services; it's hard to replace.
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We used Lidar to scan this live elephant.
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With
VR
experiences creating a growth market for 3D interiors, exteriors and
environments
, Lidar is a perfect solution. Additional scanners might be needed to do lamps and other odd shaped items. However, with the Lidar, you will see where everything belongs.
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Lidar and 3D modeling for final effect.
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Therefore, if you have mixed-needs for your projects there are a number of ways to get it done through a mix-and-match of
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Thank you for subscribing to The TNG Newsletter
. We are experts in the field of 3D scanning and love what we do. At TNG we are proud to guarantee our work for all of our customers; feel free to
contact us
with any questions about 3D scanning or your upcoming project.
Nick Tesi, 3D Scanning & Visual Effects Technology Expert
President, Founder and Friend of the Industry
877-879-2040
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