This video has recently been making the blog rounds, and is purportedly underwater footage, shot with a GoPro in a custom rig, of a school of dolphins trailing a boat. And people seem to love it:
The Blue from Mark Peters on Vimeo.
Um...am I the only one who thinks it's fake? Something about the lighting, the motion of the dolphins, and their edges creates an impression of unreality. The lighting appears a bit too even, and when one dolphin passes over another, there is no shadow.
I know Core77's readership has a lot more direct rendering experience than I, and am curious to hear your impressions. I'm also curious if the odd lighting and edges are just a function of how GoPro cameras capture images underwater.
My apologies to the original shooter if I'm leveling a false accusation. I should point out that I really, really hope it is real.
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Notice how the footage starts off in fish eye when it's above the water and then switches when it's underwater.
This is viral marketing and a lot of gullible people have lapped it up. Or maybe it's just GoPro owners with a sense of buyer's remorse after having their product called out.
Countless films and games are ruined by the idea of replacing actors with meshes or point clouds. ( it only works in quick cuts) CG has its uses but to argue the real/unreal thing is nonsense. The best directors and dp's strive for art not reality.
Personally, I find this piece amateurish. It's probably been a long time since anyone posted here but what the hell...
Still very awesome, amazing animation!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD3hvpVYIA&feature=related
All of the dolphins - all of them - have the *exact* same markings on their bodies. The same white on the lower lip, the same white streaks thru the grey on their foreheads and the same *symmetrical* patterns - including a sort of elliptical dark patch 2/3 the way down their backs - across all of them.
Well done, but a fake.
Either way, Go Pro wins, because it is mentioned all the time in relation to an awesome video, and no CGI software is mentioned at all. So what's the point in this discussion?
Perhaps I'm just not familiar enough with the look of underwater footage, but for now I'm voting hoax.
I'm up in the air about the fake/real... but It would be a great transition for some CGI when the camera rig goes under and the cloud of bubbles trails it. It's doing it's job with this much controversy behind it, that's for sure!
the vid is edited badly etc, to enhance the real feel. and this wasn't one guy, its a cg house doing it for publicity. I give it a week to surface as fake.
C'mon designers
What's odd is all that discussion about markings/scars: It's one thing that some here claim all the dolphins are identical when they clearly are not, but what I really don't get is why the differences are being held up as proof that it's all real. If we're seriously considering someone spending untold hours to do this as CGI, I'd think this nefarious person would also make a few slightly different 3D models and texture sets too. So I don't see how different markings proves much either way.
Regardless: It's real. I'd stake your life on it (hey, I might be sure it's real, but I know better than to stake my own life on anything)
a) If you were that good at CG, you'd spend more time making sure the video was actually edited well, and that the titles were a bit more classier than the stock fonts and layout. It's definitely a home-edit job.
b) If you were that good at CG, you'd be working at dreamworks instead of spending your weeknights and weekends making a video that doesn't make you any money.
C'mon designers.
Check our real dolphn footage shot with a go pro on a cloudy day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saMCpj6EkyY
The outlines around the edges of the dolphins look so sharp and clear but everything else in the footage is fairly blurry. Also all of the dolphins appear to have the same exact texture on their bodies. even little imperfections on the same spot of each dolphin.
" and when one dolphin passes over another, there is no shadow."
There IS a shadow for sure, it's just diffuse. There is no sharp, direct light source, here. The shadows are similar to the ones you might see on a cloudy day.
Creating this in CG would make something plastic-looking at best.
yes, the Gopro cameras are awesome. But it is really a stretch to think this video is fake, in my opinion.
Also small details like the poo cloud near where they first appear, that make we think it would be far too elaborate a hoax. It's not like the clip is super special, it is cute but without being a marine biologist I can't see anything particularly unique here.
The motions are very strange and also the lightining of the skin, wich, well, is the same for all the dolphins..That's a bit weird..
I seriously think that's a fake (and also not the best one you can see in internet) ;)
- The chromatic abberation and other lens distortions, especially at the edges of the image. Pause the video when e.g. a fin is in the corner; you'll notice one edge of the contrast being a bit yellow/green and the other blue/purple. This is (afaik) very hard to fake.
- The dirt/water on the lens (middle right)
- I'm no marine biologist, but the movement seems quite real to me.
- There is no simple point for a CGI handover, as, for example, in Floris Kaayk's "Human Birdwings".
I've only seen bottle-nose dolphins underwater before, but assuming they move in a similar way to this species, the movement looks very realistic to me.
The scene is shot underwater beneath the wake of a boat on an overcast day. What light you can see is sure to be extremely diffuse. Besides, who would go to the trouble of introducing some subtle red fringing without taking pains to get the lighting right?
The only reason the dolphins' movement might seem a bit wonky is because this was shot at a higher frame rate. We're used to seeing 24 fps video, which gives a slightly blurry, flickery texture. Up the frame rate to smooth things out, and things start to look a bit off. (It's incidentally why The Hobbit trailer got such a negative response when it was first shown.)
Also, you can watch the muscle groups ripple under the sking of real dolphins as they swim- again, these surfaces are too smooth.
Light just looks a bit odd underwater, it might be that the semi-transparent water acts a little like a softbox so the light and shadows are diffuse. Also I think the GoPro HD has a pretty wide lens, which would tend to cause distortion up close, but just enough to look a bit 'off' without being obviously bizarre.
He uploaded what he claims is raw footage from the same trip that shows a similar fake-looking effect:
http://vimeo.com/47531345
More technically, though - why would there be a shadow? It's a cloudy day (no heavy shadow) and they're close to the choppy surface of the water (lots of diffuse refraction). If the edges are weird (they don't look all that weird to me, although they do pop) I might guess it was a weird DOF effect or a compression artifact.
Anyway, yay dolphins.
why, because there are no marks on any of the pod memebers. Dolphins always have distinctive markings, they also always have bits missing from tails or scars or pockmarks when in the wild plus all thr reasons you mentioned..
Also, I had seen this video run the rounds on sites which typically feature the usual "guerilla marketing" slop the agencies try to foist off when intentionally floating a meme and I wondered why this one video was getting such an aggressive push. I finally relented and watched it and it didn't particularly blow my mind, so that also confirmed there was something else being "sold" here.
Also, now that I recall, the framing and odd motions of the fishermen getting tuna seemed oddly staged.
Whatever the case, whether artificial or legit, it's pretty damn close to actual, so impressive in either case.
But would not surprise me to learn that this is essentially a portfolio piece for some agency looking to shop their skills to move sugar water or laundry detergent.
The relative unreality of the images - lighting, edges - could be from the fact that the majority of people simply don't see camera shots like this - in clear water, rolling forward in a boat with a camera facing rearward. The sky was clearly overcast that day which wouldn't project clear shadows.
Most importantly there are small differences between every animal - spots, markings, noses - which you wouldn't expect from a CGI effort. And at 2:30 the pod does a little dive to get around some bubbles - very natural looking response.
If this is CGI its as absolutely good as it gets - better than Avatar, Prometheus, and anything else the big $tudios have made.
bye.
I don't know what's going on with the edges, but it looks about on par with most of the footage from shark week this week. I'm no CG expert but I bet this is the real deal.
When they drop the camera in the water they have a wake that looks like they are making 8-12 knots. Similarly, the only way the motion of those dolphins relative to the camera works is if they keep moving. As someone who has filmed foils in both open water and tunnel tests here are the problems.
A - able to get a purely clear video without any cavitation behind the camera as it travels through the water is a serious challenge. When using cameras in the water at velocity bubbles (cavitation) would form behind a flat surface like that. It is a problem that they magically don't have. It's why we prefer to shoot across or into the flow.
B - the camera is amazingly stable. To get a towed array (like say that camera) stable you need a torpedo body and or some other well thought design. A gopro would tumble and move around very randomly.
Short answer if they really did shoot video like this they have a very profitable career in Fluid Dynamics research available to them.
Finally C: a nit pick - the camera goes down next to the prop but when it looks up starting at 2:03 there is no evidence of a wake pattern on the surface. There should be a distinct multiple V wake pattern visible.
On the plus side dolphins really do group like that. On the down side they usually prefer to ride the pressure ridge at the bow.
The other thing you should check out if you watch the video again are the markings on the dolphins, the all have distinct markings and scars identifying them as individuals. Not to mention the sheer amount of hours required to render something like this would be off the charts, especially with the single uncut shot...
The lighting on the mouths is weird, there's absolutely no motion blur, the dolphins appear to have identical markings, on and on.
Each dolphin has distinctly different marks, scrapes and scars. And the occasional burst of bubbles that comes from behind the camera and through the pod interacts in such a random and organic manner that I would bet a great deal of money that this was real.
The user has even posted the raw gopro footage here: http://vimeo.com/47531345
Here's my take:
The water and bubbles look real, or at least composited from real footage.
The lack of overlapping shadows is possible in real life - I scuba dive and the first 10-15 feet under clear water on a sunny day can give you that effect - think of the water as a big fiber optic element, it can refract and scatter light in all directions.
The biggest red flags I see are:
1 - The edges of the dolphins appear too sharp, especially while both camera and subject are in constant motion.
2 - Apparent lack of depth-of-feild, everything appears to always be in focus, when the dolphin noses are apparently a foot away vs dolphins way off in the background, that amount of focus latitude would require a very tiny f-stop.
3 - I don't see any interaction between the bubbles and dolphins - while the lack of this doesn't prove a fake, that would be hard to fake if present.
I'd like it to be real, and sometimes the camera gods shine on what should otherwise be a rubbish shot...maybe the poster has more footage from the same rig?
There aren't any CG artists out there who can do something that beautiful.
Camera technology is pretty unreal these days. the resolution and clarity can sometimes make things look "unreal".
Maybe the lighting looks even because it's underwater? Also, it looks like it's an overcast day so you're going to get very diffuse light and shadows anyway.
In the case of the shadows that you specifically questioned, you would need to know exactly what direction the light is being cast from. It's most definitely not mid-day so if you were expecting shadows directly below the dolphins, they won't be there. From what I can tell, the boat was holding it's course and the light appeared to be coming from the left of the frame.
Watch some of the dolphins that are swimming almost side by side. When they get close to each other you can see the shadows briefly as they pass by. This leads me to assume that the light was coming in at a low angle (quite early or quite late in the day).
Also keep in mind that light doesn't pass through the water as clearly as it does through the air. Therefore your shadows don't appear to cast out as far from their source (depending on the size of the object casting the shadow and the brightness of the light) which is why you don't really see the shadows in this video until the dolphins are quite close together.