Vicon, the motion capture technology specialist for the entertainment, engineering and life science industries, has launched two cameras, Vero and Vue. The new cameras will join Vicon’s flagship camera, Vantage, to form a new product family. Vero is an optical high-resolution camera package, offering a new level of power, performance, flexibility and value for money in the motion capture market. Vue is the industry’s first full High Definition synchronized video camera, providing clear and precise video footage in the mocap volume.
Based on the technology of camera platform Vantage, Vero provides an affordable system suited to a wide range of applications. From robotics to visual effects, the need for up-to-the-minute information during motion capture shoots has never been greater. To meet this need, Vero features on-board sensors that continuously monitor performance, camera position and temperature, enabling the system operator to ensure optimal performance at all times.
The Vero range includes a custom-made variable focus lens that delivers an optimized field of view, as well as an industry-leading 2.2 megapixel camera. The highly efficient and flexible system makes it ideal for capturing fast sport movements and multiple actors or objects with very low latency. The range also includes a powerful 1.3 megapixel camera, and delivers resolution and speed at an unrivalled price point. Vero is compatible with existing Vicon T-series, Bonita and Vantage cameras as well as Vicon’s Control app, which allows users to calibrate the system and make adjustments on the fly.
Meanwhile with full High Definition resolution, Vicon Vue incorporates the sharpest video image into the motion capture volume. It also enables seamless calibration between optical and video volumes, ensuring the optical and video views are perfectly aligned to capture the finest of details.
“The launch of Vero and Vue continues our ongoing commitment to delivering flexible yet powerful solutions to the motion capture community,” said Imogen Moorhouse, CEO, Vicon. “The intuitive Vero system delivers more pixels for its price, making Vicon high-quality motion capture more efficient and cost effective.”
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More