VFI, a technique developed by Leadervision to address frame violation.

Many holograms and stereoscopic images are recorded and reproduced in a manner whereby the foreground undermines the three dimensional effect of the image. Quite often subjects are projected into the space in front of the plate/screen, where the foreground disappears impossibly off the edge of the screen and the apparent relative position of the screen makes viewing uncomfortable. A floating screen edge and other techniques are used for active material but much printed material fails to convey the z plane positioning of the subject well and does not provide comfortable viewing.
Virtual frame integration addresses the problem by bringing the framing process into the editable area of the image to control frame violation and interface the image to the real world.

VFI, an evolution in experimentation.
There follows four pairs of images of steam engines, source image and final edit, centre frames from sets of 12. All were taken in circumstances that would require considerable effort in the edit to be at all commercially viable. Getting the owners to accurately position several tons of steam engine in the rather random habitat of a steam rally has its limitations and getting them into a green screen studio isn’t very practical either. Any attempt to bring the subject forward into the frame must invoke frame violation. If only we could put them on some kind of plinth…

Peace. Full size steam roller. Owner Bruce Frogbrook.

Isolating this from it’s background wouldn’t be very practical, especially when there are twelve frames to do. So, a bit of reconstruction of the bushes and bring the subject forward by setting the convergence point using the flywheel behind the boiler. Get rid of the unwanted area of foreground and bring the virtual frame up to meet that edge. Not bad, let’s see where we can go with this technique.

Iceni. One third size Mc Laren road loco. Owner Kevin Gambrell.

Ok, it’s a bit weird but the shelf is an interesting concept. Moving on.

Tom. Half size Marshall. Owner Steve Casey.

Now we’re getting somewhere. Very much a virtual frame, with the seat and the shelf obscuring it in a very natural way. You know a piece has something going for it when it evokes broad smiles and comments such as, ‘I especially like the red one that looks as though it’s about to go bungee jumping’, or ‘I don’t think Nasa are going to take your proposal for a steam powered lunar rover very seriously’. So what next?

Burrell showmans engine. One third scale if I recall correctly. Owner Mick of Sandwich.

I love this image. The engine is beautiful for starters and the smoke provides the Holophoto with a rare element of realism made possible by the VX12. Inversely the use of a ‘virtual JCB’ to get rid of the unwanted foreground though, produces a subtle element of surrealism that takes a while to sink in. It certainly doesn’t detract from the presentation of the subject.

The images of the Burrel and the Marshall would sit comfortably in a variety of traditional or modern environments such as hotels, clubhouses, pubs etc. History brought up to date with a contemporary medium and innovative implementation.

I intend in the near future to make these images available as downloadable stereo pairs for educational use. Contact me if you’d like to be informed when this happens.