Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Did Holopac change everything?

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  • Rich of Observationz,

    It seems to me that we aren't far off photo-realistic CGI (I'd suggest something like a Turing Test - can watchers differentiate between a filmed scene with actors and the same scene created with CGI).

    Then it'll get cheaper, so maybe in 20 years we'll have desktop photo-realistic CGI - just make storyboards and the computer will do the rest. With a library of the world's living and dead actors.

    I imagine this will be enthusiastically taken up by pr0n. If you can have photo-realistic characters that take direction, are eternally priapic and guaranteed over-18, why bother with performers?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Then it’ll get cheaper, so maybe in 20 years we’ll have desktop photo-realistic CGI – just make storyboards and the computer will do the rest. With a library of the world’s living and dead actors.

    Or people who have never lived. The first big-stage trial of this technology was the “performance” by the Gorillaz – a cartoon band – at the MTV Europe Awards. It’s not hard to imagine amazing collaborations in the same vein, and not just in porn.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis,

    Review of the first 3 days of the festival from someone on the ground who saw the holoshizzle live.

    And ATDI!! lucky %%&&%^$!!!

    http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/47770/coachella-2012-three-days-and-three-nights-of-unicorn-mating-dances-hip-holograms-and-satisfying-cash-grab-reunions

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Hatsune Miku was the OG holographic popstar

    What bugs me about the idea of the holographic performance is the interaction between performer and audience. "Put your muthafuckin hands up!" "Let me hear you say..." etc will look and feel a little silly coming from a figure you know can't see or hear you.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    The Holo Men spell check...

    Tupac’s apparation

    er, should be - apparition (in a coupla places...)
    but right later on....
    unless maybe he was more an apparatus
    or apparatchik...

    difficult to depect

    er, should be - depict

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Yeah, but you could have made a cartoon band in 1928 using hand-drawn animation and projected it at an award show.

    I think having a reference is a harder test.

    (Incidentally, I saw the movie 'The Ghost' the other day and they seemed to be using (bad) CGI for B-reel stuff. Like waves, and a plane taking off. In the latter case, they had an sequence with a CGI large airliner followed shortly by a real light aircraft, and the difference was very obvious. I guess this was done to save money, though how much does it cost to point a camera at the ocean?

    Or, it may have been a new cinematatographic technique that just 'looks' like bad CGI).

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    er, should be - apparition (in a coupla places...)

    Gah. And in the first paragraph too ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Yeah, but you could have made a cartoon band in 1928 using hand-drawn animation and projected it at an award show.

    I think having a reference is a harder test.

    True. I suspect we're also some way off capturing and transmitting live action.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Naly D, in reply to Hadyn Green,

    if I’m not mistaken, Miku came out in 2007 right? Along with the holo performance on MTV Russell is referencing, the Gorillaz did one at the 2006 Grammys w Madonna

    Wellington • Since Sep 2008 • 307 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    depection is a cunning CGI technique for reducing muscle definition #sixpac

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    It's been a whole twelve years since reviewers gushed over the CGI of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within as heralding the dawn of digital actors replacing the real thing ("Why only the other week I was enthusing about the princess in Shrek"). Yet FF dropped from sight into some kind of uncanny valley, while Shrek achieved a sequel success second only to Toy Story.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Jolisa,

    Trundling off to re-read my copy of William Gibson's Idoru...

    Don't look at the idoru's face. She is not flesh; she is information. She is the tip of an iceberg, no, an Antarctica of information. Looking at her face would trigger it again: she was some unthinkable volume of information. She induced the nodal vision in some unprecedented way; she induced it as narrative.
    [...]
    He fell through her eyes. He was staring up at a looming cliff face that seemed to consist entirely of small rectangular balconies, none set at quite the same level or depth. Orange sunset off a tilted, steel-framed window. Oilslick colours crawling in the sky.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington, in reply to Jolisa,

    Trundling off to re-read my copy of William Gibson's Idoru...

    With news like this...

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/series/battle-for-the-internet

    Gibbo's writing is looking more and more onto it by the day.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Mike Kmiec,

    Strictly speaking, HoloPac is a misnomer - it should be Pepper'sPac.

    But even that's not really correct, as the Pepper's Ghost effect was created by Henry Dircks in 1862. Dircks couldn't find a way to sell the idea to theatres, as it was incredibly costly to rebuild performance venues with the necessary technology. John Henry Pepper managed to modify things enough to not require rebuilding, and thus the effect carries his name to this day.

    But would the world be as excited about DircksPac?

    (If you'd like to learn more about Pepper's Ghost, try Jim Steinmeyer's Hiding the Elephant.)

    Since Apr 2012 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Peter Darlington,

    Gibbo's writing is looking more and more onto it by the day

    Has he been wrong about anything so far? Coolhunter extraordinaire.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Marcus Turner,

    Bob Marley duetting with Elvis?

    You've unlocked the box, Russell...

    Since Nov 2006 • 212 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Elvis has already re-entered the building, apparently.

    Of course, it is markedly eerier when such technology is used to bring artists such as Tupac back from the grave. For his 50th birthday party, Simon Cowell hired Musion to create a hologram of his (deceased) hero, Frank Sinatra, singing Pennies From Heaven that performed for his 400 guests.

    And in 2007, American Idol viewers were shocked to witness Celine Dion duet with Elvis Presley on his hit If I Can Dream (although this was done using a process called rotoscoping, which allows you to take one image from a pre-existing piece of video and put it in a whole new environment, as opposed to using a hologram projection).

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Cam Carpenter,

    Hit Em' Up! I'm flatting in Dunedin - we're paying $60 per month for unlimited internet. Split between my six flat-mates it works out to be just over $2.00 per-week for unlimited content. The speed is pretty good too. We were considering getting subscribing to Sky, which worked out to be the same price, but once our internet was hooked-up there was no need.

    New Zealand • Since Apr 2012 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Tupacrophilia - when is Holopac going to get a celebrity zombie cameo in The Walking Dead?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Peter Darlington,

    Gibbo's writing is looking more and more onto it by the day.

    And Gibson had a point when we said that "the future's already here, it's just unevenly distributed."

    The speed is pretty good too. We were considering getting subscribing to Sky, which worked out to be the same price, but once our internet was hooked-up there was no need.

    Good move. Anything to bypass the media cartels.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    "the future's already here, it's just unevenly distributed."

    like faster broadband..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • BlairMacca,

    Obviously the Olympics organisers are planning something bigger than holograms
    http://www.avclub.com/articles/keith-moon-refuses-to-play-london-olympics-closing,72434/

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 208 posts Report Reply

  • Stupid,

    Tupac's voice could've easily been done with voice morphing technology similar to that allegedly used to create those phone calls from passengers on the 9/11 jets.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 75 posts Report Reply

  • Greg Akehurst,

    You may wish to take the opportunity to encourage your government to get its head out of its ass on this matter.

    Given that "best in business" lobbyist Tony O'Brien from Sky TV has swipe card access to Parliament, I don't hold out much hope of any change to the governments head position any time soon.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 7 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Stupid,

    Tupac's voice could've easily been done with voice morphing technology similar to that allegedly used to create those phone calls from passengers on the 9/11 jets.

    Intriguing!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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