PFDepth from The Pixel Farm adds Z to 2D pictures

The Pixel Farm (Marden, UK) presented PFDepth at IBC this week. PFDepth is a new, fully integrated toolset for total scene reconstruction, depth map creation and 2D-to-3D conversion. PFDepth is a radical evolution of the intricate processes involved in accurately representing the perceived geometric shape and depth of objects, buildings and terrain in 3D, making it easy to build complex geometry, detailed per-pixel depth maps, and stereoscopic renders of any 2D scene.

PFDepth is truly unique

PFDepth uses real-world camera models based on The Pixel Farm’s renowned 3D camera tracking technology. Thanks to these models, accurate depth cues are assigned to each pixel in the image relative to the real-world camera’s position over time, while dynamic adjustments to convergence can be animated automatically. The result is scene reconstruction and stereoscopy that appears as true to life as the original environment in which it was shot.

Integration is key

“PFDepth is fully integrated with our entire product line, so the creative options are endless.” comments Daryl Shail, VFX Product Manager at The Pixel Farm Ltd. “Throw PFClean into the mix, and you have a complete end-to-end solution for bringing archive films through restoration, remastering and stereoscopic conversion for redistribution.” Budgets are tight. With PFDepth, there’s no need to invest in multiple applications that each only satisfy a small piece of the creative pie. An entire toolchest of innovation is now at your disposal, allowing artists to create, edit, segment, sculpt, filter and combine objects in world space, without battling the disconnect encountered with other piecemeal processes. If you already own other tools, PFDepth opens new doors by supporting their data within its infinitely flexible and creative environment whilst the Geometry Tracking, Image Modelling and Z-Depth tools found in PFTrack can also contribute to help refine the immense data sets created in PFDepth.

Pricing

A 64-bit application running natively on OSX, Windows and Linux, PFDepth retails for £2000 / $3300 / €2500.

The company has also lowered prices on its tracking products: the latest release of PFTrack 2012 which supports full resolution raw LIDAR scans is now available for $1600; and PFMatchit  is now available for $480.

Info

For more information on PFDepth, visit The Pixel Farm.