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New Captain of the Enterprise
When we get tired of reading story after story of how Vista is stupid, how
users are stupid, how Microsoft will crash and burn, how bloated Vista is,
how wonderful Linux is, let's take a diversion for a few seconds to
something more important: AMERICAN IDOL
April 27, 2007 - Those who say Elvis Presley is dead must have missed
"American Idol" this week.
The late king of rock 'n' roll performed a hip-shaking duet with Celine Dion
on Wednesday's show. The images of him seemed so real, many people were left
wondering how "Idol" was able to bring him back from the dead.
Fans can thank technology. Last week, Dion spent hours on the stage singing
her part of the song several times without an audience or anyone next to
her, looking to her side on cue.
Then she did the routine again with a Presley body double who lip-synced
Presley's song and matched his moves from his 1968 performance.
Finally, all three elements - Dion by herself, Dion with the body double and
the original Presley performance - were combined through editing and a
technique called rotoscoping, which traced Presley from the original footage
by cutting him out.
"Rotoscoping allows you to take one image from a pre-existing piece of video
and puts him a whole new environment - completely new use of that same piece
of video," Disney digital media designer Joe Husung said.
Similar technology has been used before. It brought Natalie Cole and her
late father, Nat King Cole, together to perform "Unforgettable," and allowed
Forrest Gump to talk to former President Nixon.
A new British show puts the technology to use every day in "Duet
Impossible," in which stars perform with their late idols. If the concept
crosses the pond, American audiences may soon see late legends like James
Brown and Sinatra rocking the stage again.
users are stupid, how Microsoft will crash and burn, how bloated Vista is,
how wonderful Linux is, let's take a diversion for a few seconds to
something more important: AMERICAN IDOL
April 27, 2007 - Those who say Elvis Presley is dead must have missed
"American Idol" this week.
The late king of rock 'n' roll performed a hip-shaking duet with Celine Dion
on Wednesday's show. The images of him seemed so real, many people were left
wondering how "Idol" was able to bring him back from the dead.
Fans can thank technology. Last week, Dion spent hours on the stage singing
her part of the song several times without an audience or anyone next to
her, looking to her side on cue.
Then she did the routine again with a Presley body double who lip-synced
Presley's song and matched his moves from his 1968 performance.
Finally, all three elements - Dion by herself, Dion with the body double and
the original Presley performance - were combined through editing and a
technique called rotoscoping, which traced Presley from the original footage
by cutting him out.
"Rotoscoping allows you to take one image from a pre-existing piece of video
and puts him a whole new environment - completely new use of that same piece
of video," Disney digital media designer Joe Husung said.
Similar technology has been used before. It brought Natalie Cole and her
late father, Nat King Cole, together to perform "Unforgettable," and allowed
Forrest Gump to talk to former President Nixon.
A new British show puts the technology to use every day in "Duet
Impossible," in which stars perform with their late idols. If the concept
crosses the pond, American audiences may soon see late legends like James
Brown and Sinatra rocking the stage again.