This Invention Made Disney MILLIONS, but Then They LOST It!
Summary
TLDRIn this intriguing video, the narrator explores the sodium vapor process, a visual effects technology invented by Disney in the 1960s that surpasses the green screen. Despite its superior ability to layer moving images without common green screen issues, the technology was forgotten due to the difficulty of replicating its unique prism. Dr. Paul Debevec joins to explain the science behind this 'magic' technique, which uses a specific yellow light spectrum to separate images. The video culminates in a modern recreation of Disney's lost prism, showcasing its potential for flawless compositing and reigniting the debate on whether sodium vapor could be superior to green screens in today's visual effects landscape.
Takeaways
- 🎥 The video discusses the nostalgia and superiority of visual effects in old movies, specifically the technology invented by Disney in the 1960s.
- 🟢 The traditional green screen has limitations, such as issues with filming blurry or transparent objects and wearing clothes of the same color.
- 🌟 Disney's technology, known as the sodium vapor process, used a specific yellow light spectrum and a beam splitter prism to achieve effects without modern computers.
- 🔬 The sodium vapor process was able to block or allow only the specific wavelength of light (589 NM), which allowed for high-quality compositing without affecting other colors.
- 💡 The process involved splitting light through a lens onto two strips of film, with one reflecting the sodium vapor light and the other capturing the color image of the actor.
- 🚫 The technology was not widely adopted due to the inability to replicate the custom beam splitter prism, which was expensive and only produced in limited quantities.
- 🧙♂️ Dr. Paul Debevec managed to recreate Disney's lost prism using modern components and techniques, marking the first test of the sodium vapor process in over 30 years.
- 🛠️ The recreation of the process involved using off-the-shelf components like filters and two cameras instead of a custom beam splitter and film strips.
- 🤹♂️ The video demonstrates the effectiveness of the recreated sodium vapor process in compositing a scene of a clown getting married on Mars.
- 🆚 A comparison between the sodium vapor process and green screen shows the former's superiority in handling transparency, motion blur, and color spill.
- 🌐 The video concludes that while modern compositing tools have advanced, the sodium vapor process still holds value for perfect transparency in visual effects.
Q & A
What is the fundamental building block of visual effects?
-The ability to layer one moving image over another is the fundamental building block of visual effects.
What are some common issues with using green screen technology?
-Issues with green screen technology include difficulty filming blurry or transparent objects, restrictions on wearing clothes the same color as the screen, and color spill that can ruin footage.
What was the technology invented by Disney in the 1960s that was superior to the green screen?
-Disney invented the sodium vapor process, which used a specific spectrum of yellow light and a beam splitter prism to achieve superior visual effects.
How does the sodium vapor process differ from green screen technology?
-The sodium vapor process uses a specific wavelength of light that can be blocked or allowed through using filters, enabling the separation of the actor's image from the background without affecting other colors in the scene.
Why is the sodium vapor process considered superior to green screen technology?
-The sodium vapor process is considered superior because it allows for perfect compositing without issues like mat lines, motion blur, or color spill, which are common with green screen technology.
Why is the sodium vapor process not still in use today?
-The sodium vapor process is not in use today because the custom beam splitter prisms were difficult and expensive to produce, and only a few were ever made. Additionally, the location of these prisms is currently unknown.
What was the main challenge Dr. Paul Debevec faced in recreating Disney's Magic prism?
-The main challenge Dr. Paul Debevec faced was replicating the physics of the sodium vapor process using off-the-shelf components, as the original custom beam splitter prisms were no longer available.
How did Dr. Paul Debevec manage to recreate the sodium vapor process without the original prisms?
-Dr. Paul Debevec recreated the physics of the sodium vapor process using two filters and two cameras instead of the original custom beam splitter and film strips.
What is the significance of the recreated sodium vapor process being tested for the first time in over 30 years?
-The significance lies in demonstrating that the sodium vapor process can still provide superior results for visual effects compositing compared to modern green screen technology.
What is the potential impact of the sodium vapor process on the film industry?
-The potential impact includes offering a superior method for compositing that could lead to more realistic and high-quality visual effects, as well as providing valuable training data for machine learning tools in post-production.
Outlines
🎥 Rediscovering Disney's Forgotten Visual Effects Technology
This paragraph delves into the nostalgia for old movie visual effects and introduces a superior technology invented by Disney in the 1960s, known as the sodium vapor process. This technique allowed for the layering of moving images without the limitations of green or blue screens, such as issues with motion blur, transparency, and color spill. The process utilized a specific yellow light spectrum from a low-pressure sodium vapor light, which, combined with a beam splitter prism, enabled the separation and combination of the sodium vapor wavelength and the rest of the light spectrum to create a perfect composite without the need for modern computers. The paragraph also discusses the challenges of recreating this technology due to the loss of the original prisms and the high cost of production.
🤹♂️ The Resurrection of Disney's Magic Prism and Testing the Sodium Vapor Process
The speaker expresses a desire to create a film with complex visual effects that would be impossible with green screen technology, such as a clown wearing colorful attire on Mars. The paragraph then shifts to the surprise and excitement of receiving a message from Dr. Paul Debevec, who claims to have recreated Disney's magic prism. The process involves setting up sodium vapor lights and LED lights to illuminate the actor, JC, without causing the sodium vapor light to make her transparent. The paragraph details the meticulous setup and testing process, including the use of a spectral light meter to ensure no sodium vapor light hits the subject, culminating in the successful test of the sodium vapor process after 30 years.
🚀 Comparing Sodium Vapor to Green Screen: A Revolutionary Visual Effects Experiment
The final paragraph focuses on the practical application and comparison of the sodium vapor process with the conventional green screen technique. The team conducts an experiment to film a scene of a clown getting married on Mars, addressing the difficulties of keying out certain elements like a veil and a colorful dress with green screen. Despite using advanced green screen tools and techniques, the results are not satisfactory, with issues like color spill and edge feathering. In contrast, the sodium vapor process, which Dr. Debevec recreated using off-the-shelf components, yields a flawless composite with no need for manual adjustments or post-production cleanup. The paragraph concludes with the team's astonishment at the success of the sodium vapor process and a discussion on its potential relevance in the age of LED screens and volumes, suggesting that it could provide valuable training data for machine learning in compositing tools.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Visual Effects
💡Green Screen
💡Sodium Vapor Process
💡Chroma Keying
💡Composite
💡Prism
💡Beam Splitter
💡LED Lights
💡Spectral Light Meter
💡Transparency Mask
💡Volume
Highlights
Old movies had superior visual effects due to a technology invented by Disney in the 1960s.
The technology, known as the sodium vapor process, was superior to the green screen.
The sodium vapor process used a specific spectrum of yellow light to create a 'yellow screen'.
A beam splitter prism was used to split light onto two strips of film simultaneously.
The process allowed for blocking one wavelength of light without affecting other colors.
The sodium vapor process enabled perfect compositing without issues like motion blur or spill.
The technology was lost due to the inability to replicate the custom prism.
Only three of these prisms were ever made, and their current whereabouts are unknown.
Dr. Paul Debevec recreated Disney's Magic prism using modern components.
The recreation used two filters and two cameras instead of a custom beam splitter and film.
The sodium vapor process was tested for the first time in over 30 years.
The test demonstrated the process's ability to handle complex elements like veils and motion blur.
Green screen techniques were compared and found lacking in comparison to the sodium vapor process.
The sodium vapor process produced a superior key without the need for extensive post-production tweaks.
The experiment showcased the potential of sodium vapor for compositing and visual effects.
The sodium vapor process could provide valuable training data for machine learning in compositing tools.
The experiment was successful, proving the sodium vapor process as a 'gold standard' for visual effects.
Transcripts
do you ever feel like visual effects in
old movies were better what if I told
you that wasn't just Nostalgia speaking
back in the 1960s Disney invented a
technology that was in many ways
superior to the green screen but that
Tech has long since been forgotten and
what if I told you that we found a way
to recreate
[Music]
it being able to layer one moving image
over another is the fundamental building
block of visual effects every single
crazy effect shot from every movie you
love relies on this basic core technique
and the primary way we do that is with
green screen or blue screen but there
are lots of problems with green screen
even in this modern era you can't film
blurry or transparent things you can't
wear clothes that are the same color as
the screen and the spill of the color
often times ruins footage if I want to
make a movie about a clown wearing all
the colors of the rainbow getting
married on Mars I can't that bothers me
if I could get my hands on an invention
that didn't have any of these issues it
would be like a filmm superpower it
would be like magic do you really think
so what's special about that app it's
transparent it's arent
transparent I thought the stuff I was
seeing on screen was impossible they're
keying a veil they're keying salt smoke
they're even wearing blue and green
clothes this movie from 1964 broke every
rule of chroma and they did it all
without computers so how do they do it
to explain the science behind the magic
we are joined by Dr Paul debevic the
sodium vapor process instead of a blue
screen or a green screen they used what
was sometimes called a yellow screen
there a very specific spectrum of yellow
made from a low press sodium vapor light
that puts out one wavelength of light at
589 NM because it's just one wavelength
and because of how drro filters work you
can actually block just that one
wavelength or let just that one
wavelength go through so the magic of
the sodium vapor process is they used a
beam splitter prison so that the light
that comes through the lens gets split
onto two strips of film at the same time
the sodium vapor wavelength of 589 NM
reflects out this way and all the rest
of the spectrum goes through and can
expose a color image of the actor and
that's exactly what you need to get your
map what's kind of magical about it is
that you can block that one wavelength
of yellow without messing up all of the
other colors in that scene there's no
mat lines he's motion bluring he's
dancing around the compositing is
impeccable yeah it's perfect you
couldn't have gotten such great blur
over the alpha Channel with a green
screen or a blue screen seems too good
to be true why are we not still using
this technology today yeah really what
gives because they were never able to
replicate prism what I've read that
Disney was only able to produce one
prism is that true they had to join two
pieces of glass and then have layers of
material with different indices of
refraction it's a very custom job and it
would probably cost tens of thousands of
dollars at a minimum apparently there
were three of these ever made and
also we don't know where any of these
prisms are
today and that means I'm never going to
get to answer this Burning question I
have is sodium vapor better than Green
Screen the science the physics they all
tell me it is but because the prisms
have been lost the time I'm never going
to get to realize my dream of a clown
getting married on Mars and then one day
I got a message from Paul debevic he had
done what I thought was impossible he
had recreated Disney's Magic prism and
he needed somebody to test it out this
will be the first test of the sodium
vapor process in over 30 years well I
guess this is like our hello world of
sodium vapor matting we've got our color
image and our sodium vapor image there
there it is look at that that's the idea
it's working the first thing you need
are some sodium vapor lights so
thankfully they still make the bulbs
eventually after we've had these on for
10 minutes they'll start glowing that
color I think it's working and then
we've got a couple of LED lights here
that are going to illuminate the actor
so favor mats woohoo hey pretty sweet
how is this working how did Paul debevic
manage to resurrect Disney's lost prism
well with a deep understanding of the
science of light and a little bit of C
ity I'll do a beam splitter but I'll
just do a regular beam sweit like this
beam splitter and then we'll filter the
light after it comes out of the prism
Paul recreated the physics of the sodium
Vaper process but he did it with all
off-the-shelf components instead of a
custom beam splitter he used two filters
and instead of two strips of film he
just used two cameras yeah if you ever
think your rigs are janky they're all
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click away all right now let's find out
what I'm going to do with all these hard
Tokey clothes Paul I would like to tell
you about this character every time I
approach a production company with it
they're like no can't do it it's
impossible okay and it's a story about a
clown that's trying to get
married you look so dumb me what look
I've heard big things about this magic
Crystal okay but this is ridiculous
that's impossible to key look at that I
hate to break it you but this video is
going to be a disappointment JC H feel
free to come on out it's my wedding day
oh my
God that would be difficult to key
wouldn't it it would I forgot to mention
that uh the Clown's getting married on
Mars hence the need to replace the
background oh of course yeah I think
this is going to be fantastic now I
suppose we should uh clean up the
lighting yeah kill all of the Full
Spectrum Lighting we need that one
covered yeah I need to cover one of the
skylights so that we don't have all this
like daylight spill coming in it's and
my dress is like marily been rowing
right now keep this side down it's the
best the clown can do so as you can see
right now we're spending a lot of time
getting these flags up because what we
don't want to have happen is we don't
want the sodium vapor light to be
hitting JC at all cuz then it's going to
be basically turning her transparent so
this is a spectral light meter it tells
you the spectrum of the light for
example this light here that shows its
LED light that's made out of red green
and blue LEDs to make the color white
and I can also take it and put in front
of the sodium vapor lights there is our
sodium vapor Spike at 589 nanm so let's
see if there's any sodium vapor light
hitting our subject mostly good but if I
look closely here I can see a tiny
little blip see that tiny little blip of
sodium vapor yeah science we're very
close but we're getting a little bit of
side spill on her and we're just
cleaning that up here if we're the first
ones to do this in like 30 years I want
to do it right you
know it went down nice that should be
better looks like we almost have a
perfect mat I guess the only thing left
to do is to shoot it maybe we should
shoot cool go ahead and roll the cameras
here we are in Mars the clown is looking
for the groom uh-oh there's aliens
behind you maybe turn around wave at the
aliens I want get one shot of myself as
well wearing my green hoodie which I
refused to take off and hopefully the
sodium vapor process lets us do
something Nico I want to see you do some
headbanging I want you to throw that
head
around I think we got it that would be
the hardest green screen shot that would
be so hard to do on a green screen and
cut dude this is going to be as
successful as Mary Poppins oh my god
[Music]
wow Paul's research has been super
influential on me to get to work with
him on an experiment is super super cool
I hope this works all right let's take a
look at what we got here's what our
color footage looks like and if I look
at the sodium vapor shot wow it looks
pretty good let's see what happens if I
take that and turn it into a black and
white transparency mask wow this should
work really well but before I try
pulling a transparency key here I need
to also try this with green screen to do
a true comparison to know if this is
better I'm using all the tricks for
perfect green screen that I've acquired
over the years lights with a hint of
green on them lights on Jordan with a
hint of magenta to cancel out the green
spill from the green screen I'm going to
do my best to light this green screen
and shoot it as good as I can all right
hi you're on Mars wave to us the
audience so we all know that sodium
Vapor should give scientifically better
results but green screen tools have had
years and years and years to mature I
can start pulling in the thickness of
that mat but while the dress starts to
come back the veil now has these ugly
lines I can try to you know close the
holes in the dress using a different
tool here but it patches up the holes in
the veil there's just no way to handle
the range of greens here and for green
screen tools to know what we want to
keep and what we don't want to
keep oh no yuck
destroyed actually not bad bad be honest
did you do your best with the key I did
the issue is is I can't get the
transparency of the veil and like the
slightly off green dress in fact the
only way you could do a shot like this
is to go in and cut out all these
different sections by hand and have a
bunch of Patchwork different solutions
in the image if the sodium vapor process
is superior it won't have any of these
issues all right so it's time to try the
sodium vapor process to do the composite
and see if it works here we have JC and
here we have our background right and
the way we're going to do this actually
mirrors the way they did it on film back
in the day the thing is if you just take
two pieces of film and you layer them
over each other you end up with a double
exposure you need something called a
hold out mat that leaves a hole for you
to Simply add your other image on top so
we're going to take our background and
we're going to subtract the mat we're
going to take our foreground and we're
going to subtract everything that isn't
the mat now I take our background and
our foreground and we simply add them
together honestly I'm really excited to
see this because it felt like we were
doing one of the coolest and most
high-tech things we've ever done and I
would love for this to pay off here are
the results and I'll let you guys be the
judge
[Music]
waa wow that's wild dude it's Mary
Poppins this is amazing it's
incredible oh no you dog water he's
drinking water on
M this is my favorite one the water is
just such a flex check out the motion
blur oh the hands oh wow the motion blur
drops the color exposure correctly on
the background right there turns it red
oh corrected ma oh my God it's so good
dude those little tiny hairs on top oh
my God and I didn't have to do any work
you didn't have to tweak your like white
clip black clip no I hate that D spill
bias no there's no spill what about your
Edge feather edge feather no D spill no
messing with gamma of your mat no
thresholds no restoring Fringe no
cleaning the blacks no cleaning the
whites nothing he's turn it on yes turn
it on wow good job good job that is
amazing
po y so I just got the opinion of
everybody at Corridor but I need to get
the opinion that actually really
matters oh wow you're zooming in on it
you are not afraid of your mat lines
that was clearly exactly what needed to
be filmed to show off this technique
exactly what about a volume could you
use a volume in today's age when you can
just go and shoot on a volume with an
LED screen is sodium vapor worth
pursuing in practice a lot of those in
camera back grounds will get replaced so
it seems like we're still in a world
where we need to be able to cut out
backgrounds and put people on new things
yeah flexibility in post- production is
incredibly valuable one thing that
you're noticing is like composing tools
are getting better CU they're starting
to have a bit of machine learning inside
of them machine learning needs training
data the question is where do you get
all that training data there is no
perfect easy compositing technique and I
thought this would be a good way to do
it so sodium vapor is another one of
those essential steps in this progress
towards having perfect transparency for
compositing and visual effects then
absolutely it is the gold standard the
yellow
standard well Paul thank you once again
for joining us here on the corridor
Channel if you like these deep dives
into classic visual effects technology
along with industry experts talking
about it you'll definitely love our
Abyss video so go check that out and uh
yeah thank you I really appreciate it
great to see you glad you come mind this
was fun this is a great time
totally
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