Here's one for you guys and gals

[MarcusStringer]

I was watching CSI last night...rriigghhtt
and a guy got killed taking a photo so they got hold of the neg and enlarged it sooo much that all you could see was about 10-20 pixels.

Now.

What they did next was blabber on about "can't do anything with analog, let me just convert to digital" so the guy converted it to digital then used anti-aliasing and the heaps of greyscale levels etc. which turned the the crap 10-20 pixel image into an almost perfect photo.

Now, my question is...Is there (which I don't think so) anything out which would do a similar job, and if so why doesn't the printing industry have it.

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[kiddpete]

First, they had what looked like a compact flash card. Whatever it was, it was solid state. Grissom noted that the memory card had been removed from the camera. Thus, they never had an analog image. Can they enhance such an image? I don't know. The NSA might know how, but they aren't going to tell us. Short of that...

 

[MarcusStringer]

Na, it was'nt Grissom, it was CSI Miami and took the film from a normal SLR Camera

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[kiddpete]

Oops! Sorry, I was thinking about NCIS anyway. Oh well.

 

[mscallisto]

Marcus

I'm confused, I didn't know that film negatives had pixels.
Plus enlarging with lenses is totally diff from software enlarging pixelated images.

Am I missing something?

Be advised They can do anything in Hollywood!

 

[Eggles]

I practically have hysterics of laughter every time these shows manage to enlarge a few pixels into a perfect image. It just cannot happen. They are taking large degrees of artistic licence when they imply they can enlarge blurry small images up to perfect clarity on these shows.

>>Re: ...they got hold of the neg and enlarged it sooo much that all you could see was about 10-20 pixels.

AND

I'm confused, I didn't know that film negatives had pixels<<.

Film negatives don't have pixels. They contain silver salts that are sensitive to light - and we're talking molecular size here - not pixels. This is why a photo taken with real film can be blown up to enormous proportions without loss of clarity. Totally different process.

IF they had a film negative to start with (and there seems to be some confusion here) - how did they get pixels? There's only one way - they scanned the image. That's how an 'analog' film (not heard that term used for film negatives, but what the heck) can be made into a digital one consisting of pixels. Only if they scanned at very high resolution could a portion of the original be enlarged so that one small area was still very clear.

But with the techno-babble these shows love indulging in, I'd recommend you not get too hung up on the details of what they did, as so often they seem to manage to achieve the impossible i.e. enlarge a portion of a digital image so that magically it becomes clear and they can read the car number plate or the logo on a baseball cap or the some other minute detail that simply would be impossible in reality.

<end rant> This doesn't mean I don't enjoy shows like CSI.

 

[blueark]

That reminds me...

I saw a something on Discovery channel last year, where the only witness to a crime was a clip from an ATM camera. The crime was at the other side of the car park, so not much to work from. The tech guys spent months working on the image using "specialist software", and I couldn't believe it when they zoomed in on the PC monitor: PHOTOSHOP!!!

But no, they didn't turn a blur into a fashion magazine quality image. It was still a blur, and every single step had to be documented so it could be proved in court that the photo was enhanced rather than altered. Apparently, they were able to tell the type of car used or something. Actually, I don't know how it helped, but hey, I'm not in forensics.

I think there is a more modern technique that uses several stills from a video clip to get better detail, but it's not in Premiere, so it's out of my league!

 

[mscallisto]

Believe Me I wasn't confused about film having pixels, I processed more film over the years than I care to think about and never saw a single pixel in my rinse tray!

Like I said Hollywood can do anything!!

 

[MarcusStringer]

Hey...I know film doesn't have pixels...ok...stop banging on about film not having pixels...it's the concept i'm talking about...I'm only repeating what was said and what I saw on the show...

But I think it's wrong for them to be using "modern crime fighting techniques" which quite clearly don't exist.

Also when they take security shot from a bank or something, then zoom into the head and it automaticlly refocuses to a nice sharp image...

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[dimoj]

Haven't you all seen the new version of Photoshop?

Photoshop CSI*

NEW FEATURES:

- Zoom and Enhance. (as seen on CSI)*

- Automatic clothes remover. (Value of 10 takes you to bones.)

- The Simpsons Filter (not only creates cartoons from photos but also eliminates/increases the yellowness of people in photos)

- Talent filter (makes stuff look good)

...and much much more.

* Special thanks to Stevie JV.

 

[mscallisto]

Sorry Marcus, i've seen your helpful posts here long enough to know that you know there ain't no pixels on film.

I was however pointing a finger at Hollywood.

nuf said.

I did see a discovery channel show once that featured many FBI/CIA crime fighting gadgets that were created from ideas first seen on the 007 movies. So maybe someday we'll get one of those cameras and couple it with dimoj's PShop CSI.

sam

 

[barehug]

How about a Quantum camera - It analyses the same pic but taken in different universes!!

Moe: It could have been a real ugly situation, but luckily I managed to shoot him in the spine.

 

[audiopro]

We had a case here in Chorley, UK where some people had been fighting on a railway station. The station staff accidentally erased the security video. Tape was sent to the FBI who managed to rescue the footage enough to convict the people in question.
Keith

 

[MarcusStringer]

That's my point.
They should make all that gear available to the industry.

I think they have all this stuff.....a true XFiles mystery

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[maruyama]

lurking and laughing.... (with. with.)

in addition to some classic usage of the "blow up - enhance";

Jack Black in "Enemy of the State" says to a computer tech, examining a bag image shot from one camera: "Rotate around the Y-axis".

We 3D modelers want that bit of software now!

oh. the explanation: "The software can 'extrapolate' the image".



Ko Maruyama
Tutorials

http://www.MacAnimationPro.com

 

[mscallisto]

Well doesn't maruyama translate from Japanese to circle mountain in english? Great handle for a 3D modeler!

 

[maruyama]

literally, yeah... I guess I never thought of it like that!

Time to rotate around the X and get some sleep....

Ko Maruyama
Tutorials

http://www.MacAnimationPro.com