[X] My Assistant

[lyford]

There is one type of motion in this movie that to me is a little bit disorienting. In several instances it appears as if there is a single image on one side of the 'screen' which then moves across to the other side of the screen.

I imagine this as the camera staying fixed on the view and the rover turning in place to "face" that part of the landscape.

[mhoward]

I imagine this as the camera staying fixed on the view and the rover turning in place to "face" that part of the landscape.

Yep. As you pointed out there are basically two types of motion in the movie, but the two types are 1) camera direction change (ground relative) and 2) rover location advancement. In the latest movie, I tried keeping the two types of movement separate; in other words, the camera direction will shift, and then the rover will move, and then the camera direction will shift, and so on. When the rover is moving, I keep the camera pointed the same direction, relative to the ground. That was meant to help keep the viewer oriented.

I think the confusing part you mention is where it's just panning so that when the rover moves, the subsequent images will remain in-frame. I'm not convinced this is the best way to do movies like this, it was just an experiment. Some people actually like this style less than the previous style. In earlier movies I would do camera direction change and rover motion at the same time, which seemed to confuse some people (even more). But I think I may like that style better, ultimately.

[lyford]

What I like about the quicktime file (despite it's size) is that you can move frame by frame in the QT player. Using the arrow keys I can scroll back and forth on the pans... Almost as if I was controlling the rover. ALMOST.

Edited to add - I meant to also say that the feeling I most get from these movies is that I am inside the rover, looking up and out through a periscope of sorts. It works in an odd way....

[Gray]

lyford,

Thanks for the suggestion. I was also imagining myself inside the rover and looking through the mast that contains the camera - sometimes with a narrow field of view (looking at my feet) or sometimes with a broad field of view (looking up at the horizon). For the motion that gave me some problems I'll just imagine that I'm staring at some point near my feet while I twist my body around.