ZEISS CP.3 XD Lens Correction

Livegrade is able to receive realtime lens correction information from a ZEISS CP.3 XD lens that is connected to an Ambient MasterLockit Plus.

Please learn more about the general workflow concerning the ZEISS CP.3 XD lenses in the article ZEISS CP.3 XD Lens Correction: Workflow Overview.

Prerequisites:

  • MasterLockit Plus is connected to the lens and camera correctly
  • MasterLockit Plus is connected via WIFI or Ethernet to the Mac
  • Lens is connected and recognized by the MasterLockit Plus.

Adding the MasterLockit Plus as a Device

The MasterLockit Plus has to be added to Livegrade as a device in the Device Manager to receive live lens correction data from the ZEISS CP.3 XD lens.

To add the MasterLockit Plus as a Device go to the main menu and select “Device > Add Device.. > Add Lockit…”:

Fig. 1: Add the MasterLockit Plus as a device in LiveGrade

Fig. 1: Add the MasterLockit Plus as a device in Livegrade

 

After successfully adding the MasterLockitPlus it is shown in the device manager as a device in a slot. You can open the device manager with the “Devices…” button on the left side of the Livegrade user interface above the slot section:

Fig. 2: The device manager with the added MasterLockit Plus

Fig. 2: The device manager with the added MasterLockit Plus

Adding a Capture Device As Image Input for the Lens Correction

The lens correction preview will be performed on the image viewer in Livegrade. Livegrade is capable of capturing camera signals through third party devices. Please learn more about capturing SDI signals in Livegrade in the article SDI Signal Recording and Framegrabs.

To add a capture device to Livegrade click “Add Device…” and choose “Add Capture Device…”:

Fig. 4: Adding the capture device to receive a live image in LiveGrade

Fig. 3: Adding the capture device to receive a live image in Livegrade

After a successfully adding the Ambient MasterLockit Plus and the capture device the device manager should look like this:

Fig.4: The device manager with an active MasterLockitPlus and a capture device

Fig.4: The device manager with an active MasterLockitPlus and a capture device

The Lens Correction Controls

Now open the ZEISS lens correction controls from the “Window” menu by selecting “Lens Correction Controls…”:

Fig.5: Open the Lens Correction Controls

Fig.5: Open the Lens Correction Controls

The lens correction control window opens:

Fig. 6: The lens correction controls window

Fig. 6: The lens correction controls window

From top to bottom it contains the following elements:

  • Shading Correction: The checkbox enables/disables the shading correction applied in the image viewer
  • Distortion Correction: The checkbox enables/disables the distortion correction applied in the image viewer
    • Distortion Zoom: Sets the zoom level to balance possible visible image borders when applying the distortion correction
  • Sensor Information: Depending on the recording camera and format the active sensor width differs. The active sensor width in mm is necessary to correctly calculate the lens correction. Please take a look at the detailed camera specs to learn more about the sensor width for your specific recording format.
  • Lens Communication: This section displays the live information that is coming from the lens including TC, Focus, Aperture and detailed shading and distortion information

Here’s how a completed setup including image viewer with live image, lens correction controls window and the device manager looks like:

Fig. 6: Image viewer, lens correction controls and device manager in a completed setup

Fig. 6: Image viewer, lens correction controls and device manager in a completed setup

Shading and distortion correction can independently be enabled or disabled to be applied on the image in the image viewer.