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Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 15:22
by D.T. Nethery
I love the Passepartout tool to preview the composition of the camera view in TVPaint , but the name of the function doesn't immediately have meaning for many English speakers. ( or for English-speakers of a certain age they immediately think of the character Jean Passepartout, the valet to Phileas Fogg in the movie "Around the World in 80 Days".) When I've mentioned the function to many people I get the reaction : " Uh, the passe ... um , what d'ya call it ?" "What is it" ? Then an explanation must be given of what the word means in French and how it applies to the camera view , translating roughly into English as "framing". If I am talking to someone who is in the same room with me or can see me on Skype video , I immediately make this gesture with my hands:
camera_view-with-hands.jpg
Camera_View_PassePartout_Framing_Hands.jpg
Camera_View_PassePartout_Framing_Hands.jpg (57.57 KiB) Viewed 27148 times
to indicate how a director or director of photography on a live-action set will quickly view a set up to simulate as it would be seen through the camera viewfinder by using their hands as a makeshift "frame". That gesture immediately makes the function of the Passepartout clear to the person I am explaining it to , but it would be so much better not to have any confusion about the nomenclature to begin with , so an explanation of the name Passepartout to new users would not be necessary.

Because the option in the Project menu is "Render Camera to a New Project " or "Render Camera in a New Merged Project" and the Export Window gives option to set export "View: Camera" I propose that the "Passepartout" should be re-named as "Camera View" in the English version of TVPaint in the Display Settings options and when the function is referred to in the English-language version of the user manual. Camera View more precisely describes the function of the passepartout in English.

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 16:00
by idragosani
Thanks for the explanation... I was rather confused as to what it was :-)

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 16:04
by Svengali
+1

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 16:43
by Paul Fierlinger
+1
I can never remember how it is spelled and I have yet to hear it pronounced (the same goes for Faux-Fixe, while we are at it). I am familiar with the name in Czech, which has corrupted the French word into Pasparta (and it is pronounced phonetically) but there it means a matte, and specifically the usually white beveled matte board that frames a painting or a drawing within a frame, which is actually what TVP's Paspartou.. does-- except it is part of a tool named camera. Camera View makes sense to me too.

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 18 Dec 2011, 16:54
by slowtiger
+1
I can spell Passepartout and Portemonnaie, but I may be the last one to be able to do that ...

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 09:06
by ematecki
Paul Fierlinger wrote:+1
I can never remember how it is spelled and I have yet to hear it pronounced (the same goes for Faux-Fixe, while we are at it). I am familiar with the name in Czech, which has corrupted the French word into Pasparta (and it is pronounced phonetically) but there it means a matte, and specifically the usually white beveled matte board that frames a painting or a drawing within a frame, which is actually what TVP's Paspartou.. does-- except it is part of a tool named camera. Camera View makes sense to me too.
That's actually what it means in French too.

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 11:31
by Paul Fierlinger
That's actually what it means in French too.
And I know that because I speak a useless other language that only 10 million people in the whole world use. French has seeped into all languages. So can we have it renamed to the more cosmopolitan Camera View? :wink:

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 12:02
by Fabrice
Paul Fierlinger wrote:And I know that because I speak a useless other language that only 10 million people in the whole world use. French has seeped into all languages. So can we have it renamed to the more cosmopolitan Camera View? :wink:
Strange thing that none of you (Paul, David, ...) asked to change during the beta-test, while we (TVPaint Team) wrote it was a strange name for us ... :?
But ok, we will do some changes sooner or later.

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 12:10
by Paul Fierlinger
Very truthfully. I thought hard about speaking up but was constantly questioning myself about the propriety of making such a request of a French company and especially since I am aware of your country's sensitivities on such issues -- so I kept my mouth shut until others came up with the issue. :oops:

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 12:17
by Hervé
From: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definitio ... t?view=get" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
passepartout

Pronunciation: /ˌpaspɑːˈtuː, ˌpɑːs-/
noun

1 (also passepartout frame) a picture or photograph mounted between a piece of glass and a sheet of card (or two pieces of glass) stuck together at the edges with adhesive tape.
[mass noun] adhesive tape or paper used in making a passepartout frame: a looking glass of passepartout and blackened mercury

2 archaic a master key.

Origin:

late 17th century: from French, literally 'passes everywhere'

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 12:19
by Fabrice
Paul Fierlinger wrote:Very truthfully. I thought hard about speaking up but was constantly questioning myself about the propriety of making such a request of a French company and especially since I am aware of your country's sensitivities on such issues -- so I kept my mouth shut until others came up with the issue. :oops:
No problem. We were just surprised, that's it. :wink:

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 12:24
by Elodie
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5060&p=43347&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I count here many +1 and nobody proposed a different name... :mrgreen:

Call it "Camera view" is not a good idea, IMO, because you can "erase" the passe-partout, but keep the camera view active. By the way, this term is already used several time in the software (export panel, publish panel, button to activate in the remote...). So, it's problematic. For example, when choosing the "camera view" in publish > pdf : will I obtain a storyboard with the point of view of the camera or will I obtain a camera with a grey background ?

The camera view and the passe partout are linked, but are not exactly the same, so they shouldn't be named alike, IMO =)

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 12:36
by Paul Fierlinger
Interesting situation, Elodie. How about calling it Viewfinder. Viewfinder is also different from "camera view" because it doesn't necessarily show just what the lens sees. For instance I remember the Mitchel's viewfinder on my Oxberry would show the entire platnum (tabletop) and have a clearly delineated area for what the lens sees. This was because we could use a number of adapter lenses but the viewfinder always showed the surrounding areas. The only thing that changed with adding an adapter was the frame delineating what the lens actually holds in its sight -- so what we have here is the exact same situation.
EDIT: I just now remembered that the Oxberry's veiwfinder was controled by a mechanical rackover mechanism.

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 12:41
by Paul Fierlinger
Here you have it:
http://www.google.com/search?q=viewfind ... 80&bih=852" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and even better here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=viewfind ... 80&bih=852" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Re-name 'Passepartout' to Camera View

Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 13:06
by Elodie
Viewfinder... hmm, interesting suggestion =)