A crash happens in a fraction of a
second, much too fast for a person
to grasp with the naked eye.
So in order to understand what's really happening in
a crash test we need to slow the action
down significantly, and to do that we
have to rely on sophisticated
photographic equipment like special
lights and high-speed video cameras.
These are some of the tools we use at
the VRC every day.
I'm Pini Kalnite and one of my responsibilities
at the Institute is making sure that the
photography we do is the very best of
its kind. The VRC is more than a
scientific laboratory. It's also a
specialized production facility where we
produce footage and pictures that
engineers use in scientific analysis and
that we also use to communicate our
findings to the general public.
We designed this crash hall with high
quality photography in mind.
Photographer 1 >> Lights!
Photographer 2 >> Lights!
Pini Kalnite >> In some respects it's like a Hollywood
sound stage with a very high ceiling and
a grid that holds a custom-built
lighting array that produces 750,000
watts of soft, diffused light.
It's important that the light doesn't cast
hard shadows and reflections and it has
to be very bright for our
state-of-the-art digital imagers or
slow motion cameras. These high-tech
cameras are completely file-based, no
film or tape, and they accept cinema
quality lenses. They can record in
extreme slow motion which makes it
possible for our engineers to examine
every detail of a crash, and because of
the techniques we use they produce very
high quality images that are suitable for television.
Our technical photographers set them in a number of
positions throughout the crash hall.
Photographer 2 >> Go ahead and plumb bob
then check height.
Photographer 1>> For each test we have a set of
predetermined positions for all of our
digital imagers. We want to make
sure we're getting the exact same shot
that we got the last time we ran this
test so we can compare vehicle to
vehicle if we need to but also make sure
that we're consistent for all the footage
that we get.
Photographer 2 >> With our digital
imagers we have a monitor attached here that allows
me to adjust exposure, focus, and I can
actually get a full readout on the
monitor so I know all the settings for the test.
Photographer 1 >> This is one of our small
digital imagers and we use these cameras
on board during the crash.
It's ruggedized so it can take the impact of
the crash. This one will be looking at
the driver dummy to see how he interacts
with the steering wheel, the airbags, and
what's happening during the crash.
Photographer 2 >> I just finished installing our overhead
digital imager. This gives us a really nice
top-down view of the impact.
Pini Kalnite >> We set up
cameras in various locations so
engineers can analyze the crash from
multiple angles and so that we have the
shots we need to tell the story.
All of the digital imagers are connected on the
same network and start recording at the
exact same time.
In addition to our slow
motion cameras we use a number of
real-time cameras to convey a sense of
how quickly a crash really happens and a
still camera to shoot a very high
resolution image of the moment of maximum crush.
Photographer 1 >> This is our high
resolution still camera that we used to
take the action shot of the crash test
as well as the post-crash photos.
Photographer 2 >>After the test we move the car to the photo
studio where there's a large overhead
light box and a fully programmable light
control board as well as a seamless
background and a turntable that sits on
air casters. That allows us to lift the
car up and spin it to any position that we wish.
We also have digital imagers and a
lighting grid in the sled area, where we
test vehicle components like seats and
head restraints. The slow motion cameras
capture the action which occurs in a
fraction of a second.
Pini Kalnite >> The last step for
the footage is our post-production room
where it's color-corrected and edited.
Jeff Babcox >> Once the raw data is loaded onto our
file servers I can access that
information and translate it into video
that accurately represents what the eye
sees. Then I edit that footage into
various video products.
Pini Kalnite >> The images we
produce are more than just tools to help
engineers understand what happens in a
crash test, they're also a vital part of
our communications effort.
Brian Williams >> The new crash-test results we have
for you tonight...
Pini Kalnite >> Photos and footage
produced at the VRC have appeared in
countless news and television programs,
automotive advertisements, and even
Hollywood motion pictures. The Institute
is respected worldwide for the
excellence of our scientific research
and we're widely known for our consumer
information and our vehicle ratings. One
reason for this is we're able to provide
high-quality images and footage to the
media and the public to help illustrate
our findings and this extends the reach
and the impact of our work.