Shooting a 3D Documentary: Sony EX3s on Custom Designed Rig Get The Job Done

Production of Battle Castle is fast underway. It’s a documentary series that brings the world’s greatest medieval strongholds to life and we’ve kicked it off shooting 3D in Kent England, on the grounds of the magnificent Dover Castle.

Packing wisdom gathered from taking Blowdown 3D from production through post, we’ve optimized our beam-splitter rig for this new terrain to avoid the issues (and limitations) we had to work with during our first journey into the third dimension.

The result: one self-contained system that can capture almost everything we need.

Here’s the breakdown:

We’ve chosen to mount 2 Sony EX3s over the Canon 7Ds to avoid genlock issues we were experiencing with the Canons.

The EX3s are great, gold standard cameras and can output a clean signal straight to our Nano3D drives.

We’ve also reconfigured the sliders for more interaxial play and attached customized attachments so we can vertically hang cameras without ripping out the hot shoe mount.

We used red-rock micro components along with some custom parts to fine-tune the hand-held splitter.

Altogether it weighs 45 lbs meaning a strong DoP can hold it for 4-5 minutes before taking a break.

Well worth the effort when it means you have freedom.

Limitation worth noting – the EX3s can’t capture vista shots where the subject is faraway. We fill this gap by using a pair of Canon 5Ds on a side-by-side rig to capture these types of shots.

So what it comes down to is we now have a system with perfect sync, beautiful capture, flexibility, and portability.

What more could you ask for?

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Shooting a 3D Documentary: Arming our B-cam system for Blowdown

In the previous post I described the evolution of our mini beam splitter rig, engineered by the Parallax crew for portability and 3D close-ups.

Before the filming of our first documentary, Blowdown, we went back-and-forth on what cameras to mount on this custom-designed rig to complete our B cam system. It was an epic battle that ended with Canon 7Ds as victor … for this round at least.

Here’s why:

When we shot the demolition of the Fonte Nova Stadium, our Iconix A cam system rigged side-by-side, also with our very own hand-held design, took some beautiful shots.

For our B cam system, it down to Sony EX3s or Canon 7D’s. The big problem is the Sony EX3s proved too heavy and cumbersome for our purposes. This is an event-based documentary in a demolition zone – last thing we need is to haul excess weight around.

So the 7Ds were the cameras that we went with – but we knew this decision came with a couple drawbacks:

1. The 7Ds have genlock issues making it difficult to synchronize the captures between the two cameras. Meaning we’re going to have a long gop compression issue.

Translation: fast motion close to the camera will produce retinal rivalry.

2. We can’t use video feeds coming out of the cameras with our Transvideo 3D monitor.

Which means we won’t be able to overlap images and check alignment during the shoot.

3. There’s no uncompressed signal coming out that we can tap into and record to the nano3D drives – a problem in 2D as well.

Despite these limitations, we still captured great stereo images with properly set interaxials.

In the end, our confidence in our Canon 7D mini beam splitter system paid off and we have a visually-unprecedented documentary to show for it.

But as we move further into the third dimension, we’re upping our game …

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Shooting a 3D Documentary: How to customize your 3D gear to get the best shot

Industriousness, adaptability, and innovation are vital when it comes to the world of filmmaking – especially when you’re shooting one of the first event-based 3D documentaries ever produced for an international audience.

Before we filmed Blowdown 3D, our stereographer, Sean White, faced a huge challenge: engineer a 3D rig that could capture the variety of shots we needed and stand up to run-and-gun filmmaking on an industrial demolition site.

We decided on a beam-spitter rig because a side-by-side rig wouldn’t have allowed us to shoot the close-ups we wanted.

But there was a problem: the Film Factory Indie beam splitter rig we had purchased would have been a beast to lug around a condemned sports stadium in Salvador, Brazil.

Necessity is the mother of invention after all … if we were going to make this journey into the third dimension work, it was clear that we’d have to come up with our own rigging system.

First step: tear open our Indie Film Factory beam splitter, get to know its insides, and build it stronger.

It was a process of experimentation, ordering parts, making adjustments and modifications.

Customize, customize, customize.

Finally, we created a design that worked and hired a machinist to solder the pieces together.

The result: an aluminum box with a window for a horizontal camera and an underslung design shooting up at a mirror.

We call it the mini beam splitter rig.

Besides being close-up capable, this custom design also makes for less problems with reflection and helps protect the mirror and camera lenses from the rain, dust, etc. sometimes encountered in the field.

Above all else is its portability, which is paramount when you’re filming an event-based documentary.

All this at a fraction of what manufacturers are asking for this kind of optimized technology.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Editing a 3D Documentary: Landing a Colorist

After some investigation, our team and I have finally found a studio to take on the epic task of colour grading our first 3D documentary.

The search was a tough one.

The main challenge: though many studios in the Vancouver area possess the colour correcting software to edit 3D – DaVince Resolve, Lustre, Quantel Pablo – they’re still waiting on the monitoring systems to edit in stereo.

For some studios, monitoring systems were actually in transit, boxed to be at their doorstop in less than a month … exciting evidence of the growing hunger for 3D content.

Our colorist will have their work cut out for them.

The rigours of event-based 2D documentary filmmaking versus intentionally lighted film environments means the colorist will have to deal with variable lighting that can change from one shot to the next.

Tackling discrepancies between 3D footage will be another challenge.

The way the cameras capture, miniscule differences in manufactured parts, and the way light hits these parts creates differences between left and right.

The differences are slight, but if left uncorrected could produce a big problem.

Matching stereo pairs and making content broadcast legal will take the work of an expert, but it’s worth the payoff: the absolute best of what 3D can offer before it leaves our hands.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

 

Editing a 3D Documentary: Scouting for Colorists

As we enter the polishing stages on our first 3D documentary, the hunt is on to find a studio that can take on the task of color correcting months of painstaking work.

It’s essential to any post-production process, but especially crucial to 3D because we’re creating an effect that only reads if stereo pairs match perfectly.

When filming, aberrations in stereo images occur because the mirrors/prisms contained within the beam splitter can change the nature of the light from one moment to the next.

Any slight difference in temperature or exposure of image pairs will confuse the brain, create discomfort, and botch the whole operation. Period.

So my team and I need to be choosy when it comes to colorists. The challenge now is finding a studio that has a system capable of stereo viewing and correction – slim pickings due to 3D’s relative newness.

And of course, one that possesses the expertise to produce the high-quality 3D imaging we are looking for at a price we can work with.

More to come …

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

From Cineform to Blue-ray: how to prep and ship a 3D documentary for broadcaster review

The time has finally come for a full version of Blowdown 3D to be launched out into the world.

We are shipping the fine cut of our first 3D documentary to broadcasters this week.

And this time they’ll have the chance to actually see it in 3D.

It’s an obvious step – if you’re paying for 3D content chances are you’ll want to check it out at some point before you sign off on the show.

But with this emerging technology, even obvious steps are rarely easy.

So how did we get a cut out for the broadcasters to experience a full color 3DHD explosive demolition from the comfort of their plush office chairs?

First of all, our editor Brian Mann had to make sure all the shots in the cut were 3D legal and correct any colour discrepancies between the two eyes.

To create a comfortable 3D viewing experience, we also monitored the LR convergence throughout the edit.

This made for more work – dealing with issues that either didn’t exist before (converging shots) or that would have been tackled further along in the editing process (for example colour correction after picture lock).

But anyone who’s in the 3D business knows more work is the name of the game.

To send this 3D version of the show to our broadcasters, we opted for two different delivery formats: a side-by side 3DHD version of the show on Blu-ray disc and a digital anaglyph SD version.

To create the Blue-ray disc we exported the CineForm 3D file from Final Cut Pro, burned it onto the Blu-ray disc via Adobe Encore that, unlike FCP exporting functions, allowed us to create more professional customized menus and shipped via courier.

Now all you need to view this form is any Blu-ray player (doesn’t have to be 3D) and a 3D-enabled monitor.

The anaglyph version was exported as a .mov file straight from FCP and then uploaded onto our server. It’s a seriously inferior experience, but will still give those who are unfortunate enough to not have a 3DTV handy a way to see it in some version of 3D.

Though you might want to get on that, dear readers. I’d hate to see you live in the flatlands of 2D when the 3D world is just within your reach.

As for the broadcasters … maybe someone should warn them— cause they’re in for quite a ride.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Editing a 3D Documentary: Review of Panasonic’s 25” BT-3DL 2550

If you want to create a high-quality 3D program, having the best-of-the-best in production equipment is a must – that and a great crew, of course.

So while we’ve been in post-production for our first 3D documentary, our editor Brian Mann and I have been on the hunt for a picture-perfect 3D monitor to QC our cuts.

The latest contender: Panasonic’s 25” BT-3DL 2550, a passive circular-polarized monitor with dual processors.

The Panasonic comes with all the bells and whistles any 3D editor could ask for: pro-connectors, 10 bit 3D LUT for great color accuracy, 3 stereo viewing options including simultaneous, line-by-line, and side-by-side.

But when we brought it in to try it out we ran into an unexpected problem –  the display’s polarizing filter wouldn’t work properly with our RealD glasses. The colour was off – pink tinges galore.

Funny thing was when we turned our 3D glasses sideways it seemed to work. Hmmmm.

We’re not sure whether it’s a proprietary or technology issue. The Panasonic tech support team wasn’t sure either.

So in the end, we chose to send the Panasonic back.

We weren’t up to buying another set of 3D glasses on top of the ones we already had. Panasonic charges $100 per set which, along with the pricier monitor—Panasonic $10 000 vs. JVC $6 600 —is a bit hard to swallow.

We’ll nail down a dual stream monitor soon enough. It’s just going to take a little more digging.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Video: Editing a 3D documentary – how CineForm improves VFX post-production flow

CineForm NeoHD and Neo3D have been staples in our editing suites since we started our first 3D documentary project.

There were some hiccups when we first got the software, but we worked out the kinks and it’s been pretty solid ever since.

Now our compositor has added the program to his arsenal – and it’s paying off once again.

Before incorporating CineForm, our VFX team gave our editor ProRes videos. They would then to be transcoded into CineForm files and muxed – two extra steps for our editor for each video every single time.

Now, he can read, write and export CineForm 3D files in Adobe After Effects, and deliver them – already muxed – directly to the editor.

Our compositor, Jakub Kuczynski, on the CineForm workflow:

On how it helps the 3D editing process – mixed files, compatibility with Final Cut Pro, and high visual fidelity compression:

And on how it benefits the 3D compositor:

The gist: there just isn’t anything else on the market that’s priced right and gets the job done like CineForm – in edit and in VFX.

And in this 3D business, any step taken to reduce time and increase workflow is a step in the right direction.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Showing a 3D documentary demo: polarized home entertainment gear

Great news: we’ve nailed down all the equipment I need to show our 3D demo to broadcasters next week.

We’ve cut together test footage/VFX in preparation for the first 3D episode of Blowdown – the upcoming implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium in Salvador, Brazil – to share with broadcasters.

But I couldn’t find a 46-inch JVC GD-463D10 to show it on – the company’s out of stock and backlogged.

So JVC’s providing us with a demo model – one of only four in the U.S. – for the screening.

A rep from CineLineWest, a local supplier, contacted the company on our behalf, and they’ve arranged for one of the two demo monitors on the East Coast to be shipped for the meeting – many thanks.

I’m not sure exactly why there’s such a shortage, but we’ve heard part of the issue is a high failure rate with glass in the screens during the manufacturing process because it’s a new technology and, as with any other new product, it takes time to refine the assembly line.

Our editor, Brian Mann, is making DVDs of the demo and a HQ digital version for my MacBook Pro so I’ll have the option of playing it either way (redundancy … yes).

We ordered 10 pairs of “Buddy Holly” circular polarization glasses from 3DStereo.

Thanks to the rep there as well, who offered to drop them off at FedEx on a Saturday.

And to top it all off, two pairs “James” specs from MicroVision Optical 3D – “the most current secret agent look.” Rocking.

Now our broadcasters will be able to experience the third dimension of home entertainment – a taste of things to come.

When they see this stuff, I think they’re going to feel the way I do – like this is how it was always meant to be.

One giant step closer to the real thing.

I’m not going to rest easy until the screening is finished … I can’t wait.

Watching a 3D documentary: JVC 3D HD LCD monitors clearly a hot commodity

Supply and demand disparity …

We’re trying to get a 3D monitor so I can show test footage/VFX for our first 3D documentary to broadcasters next week.

I’d like the same monitor that we purchased for our in-house purposes – the the 46-inch JVC GD-463D10 – but guess what … so far there are none to be had.

The Toronto-based supplier that we purchased it from is sold out and backlogged.

They’re trying to get us a monitor directly from JVC – or at least find someone who we can contact to push our order, but neither us nor they have been able to get through to anyone who can speak conclusively on behalf of the company as of yet.

The alternative is pursuing a Hyundai monitor – but we know the JVC works for us, and I’d much rather go with the tried and tested when showing broadcasters a demo of the techniques we’ve developed.

We’re hoping to hear something back tomorrow a.m. (PDT).

A bit nerve-wracking.

But the silver lining’s undeniable … 3D monitors are getting snapped up faster than the assembly line can churn ‘em out.

Clearly this bodes well for entertainment in stereo.