Glasses-free 3D and the transition to 4K-3D at home

In this post, Ian Herring writes about why glasses-free 4K-3D TV could become the next holy grail of home entertainment

Plenty of pundits have pronounced 3D TV dead, but a new generation of technology could offer the reprieve that we in the business have all been waiting for.

The first high-quality glasses-free 3D tablets hit the market this year and are already flying off the shelves. The 10.1-inch Hampoo and eight-inch Gadmei are mercifully ushering in the end of the awkward active-glasses phase of 3D consumer electronics (CE).

That means it’s only a matter of time before a 55-inch glasses-free 3D TV becomes the next must-have in home entertainment — and that, in combination with the other next big thing, Ultra HD (4K), will be just too fantastic to resist.

It makes me excited about the future of 3D filmmaking.

Imagine sitting on your sofa watching an action-packed film or show, such as Parallax’s upcoming underwater series Bahama Blue or Guillermo del Toro’s summer blockbuster Pacific Rim, in glasses-free, 4K-3D.

In the theatre, because of the tint on my polarized lenses, I found some of Pacific Rim’s fantastic creatures looked dark – snapping me out of the immersive experience. This could be fixed with brighter projection in theatres, but also perhaps, someday, at home. With an autostereoscopic 4K-3D TV the picture would be ultra-bright and crisp — much more so than 1080p — just as it was intended.

Which has got me thinking that 4K may be the gateway for 3D to take hold. 4K is a more accessible idea for people to grasp – it’s not a huge leap for people to see that Ultra HD is a logical step from HD as it’s just a better image.

So for now we leave 3D off the table and when the autostereoscopic sets begin to roll out with 4K resolution, I think it will blow people’s minds in the way HD did when it first came out in the mid-2000’s.

And if things go well, autostereoscopic 4K-3D TV is set to become a powerful, immersive and transformative visual medium, and that’s why Parallax is diving in full-force.

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Swimming with dolphins in 4k-3D may be like being there

 

The mini beam splitter rig: portability for 3D documentary filmmakers

The mini beam splitter rig concept we came up with to film elements of our first 3D documentary has come to fruition.

We decided to try and build because the thought of moving and setting up our Film Factory 3D Indie BS Rig for one or two close ups is just too painful. Now we can use this smaller unit to shoot these components for the explosive demolition series Blowdown and save schlepping the full-sized rig around the Fonte Nova Stadium in Salvador, Brazil for when we’re shooting extensive B roll in one location.

The goal was to custom-design a rig that would house two Canon 7Ds and that was small enough and light enough to be operated by one person, handheld.

To achieve this, the mini beam splitter rig:

1) Has customized aluminum rails that aren’t as big and fat as the ones on the Film Factory Indie rig.

2) Is bolted and tweaked specifically for the dimensions of the Canon 7Ds.

3) Has a smaller box.

4) Is designed so the second camera is underslung – easier to handle because it’s not as top-heavy.

5) Allows us to get camera lenses closer to the mirror.

It was whipped up in a couple of days, and it’s not pretty – but it is portable and robust. We’ll see if it works.

Shooting a 3D documentary: Film Factory 3D Indie BS Rig mirror issues

So … we’ve broken the backup mirror we purchased for our Film Factory 3D Indie BS Rig to shoot our first 3D documentary.

This wouldn’t be a huge problem if the stock mirror that came with the rig were up to QC par.

But it isn’t – which is why we were using the backup in the first place.

Here’s the issue: one side of the stock mirror is coated and one side isn’t – the coated side is reflected to the camera that’s mounted on the top of the rig.

This disparity seems to cause a difference in light between the two cameras, to the order of one stop (ie. the upper camera gets about half the amount of light as the horizontal camera).

Our stereographer, Sean White, also found that there’s a slight colour difference between the two cameras, and a mild fogginess to the stock mirror.

We plan to use this rig to shoot the implosion of a condemned sports stadium in HD. And we deal with high-profile broadcasters – we have to deliver high-quality footage (for them and, more importantly, for a worldwide audience).

So Sean grabbed the spare – which we bought in case we break the original one while filming on an industrial site in Salvador, Brazil for the explosive demolition series Blowdown – to see if it gave us more consistent picture.

It did – there’s only 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop difference between the two cameras, the colour is almost matching, and it’s fog-free.

Though none of us are sure why this is the case, we moved to film with the superior mirror (ie. the backup became the starter).

But while Sean was re-screwing it into the rig, it cracked.

The placement process is quite a balancing act – screw the mirror in too loosely (or mess up the gaffer tape), and it threatens to slide out the bottom when you position it at 45 degree angle.

Sean thought he had found the sweet spot for tightening, but he was used to adjusting the stock mirror … the backup shattered under a similar amount of tension (which makes us think the first mirror may contain more plastic, but that’s just a theory).

Needless to say the setback is disappointing.

Sean got in touch with 3D Film Factory. They won’t exchange the stock mirror for one that’s like the backup. But they will sell us another backup at a deep discount.

Granted, this rig is cheaper than most of the other ones out there, so we can’t expect the moon.

But considering how integral a working mirror is to the system, hopefully quality discrepancies and the finicky screw-in process will be rectified in the future.

Shooting a 3D documentary: building a mini beam splitter rig for close ups

Vision alert. So we’re thinking of designing our own mini beam splitter rig to shoot close ups for our first 3D documentary . Here’s why: as I’ve mentioned,we’re trying to sort out our B cam system using Film Factory’s 3D Indie BS Rig – this should hopefully work for the majority of our B cam shots.

But it isn’t the most portable system – something that will surely prove challenging on an industrial site, where the explosive demolition series Blowdown takes place.

For the odd close up of the crew loading explosives etc. in a condemned sports stadium in Salvador, Brazil, it’s painful to think about moving the whole rig and setting up just to get a shot or two.

And we’d like to avoid using a side-by-side rig  because it’s a mission (if not a mission impossible) to get the cameras close enough together to film these types of shots.

If there’s a way to build a mini beam splitter unit, one person could just move in and get this footage with way less trouble (ie. instead of two people to set up the full-sized rig, etc.).

As an added bonus, we could also use this system in a temporary pinch if the main B cam system happened to go down.

We bought an extra mirror anyway, in case the one that came with the Film Factory Indie rig system malfunctions mid-shoot … why not try and put it to use?

Our stereographer, Sean White, knows a machinist who may be able to help us build this mini rig we’ve envisioned.

We’d probably use Canon Vixias – smaller than the Sony EX1/EX3 combination we’re trying to make work with the Film Factory Indie rig – and rig it as an underslung system.

One camera would be positioned below (instead of above), and the spare mirror would be angled the opposite way as the one on the full-fledged beam splitter rig.

This rig would theoretically snap onto a tripod, and would achieve a small enough interaxial distance for us to get the close-ups we need without a mega hassle.

If any stereo, etc. issues arose, we’d correct them in post – theoretically a relatively small workload considering we don’t use tons of these types of shots in our shows.

At the moment, it’s just an idea – but seems fittingly par for this unchartered course.

Editing a 3D documentary: working with two audio channels in Cineform Neo3D

Looks like we’ll have to find a workaround for the audio issue we’ve encountered with Cineform Neo3D software in order to edit our first 3D documentary.

As I’ve mentioned, the 3D files that Cineform creates only have two audio tracks.

To capture ambient noise as well as a conversation between two subjects for the explosive demolition show Blowdown, we have to capture at least three channels (a boom mic and two lavs), sometimes four (camera mic).

Our editor, Brian Mann, has been in conversation with Cineform developers to see if we could find a way to edit with more than two channels.

They’ve been very prompt in replying and helpful.

But unfortunately it looks like there’s no way to edit more than two channels of audio using the current version.

There’s no particular reason why the program’s this way – it’s just a design factor that isn’t optimal for our specific post production needs.

As far as we’re concerned it’s the best high-end game in town, and otherwise it’s working great.

Cineform’s lead Mac engineer plans to add it to the list of things to add to their future release, First Light.

In the interim, we’ll have to figure out how to adjust our workflow.

3D beam splitter rigs for Sony EXs: filmmakers weigh in

It seems we’re not alone in the quest to find a beam splitter rig/camera system that will work as our B cam setup for shooting our first 3D documentary.

My previous blog outlining the issue has been posted on the Yahoo! Group thread P+S Technik 3D Stereo Rig + 2 Sony EX3, where there are entries from several people looking for information on how to make this – and similar systems – work for them.

Here’s our particular issue: we’ve been testing a Sony EX1 and a Sony EX3 mounted on a Film Factory 3D Indie BS Rig, but are having issues getting the cameras optimally positioned.

One alternative mentioned in the Yahoo! thread is a P+S Technik rig, but from what I gather it’s more expensive than the Film Factory Indie unit we’ve purchased.

Another up-and-coming alternative seems to be Alister Chapman’s “Hurricane” beam splitter rig, evidently designed specifically with Sony EX3s in mind.

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Shooting a 3D documentary: run and gun data management

Shooting our first 3D documentary’s not only going to change the way we capture content in the field, it’s also going to drastically change the way we store it.

Not only will this be the first show that my crew shoots tapeless, they’ll also have to contend with twice the amount of footage.

And if they lose any of it, it could be a huge disaster (think: Blowdown without the implosion. Yikes).

So we’re looking into a system that will allow us to move footage from camera/nano3D compact flash cards to a storage unit during the day, the transfer it into a mega conduit each evening.

Our data journey would start with ShotPut Pro. This copy utility application automatically copies and verifies all transfers off of flash cards. It can also copy multiple cards to multiple hard disks at the same time.

We’d use ShotPut Pro to transfer our footage to a G RAID mini. Using its RAID 1 setting, the crew would put two copies of everything onto the mini’s two SATA drives. This redundancy means that if for some reason we lose one drive, we won’t lose the farm.

Each G RAID mini stores up to 1 TB of data, so we should be able to carry our footage (up to 500 GB, copied twice) on it until the end of the day (if the crew’s shooting more than that amount, they’re shooting too much!).

Each evening, we’d then transfer the footage from the G RAID mini to a G SAFE. Each of these storage units takes up to 2 TB of data, and only stores RAID 1 (mirrored), which means two copies stored no matter what.

The data journey would end when both 7200 RPM SATA II drives are removed and shipped back to the production house separately, in case one gets lost in transit.

Approximate cost: $100 for ShotPut Pro, $300 for the G RAID mini, $700 for the G SAFE with two drives (ie. the first 2 TB of storage).

After that, we’ll be buying drives just like we bought tapes – I’m interested to see how costs compare out the other end.

And another first – to keep track of audio tracks, locations and dates (in lieu of the tape, sticker and marker technique) we’ll be using an electronic slate, courtesy of the iPad.

Editing a 3D documentary: stereo scripts that work with Adobe CS5

Good news on the post front: we’ve upgraded from Adobe CS4 to CS5.

And the stereo scripts our compositor will use to create VFX for our first 3D documentary work with the newer version.

We’ve been gearing to get CS5 running since we moved from Leopard to Snow Leopard to take advantage of the 64-bit architecture and improve workflow.

But our VFX artist, Jakub Kuczynski, was concerned stereo 3D scripts he found online that have given him a much more efficient pipeline for stereoscopic workflow in After Effects wouldn’t transfer over smoothly to CS5.

He contacted the scripts’ developer, Christoph Keller, to ask if they’d be compatible, but he didn’t know.

Now we do. And it’s very good news – work that would take Jakub a day to do manually takes him about an hour, thanks to the scripts.

As for the CS5/Leopard upgrades, we haven’t noticed a marked increase in speed, but even a little more juice over the long run means more efficient post production overall.

Editing a 3D documentary: Cineform 3D software audio challenges

We’ve fed footage from our 3D green screen shoot into post, where we’ve promptly encountered our first editing glitch. We’re running a trial version of Cineform Neo3D software to see if it will work for editing our first 3D documentary.

The reason we’re trying this program is that it allows for dual steam, which means each eye is at full res and in real time, so we can do convergence, colour correction and other editing in real time rather than having to render whenever we make an adjustment.

Cineform also works with Final Cut Pro, the editing software we normally use to cut 2D HD there’s no way to edit 3D in FC without a 3rd party programs, as far as we know.

Great for picture, but there’s a problem with audio.

The 3D files that Cineform creates will only have two audio tracks.

To capture ambient noise as well as a conversation between two subjects, we have to capture at least three channels (a boom mic and two lavs), sometimes four (camera mic).

And since Blowdown – the explosive demolition series we’ll be filming – is event-based, there’s no opportunity for ADR, and you can’t recreate most of the ambient sound in post.

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3D documentary filmmaking: why Sony EXs aren’t ideal for our beam splitter rig

A week of testing our B cam beam splitter rig system has revealed that the Sony EX1/EX3 duo we’re using with the Film Factory 3D BS Indie Rig aren’t ideal for shooting our first 3D documentary.

The issue isn’t technical – Alister Chapman reports using the same cameras successfully, and we were able to genlock the EX3 to the EX1 by connecting the EX1’s Y channel of the component output to the EX3’s genlock in connector, just as he has.

It’s logistical …the cameras are just too big and cumbersome for this particular beam splitter rig.

We’ve modified the rig so they fit better, but getting them aligned vertically is rough – the mics protrude and we’re still seeing the edge of the box and/or the bottom of the mirror when we use our Sony EX 5.8 mm lens (which has a 56-degree horizontal angle of view).

Wide shots are a must for Blowdown, the explosive demolition documentary we’ll be filming, so we need a system that will effectively capture this kind of footage – ie. we need to hit the sweet spot on the mirror, have the cameras vertically aligned and not see the rig when we use wide-angle lenses.

The alternative is enlarging the image in post to eliminate the part(s) of the shot that contain the rig, but that will degrade the quality, so I want to try and avoid this (especially since we’ll be blowing the footage up it to a certain degree already to facilitate convergence).

So, now we’re working with Canon Canada directly to get loaners of the XF305, which has just been released.

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