3D documentary gear: the nano3D is in, Fujinon lenses are out

Success! We’ve tested the nano3D with our A cam system and it actually works! Looks like we’ll be able to usSuccess!

We’ve tested the nano3D with our A cam system and it actually works!

Looks like we’ll be able to use this little recorder deck to shoot our first 3D documentary later this summer.

But it did put up a bit of a fight …

And its functionality has made me aware of another part of the system that’s not going to fly – the stock Fujinon 2.8 mm and 4 mm lenses we planned to use with the Iconix sensors.

Here’s how it all went down:

The nano3D comes with a trigger remote, used to start and stop recording.

We hooked it up to our sensor/lens kit and the remote didn’t work.

Likely a consequence of being one of the first pre production models released and rushed to us … but a consequence we couldn’t afford.

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The nano3D recorder and documentary filmmaking: a match made in stereoscopy?

With our B cam system in transit, I’ve focused back to the A cam setup for our first 3D documentary.

Our A cam equipment will have to capture all of our B roll, etc. for the next episode of Blowdown – the implosion of a massive sports stadium in Brazil.

We’ve nailed down the basic footage-capturing plan – two Iconix sensors with Fujinon lenses on a side-by-side rig.

But the Iconix aren’t like normal video cameras – no tapes, hard drives or flash cards. They “see” the footage and then spit it out.

So where are we going to store it?

If this were a scripted production, shot in a studio or on a controlled set, a tape or digital recording deck with a large array would be the way to capture the footage at the 100 MB/S or more, the minimum bitrate we need to satisfy broadcast requirements.

But because the Fonte Nova demolition is event-based and will take place in an industrial worksite, we need a recording system that’s cordless, portable (not too heavy, cumbersome), and hearty.

I think the nano3D will satisfy these criteria for us – it’s a just-minted twin drive designed to record stereoscopically and keep everything in sync between the two cameras.

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