Shooting a 3D documentary: organizing data in the field

Our crew’s all settled in Salvador, Brazil and are in the early days of filming our first 3D documentary. This time’s alloOur crew’s all settled in Salvador, Brazil and are in the early days of filming our first 3D documentary.

This time’s allowing them to test our gear in the field and get a few interviews/story points in the can before the prep and implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium gets really intense.

They’re also getting used to filming our first tapeless show – for the explosive demolition series Blowdown – and the data management that comes with this shift.

When our 3D technician, Rory Lambert, gets CF cards with footage from the cameras, he needs to name each file.

This name must include the type of camera, type of rig, date, sequence number and if the footage is from the left or right eye.

To do this he plugs the CF card reader and the G RAID mini into a field laptop, and uses ShotPut Pro to transfer the footage from one to the other.

Then he uses Adobe Bridge and runs an automatic script to rename all the files in the folder on the G RAID mini so they match the folder they’re living in.

This means he doesn’t have to rename them manually – it also means he won’t make any mistakes.

The footage is organized before it even leaves the demolition site.

And if we decide to reevaluate our labeling convention during the shoot, we can always go back and rename files retroactively using this system.

Shooting a 3D documentary: organizing data in the field

Our crew’s all settled in Salvador, Brazil and are in the early days of filming our first 3D documentary. This time’s alloOur crew’s all settled in Salvador, Brazil and are in the early days of filming our first 3D documentary.

This time’s allowing them to test our gear in the field and get a few interviews/story points in the can before the prep and implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium gets really intense.

They’re also getting used to filming our first tapeless show – for the explosive demolition series Blowdown – and the data management that comes with this shift.

When our 3D technician, Rory Lambert, gets CF cards with footage from the cameras, he needs to name each file.

This name must include the type of camera, type of rig, date, sequence number and if the footage is from the left or right eye.

To do this he plugs the CF card reader and the G RAID mini into a field laptop, and uses ShotPut Pro to transfer the footage from one to the other.

Then he uses Adobe Bridge and runs an automatic script to rename all the files in the folder on the G RAID mini so they match the folder they’re living in.

This means he doesn’t have to rename them manually – it also means he won’t make any mistakes.

The footage is organized before it even leaves the demolition site.

And if we decide to reevaluate our labeling convention during the shoot, we can always go back and rename files retroactively using this system.  

Shooting a 3D documentary: differentiating left from right

In the world of 3D filmmaking, keeping left and right straight can be a mega pain. We discovered just how confusing it can get while prepping to shoot

We discovered just how confusing it can get while prepping to shoot our first 3D documentary.

From cameras to lenses to batteries to cables to monitor ports, we struggled to keep everything straight in-house.

So avoiding this headache in the field – the implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium in Salvador, Brazil – seemed difficult at best, impossible at worst.

With so much at stake for this groundbreaking episode of the explosive demolition series Blowdown, we seriously needed a system.

So we colour-coded everything.

Left is red, right is blue … and it doesn’t end with the gear.

We’re also colour-coding our data files so the editor can instantly recognize which footage corresponds to which eye.

Now when there are excavators crunching, drills grinding, and chaos everywhere, the crew will have one less thing to wrap their heads around.

Shooting a 3D documentary: differentiating left from right

In the world of 3D filmmaking, keeping left and right straight can be a mega pain. We discovered just how confusing it can get while prepping to shoot

We discovered just how confusing it can get while prepping to shoot our first 3D documentary.

From cameras to lenses to batteries to cables to monitor ports, we struggled to keep everything straight in-house.

So avoiding this headache in the field – the implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium in Salvador, Brazil – seemed difficult at best, impossible at worst.

With so much at stake for this groundbreaking episode of the explosive demolition series Blowdown, we seriously needed a system.

So we colour-coded everything.

Left is red, right is blue … and it doesn’t end with the gear.

We’re also colour-coding our data files so the editor can instantly recognize which footage corresponds to which eye.

Now when there are excavators crunching, drills grinding, and chaos everywhere, the crew will have one less thing to wrap their heads around.