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.

Video: Compositing for a 3D documentary – VFX elements that work in stereo

The 3D VFX pyramid fly-in shot that our compositor’s been working on to test techniques for our first 3D documentary is good to go.

Again, you’ll need the good old red-cyan goggles for this:

Our compositor, Jakub Kuczynski, explains elements in the shot:

And compares working on 3D VFX versus 2D VFX:

This shot will be part of the 3D demo I plan to show broadcasters next week.

Now all I need to do is find a 46-inch JVC monitor to show it on …

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.

VFX compositing for a 3D documentary: compiling a demo

As we prep to shoot our first 3D documentary, our compositor, Jakub Kuczynski, is getting ready to produce 3D VFX for the show.

We use these photo-real visuals in the explosive demolition series Blowdown, which we’ll be filming the next episode of, mostly for:

1) Locators – help orient the audience and show where the crew is working at a particular point.

2) Disaster scenarios – show the audience what will happen if different aspects demolition plan go wrong.

3) Dynamic structure shots – fly-overs, fly-throughs, fly-ins … allows audience to experience the strength, grandeur and engineering prowess of structures that Controlled Demolition Inc. implodes.

Here are two examples from previous shows: Super Stadium and Spyship:

Locator VFX: RCA Dome. Indianapolis, Indiana

Disaster scenario VFX: Hoyt S. Vandenberg. Key West, Florida

As part of this process, Jakub’s generating sample 3D VFX shots so we can assess them and so I can take some on my trip to meet with broadcasters the week after next.

We’ll combine the 3D VFX clips with some of the 3D test footage we’ve shot so I can give the broadcasters a solid visual idea of what we’ve developed so far.

One of Jakub’s shots – a fly-in to pyramids.

Why I’m including this in the 3D demo:

Look forward to the final.

Shooting a 3D documentary: demolition POV – ContourHD versus GoPro HD

3D POV, here we come. We’ve started looking into cameras to shoot POV footage for our first 3D documentary.

This content is a must – there’s nothing like being able to put a camera where no human dare go and capture the scene from that angle.

For example, what’s it like to ride on an excavator boom while it’s ripping bleachers apart?

An excavator demolishing bleachers, the RCA Dome

This is a screen grab from the demolition of the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana, the subject of a previous Blowdown show – the explosive demolition series we’ll be filming in 3D.

Now imagine part of the grapple in negative space.

But it’s going to take a bit to get there.

The cameras we use have to be:

1) Lightweight enough to be mounted onto a Magic Arm, or duct taped/fastened to something on the machine.

2) Placed at an interaxial distance small enough to film an object within 1 ½ metres from the lens.

3) Workable with a customized side-by-side rig (that we’re apparently going to build … of course).

4) Capable of turning on in sync.

Our stereographer, Sean White, has narrowed it down to two contenders: the ContourHD 1080p or the GoPro HD.

Suspect the Contours will reign because they’re less boxy, but the GoPro’s a bit better quality – so I’d like to find a way to use if possible.

We’ll see how the “dare to compare” goes.