Day 3 of video …
Stereographer Sean White details the C cam system we’ll use to film our first 3D documentary:
… and, on the lighter side, the crew hit 3D camera overload:
OK … back to it!
Next: tackle the lingering A cam issue – lenses for our Iconix sensors.
More from our stereographer Sean White and 3D technician Rory Lambert on a bunch of 3D gear we’re testing to film our first documentary in stereoscopy.
Yesterday I posted video of Sean – today, Rory’s in the spotlight (well, not really … he’s in our production house, working on gear, with no elaborate lighting. But he’s on his game):
3D HD growing pains: what they mean for event-based filmmakers
3D gear and data management: must knows for event-based filmmakers
Next: the C cam challenge.
Filmed our stereographer Sean White and 3D technician Rory Lambert as they took on a bunch of 3D gear we’re testing to film our first documentary in stereoscopy.
Details: the B cam system we’ll use to film our first 3D documentary
The new run and gun: what it takes to get stereoscopic content in the field
How to: sync two cameras using a Transvideo Cineform 3D Monitor
Speedbumps are plentiful. But it feels great to finally be working with the gear.
Rock on.
I’ve turned to the Sony EX line to shoot B cam for our first 3D documentary, after we discovered that the two Canon 7Ds we planned to use can’t send an HDSDI signal to our Transvideo Cineform 3D Monitor.
Two Sony EX3s seem to be an intuitive choice, since this model has genlock in capability.
But we’re shooting an event-based explosive documentary series, Blowdown, in a derelict sports stadium in Salvador, Brazil, so having our gear as light and portable as possible is top priority.
Our stereographer, Sean White, hit the blogosphere to see if there was any way to lighten the load. He found a lead on DoP Alister Chapman’s blog.
It looks like we can pair one Sony EX3 with a Sony EX1: the EX1 lacks a genlock in, but according to Chapman only one of the cameras needs to have it … we can send signal from the EX1 into the EX3 and then send both to the monitor.
Argh! The Film Factory 3D Indie Rig we purchased for our B cam system to shoot our first 3D documentary has arrived and the Canon 7D DSLRs don’t work with it!
Here’s the problem: beam splitter rigs are extremely sensitive – anyone who works with them has undoubtedly discovered that you have to have perfect alignment of the two cameras to each other, and to the mirror.
To make sure they’re aligned, we need to use a 3D monitor – so we can see both cameras on the same grid.
The model we’ve purchased (and as far as I can tell the only one that fits our field requirements, tech demands and budget) – the Transvideo Cineform 3D Monitor – takes an HDSDI signal from both cameras and combines them.
The Canon 7Ds aren’t built to send this signal … so there’s no way to see them on the monitor.
Even if we could somehow convert the signal they do send to HDSDI, the monitor also needs these two signals to be genlocked – impossible with these models.
So yeah. We need new cameras.
Looks like we’re onto plan B – Sony EX3s. This system’s been tried before, so I have no reason to think it won’t work for us.
But the EX3s are heavier than the Canon 7Ds – more weight for our already-overburdened field crew.
Excess baggage is a necessary evil in the third dimension, to be sure.
Still, it would have been nice to take a bit of the load off.
Onwards and upwards.
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.
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.
Argh! The Film Factory 3D Indie Rig we purchased for our B cam system to shoot our first 3D documentary has arrived and the Canon 7D DSLRs don’t work with it!
Here’s the problem: beam splitter rigs are extremely sensitive – anyone who works with them has undoubtedly discovered that you have to have perfect alignment of the two cameras to each other, and to the mirror.
To make sure they’re aligned, we need to use a 3D monitor – so we can see both cameras on the same grid.
The model we’ve purchased (and as far as I can tell the only one that fits our field requirements, tech demands and budget) – the Transvideo Cineform 3D Monitor – takes an HDSDI signal from both cameras and combines them.
The Canon 7Ds aren’t built to send this signal … so there’s no way to see them on the monitor.
Even if we could somehow convert the signal they do send to HDSDI, the monitor also needs these two signals to be genlocked – impossible with these models.
So yeah. We need new cameras.
Two is better than one, right? We’re getting a clearer idea of what it will take to shoot our inaugural 3D documentary: To effectively capture Blowdown in the third dimension we’ll need two different kinds of rigs.
For our A cams – we need a handheld, side-by-side rig, with all of these components:
– Heads – sensor – two Iconix cameras;
– “Brain box” to control Iconix cameras;
– Lenses that attach to the Iconix sensors;
– Convergent design 3D Nano-Drives;
– Interaxial sliders for the heads; and
– A handheld rail system
For our B cams, we’ve decided a beam splitter rig’s the way to go.
So we’ve ordered 3D Film Factory’s BS Indie Rig. It’s $2,900, pre-paid and no returns.
Hope it works.
OK.
Three months after we started sourcing gear for rent and sale for our first 3D shoot – for the explosive demolition series Blowdown – we’ve narrowed down a camera … we think.
The final showdown was between the SI-2K and the Iconix.
Before I go into which one we chose and why, it’s probably useful to explain exactly what we need them for.
This episode of Blowdown requires more than twenty 3D cameras:
– Two to film actuality and main story beats.
Our camera needs for this:
1. “A” camera system. Portable and operated by one person. This is when suppliers told us – “can’t be done.”
2. “B” camera Rig. As above – but for close-ups.
-18+ POV and kill cams capturing large and small scale on-site action and the actual implosions – which in the case of the Fonte Nova stadium will be many.
I’ve inserted screen grabs of the types of POVs we capture:
To get the dynamic idea of what these kill cams, mounted to the structures Controlled Demolition implodes, have to stand up to, watch them in action.
604.531.2244
Monday–Friday | 10–5 PST
RPO 75150 White Rock
Surrey, BC
V4A 0B1
