Stereo Survey

Stereo Survey

The following is a breakdown of some the 3D production options currently available to cinematographers, from top-of-the line pro HD models to consumer-level single-body cameras. This is by no means a comprehensive list and none of the systems has been ranked in terms of preference.

As DV editor-in-chief David Williams noted in his editor’s column in the February issue of this publication, there’s no longer an argument about whether or not 3D will “catch on." There's no question that 3D will devour a slice of the entertainment production pie. But there’s also the matter of being smart about using this technology, because making better movies is really what it’s all about, no matter what dimension you’re working in.

Many companies old and new have thrown their anaglyph/polarized/electronic-shutter glasses into the ring with the common goal of producing better 3D. And it’s worth noting that nearly every outfit that’s gotten involved in developing 3D production hardware — whether cameras or rigs — has brought something new to the table. (And those that haven’t, or can’t, won’t last long.)

With that in mind, DV sought the advice of Geoff Boyle, FBKS, a veteran director of photography and the founder of the Cinematography Mailing List. Over the years, Boyle has made a name for himself as an expert on digital cinema and stereoscopy with his feature film and commercial work and instructional workshops. The question posed: What does it take to make good 3D?

“Well, there’s theory and there’s practice,” Boyle replies. “When you’re on a set, under pressure, with a low budget — when it’s -20°F, 2:00 in the morning and you’ve been trying to get four animals to attack your lead actor. Then one of the pins on your CompactFlash reader snaps off and you’ve only got one eye to work with. What do you do?”

Boyle gets excited when he talks about his theories regarding 3D and the new possibilities stereoscopy offers filmmakers. From his perspective, it’s an extension of the traditional cinematographic process rather than a departure. Despite his enthusiasm for the approach, he’s also very serious about the way people perceive 3D from an aesthetic point of view.

“At the moment, 3D is a gimmick because most people use it as a gimmick,” he says before addressing the well-trod “color and sound are gimmicks” argument: “I don’t make a color movie. I don’t make a talkie. I make a movie. When I make a movie in 3D, it means as much to me as making a movie in color. Nobody goes to a movie now because it’s in color — you go to watch a movie. In the same way, you want to watch a movie that also happens to be in 3D. That’s not going to happen until we stop playing games with the audience.”

Boyle likens “in-your-face” 3D to hypersaturating an image or screaming into a microphone, and he’s concerned that this is the way the industry at large approaches stereoscopic filmmaking. The clearest parallel is computer visual effects. “At the moment, people are using 3D the same way people used to treat computer graphics, but I don’t see it as an ‘effect,’” he notes. “It should be a part of the story, and if the story is a restrained, quiet story, you shoot restrained, quiet 3D.”

Practically speaking, rig automation is one of the technological developments aiding the maturation of 3D in recent years. The ability to precisely control the calibration of the cameras, their interaxial (IA) and point of convergence helps cinematographers to take a more subtle approach to their work. IAs relate to the center-to-center distance between two lenses and affects the viewers’ ability to perceive the volume of a given object in 3D space.

“I believe the cinematographer should be the only one in charge of the image,” states Boyle. “Just like when color was first introduced and no one ever really got good color until Jack Cardiff (The African Queen) kicked all the lab guys off the set, I believe it’s going to be the same with stereography. Now that [the stereo image] is visible on the set, it’s up to the cinematographer to understand what’s going on.”

Generally speaking, a complex support infrastructure is required to shoot professional-level 3D, adding at the least a stereographer and an additional camera tech to the existing camera crew. Acclimating to stereoscopy isn’t as easy as migrating from film to digital, but digital imaging and automation remove enough of the guesswork that plagued 35mm stereo cinematography that any advances being made in the field are relegated to optimizing crew logistics. At the high end of operations (represented by companies such as 3ality Digital, Pace and Kerner), side-by-side camera configurations are becoming less common, due in part to their limited interaxial (neé “interocular”) capabilities. Over/under rigs that utilize a beam-splitter or polarized mirror to split the image are better suited to achieving a more human-like IA range of approximately 35-40mm, while side-by-side camera setups average 100mm.

“Cameramen usually photograph people at a distance of around two meters,” says Boyle. “At that range, you’ve got to have an IA that’s comfortable, and for that, you need a mirror-rig. Period. There are no side-by-side rigs that will get you down to the IA you need. I often shoot around 25mm IA and sometimes less.” Some of the leading setups of this design include:



RIG: 3ality TS-5 (above)
WHAT IT IS: Beam-splitter setup for use with Sony HDC-P1/T-Head, RED Epic/Scarlet, Ikegami HDL-51, Wige Cunima and Panasonic AK-HC1500G cameras.
CONTACT: www.3alitydigital.com

RIG: PACE Fusion
WHAT IT IS: Beam-splitter for RED Epic, Sony F23, HDC-F950, HDC-1500 and other cameras.
CONTACT: www.pacehd.com



RIG: Kerner 3D Technologies Kernercam KC7000 (above)
WHAT IT IS: Beam-splitter for Sony HDC-P1, F23, F35 and RED cameras.
CONTACT: www.kerner.com

Fortunately, the size of the camera and the rig isn’t the lone factor in determining good 3D. As manufacturing costs drop and practicality of the format increases, more affordable and compact rigs will begin to enter the market.



RIG: Element Technica Atom 3D (above)
WHAT IT IS: Beam-splitter for RED Epic.
CONTACT: www.technica3d.com

RIG: P+S Technik 3D Freestyle, Evolution
WHAT THEY ARE: Beam-splitters for any camera up to 13.2 lb/setup (Freestyle), and 19.8 lb/setup (Evolution).
CONTACT: www.pstechnik.de

RIG: 3D-BS PRO RIG
WHAT IT IS: Beam-splitter for RED One, Sony CineAlta (various models), ARRI Alexa, Panasonic (various models), Ikegami (various), SI-2K.
CONTACT: www.3dfilmfactory.com

“If I was working with a small budget, I would look into getting a couple of prosumer HD cameras and a cheap mirror rig. And I would still get great pictures. You have to know more about cinematography to use it, but it’s not that hard if you take the time to understand how it works,” Boyle comments.

There are a number of consumer-level 3D solutions that use the parallel lens configuration. These are understandably not meant for high-level motion picture production; instead, they offer a quick and easy way to enter the stereoscopy market. Single-body camcorders have a more streamlined form factor and at this point are more maneuverable and easier to operate than their bulkier brethren. However, unless the cameras offer independent image streams, professional stereographic workflows aren’t likely at this level.



RIG: Panasonic AG-3DA1 (above)
WHAT IT IS: Side-by-side integrated.
CONTACT: www.pro-av.panasonic.net

RIG: JVC Everio GS-TD1
WHAT IT IS: Side-by-side integrated.
CONTACT: www.everio.jvc.com



RIG: Sony HDR-TD10 (above)
WHAT IT IS: Side-by-side integrated.
CONTACT: www.sonystyle.com

RIG: GoPro 3D Hero Expansion Kit
WHAT IT IS: Side-by-side for GoPro Hero.
CONTACT: www.gopro.com

Whether or not 3D is the future of the medium, it’s not going anywhere for now, and as far as Boyle’s concerned, that’s a good thing. “What I really love about it is that you can’t shoot good 3D if you’re not an experienced cinematographer,” he says. “You can’t get away with using long lenses, large chips and wide apertures to isolate things and be fast and cheap on your lighting. You have to be someone who’s capable of directing the audience’s eye using composition, movement and contrast. The era of the experienced cinematographer is coming back.”