How could I do this?
 

So I'm working with a client who wants to film paintball matches. The idea is 4 cameras positioned on each corner of the field (big rectangle). The goal is to sell complete match footage to the teams for review afterwards, like reviewing game tapes in football. The footage is planned to be delivered on USB drives.

The client wants a way for the teams to be able to play back the match and choose from the 4 cameras on the fly. I'm not really post-production savvy though, and don't really have a clue how I could make this happen.

Re: How could I do this?
 

He can't.

Best you can do is to have all 4 cameras on the one frame in the finished video, one per corner. The end client can simply choose which corner/cam to look at.

Andrew

Re: How could I do this?
 

Actually you can but it won't be exactly cheap to do.

You'll need a monitor for each camera then you need a switcher for those monitors to run from. Those would be "preview" monitors from which each camera shot would be shown. Oh yeah you need a capture device for each camera as well, be it tape or solid state, then you need to run cables, lots of cable from each camera back to the switcher and then to the recording device. that's so the footage is captured and able to be played back after the event is over so edit decisions can be made.

Think major league baseball, football, basketball, auto racing or any other sport where they show replays on TV....basically that's what you'd be doing.

I don't know what the budget is but I have a feeling it might not be enough to do this type of set up UNLESS you use a CCTV security camera/computer type set up which really wouldn't be anywhere close to ideal.

Even if you did a live edit in a booth, you'd still need most everything I mentioned and probably some more.
Sorry but there are some things in this industry that just can't be short cutted. (is that a word?)

Re: How could I do this?
 

Hi Don

I have never worried about it but if you supply on DVD instead of USB is it possible to use the camera angles facility that DVD players have?? or is that only for commercially produced DVD's ...You could easily have 4 clips on the DVD and use the DVD remote to change the angle which in fact is switching to another video "track" via the player. Then again a full paint ball match with 4 tracks might not make it on a DVD space wise ...

Just a thought as I personally have never done it. Hmmm might be cool for weddings too if it's possible?

Chris

Re: How could I do this?
 

@Don

True, but this won't let the teams choose the camera on the fly when reviewing the footage afterwards. Those decisions would be pre-made before the finished product is handed over, and would require dedicated employee time for each match. A quad-screen camera recording would be easier to do.

For what it is worth, I occasionally film AFL (football, gridiron-ish but without the protective armour) matches for the coaches/clubs to review afterwards. It's done with one camera that simply follows the action of where the ball is. One one level it only needs one camera, on another level it's all the clubs can afford.

Might be worth checking at the end-client end of the deal and see if they are prepared to pay what it would cost to provide the service.

Andrew

Re: How could I do this?
 

I'd much rather use a couple cameras with operators, but for what the client wants it's not really ideal. I've actually shot the type of footage you're talking about for football before, but for a couple reasons it just doesn't work for paintball. Mainly because the sport doesn't have a ball like in soccer or football, it's tough to track the action and ensure you don't miss anything, the bunkers also hide the players a lot without multiple angles.

The 4 corner view was what I originally suggested to them and what I'm planning on right now, just figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

I think we're just going to go with 4 locked off cameras. Client wants to run just Go-Pro's, but there's way too muc headache with batteries and changing cards there.

Re: How could I do this?
 

In Football, all the action can be captured with one camera. In paintball, there are obstruction on the field that would obscure action using a single camera. Assuming they just want to review the action/tactics, I'm inclined to go with the 4 cameras on a single screen. They can jog the footage back and forth to simultaneously see the action from all 4 cameras.
A less elegant, but higher resolution option would be to provide 4 movie files on the thumb-drive, then the client can open 4 windows on their computer and tab between the action, potentially using the timeline(s) to jog back and forth

Re: How could I do this?
 

Totally doable as multiple angles on a standard DVD. Viewer pushes the Angle button to change.

No one will pay for it. Too much authoring involved.

Re: How could I do this?
 

When football teams want to review themselves, they use what is called 'All-22' footage. It's the eye in the sky and shows the entire field at once, all 22 players.

Sounds like you'd need something similar - to get those 4 cameras up in the air a bit, so obstructions are less of an issue.