RED One for 3D
 

I was reading the great article at HDforindies.com about James Cameron's NAB speech on digital 3D cinema. It got me thinking he might be right. This might be the time 3D really takes off and is more then just a gimmick. The technology is there. It would certainly give people a reason to go back to the theater.

I could see this happening slowly over the next ten years. It's already happening in small amounts.

So my questions is, RED is supposed to be a camera that will not go obsolete for a long while. So with that said will it support 3D capture?

I remember years ago seeing a prototype lens from Canon for the XL1. It was a 3D lens that contained some type of shutter inside to allow it to shoot 3D onto a single sensor. Perhaps RED will be able to pull off the same type of thinsg with a few specialty lenses? I don't exactly know how that works but I would think that if red can shoot 60fps it could pull off stereo vision at 24-30fps. 2x24fps or 2x30fps or even 2x60fps at 720p resolution.

I don't know about everyone else but I don't want to be the one to shoot a silent film when the era of the talkies is just 5-10 years away. I think we all want our films to be as future proof as our cameras.

Here is that article:
http://www.hdforindies.com/2006/04/n...-day-two#links

With the scalability of RED I think its safe to say that their will be a way to sync cameras and if you can do that your practically done for a two camera stereoscopic setup. As for the stereoscopic in one camera, i don't have a clue, thats more of an optics thing i think.

Although a shutter setup is completely possible I figure it would have to be synced very well to the electronics and the mechanics would have to be top notch. I suspect a device like this would be externally sync'd off the outputs so something like that could work without any modifications to the camera, just with a special lens or lens adapter.

Canon 3D zoom lens for XL1/XL1S DV camcorder was presented in 2000.
If RED able to shoot 2K and 720p at 120fps just need adapter similar to Wasol 3D58 LenSys®:
http://www.wasol.co.kr/product.htm

They've been using the CCD optical blocks from two Sony F950s to make the HD cameras that have been used on James Camerons 3D films. Assuming you can rig two of the RED sensor modules the correct distances apart, there's no reason why you couldn't base a 3D camera around it.

Correct distances between of two RED cam must be 65mm for shooting 3D.
It is necessary that head of the camera was disconnected on example of the SI-1920HDVR.

I guess my question would be "Why do I care if anyone goes back to the theater?"

The theater is where the "Industry" rules. And iTunes, Google Video etc. will be where indies have more of a chance.

3D sensor
 

What I would like to see some day soon is an optional sensor on the camera that would grab 3D depth data as well as pixel data. I think that would be awesome for compositing layers of video with special software. Say, having a green screened actor walk behind some sparse trees. I am sure it would have many other uses as well. I'm sure I will not see this any time soon. Just food for thought...

Seems like they could do that with very low power Sonar or Radar and record it with the image data.

I have seen low resolution sensors that can do this in the past, but I'm not sure of the frame rate.

cool idea
 

I mean right now, I'm kinda doing it manually for vfx shots. I have a laser meter to quickly map out the distances between the subject, the background and as much other stuff that I can jot down before the AD starts complaining about his schedule. That data helps alot in compositing.

They do distance measuring for cg shots for large productions and use those calcs in various 3d and compositing apps. But having a low power hi rez option directlly recording image and distance data to disk, time synced the same way audio is, would be very cool.

Neer seen a Z-Cam in operation - very cool. Seen them at NAB a few times.

Having a per pixel based z-depth, the right software could be use to composite a layer at a specific depth from the camera. I'm sure this would be an amazing time saver for this type of work, since you would not need to mask out objects that are in front of the layer. The data could also be used to quickly identify and isolate an object in a frame, such as if you want to pull out a foreground object for placement in another frame. It could also be used instead of a green screen. I want it! ;)

Maybe the Z-cam is what I saw before, but I can't find much info on it.

What's the highest resolution a portable sonar unit can pull off?

I think infrared laser would be the way to go on a z-cam... but wouldn't it be a hazard to the subject's retinas?