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Front Page, Industry News
Canada’s A Park for All Seasons delivers the beautiful Haida Gwaii Islands to your home in 3D
Tuesday August 10th 2010by TO411 staff writer Daisy Maclean
When he was a child, Craig Colby wanted to be an astronaut.
“I was six years old when they landed on the moon and I thought it was great. I told my parents I wasn’t going to bed until they got back!” laughs Colby over the phone. Colby’s love of technology and his enthusiasm to explore the world around him has led him to become a senior producer for The Discovery Channel and now the director of production at HiFi HDTV. It has also led him to experiment with the new 3D technology available this year in the latest home television sets, and create one of the first Canadian 3D television episodes for the show, A Park for All Seasons.
A Park for All Seasons is going into its second season on Oasis HD. Finding support within Parks Canada, the show endeavours to find the story within each park, whether it’s environmental or the sheer administrative problem of maintaining millions of beautiful acres within Canada’s wilderness.
“From a 3D perspective this is quite an exciting time and if 3D is well-crafted it brings out the natural viewing experience we have every day and communicates this to the audience, it adds a feeling of realism to the story, becoming part of the conflict and part of the resolution,” commented Diane Woods, Sr. Partner and Executive Producer at DJ Woods. “Just as we use music to impact the story, we now have 3D for visual impact.”
“Gwaii Haanas is a very beautiful and spiritual place. It’s very hard to get to and now we can provide a very personal experience to audiences. Natural history and National Art is a perfect platform for showcasing 3D. First nations believe that if they carve a totem pole – what they take from the earth they give back to the earth. They are allowing the totem poles to go back to the earth and they are still in their original position – one of the only spots in the world where the poles are still in their original place – this was just a perfect place to record them for all time.”
“Of course the crew needs to be educated in regard to 3D, there’s also a whole new vocabulary to learn in order to communicate effectively – words like convergence point and interocular distance. The design of the shots has to change. Many shots need to be wider and for 3D you have to really watch how you handle close-ups.” (David and Diane Woods have established DJ Woods as a lead supplier of 3D technology and provide a knowledge-base through consultative services.)
“Logistically, A park for All Seasons required solutions, as Diane Woods revealed; we were working with new technology, we were in a very remote location only accessible by boat and we had horizontal rain for most of the shoot. It was a challenging shoot in 2D – let alone in 3D but we were very pleased with the performance of crew and equipment and at the end of day and we came back with a beautiful visual record of the park.”
Brent Robinson was the stereographer on the shoot. Brent specialises in 3D and underwater shooting and has worked in camera departments on such big films as Resident Evil: Afterlife, and Scott Pilgrim VS the World. The stereographer is integral any 3D production, beyond responsibility for convergence, interocular distance and focal length, he determines where an object will appear on the z-axis.
Robinson is currently working in India on a Bollywood 3D film, a horror film called Haunted, directed by Vikram Bhatt and starring Mahakshay “Mimoh” Chakraborty and Tia Bajpai.
“The communication between director, DP and stereographer is a new avenue, but it also extends as much to the camera operator and convergence puller/system tech too. Set-ups take longer, but it has more to do with the equipment you are using, its standardization and knowledge and ability of the camera assistants using it. It’s usually longer than a normal lens change, often uncomfortably longer, but with standard equipment that has been field proven you can change lenses and configurations only a few minutes longer than a 2D change. The reason 3D is good to go now, is that it is best acquired on digital technology and stereography can be registered exactly.
“On A Park for All Seasons we used the Element Technica ‘Quasar’ with Sony P1 camera blocks and Fujinon 3D matched lenses. We had to have lenses exactly matched in order to have them focus, zoom and provide field of view the same way at the same time. The Quasar we used is built like a tank but with stability comes weight. As we were living on a 70′ sailboat for 2 weeks and commuting to a remote island each day, the 1400 pounds of gear (with crane!) was daunting!”
“The main camera rig we used (Quasar) is a partial beamsplitter. It works by having one camera shoot through a partial mirror while the other camera shoots a reflected image off the front of the mirror.” Robinson further commented, “This enabled the cameras to overlap in space while getting their lenses closer together than physically possible on other rigs and provides a more comfortable viewing experience.”
Concluding comment:
3D is still developing, dealing with mirror quality, issues with color and light, CMOS chip image reading and can cause viewing problems for some but the technology has advanced and the public is gaining savvy while directors and writers figure out how to use this new tool in an effective and meaningful way. Set backs are inevitable when we take risks and try new things, but so are successes as long as we don’t quit.
Front Page, Industry News
Canada’s A Park for All Seasons delivers the beautiful Haida Gwaii Islands to your home in 3D
Tuesday August 10th 2010by TO411 staff writer Daisy Maclean
When he was a child, Craig Colby wanted to be an astronaut.
“I was six years old when they landed on the moon and I thought it was great. I told my parents I wasn’t going to bed until they got back!” laughs Colby over the phone. Colby’s love of technology and his enthusiasm to explore the world around him has led him to become a senior producer for The Discovery Channel and now the director of production at HiFi HDTV. It has also led him to experiment with the new 3D technology available this year in the latest home television sets, and create one of the first Canadian 3D television episodes for the show, A Park for All Seasons.
A Park for All Seasons is going into its second season on Oasis HD. Finding support within Parks Canada, the show endeavours to find the story within each park, whether it’s environmental or the sheer administrative problem of maintaining millions of beautiful acres within Canada’s wilderness.
“From a 3D perspective this is quite an exciting time and if 3D is well-crafted it brings out the natural viewing experience we have every day and communicates this to the audience, it adds a feeling of realism to the story, becoming part of the conflict and part of the resolution,” commented Diane Woods, Sr. Partner and Executive Producer at DJ Woods. “Just as we use music to impact the story, we now have 3D for visual impact.”
“Gwaii Haanas is a very beautiful and spiritual place. It’s very hard to get to and now we can provide a very personal experience to audiences. Natural history and National Art is a perfect platform for showcasing 3D. First nations believe that if they carve a totem pole – what they take from the earth they give back to the earth. They are allowing the totem poles to go back to the earth and they are still in their original position – one of the only spots in the world where the poles are still in their original place – this was just a perfect place to record them for all time.”
“Of course the crew needs to be educated in regard to 3D, there’s also a whole new vocabulary to learn in order to communicate effectively – words like convergence point and interocular distance. The design of the shots has to change. Many shots need to be wider and for 3D you have to really watch how you handle close-ups.” (David and Diane Woods have established DJ Woods as a lead supplier of 3D technology and provide a knowledge-base through consultative services.)
“Logistically, A park for All Seasons required solutions, as Diane Woods revealed; we were working with new technology, we were in a very remote location only accessible by boat and we had horizontal rain for most of the shoot. It was a challenging shoot in 2D – let alone in 3D but we were very pleased with the performance of crew and equipment and at the end of day and we came back with a beautiful visual record of the park.”
Brent Robinson was the stereographer on the shoot. Brent specialises in 3D and underwater shooting and has worked in camera departments on such big films as Resident Evil: Afterlife, and Scott Pilgrim VS the World. The stereographer is integral any 3D production, beyond responsibility for convergence, interocular distance and focal length, he determines where an object will appear on the z-axis.
Robinson is currently working in India on a Bollywood 3D film, a horror film called Haunted, directed by Vikram Bhatt and starring Mahakshay “Mimoh” Chakraborty and Tia Bajpai.
“The communication between director, DP and stereographer is a new avenue, but it also extends as much to the camera operator and convergence puller/system tech too. Set-ups take longer, but it has more to do with the equipment you are using, its standardization and knowledge and ability of the camera assistants using it. It’s usually longer than a normal lens change, often uncomfortably longer, but with standard equipment that has been field proven you can change lenses and configurations only a few minutes longer than a 2D change. The reason 3D is good to go now, is that it is best acquired on digital technology and stereography can be registered exactly.
“On A Park for All Seasons we used the Element Technica ‘Quasar’ with Sony P1 camera blocks and Fujinon 3D matched lenses. We had to have lenses exactly matched in order to have them focus, zoom and provide field of view the same way at the same time. The Quasar we used is built like a tank but with stability comes weight. As we were living on a 70′ sailboat for 2 weeks and commuting to a remote island each day, the 1400 pounds of gear (with crane!) was daunting!”
“The main camera rig we used (Quasar) is a partial beamsplitter. It works by having one camera shoot through a partial mirror while the other camera shoots a reflected image off the front of the mirror.” Robinson further commented, “This enabled the cameras to overlap in space while getting their lenses closer together than physically possible on other rigs and provides a more comfortable viewing experience.”
Concluding comment:
3D is still developing, dealing with mirror quality, issues with color and light, CMOS chip image reading and can cause viewing problems for some but the technology has advanced and the public is gaining savvy while directors and writers figure out how to use this new tool in an effective and meaningful way. Set backs are inevitable when we take risks and try new things, but so are successes as long as we don’t quit.
Leave a Reply
Front Page, Industry News
Canada’s A Park for All Seasons delivers the beautiful Haida Gwaii Islands to your home in 3D
Tuesday August 10th 2010by TO411 staff writer Daisy Maclean
When he was a child, Craig Colby wanted to be an astronaut.
“I was six years old when they landed on the moon and I thought it was great. I told my parents I wasn’t going to bed until they got back!” laughs Colby over the phone. Colby’s love of technology and his enthusiasm to explore the world around him has led him to become a senior producer for The Discovery Channel and now the director of production at HiFi HDTV. It has also led him to experiment with the new 3D technology available this year in the latest home television sets, and create one of the first Canadian 3D television episodes for the show, A Park for All Seasons.
A Park for All Seasons is going into its second season on Oasis HD. Finding support within Parks Canada, the show endeavours to find the story within each park, whether it’s environmental or the sheer administrative problem of maintaining millions of beautiful acres within Canada’s wilderness.
“From a 3D perspective this is quite an exciting time and if 3D is well-crafted it brings out the natural viewing experience we have every day and communicates this to the audience, it adds a feeling of realism to the story, becoming part of the conflict and part of the resolution,” commented Diane Woods, Sr. Partner and Executive Producer at DJ Woods. “Just as we use music to impact the story, we now have 3D for visual impact.”
“Gwaii Haanas is a very beautiful and spiritual place. It’s very hard to get to and now we can provide a very personal experience to audiences. Natural history and National Art is a perfect platform for showcasing 3D. First nations believe that if they carve a totem pole – what they take from the earth they give back to the earth. They are allowing the totem poles to go back to the earth and they are still in their original position – one of the only spots in the world where the poles are still in their original place – this was just a perfect place to record them for all time.”
“Of course the crew needs to be educated in regard to 3D, there’s also a whole new vocabulary to learn in order to communicate effectively – words like convergence point and interocular distance. The design of the shots has to change. Many shots need to be wider and for 3D you have to really watch how you handle close-ups.” (David and Diane Woods have established DJ Woods as a lead supplier of 3D technology and provide a knowledge-base through consultative services.)
“Logistically, A park for All Seasons required solutions, as Diane Woods revealed; we were working with new technology, we were in a very remote location only accessible by boat and we had horizontal rain for most of the shoot. It was a challenging shoot in 2D – let alone in 3D but we were very pleased with the performance of crew and equipment and at the end of day and we came back with a beautiful visual record of the park.”
Brent Robinson was the stereographer on the shoot. Brent specialises in 3D and underwater shooting and has worked in camera departments on such big films as Resident Evil: Afterlife, and Scott Pilgrim VS the World. The stereographer is integral any 3D production, beyond responsibility for convergence, interocular distance and focal length, he determines where an object will appear on the z-axis.
Robinson is currently working in India on a Bollywood 3D film, a horror film called Haunted, directed by Vikram Bhatt and starring Mahakshay “Mimoh” Chakraborty and Tia Bajpai.
“The communication between director, DP and stereographer is a new avenue, but it also extends as much to the camera operator and convergence puller/system tech too. Set-ups take longer, but it has more to do with the equipment you are using, its standardization and knowledge and ability of the camera assistants using it. It’s usually longer than a normal lens change, often uncomfortably longer, but with standard equipment that has been field proven you can change lenses and configurations only a few minutes longer than a 2D change. The reason 3D is good to go now, is that it is best acquired on digital technology and stereography can be registered exactly.
“On A Park for All Seasons we used the Element Technica ‘Quasar’ with Sony P1 camera blocks and Fujinon 3D matched lenses. We had to have lenses exactly matched in order to have them focus, zoom and provide field of view the same way at the same time. The Quasar we used is built like a tank but with stability comes weight. As we were living on a 70′ sailboat for 2 weeks and commuting to a remote island each day, the 1400 pounds of gear (with crane!) was daunting!”
“The main camera rig we used (Quasar) is a partial beamsplitter. It works by having one camera shoot through a partial mirror while the other camera shoots a reflected image off the front of the mirror.” Robinson further commented, “This enabled the cameras to overlap in space while getting their lenses closer together than physically possible on other rigs and provides a more comfortable viewing experience.”
Concluding comment:
3D is still developing, dealing with mirror quality, issues with color and light, CMOS chip image reading and can cause viewing problems for some but the technology has advanced and the public is gaining savvy while directors and writers figure out how to use this new tool in an effective and meaningful way. Set backs are inevitable when we take risks and try new things, but so are successes as long as we don’t quit.
Leave a Reply
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