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The new IMAX 3D film Born to be Wild, currently showing in IMAX theaters, tells the story of orphan orangutans in Borneo and orphan elephants in Kenya. The film was shot in both locations, combining footage from the IMAX 3D 15/65mm film camera and a prototype IMAX 3D digital camera. The IMAX digital camera uses a pair of Phantom 65 cameras and custom IMAX 3D optics.

On Born to be Wild, we used a prototype system to test the quality and reliability of the Phantom 65 cameras. As a Digital Cinema Specialist at AbelCine, I supported the Phantom 65 cameras in the field.

We shot in the jungles of Borneo for seven weeks under difficult environmental conditions from extreme heat to torrential rain. The temperature was over 100º almost everyday and the humidity was over 90%. This made for tough going on both people and hardware. The Phantom 65 cameras performed flawlessly in the heat and humidity of Borneo and in the dry, dusty heat of Kenya.

In addition to the reliability and quality of the Phantom images, the IMAX 3D digital camera allowed us to capture more spontaneous wildlife behavior than would have been possible with the IMAX Solido camera. The terms “lightweight” and “portable” are not often used on an IMAX 3D film shoot. However, the IMAX 3D digital camera allowed us to be much more mobile, often with the camera sitting on my lap as we changed locations. It also meant we could use smaller jibs and heads to support the camera, even a monopod for some shots!

…continue reading Phantom 65 in the “Wild” for IMAX 3D Shoot

The Phantom 65-Z3D system, which Moe Shore wrote about last week, has been generating a lot of buzz at the show. In this video, I explain some of the benefits of using this innovative system.

This year at NAB, AbelCine is exhibiting the latest technology in Phantom high-speed cinematography, digital cinema, broadcast, compact cine and high-end optics in our booth. In addition to this, we have launched two new departments, Digital Media Services and Training to better serve our clients. Watch our booth preview to see a sneak peek of some of the equipment we are showcasing.  Stay tuned for more reports from the floor of NAB 2011.

Legendary filmmaker and visual effects pioneer Doug Trumbull is the first in North America to shoot with the new Phantom 65-Z3D system. The music video “Golden Eyes,” shot on location in New York and featuring Dana Fuchs, was co-directed by Doug and director & visual effects technologist Mark Anton Read.

The Phantom 65-Z3D is a single camera 3D production system that uses Zepar twin lenses inside a single housing to capture stereo images on a single 65mm sensor. Each of the two images is equivalent in size to a Super-35mm film frame, with associated characteristics like depth of field and field of view. The Phantom 65 is capable of high frame-rate recording, and Doug chose to shoot at 120fps as a ‘real time’ speed and 320fps for slow motion sequences. The complete system is small, lightweight and easy to set up.

“The lens pairs are perfectly matched and aligned, and weigh only a couple of pounds, making the entire package so small, it easily fits on the Steadicam,” said Trumbull. “This first experiment involved extremely dynamic movement of camera and subject, often going 360-degrees multiple times. We shot all day without any problems.”

Phantom 65-Z3D is a joint collaboration of Vision Research, MKBK of Moscow, Dedo Weigert Film of Germany and AbelCine. By utilizing a single sensor, the P65-Z3D is like a pair of parallel cameras, in that there is no toeing-in for convergence. By adding the capability to adjust the lenses horizontally in front of the sensor, thus changing the distance between the lenses, it is possible to affect the zero parallax distance and therefore determine the point where objects appear in front of the screen and behind the screen. The resulting images produced by the system’s parallel capture are clean and free of optical distortion from beamsplitters or image keystoning.

“I feel that the Phantom 65-Z3D offers opportunities for 3D that cannot be achieved with heavier dual camera beamsplitter systems” Trumbull added. “I am extremely impressed with the results, and intend to use this system next as part of my development of a system for shooting virtual sets and locations in 3D with real-time compositing.”

Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes look at “Golden Eyes” narrated by Doug Trumbull. Dailies from the 3D music video will be available for viewing at AbelCine’s NAB booth #C8932.

Until recently, filtering the Panasonic AG-3DA1 was a challenge. Basically you had to use a 6×6 mattebox with a sliding base plate, or engineer a smaller mattebox to fit the housing for the lenses. Neither option was optimal given the small and compact nature of this camera.

Thankfully, Vocas has introduced an adaptor (114mm to AG-3DA1) for their existing MB-450 mattebox. The platform for mounting the mattebox is the Vocas MBS-100 15mm rail support.

As far as filtration, I found that using ND filters on the 3DA1 is a must. The camera handles interiors well, but after you open to your widest stop, the camera starts increasing gain to raise luminance levels. Exterior daylight shots will definitely need an ND, so having a set of straight NDs and a set of grad NDs would come in handy. Watch my video above for more on this mattebox setup for the 3DA1.

With Abel becoming an official reseller of the Panasonic AG-3DA1, I’ve had time to get to know the camera. The 3DA1 makes it much easier to produce a good Stereo 3D image, without the large-scale setup usually required. There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to shooting 3D – fortunately Panasonic has done a nice job of making the 3DA1’s controls straightforward and intuitive. Watch my video above for a closer look at the camera.

This year at Createasphere’s Entertainment Technology Expo (formerly HD EXPO) in New York, Abel featured the Panasonic AG-3DA1 Integrated Twin-lens 3D Camera Recorder and the Panasonic BT-3DL2550 25.5″ 3D LCD Video Monitor.

The Panasonic AG-3DA1 is the first professional, fully-integrated Full HD 3D camcorder that records to SD card media. The camera records separate right eye, left eye capture to the SD cards and monitoring is made easy by using two SDI feeds to the BT-3DL2550. To create natural-looking 3D video, the convergence point (the point at which the left and right cameras’ optical axes converge) needs to be adjusted to match that of a human’s eyes, which varies according to the closeness of the objects being viewed. Panasonic’s new Full HD 3D camcorder adopts a newly-developed twin-lens system that realizes convergence point control with its integrated design.