Forum Discussion
180 3D VR with the upcoming Blackmagic Micro Camera
I am currently preparing to build a rig for shooting 180 3D content and came aross this yesterday: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/produc ... nemacamera This is definately a game changer in ter...
I've already pre-ordered 4 of the Micro Studio 4k cameras and I have the Production Camera 4k (BMPC4k) that I use to shoot 360x180 (non-stereo) right now (Sunex 5.6mm SuperFisheye and Sigma 4.5mm) in portrait.
The Cinema camera from the OP's link does not sync if I'm not mistaken (correction I am mistaken, I had only read the discussion on the BM forums and not the actual site, thanks for the correction MediaVR), the Studio cameras and Ursa line of cameras do sync (although you will have to get a sync generator as they don't generate sync).
BlackMagic is unfortunately notorious for delivering late with their NAB announcements so I'm not holding my breath that they will be out in July or will be free of the issues that have plagued the early builds of their Cinema or Studio cameras (FPN, black sun, etc...)
That being said I researched many cameras including a crazy Toshiba 4k 60hz "surveillance" type camera used for scientific and medical purposes (http://www.toshibacameras.com/products/ ... l_ik4k.jsp) which retails for $17k each camera that includes a control box and cabling. I believe the guys at VR Playhouse were also investigating this camera and had successfully tested it with a proper fisheye lens (Toshiba rep provided this info to me not VR Playhouse).
I am a big fan of BlackMagic and Davinci Resolve is incredible (you get a hardware dongle and free updates with purchase of BM cameras). For reference here is minimally graded and sloppily cloned 360 clip I shot last month as a test from my client's rooftop in Manhattan. It was super overcast and since the BMPC4k shoots RAW 4k (4000X2160) I have been able to pull out blues from the cloudy sky and warm up the skin tones a little.
Here is a 20 second clip shot 4k RAW off the camera with super minimal grading (used built in LUT) that I cloned the zenith to test workflow with this setup (before I configured my rig to shoot portrait with the Sunex), it has scratch audio recorded from the camera and was stitched together using PTGui Pro and After Effects CC:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z7a0j5kayukd5 ... d.mp4?dl=0
A still of the current color grade I'm outputting my full clip with with sky keyed out and a fake cloud and quick nadir cloning:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q120tkvoz3yna ... t.jpg?dl=0
edit: Also take note that the Micro Cinema camera shoots 1080p while the Micro Studio 4k shoots 1080p and 4k (at 30fps though). The Micro Cinema camera is self contained like a GoPro (not including external Canon battery pack)whereas the Micro Studio 4k is a studio camera and can take a battery too but does not have any way to store the content on the camera itself. As with all BM cameras there are limitations that come with the lower price point. The Micro Cinema has a global shutter, limited to shooting 1080p30, instead of 1080p60 which you get when using the rolling shutter.
It looks like the MS4k doesn't have a global shutter which the MCC can utilize up to 1080p30, oh well:
http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewt ... =2&t=34947
The Cinema camera from the OP's link does not sync if I'm not mistaken (correction I am mistaken, I had only read the discussion on the BM forums and not the actual site, thanks for the correction MediaVR), the Studio cameras and Ursa line of cameras do sync (although you will have to get a sync generator as they don't generate sync).
BlackMagic is unfortunately notorious for delivering late with their NAB announcements so I'm not holding my breath that they will be out in July or will be free of the issues that have plagued the early builds of their Cinema or Studio cameras (FPN, black sun, etc...)
That being said I researched many cameras including a crazy Toshiba 4k 60hz "surveillance" type camera used for scientific and medical purposes (http://www.toshibacameras.com/products/ ... l_ik4k.jsp) which retails for $17k each camera that includes a control box and cabling. I believe the guys at VR Playhouse were also investigating this camera and had successfully tested it with a proper fisheye lens (Toshiba rep provided this info to me not VR Playhouse).
I am a big fan of BlackMagic and Davinci Resolve is incredible (you get a hardware dongle and free updates with purchase of BM cameras). For reference here is minimally graded and sloppily cloned 360 clip I shot last month as a test from my client's rooftop in Manhattan. It was super overcast and since the BMPC4k shoots RAW 4k (4000X2160) I have been able to pull out blues from the cloudy sky and warm up the skin tones a little.
Here is a 20 second clip shot 4k RAW off the camera with super minimal grading (used built in LUT) that I cloned the zenith to test workflow with this setup (before I configured my rig to shoot portrait with the Sunex), it has scratch audio recorded from the camera and was stitched together using PTGui Pro and After Effects CC:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z7a0j5kayukd5 ... d.mp4?dl=0
A still of the current color grade I'm outputting my full clip with with sky keyed out and a fake cloud and quick nadir cloning:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q120tkvoz3yna ... t.jpg?dl=0
edit: Also take note that the Micro Cinema camera shoots 1080p while the Micro Studio 4k shoots 1080p and 4k (at 30fps though). The Micro Cinema camera is self contained like a GoPro (not including external Canon battery pack)whereas the Micro Studio 4k is a studio camera and can take a battery too but does not have any way to store the content on the camera itself. As with all BM cameras there are limitations that come with the lower price point. The Micro Cinema has a global shutter, limited to shooting 1080p30, instead of 1080p60 which you get when using the rolling shutter.
It looks like the MS4k doesn't have a global shutter which the MCC can utilize up to 1080p30, oh well:
http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewt ... =2&t=34947