Stereoscopic 3D Content Capture

Stereoscopic 3D Capture

Currently the most popular way to capture stereoscopic 3D footage is to use two identical cameras or camcorders attached to a stereoscopic 3D rig. There are currently a handful of dual head cameras and camcorders that are designed for broadcast production.

Dual Head Cameras and Camcorders

There are currently two broadcast oriented dual headed camcorders available. They both have a fixed interoccular distance but are able to accurately change the convergence point by manipulating each lenses. They are also perfectly synced at the pixel clock level and have both internal storage and HD-SDI RAW output. The main drawback of these camcorders is that they both only capture in 1080p/24 resolution.

There is one dual headed camera available that is at best a consumer level camera. It is only a consumer level camera and features 10 megapixel digital image capture and 640x480 AVI video.

Dual Cameras and Camcorders

As you can see by reading above the dual headed options are very limited. It is for this reason that almost all professional stereoscopic 3D content is captured using two identical cameras or camcorders. There are a range of cameras and camcorders that are used for stereoscopic 3D. Every professional has their preference on camera model but it is important to take the following in to consideration:

 - Can you sync the cameras or camcorders together?
 - What resolution of photograph or film do you require?
 - How far away from the subject is the camera?
 - What lenses you are going to use?
 - Are CGI elements going to be composited in post?
 - How are you going to store your footage?
 - How heavy are your cameras or camcorders?
 - Do you require live monitoring?

There are of course many more questions but these are, in most cases, the most important factors to take in to account when choosing which camera or camcorder to use.

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