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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

3D Productions

Paul Watt said:
I'd like to hear from anyone that has used a 3DFactory Beamsplitter too.
Click to expand...

Hi Paul -

I recently used the 3D Film Factory beamsplitter for a small project.

Built it with Reds and the 18-50 zooms, and then with Sony EX3's which we ultimately shot with. Keith Collea was our steroegrapher.

As you probably know the I/O and convergence settings are manual and done by hand. I/O adjustment isn't bad as long as you create a scale during prep.

Convergence adjustment... well it needs work, as it is something that is done very often, and simply loosening a bolt and nudging the cameras around trying to nail convergence is not quick or convenient.

Biggest beef is that there is no provision for adjusting for any vertical offset issues. They really need to include some fine adjustments for X and Y adjustment of at least one camera on that rig. The word from the manufacturer is that any sort of offset issues are handled by adjusting the angle of the beamsplitter mirror... which frankly opens up other cans of worms.

Build quality is good for the price, and we were able to maintain our zero alignment throughout the day, as we moved around from dolly to sticks, and from Interior to Exterior.

A note of caution, and perhaps a request to the manufacturers. The beamsplitter glass is held in place by several allen screws that just plain old tighten up against the glass itself, at least that's how it came from our rental house. Uhhh, well if you accidentally tighten one screw too tight, you end up with a busted mirror to the tune of $440. C'mon now, there's got to be a better way than that.

Just my limited experience with it.

Pedro's right - you get what you pay for.

Best wishes

Michael Hardwick - Director of Photography/ Steadicam Operator
IATSE 600 1st AC
 
Yeah Michael, point contact of the cap screw against the beam splitter is bad thing. I can think of a half a dozen simple ways to mount that piece of float glass.
 
$400 for the mirror? That makes me cringe....I've seen $4000 mirror that are not that good at all. $400 makes me worried.

Would love to analyze the images from that rig to see what exactly you are compromising on.

Don't overlook the splitter Mirror, this has tremendous impact on you imaging. $40,000 lens looking thru low quality glass can produce poor results. Not making any assumptions!!!!! Just saying I have seen what cheap mirror do to images and what difference expensive beam mirrors can have.

Testing is the only way to tell. In fact, comparative testing is the best way.

But the golden rule will usually apply.......you get what you pay for. Somtimes the compromise is acceptable for certain projects. But would be good to have hard DATA.

would love to setup a shootout with all the beam splitters..... ;)
 
The beam splliters on Steve Hines 3D rigs are made from water white float glass which is an off the shelf item (although he does pick the pieces himself) and they perform just fine. An optically ground piece of glass even if it was just flame or felt polished would be very very costly and so far as I could tell offered no noticeable improvment.
But as Pedro says, testing is the key. Then again it's always the rule before a shoot begins.
 
S3D needs patience and vision

S3D needs patience and vision

S3D needs patience, vision, script for 3D and finally and not least the right people who are expertise in the field. You can purchase 3D rig, but finding right 3D team is a challenge.

You can visit our website to know more about ourself and more S3D information from www.netmoviebank.com

Make sure you visit the 3D commercial link - http://www.netmoviebank.com/3dcommercial.html
 
chuck colburn said:
icester,

I'm not sure what you mean by the statement that there are no "true 3-d rigs for the RED camera" Paradise f/x has built a "rig" specificly for the RED camera. It includes microwave control of all functions.


http://www.paradisefx.com/pages/services/production.html
Click to expand...

Just for the start, the true S3D rig has off-axis lens geometry.
All stereo vision geometry constrains are defined by
projection geometry of targeted media.
S3D scene captured with s3D rig must be projected
with 1:1 scale and correct distance from viewer.
All scenes in Avatar have mismatch between camera and projection geometry resulting in lack of realistic immersion and viewer discomfort.
Putting together two cameras without full understanding
of human stereo vision will not deliver a true S3D rig.

Mathew Orman

For state of the art stereoscopic vision systems with: eyestrain free, distortion free and realistic immersion stereoscopic experience contact me
at:
http://www.tyrell-innovations-usa.com/
 
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