The main event for PERG’s General Membership Meeting at NAB was panel discussions that turned out to be fascinating and informative. The first panel was titled Virtual Reality/360 and What it Means for Rental Houses. VR was on prominent display at NAB with a growing number of rigs, post solutions, and sample content on exhibit. Like 3D a couple years ago, we are currently at that awkward stage where content is dependent on infrastructure and a distribution platform, and vice versa, and no one is sure yet how big this could be and whether it is here to stay.
At the NAB show, guests had the opportunity to experience VR in the North Hall, where NAB hosted the VR Pavilion. VR goggles can be extremely cheap—less than $30 (without audio)—because they use a smartphone for the screen, and are powered by any number of free VR apps. For example, Samsung’s Galaxy S8 snaps into a Gear VR headset. Oculus is a leader in virtual reality technology and regularly debuts new experiences like Hulu shows, guided meditations, language tutorials in their VR store. There are an increasing number of VR channels available on YouTube and other websites.
PERG’s panelists were three of the people who probably know more about shooting VR from the technical side than anyone: Malachi Bierstein, the Head of Sales for Nokia’s new Ozo camera/VR system; Michael Mansouri, Co-Founder and Vice President of Radiant Images; and Kate Wurzbacher, Head of Camera at Here Be Dragons. The panel was moderated by PERG council member, Paul Royalty (LiteGear). The three panelists gave the discussion a well-rounded perspective.
All three panelists attested that there has been rapidly expanding interest in VR and 360. Budgets for VR have grown from tens of thousands of dollars a couple years ago to budgets in the millions now. The medium, which puts the viewer in the center of a fully-immersive world where the viewer can look around them in all directions, has grabbed the attention of ad agencies who are aware of a certain saturation level with broadcast, and are looking to appeal to a generation hungry for something more authentic, experiential, interactive and new.
Our panelists have seen VR grow beyond capturing live concerts, video games, and music videos to experimenting in narrative forms, and even dropping the viewer into the all-too-real experience of life for Syrian children in a Jordanian refugee camp. Here Be Dragons created the refugee story for the United Nations. The powerful, immersive and deeply moving experience inspired the UN to make other similar projects. Wurzbacher’s boss, Chris Milk, founder and creative director of Here be Dragons has given several insightful TED talks exploring the potential of VR to create empathy.
Wurzbacher and Mansouri are both pioneers in RV live-action capture. Kate Wurzbacher has been on-location for over 30 shoots in locations spanning from Raja Ampat to Islamabad. She has helped prototype 360 stereo rigs and design unique on-set viewing solutions. Here Be Dragons was one of the first companies to utilize custom rigs and incorporate camera movement in 360 films. Michael Mansouri has a reputation as one of the industry’s most knowledgeable, inventive and passionate technicians in 2D, 3D, and virtual reality. Radiant Images is an LA-based rental house and hub of digital-cinema innovation focusing on capturing and delivering VR content.
Wurbacher and Mansouri have used all kinds of cameras for VR. They have created rigs using six or more ARRI Mini or RED camera bodies, for very high resolution images using cinema style glass. They have also shot with multiple GoPros or other cameras creating rigs with as many as 24 cameras. The two described some of the challenges for on-set monitoring, data wrangling and other topics a rental house might want to consider if they want to get into the business of supporting VR shoots.
Bierstein described the Nokia Ozo camera/VR system as a complete end-to-end solution designed to short cut the complex R&D needed for developing a multi-camera rig and postproduction process. It is the first Virtual Reality device to capture 360° spherical 3D video and 360x360 surround sound. The inputs from eight 2k x 2k sensors pointing in all directions, including up and down, are stitched together using Nokia’s Creator software. The image files integrate into existing workflows. Nokia is calling it the first professional all-in-one 360 capture system.
Both Mansouri and Wurbacher have used the Ozo camera to capture VR projects. The camera, which is essentially a 9-lb. sphere, similar in size to a human head, maintains a relatively low profile, which proved useful for documentary projects and on-stage concert filming. The inter-ocular distance of the camera’s four outward-looking lenses is very nearly the same as human eyes, giving the system natural 3D capability. Output can be either stereoscopic or monoscopic depending on how the images are processed in post.
Nokia has set up their distribution to support rental companies who buy the $40,000 Ozo camera. They report that in the major markets there is such strong demand that rental companies that purchase a couple of cameras soon find they need more.
Whether supporting multi-camera shoots with custom VR rigs, or offering an all-in-one solution, VR offers a new market that is coming to fruition. It will be interesting to see how PERG members take this on over the next couple of years.
No comments:
Post a Comment