After two years of technical trial runs & problem-solving on my part, and many years in the making by its creators, Promising People is up & running at last! We are currently in full production on our first series of VR videos, which I am filming in the VR180 format with the Z-Cam K1 Pro camera. It’s a high-quality 3D stereo capture device that allows us to ‘see’ things the way they appear in the real world, or at least very close to it, in a VR headset.
The main problems to overcome are motion & proximity… we can avoid any camera motion so that viewers won’t feel ill, but must still shoot within arm’s reach (due to the nature of the material), which is closer than any recommended 3D shooting distance, even with a pair of close-focusing 180-degree lenses! Fortunately I’ve come up with ways of handling this in post-production so that it doesn’t result in any significant eyestrain. As seen in the photo below, we can even preview our shots live on set in VR & 3D using the Oculus Quest 2.
At day’s end, the level of technology intensifies when I begin scanning items used in our production, such as this wrench… I’m using a FARO Scan Arm to turn it into a model which the team at Unity can use. Also using my skills gained from the useful Universe courses on Unity and VR world-building! Of course, all this high-tech fun comes at the expense of things I’d normally do, like participate in this year’s online virtual National Stereoscopic Association convention, the 3D-Con. Last year I gave two workshops & also presented two 3D stereo theater shows, but all that time & energy must temporarily take a backseat to a new career, which I’m sure will provide me with many 3D topics of interest for conventions yet to come!
UPDATE: As of August 16th, we are now officially a two-camera shoot, thanks to the long-overdue 2nd K1 Pro finally arriving… better late than never! Having two angles on shots that could use it is certainly very flexible, but I have to watch out for seeing the other camera in each one’s 200-degree-wide shot. Some cropping & masking will be done later to cover up.
