All Mobile Video To Build New 3D Truck With Sony

Sony’s single lens 3D camera prototype

Glen Dickson writes in Broadcasting & Cable about Sony and All Mobile Video’s plans for a new 3D production truck. It’s set to debut at NAB 2010.

New York-based mobile production vendor All Mobile Video announced Monday that it will build the 3D-capable HD production truck; it’s expected to be ready to shoot 3D sports and live events this summer.

However, using a 3D camera system such as the one Vince Pace developed for Jim Cameron for Avatar presents problems for mobile production, since the rigs usually employ two large HD cameras, making them large, bulky, and complex to operate. That might be addressed by Sony’s recently shown prototype 3D camera, demo’d at CEATEC JAPAN 2009 in October. The single lens 3D camera technology can run up to 240fps–such slo mo capability is de rigueur for sports, expected to be an early adopter of 3D technology.

It’s not clear how soon the camera will come to market. According to Dickson’s article, the All Mobile Video unit will incorporate 3D camera rigs from 3ality Digital, which employ automated convergence technology. Pace’s rigs require live operators to tweak convergence on a shot-by-shot basis.

Update Jan 13, 2010

Missed Panasonic’s announcement at CES that they would be delivering a twin-lens HD 3D camcorder by this fall. LIsting at $21,000, the PR for the camera adds “made to order” a least twice in the document, giving you an indication that they don’t expect these things to fly off the assembly line. Actually for rigs featuring such complex optic paths, everything ends up being hand assembled; Panasonic might be hoping too many orders don’t pour in before they can judge the market’s desire while coming up with a cheaper way to manufacture them.

I’m not expecting All Mobile probably to be adding a Panasonic 3D camcorder to its new truck’s package anytime soon. But it’s interesting to see Panasonic and Sony staying toe to toe to slug it in the marketplace for 3D production gear. Wonder if Grass Valley will be matching this soon.

With the expense of developing custom 3D optical rigs, smaller camera manufacturers have a tougher road. Expect to see third party partnerships to help keep costs down.

About Dan Ochiva

New York City-based journalist and NYCPPNEWS founder Dan Ochiva writes and consults on film, video, and digital media technology.

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.