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.

A letter from International Cinematographers Guild President John Lindley and 13 other top cinematographers was sent to Hollywood studios urging them to reduce excessively long workday hours on film sets as they resumed talks with IATSE on Tuesday on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Along with Lindley, the letter was signed by four Oscar-winning cinematographers, including Roger A. Deakins (“1917,” “Blade Runner 2049”), Emmanuel Lubezki (“The Revenant”), Erik Messerschmidt (“Mank”), and John Toll (“Braveheart”).

Read the full article on TheWrap by clicking here.

PITTSFIELD — Get Diane Pearlman talking about visual effects and she will provide several stories about cutting-edge techniques that were created in the Berkshires for many well-known movies.

For six years in the 1990s, Pearlman served as executive producer and general manager of Mass.Illusion, a visual effects movie studio that had an office in Lenox. Two movies that Mass.Illusion worked on in the Berkshires, “What Dreams May Come” and “The Matrix,” received Academy Awards for visual effects in 1999 and 2000, respectively.

Mass.Illusions no longer exists, but Pearlman remained in the Berkshires after the company was sold. She now serves as executive director of the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative, an organization that promotes and facilitates film and media production in the Berkshires.

To read the full story on The Berkshire Eagle, click here.

Last month, Ben Gottlieb, a 27-year-old set lighting technician, wanted to show his support for his union’s campaign to improve working conditions on film sets so he wrote an Instagram post calling for an end to 12- to 14-hour shifts.

As with many of his colleagues, the Brooklynite felt burned out after working grueling hours without substantial breaks for much of the last year. Some nights, he was so tired driving home that he felt inebriated. He even thought about quitting — only two years after joining his union, IATSE Local 52.

The post struck a chord, drawing more than 21,000 likes. Gottlieb was soon inundated with messages from industry colleagues sharing their own stories, which prompted him to create a dedicated page called IATSE Stories. In just a few weeks, more than 500 posts have drawn nearly 17,000 followers to the page.

To read the entire story on the Los Angeles Times’ site, click here.

IATSE leaders say they remain “very far apart” on a wide range of issues in their negotiations with management’s AMPTP for a new film and TV contract.

“After more than six weeks of negotiation over a period of four months, it remains clear that the employers are unwilling to resolve our priority issues – living wages, reasonable rest, meal breaks, sustainable benefits and streaming – aka ‘not so new media,’” IATSE president Matthew Loeb and leaders of the union’s 13 West Coast studio locals said today in a message to their members.

To read the full article on Deadline.com, click here.

IATSE is gearing up for a possible strike against the film and television industry, which would be the first industry-wide strike in the union’s history. The union and management’s AMPTP will return to the bargaining table on Thursday in an effort to reach an agreement on a new film and TV contract in advance of Friday’s expiration of their current deal.

A strike, if it comes to that, would still be several weeks away, however, as IATSE continues to lay the groundwork for a possible walkout, which includes a text-messaging campaign to educate members about the negotiations and what’s at stake.

To read the full article on Deadline, click here.