My underwater 3D housing...

[Pedro Guimaraes]

Thought you guys might want to check this out,

I got asked to build a underwater housing to accommodate 3D camera system for a upcoming project. Nothing fancy, we just need to get some shots quick!

So 4 days later I emerged from my garage with this...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4830171290_6d3d798dd5.jpg

I made it to house the element technica sub-miniature beamsplitter. The same one I took to the amazon and they shot Dark country with. It will house the beamsplitter (si-2k cameras) a hytron 140 battery and a 3DCinedeck recorder/CCU. It will also fit 2 Si-2k's parallel and the cinedeck.

I have tested it in the open ocean to 35ft. No issues. We don"t plan on going any deeper for the project we are shooting. Also much deeper and light become a big issue anyway.

I know it's not round (sorry) or pretty. It's basically a box with 2 ports on it. No external controls (for now). The Schneider lenses on the Si2k imager will have everything in focus roughly 3" to infinity so no need to pull focus anyway. You just set your iris, hit record on the cinedeck (which can offer over 1 hour of rec time) and dive.

The drives will last longer than you air will anyways so....

Remember I did this not do this to make a "product" but just to get some shots in a hurry for a 3D project. So features where not in my mind. Just "getting the shots". This is not meant to be a full featured housing. Just a quick attempt to grab a few shots. That said it given the cameras I've had in it it works great.

Then this last week I got a call to test the new Panasonic camera from someone I know. So we shot the usual stuff.....then I thought you know....this could fit in my housing? I measured things up, drilled out a mounting plate and managed to have 1 hour with the camera this sat. I got a pool and some "talent". Unfortunately the pool was on the small side (not the best scenario for 2.5" IO). Regardless, the shoot was successful. I think I managed to shoot the first underwater footage on the 3DA1!

So now my housing will also accommodate the 3DA1. The same workflow, I just set the iris, set the focus for maximum DOF on this small sensor, hit record and had fun. The 8GB SD cards we had in there gave me 44 mins of record time. So 16GB cards roughly 88mins....more than enough. I'll be looking at the footage in a Pablo room in 3D over the next few days. But my initial impressions are positive.....

Here is a link to the "behind the scenes" of the test shoot.
http://vimeo.com/13638877

Some pics I also posted on my website.
http://pgfilms.tv/Stills/Pages/Underwater_3D_Test.html

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4829558325_38508b6953.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4829559249_f26fb11959.jpg


So there you have it, that's what happens when you lock me in my garage for a few days with dreams of warm weather sunny beaches and bikini's. Although reality is more like me and a bunch sunburnt dudes on a boat.

I'm contemplating making one for 2 Red's side by side for wide shots.....but not sure. I've been playing in solidworks with some ideas for a more professional full featured housing for a neutron....so who knows... epics,neutron underwater. 3D.....should be a powerful combo.

[Clark Dunbar]

cool, nice "quick" setup.

[Joey R.]

Pedro, you're an animal. Glad we could help.

[Kwan Khan]

Congratulation Padro

[Rudi Herbert]

Good job as far as building something to fit your needs whenever you need it without having to wait for a manufacturer to put something out there, kudos on that. that said, there's no way I could do any of the wildlife 3D underwater work I do with something that huge. I am convinced that side-by-side is all you need underwater, and I have hundreds of hours of video to prove it, including stuff shot at less than one foot from the cameras, then switching convergence to mid ground at 5-6 ft and then progressively on to infinity, all on the same clip. No ghosting, no loss of stereo, no problems, and now that apps like Cineform have keyframeable convergence, you can really do all your tweaking in post if you shot side-by-side and keep a natural IO of no more than 3" between lenses. I've done this with small AVCHD cameras, I've done with a couple of EX-1's, where the IO is actually about 5.5", but the cameras' resolution allows me to zoom in enough and not loose sharpness in the resulting muxed frame, and I will do it with Scarlet or Epic, depending how long I need to wait for whichever one. But the monster housings that will be needed to carry beamsplitter rigs underwater, some of which will be bigger than IMAX housings, will severely limit the effectiveness and applications of those housings. Right now, I'm following small, fast moving fish around reefs and go after them into tunnels and crevices, which there's no way I could do with something like that...

[Pedro Guimaraes]

Yes the size is a bit of a chore, but not bad really. The Mantello's 3D rig/housing was actually bigger and the imax 3D well about the size of a smart car.

Side by side is just to much IO IMHO.
Especially for small fish like you describe. Just sayin....

Don't listen to me, listen to the people that will be buying your footage
http://introducingsky3d.sky.com/a/bskyb-3d-tech-spec/

Quote
"Positive disparity or image separation at distant points (into the screen) should not exceed 2% for majority of shots
Negative disparity Image separation at close points (Out of Screen) should be used with care and not nominally exceed 1% for shots. Care should be taken for images breaking the frame edges with floating windows utilized where appropriate"

3% total parallax is not alot. Without a proper beamsplitter you will surely bring back footage that will be outside those limits. It's not about what you can adjust in post to make viewable or acceptable....but what fits your broadcaster (buyers) specs.

Side by side really just for wide shots, again IMHO.

But then again, you seam to have lots of experience shooting underwater and shooting 3D underwater by the look of it. So I'm not here to argue, just offering my opinion.

I agree that with it's size it be impossible to do what you described that you do so often. So in the end it's certainly a case for you about "damn the specs" It's either this or nothing! If you need a shot to follow a small fish into a tight coral area you do what you got to do to get the shot. Ultimately that is what dictates your tools.