The past month or so has been rather dynamic. New product offerings have once again turned the MP&TV industry on its side.
Evolution? Perhaps.
Revolution? Maybe.
Conspiracy? Definitely.
It’s no secret, I love many of the new production toys that stream into the market. From a buyer’s stand point it’s a bit more challenging as it seems that new product comes out every nine months or so, many times rendering the previous model obsolete, or at least less desirable to the renter.
Much of the rental product hasn’t yet paid for itself, and selling it is difficult, offers to buy are sporatic and dollars are painfully low.
This comes as no surprise to the veteran buyer, certainly the renter deserves the newest models sporting the newest features, functions and abilities. On rare occasion some of these new features might actually make for an improvement in production quality, ease of acquisition or editorial work-flow.
But this past few months have seen the introduction of a few largely unforeseen camera categories. Many are a radical departure from the traditional approaches. In this SuperBlog entry, we will be discussing 3D camcorders and some related issues.
The front page of my website shows the soon-to-be-introduced Panasonic 3D camcorder. Looks like a HMC150 with dual side-by-side lenses and records to lower-priced SDHC cards. Pricing on this new camcorder is still unknown, but if it’s a dual lens 150 with two sensor groups (6 CCD’s total?) and possible servo-articulated lensing. The website www.dv.com is reporting a price of $21,000 per unit, limited or custom built units. For the professional user this price is fine, but no mention of a consumer version, which must be in the pipe-line to reinforce the limited number of pro vs. consumer unit s consumption and to eventually gain wide-spread accepance. Editorial work flow is anyone’s guess, though this Panasonic unit will be recording to two SDHC cards (separate content on each card?). FCP 3D??? As Dr. Smith used to say: Oh, the pain.
WHY 3D? AND WHY NOW?
Like most products that find there way into the Professional products category, consumer products provide the testing grounds and financial profits for many devices that eventually find a home with professional users. Indeed, the consumer electronics product universe is many hundreds of times greater in both profit and volume, and eager-to-buy consumers worldwide stimulate and maintain the product consumption curves.
But why 3D? Sadly, this is the conspiracy part.
Have you purchased a new plasma, LCD or LED TV set recently? The prices, driven by huge volumes have driven the price down to unimaginable levels, and manufacturers have realized that if you were to buy one, you probably already did. I paid over $5000 used for my first Sony 42-inch plasma and it was only VGA. Now a new 42-in. runs $800.00 and is vastly better in every regard.
Recall we went from 720p to 1080i to 1080p, then from 60Hz to 120, then 240, then 480Hz (though broadcast content is always 60Hz). The manufacturers shamed you into upgrade after upgrade until they ran out of new and improved features to get you to fork out more money and continue the stream of purchases.
But now, Sony, Panasonic (and others) have found a way to get into your wallet again. Sony introduced a new line of Bravia digital flat screens that can decode (disembed?) 3D signaling data found in a compatible transmission signal and display it on the screen. You’ll still need some form of glasses, shuttered, color difference, etc. to get the 3D effect, but now they have something you will want (or be compelled to want) but do not currently have – a 3D TV. They are becoming available for purchase within the next few months.
Better hurry, I think I saw your neighbor carrying in a new 3D set. Don’t want to be left behind the high-tech ball with Super Bowl coming do you?
Yes, there will be STB’s (set top boxes) to detect the 3D signal and allow you display it on an existing set, but you know by next Christmas, you’ll be putting that new 52-inch into the bedroom so that you can buy a new 60-inch with integrated 3D ability.
Then, of course, there will be the march of the scan rate, once again taking us from 60Hz up to whatever they can convince you what you actually needed, as well as any updated product feature like Ultra3D.
But it’s gonna’ be hard to sell the new sets without 3D content. Yes, you can go back and re-process your existing stuff into 3D, and there will be a lot of that, but you’ve already seen it – you want something new to justify the purchase.
JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING – SHOULD YOU?
If production company X can shoot and deliver 3D and your company can not, you will be de-selected as the go-to guys. Irrelevant if the quality is compromised, irrelevant if anyone can actually take advantage of 3D, irrelevant if there is a current customer demand, because it exists, the content buyers will want it.
How soon before an all-3D station? Or a secondary digital channel of the same stuff as the primary but encoded in 3D? The Los Angeles DMA is an A market, and if it happens here, we all will be part of the experiment. One of my customers pondered how the adult content companies may quickly embrace this new techno-variant. Is this a way for that sector of the industry to bounce back? Can you imagine?
If Panasonic can put a 3D camcorder to market this fast, so can Sony, JVC, Samsung and all the other guys. Get ready for the flood.
What of your current equipment – that is to say a single-lens camcorder? We all know the answer to this, and it is depressing. The first people to get the 3D camcorders, and negotiate the post production work-flow will win. As stated, I appreciate the on-going technological advances, I wish they were a bit slower to come out, but I have little control over that.
What of the camcorders and accessories you already own? That too, is hard to predict.
2D camcorders may quickly fall into obscurity. RED, CineAlta, HVX-anything, single lens device may quickly become irrelevant and in the least, less valuable. Simply buy a second complete camera package, add a 3D adapter to unite the two and away you go. Maybe, but how expensive for a double RED package with low-angle prism and the rest of the necessary 3D gear? It’s about the same as a down payment on a house or a brand new Lexus.
HDSLR-3D? That’s just too much to think about right now.
To go wide or telephoto on the new Panasonic may require two exactly identical lenses, assuming you can even use a lens supplement. What about a mattebox, to use filtration, polarizers and such? Maybe, if the picture is telling, a 6.6×6.6 might work but will require a larger rodset and support (19mm?), which will also cost a bit if upgrading from 15mm.
What about DOFA’s ?, even if you had two depth-of-field adapters, and two matching lenses, how would they synchronize? How would they mount?
REVOLUTION YOU SAY?
If one is good, then two is better, lens wise. But is this something the industry requires? Will consumers begin to off their year-old sets for new ones? Will you be calling DISH for their new 1080p, 1TB DVR with 3D decoding? Is this indeed a revolution or just another ploy to access you credit card?
It’s a bit too soon to tell, but if past indicators are any measure of prediction, then yes, this new technology will soon be everywhere. You’ve been warned.
NEXT TIME ON THE ALL NEW HSR SUPER BLOG:
How DSLR’s are impacting the traditional camcorder market, their impact on Depth-of-Field Adapters (DOFA’s) like Letus and P&S Mini’s, and why real 35mm SLR lenses are becoming a bit rarer.