Ford Fiesta TimeSlice Effect
Ford’s challenge: Create a new interactive project with a Time Freeze effect incorporating motion – within 3 weeks. Our solution: Use 36 Canon DSLRs to shoot a 120-degree sweep around the new Fiesta. Simultaneously shoot 12 motion videos on the same cameras, creating interactive hot-spots that continue the frozen action on demand. We spent 2 days on location in Toronto’s Distillery District shooting 3 scenarios.
I got involved in the early planning stages of this project. The goal was to work out a realistic budget, equipment needs and technical issues that may arise. We decided to use Canon Rebel T2i since they provided a good still image capability and was the lowest cost camera that shot the video quality we required. The equipment is in short supply luckily with the help of Canon and Vistek we were able to get 40 of the cameras on short notice. We used the kit lens that comes with the camera, the cost of 40 additional prime lenses would be prohibitive. Testing started with a small number of cameras to figure out the timing and possible spacing of the cameras that would still allow smooth motion. Over a two week period we worked out the show-stopping issues that could arise and had a working solution. The last part was working out post image stabilization. No matter how much time was spent aligning the cameras there are minute difference is positioning on all axis and occasionally lens barrel expansion due to temperature that changed the FOV. The solution was to build a virtual “suspension” in after effects that absorbed the camera movement and stabilized the footage.
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