Sunday, April 10, 2011

Trumbull Tackles Higher Frame Rates

Continuing James Cameron’s dialog about higher frame rates, Douglas Trumbull, the inventor of ShowScan, delivered a keynote at the DCS during which he suggested that when it comes to frame rates, it is not “one size fits all.”

“It’s not just about higher frame rates,” he said of creative filmmaking. He suggested that filmmakers use what is appropriate to a given movie. “There is no one size fits all.”

But like Cameron, he emphasized the benefits of higher frame rates include reduction of strobing and sharper images.

He reported that he plans to helm a 3D feature that would be shot using his ShowScan Digital system that uses 24 fps but allows embedded 60 frames per second sequences. He has applied for a patent on the system.

To test this process, he recently shot a music video in New York, using Vision Research’s Phantom 65 with Zepar 3D lens system, shooting 120 fps. SpeedeGrade was used for color grading.

It has not yet gone through full postproduction, but the intent is to test a new workflow, developed with suppliers including Vision Research, maker of the Phantom; and equipment supplier AbelCine.

During his address, he asserted that brightness remains a key issue that needs to be addressed in 3D.

Footage from the music video--Dana Fuchs’ Golden Eyes--will be displayed at the AbelCine booth during NAB.

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