According to Blackmagic Design, Australia based Beyond Productions is using
DaVinci Resolve Studio to support its post-production workflow for new virtual
reality (VR) content for Discovery Channel’s television show
MythBusters.
Beginning with August’s “MythBusters vs. Jaws’ episode, Beyond Productions is
delivering VR experiences to accompany upcoming episodes throughout the rest of
the season, including mail truck explosions, a zombie attack and a rocket launch,
among others. The VR content is available via Discovery’s VR smartphone apps for
iOS and Android, as well as on a new dedicated Discovery VR website.
“We had been doing our own research into VR and found that Discovery was also
doing their own research and development, and they were keen to get content,’ said Anthony Toy, director of post-production, Beyond Productions.
Filming for the VR footage began the second week of May with the
MythBusters Shark Week episode.
“The first thing we filmed was underwater shark footage,’ said Ambar Sidhwani,
junior editor and virtual reality editor at MythBusters. “But regardless
of where we shoot the footage, we either use a six or seven camera rig, shoot
static or point of view (POV), 360 by 180 degrees field of view, 4:3 aspect ratio and at 80 fps, which helps us sync the footage later in post.’
Once the footage is brought into post, it is run through stitching software for
syncing, calibration, stabilisation and exposure compensation. The end result is
4096 x 2048 MP4 file, 4K, 2:1 aspect ratio, 80 fps.
“Resolve being resolution independent was a must as the frame size of the final
stitched image does not conform to any conventional formats such as HD, 2K, 4K,
UHD, etc.,’ said Michael Graham, senior online editor. “To have the flexibility to
work in the native resolution of the stitched image meant no blanking was
introduced to the final output, which would affect the way the image wraps around
to create the VR 360 degree image.’
Sidhwani added, “Resolve’s biggest advantage is that it deals with aspect ratio and
frame rate natively. There is no encoding files to other files with different frame
rates. 80 fps is great up to delivery, but the final platforms, such as phones, won’t
play 80p materials, so the final file is delivered in 30p. Resolve does frame to
frame conversions and makes files longer, so the motions in the footage are smooth
at the end of that conversion process.’
According to Sidhwani, this is essential in the virtual world, as people can get
motion sickness from sudden jerks.
The stitching software balances across all the cameras to allow for a smoother
stitch, and it tries to retain as much detail as possible, sometimes resulting in a flat
looking image.
