05. The Next Step Up
As an example of the Pro-sumer level camera, we have the Go-Pro Omni. While this has been released fairly recently, Go Pro users have been creating their own versions using 3D printers for some time. A typical rig consists of 6 cameras, though as few as 4 can be used, if you replace the existing lenses with fisheye lenses instead. The rig holds all the cameras steady, with a consistent distance between them. While this gives a much higher quality and resolution result, footage is also more complicated to handle, coming from multiple cameras and so not automatically synchronized.
Since there are multiple cameras it is also harder to stitch the footage. With 6 cameras, the most common formation is a diamond shape, so when you are reconstituting your footage, the stitch lines are diagonal.
GoPro Omni Camera
Looking at this camera - if it is positioned in a diamond shape, as is most common, consider what happens when someone moves around the frame - their upper and lower body could be covered by different cameras for some time, meaning that stitch errors last for longer and will be more persistent and difficult to fix than if the border between the cameras was horizontal, although mounting diagonally is the most common, allowing for overlap both above and below.
It’s also worth considering if you invest in a camera like this, you should also invest in high quality audio capture, something we will be talking about in the next lesson!
This camera runs around $5000 currently, although if you own some GoPro or similar cameras already, and are good at DIY, you could build your own rig!