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Now reading: Filmmaker shoots with fifteen GoPros for a Matrix-like bullet time effect 103 comments

103

Filmmaker shoots with fifteen GoPros for a Matrix-like bullet time effect

Published Mar 18, 2013 | dpreview staff

Amateur filmmaker Marc Donahue of Permagrin Films recently shot a video with an array of fifteen GoPro action cameras to achieve Matrix-like bullet time special effects. The arc-shaped rig allowed him to shoot simultaneously from all cameras. In post, Donahue added the freeze frame and slow motion effects.

There are several videos on Marc Donahue's YouTube channel demonstrating his experiments with the action camera. Also check out the Donahue's interview by FStoppers where he talks about the pre and post -production work and challenges involved. (via Mashable)

Tags: goprovideo, photography

Comments

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Oldest first

Ian Wright

This is an illegal video, the process used is patented by Digital Air
http://www.digitalair.com/licensing_commercial.html

They own a patent that says if you take a picture form a frame by frame media (which to you and I is video), then it is theirs.

The only way to do bullet time without contravening their patents, is by using single shots from still cameras.

Jun 3, 2013permalink

Karmaschinken

I built an array made of 50 Canons, but I am targeting interactive animations, have a look here:

http://www.martin-hoppe.com/mailreply/index.php?id=9044&param=animation

Have fun!

May 9, 2013permalink

stevens37y

for the perfectionists:

http://youtu.be/cUGewBdAy8c?t=5m10s

Mar 26, 2013permalink

Alex Krachko

I think that the company GOPRO will soon establish a production of equipment for such an effect

Mar 25, 2013permalink

Ionian

Holy Hipster!

Mar 23, 2013permalink

guidocoza

Ripcurl also did nothing new, had guarantied ten times the budged and made a boring clip.
Einstein nearly failed math in grade seven and 30 years later he led the world into a new area.
Well done Marc Donahue, keep on doing it and silence your critics!

Mar 22, 2013permalink

Octane

Let me get this straight, you take the idea that has been done many years ago, has been perfected in major movie productions, you wait a few years, take a few cheap cameras, do it over, just poorly and then people say, 'so cool', 'such a great idea'. Alright :)

Mar 21, 2013permalink

cacv12000

Why do you have to be so bitter? Are you not getting enough attention?

Mar 21, 2013permalink

Octane

@cacv12000 When I saw the headline I actually got excited and was looking forward to seeing it. I was just disappointed by the poor quality. The cameras were poorly synced and the overall quality wasn't impressive. The hands and feet wobbled when the actual idea was to freeze the moment and have the camera track in 'bullet time'. Overall the quality wasn't that good either. Just funny to see people say 'great imagination' when the neither the idea is original nor is the execution well done. Well done on GoPro's marketing, thought :)

Mar 22, 2013permalink

jvideographer

Wasn't the idea that it was done so cheaply?

Mar 22, 2013permalink

Mike_V

This has been done before quite a few times.

Including early last year a whole launch campaign for a big surf label (I can't remember, but I think it was Quiksilver) was shot entirely with exactly this technique.

they set up scaffolding in a wave pool and at actual surf breaks to mount the Go Pros on.

There is great behind the scenes video of it on the web.

The operators they had computers on set for visualisations also.

Very cool stuff.

Mar 20, 2013permalink

Narupol

A diligence is a real magic.

Mar 20, 2013permalink

Adrian Harris

This short film shows great imagination and ability, I am sure he will get offered a lot of work from it. Well done.

Mar 20, 2013permalink

maxnimo

From a purely artistic point of view this was impressive and fun. But the question that comes to mind is this: Do you really want to have reality distorted so much? It may be good for a quick thrill but is it good for the spirit, good for the soul and good for the historical memories we leave behind?

Mar 20, 2013permalink

stevens37y

yes. It helps to understand Einstein's relativity theory.

Mar 20, 2013permalink

gwales

Great effort - achieving effects like this with a low budget will inspire others. In a few years we will be seeing a whole new wave of cinema, with low budgets and great results (and a shitload of crap, of course). Isn't that what every filmmaker dreams of?

Mar 20, 2013permalink

Zuzullo

How do you edit that? Take one frame from every camera?

Mar 20, 2013permalink

youngstu

This is one of the rip curl adverts using a big gopro array
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0x52u2yzgI

Mar 19, 2013permalink

stevens37y

nice

Mar 19, 2013permalink

KodaChrome25

Thanks. So how does Timmbits explain this? Doesn't seem to be any shutter lag or inconsistency here? These guys got lucky?

Mar 19, 2013permalink

typicalarmchairphotographycritic

That's the one I was talking about, thanks! Yeah, aside from the distortion from the water on the lens, their bullet-time is nice and smooth. I'm curious to know what caused the difference in quality between the two videos, and I'm really curious how Rip Curl worked with their video in post: I don't think it's just a matter of taking one frame from each camera, I bet they use some sort of morph transition or something to create that smooth motion.

Mar 20, 2013*permalink

stevens37y

His "Dream Music: Part 2" is also very good.
Ok I know anyone among the folks here could do it
in 5 minutes with post processing. :>)

Mar 19, 2013*permalink

typicalarmchairphotographycritic

Good idea, but I agree that it's a bit too herky-jerky. I remember a surf company did this a few years ago but with alot more (30 or 40 if I recall) Gopros, and it looked really good (I'd post the video if I could find it), and didn't have that "twitch" effect that this one did.

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while now, my hope was to try it with iphones (since almost everyone has an iphone), though I'd imagine it'd still be a bit of a hassle.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

webrunner5

95% of the video anyone could have done with one GoPro in post editing. Not impressed much either.

Mar 19, 2013*permalink

Kim Letkeman

Right, so with one angle you can get 95% of the 3-dimensional rotation effect ... were that even remotely true, we would see it all the time. But alas, it is not true at all :-)

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Cryptnotic

@Kim

95% of the linked video is from a single-camera.

Mar 21, 2013permalink

stevens37y

Genius idea. It's fantastic. Gopro is worth the money

Mar 19, 2013permalink

OlavM

Good ! -Did anyone ask, exposing the brand-name of equipment used THAT MUCH ? A kind of "deal", coupled to the number of "clicks" on this clip, would do the trick here. I do not express any suggestion of the existence of such a deal here, but do point at the rather obvious possibillity of it...

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Timmbits

a plug for gopro

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Bill Rees

I'd love to see links from the critics of their own film work. This is brilliant.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

leecamera

To be honest this is a fantastic effort on a budget of zip.

It's interesting that Marc uses the GoPro as he'd be shooting video with each rather than a series of stills - which opens possibilities to editing motion within the Matrix effect.

I think the comments about motion artifacts may be confused with the "scratch" editing within the action. We've got some interesting forwards and backwards motion of the subject whilst the tracking motion continues in the same direction. This is the first time I've seen this and kudos to Marc for coming up with a variation on a well known effect.

And to the critics of the execution... please send us your examples - we'd love to see how much better your versions are...

Mar 19, 2013permalink

BigEnso

Unless GoPro supplied the cams, it was hardly a budget of zip. Each goes for about $399.00 (Amazon Hero 3 Black) so we are looking at about $6,000 not counting any other materials that were used.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Tee1up

I agree. Zero budget it aint but it is indeed seriously cool.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Timmbits

it's a marketing plug. what else!

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Andrew Butterfield

>with fifteen GoPro's

Apostrophe alert!!!!

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Timmbits

people can't spell anymore!

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Kim Letkeman

Sure they can, its spelled "anymore" ...

Mar 19, 2013permalink

KodaChrome25

wrong... anymore!

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Mister J

Lots of time, effort and energy here - and some good effects.

Look forward to seeing future developments.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

panman55

Brilliant!
REALLY like the high-quality home-grown anybody-could-do-it approach, and of course the name says it all - more power to PermaGrin, can't wait to see the next experiments.Fab stuff guys

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Combatmedic870

Very cool.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Burbclaver

Jeez. Lighten up. It's just an experiment. Not perfect, but at least they are experimenting. It took a lot more effort than typing a whiny comment into an internet forum.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

love_them_all

Not impressed.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Leandros S

I'm with vFunct - this sucks through lack of synching.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Timmbits

it looks like at least one or two of the cameras were a bit slower in the shutter-lag department... it demonstrates quality inconsistencies in the GoPro brand.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

hindesite

Nice job, great video. Thanks DPR for covering this (though I'm sure it would show up in my GoPro subscription anyway :-)

What a bunch of armchair critics. Most never do anything, judging by their galleries etc. Difficult to fail if you aren't actually doing anything.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Peiasdf

So you cannot criticize the president because you have never been a president?

The idea is good but the editing is subpar in my opinion. I believe they will only get better with experience.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

hindesite

Yeah, love your galleries, too.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Ingloryon

Great!

Mar 18, 2013permalink

KodaChrome25

Nice job Bro. Ignore all the negative posters below.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

LKJ

GoPro is?

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Garp2000

"This video contains content from UMG. That partner blocked this video for your country". WTF?

Mar 18, 2013permalink

warpspace

you can bypass by using a alternate link,
install proxmate for firefox

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Francis Carver

I think all in all, buying 15 GoPro-cams will still cost someone a whole lot less dough output than getting a single really good pro-class video camera with a decent lens on it, huh?

Mar 18, 2013permalink

utomo99

I think main Go pro problems is the lens distortion.
They need to reduce this.
so the videos look better.

Not many people need a matrix like effect.
but many are need good videos

Mar 18, 2013permalink

sportyaccordy

As stupid as this will sound, GoPros need to be fish eye lenses to catch all the action. When you are surfing or skydiving optical optimization isn't really as much of a priority as just getting the footage.

One place GoPro really does need to improve is with sound. I want to record my motorcycle rides and GoPro's mics are terrible in that regard. They pretty much don't capture anything below 100Hz, I am guessing to minimize wind noise.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

LeonTheremin

@sportyaccordy, record audio separately and sync it later, get a simple recorder like a Zoom H1n with a foam windscreen or deadcat on it and put it in your backpack and set it to 48/24 or 48/16. It still might be too windy. Maybe a super fuzzy backpack would work, and don't let the recorder touch the walls of the backpack, make it suspended in there somehow. Or put it inside a fuzzy seat bag on a shockmount. I've always wanted to try that. Your bike will probably be loud enough to hear through all the wind protection. What kind of bike is it?

Mar 18, 2013permalink

utomo99

Not all the time people use this for surfing . sometimes we use for other purpose and need NO fish eye effect
I wish there is option

Mar 20, 2013permalink

sportyaccordy

@LeonTheremin, I have a Ninja 650R.

Apr 17, 2013permalink

Yiotis

Sorry but this is a failed attempt to achieve Matrix-like bullet time effect.

And for Matrix they used film cameras.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Francis Carver

Yeah, after getting a giant dose of headache by watching the above posted clip, I was also about to say that the Matrix trilogy was definitely NOT recorded with GoPro-cams.... most fortunately for us, the viewers.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

If by "film cameras" you mean movie cameras, you'd be wrong. The original Matrix movie used Canon Rebel SLR still cameras. At the time, these Canon SLRs were loaded with film, but the subsequent Matrix movies used digital Rebel DSLRs. BTW, one of the reasons why they used Canon Rebel DSLR is A) the Rebels used standard mini stereojack-style electronic cable release, B) they were inexpensive. Other brands, as well as Canon's own higher-level DSLRs, didn't use minijack remote connectors.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Erick L

I believe they used Canon A2.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Yiotis

Sorry, SLR film cameras

Mar 19, 2013*permalink

love_them_all

They were 1 series bodies, shown in the making of.

Mar 19, 2013*permalink

Timmbits

I think T3 fantasises about it being cheap rebel cameras! ROTFL as if they'd take cheap rebels for that... and as if with million$ in the budget they'd even care about jacks for el-cheapo equipment.

Mar 19, 2013*permalink

Paul Guba

Nice commercial for GoPro thanks. Now lets all go out and buy their product.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

The Jacal

And get them from Amazon.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

vFunct

Shutters weren't synced properly (see motion flickering between frozen images), but a good start. Can go pro be triggered externally?

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Simao

I think that it is apparent that the producer made that in purpose.

Whether the flickering effect was nice or not is another matter.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Timmbits

it's quality inconsistency... some of the GoPros had more shutter lag than others

Mar 19, 2013permalink

hammerheadfistpunch

Concept gets an A, Execution gets a D. Keep after it though, this could be very interesting. Though i have seen a couple of other people try it with the 1 and 2 with similar, semi good results.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Cane

"Hey you whipper snappers, get off my lawn!"

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Sdaniella

brilliant
has a nice 'be right there' 3D look
take advantage of the gopro's diminutive dimensions

far smaller than conventional dcams/dlrs/mft done in Matrix [dSLRs]

next closest thing is the pc webcam
or cellphones overlapping each other

sdyue

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Timmbits

or any of a number of small sensor cameras sold on the market

Mar 19, 2013permalink

roblarosa

Not enough cats in this video.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

wlad

..and it's a shame really, because the footage quality is barely enough for a video of cats... seriously, lots of artifacts, flickering, pretty awful really..

..and all it takes is a SINGLE camera:
http://vimeo.com/33408157#at=0

Mar 18, 2013permalink

JamesInCA

Not really. The device you linked to permits a visually similar effect, as long as your subject's path is completely predictable, and you don't mind re-shooting if you don't get it right the first time. But if you're capturing live action and you want the footage of an event as it happens, you need multiple cameras.

It's also not clear whether their custom robot is actually a product available for purchase, or whether it costs more or less than 15 cameras.

Lastly, as to the quality - good points, but I don't think his purpose here was cinematic quality. It was proof-of-concept. Sure, now the question is, how good can it get?

Mar 18, 2013permalink

wlad

@JamesInCA - yes, what I linked is a wholly different league,
here's a behind the scenes movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2CLQdCU7O0

But I'm sure something similar could be built with an amateur level budget as well - without all those bells and whistles like a professional 3d modelling interfaces and stuff like that..

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Peiasdf

@wlad
Amazing. I have always thought those clips are CGI.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

wlad

@Peiasdf I think most studios do use CGI for effects like those, but it seems this german studio can accomplish similar effect with a single high speed camera mounted on a robotic arm.
As a geek, I'm impressed :)

Mar 19, 2013permalink

Timmbits

@wlad, thanks very much for sharing that.
very impressive!!!

but you have to concede that it's not the same thing. in that video the robot is making the camera move faster than the subject, and it is a very very very expensive setup ($200k for the robot, maybe?). whereas the gopro thing is rather low budget in comparison. would have cost even less if they had used standard wide angle regular cameras (many small cheap portable ones on the market to choose from).

Mar 19, 2013permalink

dgeugene1

I have a headache.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Roland Karlsson

Can someone tell me whats so special with GoPro? What kind of properties does it possess that makes it possible to take photos that normal cameras cant take?

Mar 18, 2013permalink

plasnu

Cool factor.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

JohnMatrix

The only property I could see was the one that meant they couldn't actually get all the shots perfectly sync'd. I found the slight "judder" somewhat distracting.

Great news article

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Erick L

What's special are the variety of expensive plastic mounts and accessories that break easily and marketing.

Mar 18, 2013*permalink

hammerheadfistpunch

2 thigns:
1. decent quality POV
2. Cheap as chips

Mar 18, 2013permalink

steve ohlhaber

Gopro is great if you need waterproof and wide angle. Not sure why this guy even used gopro 3 models since any cheap little cam that shoots video can do this. Some videos needed the wide angle, but most didnt appear to need it at all.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Timmbits

for this video, nothing special about gopro - you could use just about any camera to do this. (it's the same marketing tactic that apple has been doing for decades now "look at what you can do with apple" and people automatically conclude that you can't do that with any other computer)

this is merely their marketing team finding ways to use a camera, showing it being done with a gopro, and then using social media to get free advertising for the brand. (youtube, fb, vimeo, camera-centric websites like this one)

Mar 19, 2013*permalink

kimvette

. . . and with this one video, GoPro notice a tenfold sales increase

Mar 18, 2013permalink

makofoto

Another GoPro article yet DpR still won't review the most popular camera in the world?!

Mar 18, 2013permalink

deep7

I'm sure they've had iPhone articles...

Mar 18, 2013permalink

SirSeth

Ha! :)

Mar 18, 2013permalink

tkbslc

Curious what the most popular camera is in the world according to makofoto.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

rithex

cool project but doesn't really work that well due to the fisheye lens.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

makofoto

Fisheye effect can b corrected in post, plus there are two tighter optional angles view.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

plasnu

Also I see some timing glitch

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Timmbits

the timing glitches are quality inconsistencies in the cameras. some have more shutter-lag than others.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

JordanAT

Actually, I think the timing glitches are a result of the cameras not being genlocked. They're shooting fast, but not fast enough that you can get perfect syncronization of the frames in time domain.

That's what makes this cool - you don't have to have a set of computer synchronized SLRs to create a limited bullet-time effect.

Mar 20, 2013permalink

CameraLabTester

Would be really cool if the shutters were triggered by a massive signal from a singular device than from a wired switch.

Cool concept. Many will surely follow.

Mar 18, 2013permalink

Timmbits

electrons travel at about the speed of light... no matter how long the wires are, a meter or 10 meters, they'll still make the cameras fire at the same instant.
the problem here is inconsistencies in the cameras themselves. some just have a longer shutter lag.

Mar 19, 2013permalink

TylerQ

Amazing. Well done!

Mar 18, 2013permalink


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