[Tig] The Watching Machine

[Jeff Olm]

> 1) put camera - 16k+ resolution, multi-ISO, huge dynamic range on tripod, to
> cover all possible action in a super-wide shot.

Rob,
 not to be smart A. And it won't cover all possible action.
And not to take anything from the craft of cinematography.
Thats not my point in a post to this crowd Just pointing out a current
trend in CGI.
Because this is a different and use for great CGI texture maps. You
could create a full photo real scene with live actors or CG actors. It
makes a Maya lighting grid in the software when it exports the 360
image.

This is in pretty common for CGI these days currently in use in LA by
the Strause Bros. at Hydrulyx and in others in EU.  Detroit and Japan
love this kind of stuff for car spots/presentations.
VFX Sup now Director Hoyt Yeatman actually built his own version a few
years ago.

When I was at CBS Digital last year we used a spheron rig on a
Underdog Music video for Disney and mapped a 360 panorama of downtown
LA rooftop as BG for greenscreen shoot.
They also to archive and document the Bob Barker Price is Right set
before the new one was built.

Pretty slick tool it takes multiple exposures to create a 360 of a
image of a set providing HDR image 26 f-stops of exposure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

It gives you object distance and survey info by doing a second pass
with the camera 18 inches raised from the 1st pass.
The resolution is pretty good it is a slit exposure system.
The custom software then generates a Maya lighting grid that could
like and places a CGI object accurately lit in the scene.
It is German company that also has a full line of crime scene
documentation gear.
Also it sees many uses in the art world for high rez 360.

http://www.spheron.com/en/VI_spherocamhdr/VI_spherocamhdr.php
http://www.spheron-usa.com/
http://www.spheron.com/en/SP_innovations/SP_innovations.php
http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/spherocam_hdr_camera_system/
http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23946
http://www.nearfield.com/~dan/photo/wide/sphere/sphere2/index.htm

Disclaimer- I don't sell 360 cameras. I do work on live action, CGI or
combo features .

There will be a ton of HDRI stuff in LA August 11-15
www.siggraph.org/s2008
Paul Debevec doesn't need much of an introduction - he is one of the
founding fathers of HDRI.
This is a great explaination Check out the flyaround Berkley campus.
http://www.hdrlabs.com/news/index.php?published-max=2008-05-01T23%3A49%3A00.000-07%3A00

 I think the whole HDR camera thing is the future who wouldn't want 26 stops.
This camera rig gets set-up in the middle of the set and takes about a
minute to do the 360.

enjoy,
Jeff Olm
Stereo FX and Color
LA, CA