[MallyMal]

This is mighty cool. Homemade bullet time unit made from mac minis click here

[ManOfSteal]

I bet sales are through the roof.

[KeriVit]

not baaaad.

[brapper]

neato.

[tavilach]

I don't get it. Why are the multiple minis needed? And how is this cheap?

[MaxPower2k3]

for a broadcast environment, renting a setup like that for a day, probably isn't a big deal. however, it does seem like it could be much cheaper if they adapted the software to allow one (or a few) minis to control all of the cameras, rather than a mini per camera.

[mitchell_pgh]

Interesting... but seems a little... CRAZY EXPENSIVE...

[PacHead]

Looks neat, but you'd need like 4 of them inorder to do a complete 360, if that's even possible.

[MaxPower2k3]

Originally Posted by PacHead

Looks neat, but you'd need like 4 of them inorder to do a complete 360, if that's even possible.

the most he shows on there is 45 degrees, so you'd need eight of them to do a complete 360. i assume it's possible, but if the cameras are level with the subject, you'd end up seeing the other cameras in the pictures.

[PacHead]

Originally Posted by MaxPower2k3

i assume it's possible, but if the cameras are level with the subject, you'd end up seeing the other cameras in the pictures.

Yeah, that makes sense, but how do other people do it then ? Do they just have the cameras not level with the subjects ?

[d.fine]

Neat, like the technique they used for the Matrix. They came up with it first I think.

The cameras for the 360 scene in the Matrix were indeed not level, but they were set up on a green screen background. There is some info about it on the official site, but I can't seem to find it right now. They have an animated gif showing how the first shot looked like. You can see all the cameras, so my guess would they digitally removed them after.

edit : there are some movies on the site, under the matrix, on set pictures, bullet-time 1999, I took a screen shot, but you can see a lot more in the movies :

[wdlove]

That is really cool.

[tooki]

Originally Posted by MallyMal

This is mighty cool. Homemade bullet time unit made from mac minis

That's hardly "homemade". It's a professional company, using the same method as pioneered in the Matrix.

Call me crazy, but the average home videographer doesn't have dozens of digital SLR cameras on elaborate stands, computer controlled with several levels of networking, and by necessity running custom software.

Impressive? Yes. Revolutionary (no pun intended)? Not even a tiny bit.

tooki

[Demonhood]

it'd be much more impressive had he used only one computer, and rigged one camera on a track to take those shots. sure, there'd be motion, but it's still be a terrific effect.

even cheaper - using cheapo digital cameras instead of DSLRs. but, like tooki said; this guy is a professional. someone could pull this off way cheaper and just take longer to put it together.

[budster101]

I'd rather see it done with one mini, and 64 disposable cameras rigged with manual switches...

Now that would be cool.

[ibookuser2]

One camera on a track doesn't really work, because each camera has to fire at the exact same time in order to capture a single instant like that. Otherwise, you're not really creating the same effect. Moving the camera during a scene isn't exactly a new idea.

The DSLRs are important because it's usually impossible to set all of the required parameters manually on a cheaper camera. The chances of all of the cameras to automatically set their aperture, shutter speed, white balance, et cetera close enough to each other for the result to be decent are pretty small. Some cheaper cameras *do* allow for manual settings, but probably not over the USB, so you'd have to get out your light meter beforehand and set all of the individual cameras manually. Once again, not good for capturing action.

What might work is an array of iSights. The iSight allows for pretty good manual control from the computer, though the resolution isn't great.

[Simon X]

Originally Posted by d.fine

Neat, like the technique they used for the Matrix. They came up with it first I think.

Not quite. This guy did almost a decade earlier. Time Slice Films

[Luca Rescigno]

Does each camera really have to be connected to a Mac mini, though? I mean... can't they just use the cameras' internal memory? Or do the minis somehow coordinate them too?

[Simon X]

They do it this way to provide realtime feedback.