Chris Parks at the macro stereo rig in a smoke-lit studio, a hand raised to the lens

What we do · 05

Optical Development

Building the optics when the story needs a shot nobody else can get.

Optical development for stereo 3D and immersive capture: macro 3D lenses, high-speed stereo, bespoke stereo 360 rigs and virtual rigs, designed in-house and proven on productions.

Who this is for

Directors, DPs and producers with a shot in the script that no rental house can supply, and platform partners who need capture that does not yet exist.

Sometimes the shot or sequence that the director wants does not have a camera. Then we build one.

The clearest case is small subjects. Stereo at macro scale breaks the usual rigs, because two cameras on a mirror rig cannot get close enough to see an insect the way a person sees a face. We designed a 180 degree macro 3D lens and a macro stereo capability that nobody else supplies, built for natural history at scales where the standard rigs stop. Chris Parks's photographic archive of ocean life, the foundation of Drop in the Ocean, comes from the same tradition of building the optics for the subject.

High speed is the other end. KM3D shot Kate Moss in native stereo at a thousand frames a second on Phantom cameras, with the stereo designed to push into theatre space further than a feature would dare. For My Africa we built bespoke stereo 360 rigs for the shots the Insta360 could not take. On Gravity and Edge of Tomorrow we shot native headshots at different focal lengths, the "sum head" tests, so the conversion vendors knew exactly how a face should sit, and we used virtual rigs inside the CG world to take shots no physical camera could.

This thread has the least to show on a page and the most to show in a room. If your script has a shot that has stopped a production before, bring it to us early.

What we do on a shoot, and in post

On a shoot

  • A 180 degree macro 3D lens and a macro stereo capability built for natural history at scales where the standard rigs stop.
  • High-speed stereo on Phantom cameras: KM3D at a thousand frames a second.
  • Bespoke stereo 360 rigs for the shots the Insta360 could not take on My Africa.

Stereo 3D and immersive production

In post

  • Virtual rigs inside CG worlds: on Gravity, shots no physical camera could take.
  • Native reference for conversion: the Gravity headshot tests that told the vendors how a face should sit.
  • Every system measured against the platform it will play on before a production depends on it.

Stereo 3D and immersive post production

Formats and deliverables

Macro stereo 3D
A 180 degree macro 3D lens
High-speed stereo 3D
Phantom cameras at a thousand frames a second
Stereo 360
Bespoke rigs
Virtual stereo rigs
Inside CG worlds

What each format needs, on the shoot and in post

How we work

  1. 01

    Start from the shot

    What the story needs to see, at what scale, at what speed. The optics are designed to that.

  2. 02

    Prototype and test

    Built in-house, tested on real subjects, and measured against the platform it will play on before a production depends on it.

  3. 03

    Prove it on a production

    Every system on this page has been used on a delivered film or experience. Nothing is offered that has not shot.

In their words

  • What I think we can take from Gravity is that it's possible to have an exciting mainstream action film that works in 3D, where 3D adds to the experience and pulls audiences into the cinema.

    Sight and Sound · Read ↗ · Gravity

  • In fact, in Gravity, there wasn't gratuitous use of objects popping out in front of the screen; rather, 3D was used to create the depth of space.

    The Hollywood Reporter, Adrian Pennington and Carolyn Giardina · Read ↗ · Gravity

  • We shot native headshots at different focal lengths so we could tell the conversion vendors exactly how a face should sit in depth — get it wrong and it snatches at you subconsciously and pulls you out of the story.

    Chris Parks · Gravity

  • When a story needs a shot no one else can get, we build the optics — we have a 180 macro 3D lens and macro 3D nobody else can do. But it is all there to serve the story.

    Chris Parks

Proving projects

The work that proves it.

All optical development projects

Also in this thread: Recharge in Nature.