Tuesday 13 July 2010

Simulating high-speed cameras

Could multiple cameras running at high speed be used together to produce an even higher frame rate? They'd have to be properly synchronised, and preferably placed close together, but I think it should be possible. If we assume that, what's the limit? How fast a camera can we simulate by adding more synchronised high-speed cameras into the mix? Do you need a synchronisation program as fast as your intended combined frame rate, or can you make do with random differences between cameras? If it's possible, you wouldn't need to design a single camera to run at 1000fps, but could make do with two or three cheaper ones running at much lower (and more attainable) frame rates.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I don't think I have a need for very high frame rate cameras.
PPS - Few people would, I suppose.

6 comments:

Charles said...

What I love about your blog... what makes your blog simply cream of the crop... is the P.S. and P.P.S. part. It's like... a $25 slice of cake and a $100 shot of aged bourbon after a $100 steak. Always ALWAYS fantastic.

p.s. few of us need cameras like you describe.

p.p.s. the fact that you acknowledge that after the fact is too good to be true. Blog-Genius.

John said...

Glad to hear it. The PS/PPS style has been with me even before this blog, and now it's as much a part of my online identity as the name.

Erin Marie said...

I read an article somewhere today that Canon said that eventually single frame cameras will be obsolete.

Which was interesting when soon after that I came to your blog.

John said...

What did they mean by that? Were they saying still cameras will be replaced by video, or did they mean something else that I didn't pick up?

Timmeh B said...

Well they already have cameras that can operate at around 1000FPS its called a Foton.. i think. But the rig you have suggested is pretty much already a thing, thats how they get those shots in films like the matrix where time seems to freeze while they jump in the air, or dodge bullets. its a rig of Digital SLR cameras set up in a circle around the actor, and then timed to take photos in a sequence to give the desired effect. its pretty cool technology, you can set the individual framrates to however many cameras you can fit onto the rig. generally around 100 cameras in 1 rig.

John said...

Yes, I've seen the impressive bullet-time SLR rigs used for that type of thing. I was aiming in this post to suggest something more like faking very high-speed cameras on the cheap by hooking together a few lower-speed ones, or similarly using many high-speed ones together to create super-high-speed photography as if from one camera. Depending on the timing control, I suppose bullet-time rigs qualify, as long as you want your virtual camera to move around.