hey everybody's Norm from Tested and
once again I'm reporting here from my
home office as we are still sheltering
in place and hope you all out there are
staying safe as well but we're still
producing content making videos and for
me I'm still testing VR hardware and
software now it's been over a week since
the release of half-life Alex and if you
have a desktop-based VR headset or an
oculus quest with a link cable go play
that first if you haven't yet seriously
it's something that shouldn't be missed
but after that well I'm feeling a little
bit of withdrawal we're still waiting
for valve to release level editors and
an SDK salão modders eager modders out
there to make their own modifications
and tweak that awesome source 2 engine
but in the meantime there are two things
that I want to shout out on projections
this week that I've been enjoying so far
in VR the first is in the world of
immersive media now we're big fans of
Gavin and Dan of the slow mo guys and
their YouTube channel and recently they
released in partnership with oculus an
eight-episode VR video series which is
the slow mode guys VR now full
disclaimer we also work with oculus last
year to produce tested VR and that was a
series in which we went around the
country visiting makers in different
maker spaces in their shops documenting
their projects and it was a really
interesting experiment and learning
experience for us in filming immersive
VR 180 degree video this is stereoscopic
it's 3d and you can look around and feel
like you're in a place and Gavin and Dan
brought their own take on mersive video
with what they do best which is
conducting sometimes unpredictable
experiments and documenting them with
high frame rate cameras in this case a
custom-built rig holding two phantom
flex cameras shooting at a thousand
frames a second and they did some
classic slow mo guys experiments like
exploding watermelons slicing objects
with the katana blowing fire and also
things like recreating classic movie
scenes like the inception falling scene
of
falling into a bathtub and all these
scenes are just incredible to look at in
headset and for me it was really
interesting to see how they made use of
that VR 180 technology whether it was
making you feel like you were standing
right next to them right next to Gavin
and Jan on that quarry as they're
operating the cameras as are showing you
their phantom camera setup and then
standing next to that explosion not know
exactly when it was gonna go set off and
then we're viewing the footage using
some interesting a picture-in-picture so
you can actually see them scrubbing
through the footage wearing 3d glasses
and actually explaining what they see
what's going on at a thousand frames a
second and doing very classic slow mo
guys things like scrubbing through
rewinding speeding things up and showing
you the best parts really cool and
thoughtful use of immersive video and in
fact we had a chance to go video chat
with Gavin Joey and I chatted with him
earlier this week to talk about their
camera setup their approaches to
cinematography and things that they
didn't expect as they were making this
series let's go take a listen alright so
we are so thrilled to have special guest
this week Gavin remotely from his home
office Gavin how you doing good how are
you guys doing good good the same yeah
trying to keep saying I'm getting
heavier by the day
yeah we were just talking off camera for
record about our camera setups and how
it's so fun to watch on social media
different people with different
production setups out of the studio now
now sending up systems in their homes to
broadcast the podcast and so to really
make these makeshift studios it's same
for you yeah I was very impressed with a
with all the people I work with that
rooster teeth's production company here
in Austin I've all had to sort of
scramble together a home office and I've
been really impressed with what people
have done on such short notice
I mean thankfully I already had my home
office because I I work on my channel
from home and one of the things that you
guys worked on recently and just
released is slow mo guys VR he taught us
the genesis of the project and you know
what what you had in your head going
into it and and how all worked out yeah
well so oculus got in touch and had
suggested doing a VR series in slow mo
and I remember back in maybe sort of
2009-2010 when I was still in the UK
working in the film industry the 3d TVs
were a thing and uh everyone was super
into doing stereo slow-mo and I just
remember it being such a pain to do
because the the phantoms are pretty big
the phantoms are the high-speed cameras
we use are pretty big and you have to
have a you can't get them close enough
to each other just by sitting next to
each other because the lens is so big
they need the mirror rig so one shoots
off the mirror and one shoots through
the mirror and then you've got a frame
sync them so they're firing at the exact
same time and all this other stuff that
I haven't touched in 10 years so when
this offer from oculus came through I
was like oh my like the the horrendous
bulk of that rig just came flashing back
but back then I wasn't working on the
slow mo guys I wasn't issuing anything
for myself so I thought actually this
could be brilliant there's a ton of
stuff that I've always wanted to shoot
myself in 3d but never had the budget
never had the ability or even the know
how to I'm not a stereographic so I'm
not out there you know hiring stereo
killers typically so I immediately
thought this is a great opportunity to
literally add a new dimension to some of
the stuff we've shot before jumping back
to 2009 like how how different are the
rigs looking now your phantom
it was pretty similar I'm using
different cameras now that I was then
back then it was the Phantom flex 2k and
sometimes the phantom HD gold but now on
the phantom flex 4k which similar-sized
the actual rig itself part was pretty
familiar but the actual method of frame
syncing is slightly different but um it
I was actually
amazed at the knowledge that you can
retain like I haven't touched frame
syncing or 3d in a decade but I was in
the software thankfully the software has
barely changed to control phantom
cameras so it actually felt pretty
familiar I was like oh I remember had to
do this no it's just figuring it all out
again and uh it was RIT was a real good
challenge I had a lot of fun doing it
and not only is it the camera systems
but also the way people are viewing it
right the people are watching this in
headset and you also there's not only
the Phantom setup but you also use a
stereo camera for you guys talking to
camera we use the similar one for
testing VR the the k1 pro oh yeah yeah
we had to come to terms with the idea
that it's very different than shooting
with a traditional camera the way we did
our takes the placement of where we were
and so you guys almost had an episode
where it felt like being on the same
location as you guys and then this extra
dimension of watching this footage yeah
the way our content ended up was that
the Phantom footage was just 3d it would
actually appear in front of you like
you're viewing on a giant screen but all
the regular speed stuff was VR 180 so
you know you're at the same height as us
just standing in the quarry with us and
that stuff and it actually feels pretty
intimate it feels it feels nice watching
it bit creepy when I watch it because
I'm so stood with myself but a lot of
people have said like it's quite chill
and pleasant to just be experimenting
with us and stuff but yeah obviously had
a ton of challenges that we're not used
to like yes you kind of had to be
careful where you travel in the frame
even though it's such a big you know
wide field of view the camera can kind
of see behind itself slightly as well
and and you have to sit the camera out
from the tripod otherwise it sees its
own legs like it's that wide so all that
kind of stuff was fun to get used to and
yet we knew that the editing would be
quite different so there's less jump
cuts we do fades and we try and do miss
infrequently as possible because it's it
is quite weird when you're sort of
forced into darkness and back out to a
passage of time all that's there
we talk about editing you want good an
editing right now it's a little bit
post-production what does that look like
for for the Phantom flex I mean we have
worked with the pro and that almost
conforms itself to a more traditional
premiere style workflow believe what is
it now that you're involving 3d well I
hired an editor who I know could Daniel
for bello who is who absolutely refuses
to use anything other than Final Cut 10
and Eric oculus was like nobody does
this in Final Cut everyone's you know
let's be sensible facts but he was
determined to get the work throat the
work flow done in Final Cut 10 so he
went back and forth with Eric a lot and
managed to figure out a way of doing it
using Final Cut but she was very pleased
with so I actually had very little to do
with the stitching and you know making
sure well that's good I had it a little
bit in sort of discussing with a stereo
before how we were gonna you know where
we wanted all the the action to be in 3d
for the Phantom's of stuff mm-hmm and I
did all the the data management for the
Phantom's which colossal frame colossal
file sizes because I mean the fencers we
were using can record like eight gigs
per second but you've got two of them
going at the same time so every second
it's like 16 gigs that and I'm just
saving full full Ram save so we ended up
shooting terabytes and terabytes of
stuff but um yeah if it felt like it was
all for good purpose like it's it's way
more effort than shooting in 2d like
it's gonna be like five to ten times
more frustrating in terms of like the
rig is so big and moving the cameras
like are we gonna unplug stuff and when
you want to take the mirror out maybe up
here but the actual final result I
thought was totally worth it like it was
really surreal to stand in stand inside
time that's moving slower yeah and you
do all the things that you guys do on
your YouTube channel in in speeding
stuff up slowing it down rewinding it as
well as the commentary it's fun to watch
you guys react to watching it and I was
something really cool because with the
headset on you have this essentially
looks like a movie theater and watching
these effects you know a very high frame
rate but then you also have a nice
little picture in picture of your own
reactions and on set you could is that
right you could watch the 3d and see the
3d with something yeah near-real-time
so I would take HD SDI feeds from post
phantoms and in the fence and software I
can play like a gen lock signal I can
play it so that each frame is playing
back totally in sync so you can actually
get the anaglyph and put on the the red
and blue glasses and see it in 3d
seconds after we shot it which I was I
don't remember being able to do that
back in the day I'm not sure the little
box that we use to to split the image
like that I'm not sure we had access to
that back then I'm sure it existed but
we just didn't have that on set so we
would like typing in frame number starts
and end frame numbers all that stuff but
to to play it back immediately and watch
and then make changes of the depth based
on what we were watching was actually
super useful
the only down stat is that it was
outside so it's not super easy to see
the screen and we were doing a lot of
stuff with fire and colored liquids
which sometimes blue and the fire is
very orange so you sort of lose what
you're looking at when it's red and blue
in your eyes when your subjects red or
blue now we we shot we shot our series
over a span about six months and we had
them spaced out so far enough where we
can shoot one take everything back kind
of sit with it in post figure out what
doesn't work what looks great and they
come back to the next episode with that
did you guys have that luxury or was it
really just kind of we deliberately only
shot two at the beginning and of the
eight so we shot the inception bathtub
one and also the the powder paint on the
air bags we shot both of those and we
learned a ton from those two shoots and
then applied all that to the remaining
six so the first two videos took us a
long time to make it was I think we took
three days to do two videos which for us
is that it is pretty that's quite a long
time because usually there's not a ton
of editing we're just intro experiment
slow-mo playback have a chat CLA a sort
of thing so for us to spend more than a
day on a video was due to the learning
curve of it but then the remaining six
we shot in I think two a day for so it's
three more days of shooting maybe four
there's also some nighttime stuff you
did how did that affect you know your
all your exposure settings your shutter
stuff and and how configurable is that
to make it look like you're getting
motion the way you want have appeared
happily so typically you do need a ton
of light for shooting high speed because
I mean your your exposure time and each
frame is so short when you're shooting
up in there thousands of frames a second
so to shoot a night is kind of insane
just because we're used to having
shooting under the Sun and stuff but
when you have a subject that
self-illuminating like we did with the
spinning sparks it actually wasn't too
difficult to do delay wasn't any more
difficult than shooting in the day
because we were able to turn lights on
focus up you know set all of our
distances intraocular distances and all
that stuff and the convergence and where
we wanted all that stuff and then we
just turn the lights off and went and
everything just happened to work out
fine pretty much the first times we
tried it that was the final episode we
shot so that was probably the best the
best we were during the filming of that
absolute it's it's interesting because I
think for like our generation especially
online content makers we're kind of used
to doing everything ourselves
you're like knowing everything enough so
we can like you're talking about I mean
there's the high speed a lot more light
there's the rules of there's the rules
of the 3d phantom rig that you can't do
like can't do layers of rules with each
camera system I mean there was that like
I'm sure you've experienced the same
thing there's almost nothing you can do
with the k1 once you've got it level and
at the correct height you just have to
not touch it at all because otherwise as
soon as you move that you're sort of
moving someone's head when they don't
want to be moving and that causes I
guess nausea
yeah were there shots that you you
wanted like that you're particularly
proud of that you're like you didn't
expect to look that good in stereo or
things after you know shooting two days
like okay I wish we did this or or it
makes you give new ideas I was really
happy with the spinning Sparks video
just because when it's up on the screen
like when the fans and playback is up on
the screen in front of you it's black
the the background is black and the the
background of the exported the video is
black so you actually can't see the
edges of the frame on that one so I
think in future I would shoot probably
in a studio with with more black
backgrounds so that it's more seamless
with the VR feel I guess yeah yeah but I
mean there was there was a lot that I
feel like I kinda want to shoot
everything in in in 3d now just because
I feel like a lot of the time when
you're watching slow mode footage back
and there's an explosion or there's some
sort of like liquid based thing that's
happening there's so much to look at
that you have to watch it a few times be
like oh I'll follow this drop you know
but when it's in 3d it's even more so
because you've got the depth and when
stuff is moving this way in front of you
and then this way behind there's it I
feel like I wanted to watch everything
like five times so I'm kind of addicted
to it now but there's no it's totally
like four but just normal shooting it's
so it's so much more work you can't just
throw the rig down and yeah does it take
what does the build-out on the Phantom
flex I got it down to about 45 minutes
on the final day but there's a lot to I
mean just saying up the phantom is own
you still got to think about several
things like
you know it's just it's a professional
movie camera so doesn't really come with
anything attached to it I'm gonna put
magazine you've got a plug stuff in you
know there's like ports on the top that
you've got to plug into the body even
though it's mounted on there you got to
make sure and and with 3d you've got to
make sure everything matches so the same
amount of space on both Meg's
the exact same lenses on both cameras
and then you lose I think it was we were
losing like 2/3 of a stop of light off
the beam splitter yeah yeah so like one
cameras getting less light right yeah
yeah so I would compensate with the
aperture in the lens which matched the
exposure but then the side effect of
that is the one camera this has slightly
more depth in the focus than the other
but it's not quite enough to be
distracting and was zoom and focus
locked in with each other they weren't
into links so I would just zoom one
camera to a specific focal length and
manually zoom the other one it set focus
on both mentally and then never touch
them during the shot I would pre do all
that if I wanted to do a crazy focus
Paul or a mid shot zoom in 3d I didn't
have any of the equipment it would let
me do that accurately and there's even
sort of mild differences between two of
the exact same model of lens for example
if I had like a 30 to 90 mil on and I
set it to 45 on the other lens 45 would
just be like slightly part of the 5 of
the 45 and one beyond the 4 if you're
looking at the markings on the lens so
it's you've really got a it's impossible
to have everything line up just on the
numbers you actually really do have to
take a look at everything make sure it's
like I mean it would be interesting to
do do look the Hitchcock dolly zoom 3d
phantoms yeah every amazing yeah yeah we
walked away from our experience like
just we know not we're not gonna use the
setup for every camera but it just
changes like the opportunity present
when we're filming any type of
Oh what if we had a stereo camera here
and obviously for you it's a big big
build-out but super super cool and then
congratulations on on the launch of it
sounds like a a lot of work and very
rewarding thank you thanks so much yeah
we're very proud of it I was worried at
the beginning because of the stress of
it all but I think it turned out great
and we're both very proud of it awesome
well thank you so much for your time
congratulations again and it will afford
so what you guys do in the future thanks
very much thanks Tom male all episodes
of the slow mo guys VR are out now it's
on the oculus quest under the oculus TV
app and you can just stream it so
there's no downloading and the quality's
actually pretty good I've been showing
it a lot but the thing that I've
enjoying the most this past week in VR
is the room a dark matter now we've
covered this before and projections i
chat it with developers and first
previewed it and oculus connect and i
was able to show the first two levels to
you guys in their preview i did a couple
weeks ago but it's finally out and it's
out on all VR platforms tuning steamvr
the oculus quest or the desktop rift
store as well as psvr
now I've talked a bunch about this game
before so I don't want to rehash too
much of that it's also tough to explain
how the game works without showing too
much or spoiling the puzzles which I
definitely don't want to do but here the
basic so it's essentially four levels
that you're going through one continuous
story but they're not for different
escape rooms they really have a natural
progression and previously I played the
first two levels which I thought were
wonderful the first one's kind of like a
tutorial which really shows off some of
the kind of interactive mechanical
objects these wonderfully and creatively
designed mystery boxes which you use
your motion controllers to manipulate
and get up close to and then also shows
you and hallmark of the room puzzle
games which is this lens that you toggle
on and off which lets you see into a
kind of world beneath the world the
world tin screen and you see symbols as
well as you discover new puzzles that
way that's the first love
second level is a little more expansive
and it really feels like one large room
the kind of traditional escape room has
many layers who can spend about an hour
and a half in it and you go through a
bunch of discreet puzzles because the
game is teleport only for locomotion you
teleport from station to station and
it's highlighted and then at every
station around you you see maybe a
series of contraptions and you recognize
these as the puzzles that you're trying
to solve and one may unlock and reveal
objects that you adds your inventory
that then you take to others another
station match a shape recognize a symbol
find these delightful aha moments that
then let you progress and and complete
the level and move on to the next world
now what really surprised me is that the
game did not show its cards until the
latter half the next the third and
fourth levels and I don't want to give
too much away but these this is where
the game really shines and so place
where in each of these levels I spent at
least two hours getting through and they
are not single rooms they are deep there
are multiple rooms there are secret
passageways that you open and unlocked
there's so many different mechanics and
so many different kinds of puzzles not
the kinds that require a lot of physical
dexterity and definitely not the kind
that require you to take notes or do
maths for example that you might see in
some real-world escape rolls but the
kind of puzzles in which you're trying
to make a connection about what they're
asking you to solve and so many of these
moments I would be standing there
looking at an object knowing that this
is a puzzle and it's not about just
matching the shape and finding the right
level of pull but it's about what is
this puzzle asking me how is it asking
me to interact with it in a way that
makes use of motion controllers in a way
that makes you kind of rethink scale and
space and when you do reach those aha
moments it is so so rewarding
now I mentioned in my preview that they
also incorporate a really great system
of hand
and so that of course works through
these next two levels the last two
levels of the game there are tiered hint
systems where we do really feel like you
can't move through then you can open
your inventory and pull a tab down and
you'll get a hint that may nudge you in
the right direction all the way down to
hints that straight-out explain what
you're supposed to do and I implore you
when playing this game resist the urge
to use a hint and really one of the
great benefits of this game being in VR
isn't just the sense that you're in this
location that you're in this church or
this are a Natural History Museum
storeroom and and figuring these puzzles
out is that you can actually stop sit on
the ground and think about it and not
feel like you're gonna be distracted go
on Twitter that actually the isolating
aspect the confinement of VR helps with
the escape room experience and the only
thing I wanted more from it was as I've
said previously some type of multiplayer
experience I'm talking way to share the
puzzle solving experience as I would do
in a group escape room because when
you're doing it alone when you're
playing this game and you feel isolated
and the sound design is so good it is a
little bit creepy and it's intentionally
so there's this Lovecraftian theme to
the world with some creepy animations
sound effects even things like
intermittent lightning that strikes that
can startle you and you can really get
lost in your own paranoia and head at
the same time as you're trying to
scratch you wrap your brain to solve the
puzzles it's again out on all the VR
headsets go play that if you eat
half-life Alex already and would love to
hear what you think I'll be back next
time probably still in my home office
with another episode of projections but
thanks for watching and I'll see you
next time bye
you
