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3ality Technica Controls




The THC (Technica Hand Control) series represents the ultimate in 3D camera control from its exceptional ergonomics to its ability to integrate with, and control, nearly every aspect of 3D acquisition. It has input devices to control focus, iris and zoom on two lenses as well as convergence and interocular on the rig. There is even an extra input for controlling many of the integrated external systems out in the field now.

The THC-S (Stereo) has 3 input devices: a large wheel for convergence on the right side, and the choice of a slider on top or a smaller wheel for IO control. When the Technica 3D rig is integrated with other products like the v3, STAN or Sony 3D image processor, the small wheel will be enabled to manipulate the most common parameters of the attached systems.

The THC, with only a slight factory modification, will serve as Element Technica’s first 6-axis lens controller. While it will look nearly identical to the standard THC, it functions a bit differently. The larger wheel controls focus and the slide controls iris. The small wheel, used for zoom, is spring loaded like a broadcast zoom controller. There is a small deadband at the neutral "hands off" position. Pushing forward zooms in. The further you push it the faster it goes. Rolling it back the other way zooms out. While focus, iris and zoom controls are fairly standard, what really stands out is the fact that this is the first system built from the ground up to control two lenses synchronously. While the ideal is using perfectly matching lenses, the THC-L (lens) makes it easy to set soft stops and data points so even poorly matched lenses now look perfect from wide to tight and everywhere in between. For maximum convenience, both THC units have a microSD card slot under the battery for simple firmware upgrades or just to store operator parameters.

IO (input/output) Module Controls

Broadcast Lens Control
Also new to the Technica 3D control architecture is complete support for professional broadcast full-servo lenses. Canon, Fujinon and Angenieux have spent a lot of time and money perfecting the motor drives on their latest lenses. Why take them off only to install $50,000 worth of third party lens drives? Our THC-L can handle one or all of the lens functions and do it synchronously between the left and right eyes.

Third Party Lens Control
3D rigs have always required synchronous control over focus and iris and more recently zoom. This has been accomplished with third party systems from Preston, C-Motion, Arri and others. Now, Element Technica's control architecture has optional support for up to six external lens drives for synchronous control of focus, iris and zoom on two lenses. Users have the ability to select their favorite drives from Preston, Arri or Heden to precisely control one to three lens parameters.

The Technica 3D system provides lens mapping to compensate for mechanical differences between specific lens pairs. Additionally, with lens and stereo parameters now being controlled on the same architecture, higher levels of stereo automation are possible. Focus and convergence can be tied together with the push of a button so that one always follows the other. Once in this mode, manipulating the convergence wheel merely offsets the convergence either in front of or behind the point of focus.

Metadata
Now that the Technica 3D rigs are controlling all 5 basic parameters (FI+Z & IO+C) as well as some of the secondary functions from systems like the v3, this data on a per frame basis can be a huge help in post, which means cost savings. Metadata is available in a variety of serial formats as a stream for writing directly to the image file header or it can be saved as a discreet file for future syncing.

Giving up control
Just like the IO Module makes controlling other lens drive systems easier, what if you want to control a Technica 3D system with something other than our handset? Since the resurgence of 3D and its current trajectory into the mainstream, the Holy Grail has been a system that can autonomously set IO+C as the operator changes frame size and composition. As companies like Fraunhofer and Sony get closer, Element Technica does its part by providing a stable platform with a near perfect opto-mechanical alignment. They also make it simple for either of these systems to manage IO+C by connecting through their IO module for complete system integration.The Technica 3D THC is a production tool capable of far more than just IO+C moves.