Planet Red Bull 360-Fulldome
Wednesday, 19th June 2019
……….Avocado360’s journey with Red Bull began this morning. At the event center, we met the Driftbrothers Joe and Elias Hountondji. The top athletes and their teams are top motivated to dive into an unknown adventure.
360° shots with 8k cameras were something new and unknown for almost everyone on the set at that time. We mounted the cameras all over the car, the aim being to generate the most spectacular sequences possible. 5 cm above the ground with full speed and screeching tires in the corner, 2 meters in front of the car fixed with metal bars, in the car, and with drones above the cars!
A day was spent driving, drifting, and filming on the track. After what felt like 50 tire changes and several gigabytes of footage and especially without losing any cameras, it was time to review the footage.
What started as a test day was luckily developed into a VR Video for headsets and later a full-dome project.
Going for full dome
Red Bull decided to continue the project and add more sports. We planned to shoot different sports in different places worldwide, but before we started shooting, Covid came in.
Our project was not canceled but adapted to the circumstances and simplified accordingly. All sports were filmed with Red Bull athletes from Switzerland in Switzerland. Skateboarding in the Skillspark in Winterthur, Freestyle Motocross in Laax, and Freeskiing on the Plain Morte in Grans Montana.
Action-sport filming is already a challenge with standard cameras, but 360° filming is even more complicated. The market could not provide us with the demands we had on 360° cameras, so we partly built our systems ourselves. We used Sony A7S, which provided us with the 4K resolution and especially the 120 F/S for the slow-motion shots. In addition, various drones were used, and for the last shots, the FPV drones were also ready for us to capture 360° videos with them.
In sports, it is challenging to do infinite repetitions, so up to 5 cameras were in use simultaneously. A challenge for the director to place all systems in the right place. Multiple cameras recording up to 11K also resulted in massive data. We had about 1.5 terra of raw material per sport, and the entire project generated 20 terra of film data. In the end, the finished 25 min. 360° video takes up 500GB.
CGI | VFX
Like any other film, a full dome spectacle needs an intro, explanations and entertaining transitions.
A voice over for 360° videos is preferable to subtitles, the field of vision of the 360° film is much larger, much more happens and the visitor is too busy to read texts.
The intro with the drops, the space with the planets and the planet Red Bull were created as CGI.
Wednesday, 1th June 2022
It’s 7 p.m. the premiere at the Planetarium Lucerne; PLANET RED BULL is on the screen. After almost three years, we can show our work to a broad audience. The film has passed its first test – people liked it. The film will be translated into other languages and hopefully find its way into other planetariums worldwide.
Many thanks for the cooperation and support to the whole RED BULL team!
PRÉMIERE Planetarium Luzern
DATE 1. July 2022
DELIVERABLES: 5.7K Fulldom Film 60fps
Let’s work together!
