The digital media unit at Mercedes-Benz USA plans to use a Fujinon HA13x4.5BRD-PF HD wide-angle lens for all its HD video productions. The in-house facility is responsible for producing video content that the auto firm uses in its commercials, training, digital signage, auto shows and Web applications. The shop is currently migrating from SD to HD for most of its video projects.
The creative use of HD video is not entirely new to Mercedes-Benz. At a winter auto show in Los Angeles, the carmaker constructed a display which consisted of eight 60-inch HD plasma monitors turned on their sides, forming two video walls of four vertical panels. The video was stretched across the two arrays and delivered to each of the monitors from a computerized playback distribution network.
The original footage was shot at the carmaker's own studio, using a motion control camera system to ensure precise, repeatable camera moves. Focusing is handled automatically. The media unit said that HD is a "particularly unforgiving medium" because it offers less depth-of-field than either film or SD video. Therefore, it said precise focus is essential for high-quality productions.
To capture HD footage of a car in motion, the Mercedes-Benz production team uses a Panasonic AJ-HDC27PF DVCPRO HD camera, which captures widescreen 720p/60. The camera is placed inside an image stabilization unit on a camera boom mounted on the back of a camera truck. As the camera truck rolls along, the director of photography shoots the car.
