GoPro Hero 3D...it works.

GoPro blew everyone away with how simple yet incredible the Hero HD was, and we all have war stories about it.  They've been working on a side-by-side 3D system for a while now, and, if I overheard the story correctly, they looked to Cineform for a post workflow to match their hardware; well it didn't go the way they wanted it to, so they bought them.  So it seems GoPro is serious about 3D.

This is the rig; it's as simple as the original is, just two Heros next to each other, with the lenses as close together as possible.  I was skeptical about how well its effect will be, considering the wide angle of the lens and the closeness of the lens centers.  I should have known; of course it does.  Both booths in the production and post pit had the 3D system playing, showing a surfer going through a barrel, kids leaping in a skatepark, and a girl in a bikini snorkeling (all of which looked like Oahu's north shore).  A connector in the back links the two cameras so they stay synced at all times; unfortunately it means there's no Backpack screen.  As with the Hero, the shot is only really effective when the subject is close to the lens; and the case is the same for the 3D effect.  If you try to use 3D on a wide shot, your eyes will nearly bleed.  But that's not what 3D is made for!