Tampa Digital Shoots First Leg of Purina Incredible Dog Challenge With Panasonic AG-3DA1 Full HD 3D Camcorders

Tampa Digital (Tampa, FL), a video and digital media production company in West Central Florida, recently utilized two AG-3DA1 Full HD 3D camcorders to capture the Eastern Regional of the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge, held this spring in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park.

On behalf of clients Nestle Purina PetCare and events company Carson International, Tampa Digital captured the Eastern Regional’s best athletic canines in 3D as they competed in a variety of Olympic-style events, such as Diving Dog, Freestyle Flying Disc, 60-Weave Pole Racing, Jack Russell Hurdle Racing, and Large and Small Dog Agility.

With the 3D competition footage, Tampa Digital subsequently created a 3D video that was shown at the Western Regional in San Diego and placed on the 3D video platform at Barknetwork.com, a social media site and the Worldwide Home for Athletic Dogs. To drive awareness of this 3D content, Purina plans to distribute 3D glasses to consumers and competitors who attend or compete in the National Championships of the Incredible Dog Challenge, which will take place at Purina Farms (St. Louis, MO) on Saturday, Oct. 1st. The glasses will be imprinted with BarkNetwork’s website address and a QR code that will take a consumer using a smart phone directly to the video.

Jim Allen, marketing manager, Nestle Purina PetCare, is a strong proponent of introducing athletic canine sports to the 3D universe, and is equally excited about the marketing opportunities that 3D presents. “We love the material shot with the Panasonic 3DA1, and are looking at ways to acquire additional 3D footage to create a short library of videos that can capitalize on the emerging popularity of 3D short-form content,” he said.

“With so many 3D sporting events finding their way into the mainstream, the dynamic sport of athletic dogs clearly lends itself to 3D,” said Ryan Kindle, broadcast director, Tampa Digital. “So many of the canine competitions have inherent depth — just think of the dogs diving and chasing Flying Discs — and shooting them in 3D realizes that depth potential and brings the overall experience that much closer to life.”

“Prior to the Eastern Regional, I had really overthought the 3D shoot,” he continued. “I labored over how to set depth and convergence, but once the 3DA1s arrived on the set it was so simple, all right there in the camera.”

Kindle explained that the production team took advantage of the practice sessions to shoot tight, innovative angles of the competition, and on the day of the event, concentrated on basic two-camera coverage. “The 3DA1s are exceptional in their portability and flexibility,” he said. “We were using freelance videographers, who were able to walk on location, pick up the 3DA1s and shoot for six hours straight.”

Jeff McKown, vice president/general manager, Tampa Digital, said, “We’ve worked productively with Panasonic for close to 20 years, and do a lot of shoots in P2 HD. We’d taken a look at 3D acquisition the year before the 3DA1 came on the market, but the size of the rigs and the complicated mounting devices were discouraging. When Panasonic introduced us to the 3DA1, it was amazing how simple the entire workflow was. There was practically no learning curve either for shooting or editorial, and our producers were able to focus on creativity and narrative vs. technology hurdles.”

“We are looking for more and more opportunities to get involved in 3D production, at the National Championships of the Incredible Dog Challenge and beyond,” McKown added.

“The Incredible Dog Challenge has been the innovator in bringing the excitement of canine sports into people’s lives through television coverage, media and digital platforms for 14 years. 3D is the next frontier, and we are very excited to see the dogs ‘coming at us’ in this new dimension,” said Kathy Carson, president, Carson International, producers of the Incredible Dog Challenge for Purina.