Why I didn’t Realise I Needed PTZ

I know that this is a mischievous title but I am reminded of Henry Ford’s famous retort, after he was first asked why he thought there was a latent demand for the motorcar.  He replied, “if I’d asked people what they wanted at the time, they’d have answered, a faster horse!”. 

What is PTZ?

In their simplest form, PTZ cameras are built into stand-alone ‘pods’, which which can remotely Pan, Tilt, and Zoom (hence PTZ) and historically solely used for CCTV. More recently however, PTZ has been increasingly used in niche areas of production (think Big Brother/Traitors etc) and constant innovations has continued to develop this tech into so much more, to a point where we believe that there is greater scope for it to be used for mainstream production, if only people were more aware of their capabilities. This is why VMI is now setting up a PTZ rental division.

WHY

• An insatiable hunger for short form and streaming content, invites the adoption of lower cost production methods.
• Multi-camera production adds interest to otherwise staid content.

WHAT

• Quality large sensor Images achieving a cinema look
• PTZ cameras can be setup to match existing high-end production cameras.
• Programmable auto-tracking pan and tilt and multi-zone auto focus, creates semi-autonomous cameras, aiding operation and reducing crew numbers.

HOW

• Small camera crews can control 4+ cameras with confidence.
• Cameras can independently follow stage action, framing and focussing automatically and without user input.
• Production can still use one or two full-size camera/cameras, operated by skilled DPs, ensuring that nothing on stage is missed.

IN SUMMARY – This model can be used for multi-camera filming, which we estimate can reduce the cost of multi-camera acquisition by approximately 2/3, whilst maintain extremely high production values, to widen its appeal.

No more Big Brother Images from 2000.

Many of us may remember the jerky pans from the first Big Brother series which initially screened in 2000 and featured images reminiscent of CCTV, punctuated by jarring pans and zooms. 

However technology has moved at an enormous pace, so if we think of Big Brother’s PTZ cameras as the Ford Model T, then current PTZ cameras would now be closer to modern EVs –  Both still have 4 wheels but they are hardly comparable!

Join The Pilot Group by 5 May and Take Advantage of Subsidised Hire for Case Study Shoot

VMI is planning to launch a PTZ division in June 2025 and invites productions which believe that they can make good use of this technology, to be used as subsidised pilot productions, for which VMI can supply equipment and introduce you to suitable freelancers and which we can use as proof of concept to help to market this exciting way of video capture.

Included in this pilot scheme will be training at VMI with Canon on 6 May to show producers the capability and usefulness of the system. VMI will consider productions shooting in May/June/July as potential pilot productions which can benefit from a steep 80% rental discount* on all equipment supplied by VMI, though this discount would exclude any hired-in equipment.

* Discount excludes transportation and consumables costs. We would require at least one VMI-certified freelancer to booked and paid-for by the production company. Clients must also agree that VMI would be able to use clips from the finished production and also some BTS media for promotional purposes.

If you are interested in being part of this testing group, then email Barry by 5 May 2025.

PTZ Capability in Detail

We have selected the Canon N500 as our base PTZ camera, specifically because of its compatibility with the Canon cinema range of cameras, that we stock in quantity.

• Cinematic Images are achieved by setting wide DR (dynamic range) and matching gamma settings to Canon C500II, C300III & C400.
• Camera settings are centrally controlled over IP.  Using the Canon IP 1000 control desk to control all camera setups and autonomous settings and manual camera moves too, ensuring consistent images across all cameras.
• Shared production environment with matched large cameras. A production environment can include large FF/S-35 cinema cameras, supported by multiple semi-autonomous PTZ cameras.
• Large sensors… but not too large. Whilst PTZ cameras with Full Frame sensors offer super-shallow DoF but limited zoom range and small sensors offer a large zoom range but video-look images, the Canon N500 series PTZ cameras capture true 4K cameras and feature ‘Goldilocks’ sized sensors (approx 1 in), which produce filmic images whilst achieving an impressive zoom range of 25-382mm (S-35 equivalent) in a unit which only weighs 4.2kg. 
• AI-controlled automatic pan and tilt can follow human subjects automatically and reliably, with a great degree of preset control, which enables more than one camera to be operated by a single technician.
• AI-zone control of non-shoot areas. Define no-shoot areas ahead of the shoot, limiting the permissible shoot area that the AI pan/tilt function will use.
• Multi-zone auto focus.  Large sensor shooting invariably creates a shallow DoF, resulting in critical focus.  Multi facial zone AF functionality ensures images are consistently sharp, avoiding much operator intervention.
• Pre-programmable iris programs with manual override.  As above – avoids the need for techs to individually ‘rack’ each camera reliably.
• Small footprints for camera positions.  The cameras are small with long zooms, so offer a great choice of mounting options.  If existing seating areas need to be cordoned off, then the minimum number of seats will need to be reserved.
• At under 5kg, fly PTZ cameras on 5m carbon fibre jib arms to achieve the ‘money shot’ inexpensively. Even better than this, by automating the camera move to follow the action, ought to automate the majority of the jib operation.
• Lower Cost Production.  In short, we believe that used correctly, PTZ production can enhance production values and make multi-camera production possible on much lower budgets than is currently available.