While it is becoming the norm to film major motion pictures in 3D format, the recording of music albums in 3D is unfamiliar territory for most media production groups. Certainly a few pop stars have released large venue concerts in 3D, but smaller music performances have yet to be formatted similarly. That was until AIX Records (of the parent company AIX Media Group) entered this unique and untapped market. As already established producers of high-resolution surround and 2-channel music on DVD-Audio/Video and Blu-ray, AIX records hoped to document musicians in 3D so that the audience could feel they were specifically being sung-to, versus simply watching a performance at a large venue.

Mark Waldrep of AIX Media Group filming a music performance (courtesy of UltimateAVmag.com)

But traditional 3D production can be a pricey endeavor; the two-camera beam-splitter rigs typically employed for such projects can be expensive investments. The crew needed a camcorder with speed and camera mobility on the set and a minimum of tweaking in post. So, AIX founder and principal, Mark Waldrep, Ph.D. secured four early models of Panasonic’s AG-3DA1 full HD 3D camcorder, and after three days of shooting, had captured the first 3D Music Albums™.

The camera team on the shoot found the Panasonic AG-3DA1 camcorders easy to set-up and maneuver; but most notably the production resulted in great 3D footage. They found that the lenses of the AG-3DA1 camera are aligned so well that there were no concerns about fixing rotations or compensating for vertical parallax in post.  

The shoot at Los Angeles’ Colburn School for the Performing Arts’ Zipper Hall is now being formatted onto seven Blu-ray 3D™ discs featuring Grammy-winning pop artist Rita Coolidge and multi-platinum country artist Mark Chesnutt. The first album to be released was Goldberg Variations Acoustica. Mark Waldrep hopes to have all seven discs available by the end of December.

Documenting these intimate-style concert performances for home entertainment purposes has pushed AIX records to the forefront of the 3D future and we applaud them.