Modular configurable camera system
A system and a process configuration generates a unitary rendered image for a video from at least two cameras. The configuration detects a communication coupling of at least two cameras and determines a master camera and a slave camera. The configuration determines an orientation of camera sensor of the master camera and the slave camera and determines a first frame of a video for a synchronization point for a start of a video capture. The configuration captures and reads images from the master camera sensor and the slave camera sensor in response to the start of the video capture and orientation of the camera sensors.
1. A method for capturing a video corresponding to a first channel of three-dimensional content, the method comprising:
determining an orientation of a camera sensor of a first camera as one of an upright orientation or an upside-down orientation, wherein in the upright orientation, a top side of the first camera is above the bottom side of the first camera with respect to a scene, and wherein in the upside-down orientation, the top side of the first camera is below the bottom side of the first camera with respect to the scene;
initiating capture of the video on the first camera in response to receiving a synchronization signal, the video comprising a sequence of frames, each frame comprising an array of pixels;
for each frame of the video, sequentially capturing by the camera sensor, pixels representing the scene in a first scan order responsive to the determined orientation being the upright orientation, wherein sequentially capturing the pixels representing the scene in the first order comprises sequentially capturing rows of pixels in an order from the top side of the first camera to the bottom side of the first camera and capturing each row of pixels by sequentially capturing pixels in an order from a left side of the first camera to a right side of the first camera;
for each frame of the video, sequentially capturing by the camera sensor, the pixels representing the scene in a second scan order responsive to the determined orientation being the upside-down orientation, wherein sequentially capturing the pixels representing the scene in the second order comprises sequentially capturing rows of pixels in an order from the bottom side of the first camera to the top side of the first camera, and capturing each row of pixels by sequentially capturing pixels in an order from the right side of the first camera to the left side of the first camera; and
storing the captured video of the first camera to a first memory of the first camera.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization signal is received from a master control module, the master control module comprising an electronic device independent of the first camera.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
configuring the first camera as a master camera to provide the synchronization signal to a second camera configured as slave camera, the second camera to capture a second channel of the three-dimensional content.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
configuring the first camera as the master camera responsive to the determined orientation being the upright orientation and configuring the first camera as the slave camera responsive to the determined orientation being the upside-down orientation.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second camera is in the upside-down orientation when the first camera is in the upright orientation and wherein the second camera is in the upright orientation when the first camera is in the upside-down orientation.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first and second cameras are each oriented along horizontal axes that are within a tolerance range of each other.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first camera comprises:
a camera body;
a lens;
a front face of the camera body, the lens positioned at an offset from a center plane of the front of the camera body; and
a communication interface for communicatively coupling to the second camera.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating a distance to an object from the first camera; and
storing the distance as metadata together with the captured video.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein more than one additional camera is communicatively coupled to the first camera.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for capturing a video corresponding to a first channel of three-dimensional content, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to perform steps including:
determining an orientation of a camera sensor of a first camera as one of an upright orientation or an upside-down orientation, wherein in the upright orientation, a top side of the first camera is above the bottom side of the first camera with respect to a scene, and wherein in the upside-down orientation, the top side of the first camera is below the bottom side of the first camera with respect to the scene;
initiating capture of the video on the first camera in response to receiving a synchronization signal, the video comprising a sequence of frames, each frame comprising an array of pixels;
for each frame of the video, sequentially capturing by the camera sensor, pixels representing the scene in a first scan order responsive to the determined orientation being the upright orientation, wherein sequentially capturing the pixels representing the scene in the first order comprises sequentially capturing rows of pixels in an order from the top side of the first camera to the bottom side of the first camera and capturing each row of pixels by sequentially capturing pixels in an order from a left side of the first camera to a right side of the first camera;
for each frame of the video, sequentially capturing by the camera sensor, the pixels representing the scene in a second scan order responsive to the determined orientation being the upside-down orientation, wherein sequentially capturing the pixels representing the scene in the second order comprises sequentially capturing rows of pixels in an order from the bottom side of the first camera to the top side of the first camera, and capturing each row of pixels by sequentially capturing pixels in an order from the right side of the first camera to the left side of the first camera; and
storing the captured video of the first camera to a first memory of the first camera.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the synchronization signal is received from a master control module, the master control module comprising an electronic device independent of the first camera.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , the instructions when executed further causing the processor to perform a step of:
configuring the first camera as a master camera to provide the synchronization signal to a second camera configured as slave camera, the second camera to capture a second channel of the three-dimensional content.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , the instructions when executed further causing the processor to perform a step of:
configuring the first camera as the master camera responsive to the determined orientation being the upright orientation and configuring the first camera as the slave camera responsive to the determined orientation being the upside-down orientation.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the second camera is in the upside-down orientation when the first camera is in the upright orientation and wherein the second camera is in the upright orientation when the first camera is in the upside-down orientation.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the first and second cameras are each oriented along horizontal axes that are within a tolerance range of each other.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , the instructions when executed further causing the processor to perform a step of:
calculating a distance to an object from the first camera; and
storing the distance as metadata together with the captured video.
17. A camera comprising:
an orientation sensor to determine an orientation of the camera as one of an upright orientation or an upside-down orientation, wherein in the upright orientation, a top side of the camera is above the bottom side of the camera with respect to a scene, and wherein in the upside-down orientation, the top side of the camera is below the bottom side of the camera with respect to the scene;
a synchronization interface to initiate capture of the video on the camera in response to receiving a synchronization signal, the video comprising a sequence of frames, each frame comprising an array of pixels;
an image sensor to capture the video in response to the synchronization signal, wherein for each frame of the video, the image sensor sequentially captures pixels representing the scene in a first scan order responsive to the determined orientation being the upright orientation, and wherein for each frame of the video, the image sensor sequentially captures the pixels representing the scene in a second scan order responsive to the determined orientation being the upside-down orientation, wherein sequentially capturing the pixels representing the scene in the first order comprises sequentially capturing rows of pixels in an order from the top side of the first camera to the bottom side of the first camera and capturing each row of pixels by sequentially capturing pixels in an order from a left side of the first camera to a right side of the first camera, and wherein sequentially capturing the pixels representing the scene in the second order comprises sequentially capturing rows of pixels in an order from the bottom side of the first camera to the top side of the first camera, and capturing each row of pixels by sequentially capturing pixels in an order from the right side of the first camera to the left side of the first camera; and
a memory to store captured video of the first camera.
18. The camera of claim 17 , wherein the synchronization interface is configured to receive the synchronization signal from a master control module comprising an electronic device independent of the camera.
19. The camera of claim 17 , wherein the camera is configured as a master camera, and wherein the synchronization interface furthermore provides the synchronization signal to a slave camera, the slave camera to capture a second channel of the three-dimensional content.
20. The camera of claim 17 , further comprising:
a camera body;
a lens;
a front face of the camera body, the lens positioned at an offset from a center plane of the front of the camera body; and
a communication interface for communicatively coupling the camera to a remote device.