threecamera

Threecamera is a term used to describe a camera setup or platform that employs three separate cameras to capture imagery concurrently. The arrangement is used to provide multiple perspectives of a scene, either by placing the cameras around the subject or by mounting them on a rig that maintains fixed relative positions. Each camera can have its own lens and exposure settings, allowing different fields of view and depth of field to be captured at the same moment.

In professional production, three-camera configurations are common for studio programming, live events, and sports broadcasts, where simultaneous footage from multiple angles reduces the need for rolling cuts and facilitates editing and switching between shots in real time. In modern cinema and VR workflows, three-camera arrays can be synchronized via genlock or timecode, with post-production workflows enabling multicamera editing, 3D reconstruction, or panoramic stitching.

In consumer and prosumer markets, devices and rigs marketed as 'three-camera' systems often feature a tri-lens arrangement on a single body or a compact modular setup. These systems aim to expand versatility by providing different focal lengths for stills and video, as well as redundancy in case one sensor underperforms.

Challenges include aligning color, exposure, and timing across three sensors, ensuring robust synchronization, and managing increased data throughput and storage needs. Proper calibration and an understanding of parallax are important for achieving coherent multicamera results.