So you just got hired onto a production as an AC or a Camera Operator, and you know that you have the knowledge, talent, and skill to produce some beautiful images. There's just one problem: You've never laid a hand on the camera that's being used in the production. It's probably not going to look too good if you have to spend a lot of time fiddling around in the menus to find the settings you're looking for, but not to worry. Canon just released a camera simulator for the C300, and there are also simulators available for the Arri Alexa, and the Sony F65:
Canon C300 Simulator
Arri Alexa Simulator
Sony F65 Remote
As an extra bonus, you can save the Arri Alexa (and Alexa Plus) simulators to an iPad as a stand alone app. And the Sony F65 Remote iPad app can be run in Offline Mode as a simulator. Unfortunately, Canon doesn't offer the option to download their simulator as an app.
While these are great learning tools, I can't help but wonder why there aren't more camera simulators available. Considering that everything from DSLR's to 4K (and higher resolution) cameras are being used professionally, it would really be in the camera manufacturers' best interest to make more simulators for the cameras that they produce.
What do you think? Do you find camera simulators to be helpful? What cameras would you like to see simulators for?
Links:
[via CineTechnica]
