GoPros are almost as common as smart phones these days. Everyone from tourists to weekend warriors to legitimate filmmakers can find a practical use for the tiny little cameras, and they pump out some pretty quality footage when used creatively. And with all the gadgets, mounts and accessories people have created to go along with action cameras it’s really not a surprise someone had the ingenuity to make a price point, compact lens for making DIY 3D footage.
It’s called Vitrima, and its creators are now celebrating a wildly successful crowdfunding campaign that made their idea a reality. The start up had a goal of raising $20,000 to produce their lens and has almost tripled that amount before the campaigns close.
The simplicity of the Vitrima seems to be its biggest draw, as shooting 3D with GoPros has traditionally required at least two cameras and special software to edit and view the footage. Vitrima simply splits the Hero’s single shot into two images using multiple mirrors. The range of depth on each creates stereoscopic images recorded as one clip, rather than two. Paired with a 3D headset like Google cardboard you now have the simplest, and probably cheapest way to get into the 3D content game. It’s probably not the same quality footage you’d create with multiple cameras but let’s be honest, you don’t go back and watch 99% of the crap your GoPro records anyway.
Not bad for a $129 accessory.
