For the first time in the history of surfing, a set of 48 GoPro cameras were used to capture the perspectives of two-time world champion surfer, Mick Fanning, doing what he does best in the warm waters of the South Pacific.
The GoPro array shows the capabilities of the famous water camera during Rip Curl's upcoming marketing campaign for its Mirage Boardshort. Tim and Callum Macmillan, pioneers of camera array photography, were the men in charge of the stunt.
"At GoPro, we're always looking for new ways to use our cameras, new ways to leverage them to do something that's never been done before in digital imaging.
As an example, GoPro is the first consumer camera company to enable people to combine multiple like-cameras together to form a new type of camera", says Nicholas Woodman, founder, and CEO of GoPro.
"We first did it with our 3D Hero System, which allows you to combine two GoPro cameras together to form a 3D camera, and now we're experimenting with combining 48 cameras into a unique multi-camera array that enables entirely new forms of content capture", he adds.
"The results are stunning, and it's another great example of how the HD HERO truly is the world's most versatile HD camera."
After GoPro's much-anticipated release of its 3D system in April, GoPro teamed up with two experts in the field of camera array systems and began experimenting and pushing the limits of its 3D Hero syncing technology.
Tim and Callum Macmillan, endearingly known as The Brothers Slice, were challenged with creating a handheld underwater camera array system for the launch of Rip Curl's upcoming "Mirage" boardshorts campaign.
"We are always looking to lead the way when it comes to camera array effects and identifying new ways to push the limits for creativity and to acquire unique shots," said Tim Macmillan of Time-Slice Films.
"We've been waiting for the ideal camera technology to come along to do the video array. It's like waiting for a wave. You see the wave coming, you start paddling before everyone else, and then it hits you, and it is GoPro."
The result was an astonishingly innovative development - the GoPro Array. The world's first video array, which could be submerged underwater, operated by one man, and withstand the enormous waves at Cloudbreak, Fiji.