News Stories

Roundtable: 3D in the Home

2.20.2009

A group of eight HPA Tech Retreat participants—from sectors including equipment manufacturers (i.e. displays) and postproduction–explored 3D in the home during a breakfast roundtable discussion on Friday.

The discussion began with participants naming what they believe are the minimum requirements to watching 3D at home. They included high quality and backward compatible.

On anaglyph, one said: “I can’t stand it, and wouldn’t watch it if I could.”

Dolby’s Guido Voltolina pointed out that as most content is 2D, for at least the next five years 3D may be a “special occasion.” Some questioned how consumers would justify the cost of the consumer equipment for such occasions; most agreed the content would be the key driver.

Many in the group believe gaming could be an enabler for 3D in the home, but some pointed out that the 3D game market so far has been very limited.

The group identified challenges, including production as well as  production and post equipment costs.

Discussion included which sports lend themselves to 3D. Some suggested the X-Games could be a great event for 3D coverage, while some questioned 3D coverage of hockey.

On 3D commercials: Will advertisers pay more for 3D? Will viewers remember the product or the commercial?

In Sync with SMPTE

2.19.2009

SMPTE director of standards and engineering, Peter Symes, wrapped HPA’s Thursday afternoon program with a look at the work of the SMPTE/EBU Task Force on Synchronization and Timing.

Work includes development of what Symes calls a Time Related Label, or TRL. He explained: ”Time code has done a remarkably good job, but it is still a crude system.” He added that the team would like the TRL to includes features such as support for multiple camera rates and the ability to handle over and undercrank. He added that the label needs to interoperate with the legacy world, but should not be constrained by it.

He urged participation on the Task Force.

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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