See the original thread here:  http://weblogs.variety.com/technotainment/2011/04/chat-live-with-david-s-cohen-and-legend-3-ds-barry-sandrew.html

[Press Release]

DDD , the US-based 3D consumer technology licensing group, confirmed this morning that a licensing agreement signed earlier in April with an unnamed PC chip manufacturer is actually industry giant Intel Corp. The agreement is to bundle DDD’s TriDef 3D PC conversion software products with Intel’s new 2nd Generation Intel Core processor PC platforms. Combining the two technologies allows a broad range of popular PC games to be enjoyed by consumers without the need for additional graphics devices in their PC. The DDD share price rose by 3p to 39p on the news.

The two-year license agreement allows Intel to supply DDD’s TriDef 3D Experience software with its own 3D PC processors directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and also in retail 3D accessory packs. DDD will receive quarterly royalties from Intel based on the volume of OEM and retail software products shipped. It is expected that OEMs will begin shipping the combined solution during the second half of 2011.

Last October, DDD agreed a collaboration with multinational semiconductor company AMD (NYSE: AMD) that will combine its TriDef stereoscopic 3D software with AMD’s next generation AMD Radeon HD 6000 family of graphics processors. Through the collaboration, AMD plans to supply DDD’s TriDef software under license to PC OEMs and add-in-board (AiB) manufacturers as part of AMD’s integrated 3D solution.

Chris Yewdall, the chief executive of DDD, said: “The partnership with Intel is the culmination of many months of close collaboration with Intel’s PC Client Group team and is a major milestone for DDD. Intel’s selection of TriDef to enable significant aspects of their 3D product offering underscores the recent progress we have made in delivering a market-leading 3D content solution for the PC market.”

The agreement also includes a development contract valued at approximately £93,000 related to the initial customisation of the TriDef PC software for Intel’s new Core processors. Approximately £62,000 of this was recognised in 2010 as DDD completed the initial work in preparation for demonstrations at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in January this year.

Based on Intel’s new 32nm microarchitecture, the new 2nd Generation Intel Core processors offer new levels of performance through optimised Intel Turbo Boost Technology and Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, as well as significant advances in visual and 3D graphics capabilities through processor graphics. These advances deliver new capabilities, and the performance with 2nd Generation Intel Core processors allows a broad range of popular PC games to be enjoyed by consumers without the need for additional graphics devices in their PC.

Intel and DDD plan to promote the TriDef stereoscopic 3D game engine to game developers for both current and future games. They are also planning to integrate the TriDef stereoscopic 3D software more closely with the media functions of the 2nd Generation Intel Core processors to facilitate access to DDD’s 2D to 3D conversion by third party software developers. Intel is also planning to offer a selection of original 3D movie trailers drawn from the growing library of high definition 3D movies available on DDD’s Yabazam! website, rounding out their comprehensive 3D offering for OEMs and end users alike. In addition, the companies plan to explore opportunities for the use of DDD’s 2D to 3D conversion with Intel’s other processor families.

See the original post here:  http://www.stockopedia.co.uk/content/ddd-group-confirms-licence-deal-with-intel-56067/

Company plunges past core restoration biz into 3D services

[By TODD LONGWELL, Variety]

In a darkened room on the second floor of a nondescript building tucked away in an industrial area near Bob Hope Airport, a dozen or so young men and women sit at computer workstations equipped with dual 32-inch monitors that are wired into a powerful 300-machine, 1.5-petabyte Linux processing system.

These are the members of Reliance MediaWorks Burbank’s image processing team, and they’re studying and manipulating individual frames of classic and not-so-classic movies such as Michael Powell’s 1943 epic “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp” and Brian De Palma’s campy 1974 rock ‘n’ roll frightfest “Phantom of the Paradise.”

“Just final checks on ‘Cinderella,’ ?” says digital artist Alexis Ross-Gallaher as she scans her monitor, huddled in a parka. “We’re almost done. Getting ready for the Blu-ray.”

Founded as Lowry Digital in 1988, the company has left its mark on — or, more accurately, removed unsightly marks and otherwise repaired and revitalized — approximately 450 film and TV projects. They include several titles in Disney’s Platinum Collection, 20 James Bond pics, three installments of “Star Wars” and some more esoteric efforts such as Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon.”

While it remains one of the premier restoration houses in the world, today that portion of its business is just the tip of the iceberg. Since being acquired in 2008 by Reliance MediaWorks, a division of Indian multimedia behemoth Reliance ADA Group, the company has made a concerted effort to market its image-processing expertise to studios for new releases such as “The A-Team,” “Eat Pray Love” and “Yogi Bear,” while also plunging headlong into 3D.

“The proprietary tools and the relationships Lowry had were very valuable to us,” says Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun of the rationale behind the acquisition. With the diversification of RMW Burbank, “we created a global technology center to fuel our business worldwide,” That business includes the iLab postproduction and vfx house in London and a new 2D-to-3D conversion facility in Mumbai, launched in May, that is handling Lionsgate’s “Conan the Barbarian” remake and several other major studio films due for release this year.

According to RMW Burbank COO Reid Burns, the recent emphasis on 3D is an evolutionary application of software originally developed for restorations, such as grain-removal tools.

“Using our proprietary processes to digitally remove the grain, increases the accuracy and expedites the rotoscoping, object separation and clean-plate paint work for 2D-to-3D conversions,” Burns says. “We have also developed automated fixes for the polarization issues prevalent in stereo capture today. When photographing images that may have windows, chrome or other reflective surfaces, polarization issues are a common problem that we have been fixing for a number of stereo productions. As an example, we have recently been working with DreamWorks on ‘Fright Night’ remedying these type of issues.”

RMW Burbank honed it 3D chops working with James Cameron on “Avatar” and, earlier, his 2003 documentary “Ghosts of the Abyss.” It recently completed a restoration on the helmer’s “Titanic” using an entirely 4K pipeline and it is now doing the same with his films “The Abyss” (1989) and “True Lies” (1994).

The facility has also been a frequent stop for director David Fincher, who made ample use of its proprietary noise management and image and detail enhancement tools on his last three films, “The Social Network,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Zodiac.” He also used its software to enhance “Fight Club” and “Seven.”

In addition to solid relationships with top filmmakers, RMW Burbank is also well known for its so-called 9/11 services — repairing footage damaged by airport X-ray machines, streaky film processing or camera jitter.

Its 75-person staff also handles a small amount of vfx work, largely confined to rig, wire and object removal, leaving more complex CGI and compositing to sister facilities in India (where it employ approximately 1,200 digital artists), England and San Francisco. The latter, formerly Slash FX, collaborated with the Burbank unit on Relativity Media’s upcoming “Shark Night 3D.”

Burns thinks the biggest areas of future growth might be up-converting SD projects to HD, as the company has already done with the first three seasons of “The Simpsons” for Fox and a group of anime titles as part of a deal it has with Imagica Corp. in Japan.

“We’re talking to a lot of different libraries and content holders about getting much, much deeper there,” Burns says. “Some black-box solutions for that are OK, but we’re trying to do something that’s of higher quality.”

See the original post here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118035578

Film School Announces Collaboration with Leading Digital Effects Studio

[by Brenda Mills, Florida State Univ website]

Florida State and the Digital Domain Media Group are collaborating in the creation of a new facility, to include the Digital Domain Institute, and the development of a unique program that will result in new educational opportunities, high-tech research programs, high-paying jobs and an economic boost for the state of Florida. The City of West Palm Beach, including former Mayor Lois Frankel and City Commission President Kimberly Mitchell, played an integral role in this effort, providing land and funding to facilitate the development of the facility.

Representatives from the Digital Domain Media Group, comprised of multiple digital production companies, including the multi-Academy Award-winning Digital Domain (www.digitaldomain.com), Florida State University (www.fsu.edu) and the City of West Palm Beach unveiled the future site of the Digital Domain Institute in downtown West Palm Beach (401 Okeechobee Blvd.).

The presence of Digital Domain Media Group’s new headquarters in Port St. Lucie, as well as the Digital Domain Institute and an adjoining digital production studio in West Palm Beach, will lead to the creation of hundreds of high-paying jobs, as well as thousands of other jobs indirectly connected to Digital Domain Media Group operations. The establishment of a clean industry and state-of-the-art research programs yields the promise of even more economic growth for Florida.

“This agreement is an extraordinarily exciting development for the state of Florida and Florida State University,” said Florida State University President Eric J. Barron. “This pioneering public-private collaboration could be a model for universities nationwide in a time of budget shortfalls.”

For the Digital Domain Media Group, the decision to open a studio in Florida was an easy one, based on the unmatched quality of film-industry professionals produced by Florida State’s College of Motion Picture Arts (www.film.fsu.edu), and the support of the West Palm Beach community, said John Textor, Chairman of the Digital Domain Media Group.

“Florida State’s film school graduates are excellent storytellers, and story is the key to our business,” said Textor. “Floridians just now seem to be learning what leading filmmakers already know — that the quality of Florida State film school graduates’ creative work is among the very best in the country.”

The creation of a jointly operated Digital Domain Institute in West Palm Beach will provide rare opportunities for undergraduate students enrolled in Florida State’s College of Motion Picture Arts. The Digital Domain Institute will provide students with the opportunity to work side-by-side with top industry professionals and become “Digital Domain Certified” in an area of professional specialization of their choice.

The college will establish a new Bachelor of Fine Arts major specifically related to digital media production and a new digital media research center that will focus on industry-sponsored applied research. Students will have the opportunity to work side-by-side with industry professionals on high-profile media projects — and even to conduct research on cutting-edge technologies that have possible applications in the film industry and in other fields. Like the college’s innovative Torchlight Program (www.film.fsu.edu/Undergraduate-Programs/The-Torchlight-Program), this new venture will provide in-depth, real-world experiences that match the college’s unique curriculum.

“Imagine being a film student, and having the opportunity to work on a blockbuster film, likeTron: Legacy before graduation alongside top digital artists in the world,” Florida State College of Motion Picture Arts Dean Frank Patterson said. “These are the types of golden opportunities that educators like me absolutely dream about for their students.”

See the original post here: http://film.fsu.edu/FSU-Film-News/Top-Stories/Digital-Domain-Institute-to-be-developed-in-West-Palm-Beach

—————

3D conversion portion of Digital Domain has company growing rapidly

[By Alexi Howk, T C Palm]

Digital Domain Media Group‘s acquisition of In-Three Inc., a company that pioneered technology to convert flat two-dimensional live action films into 3D stereo imagery, is leading to an explosion in job growth.

That section of the company, now headquartered in Port St. Lucie, is the largest division with 151 employees, And that portion of the company alone is now expected to reach up to 500 jobs, surpassing the company’s goal of hiring 500 overall employees throughout the entire company by 2014.

Originally based in Agoura Hills, Calif., about 10 miles west of Los Angeles, 48 of In-Three’s 65 employees chose to relocate to Port St. Lucie when Digital Domain acquired the company last fall.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s unprecedented that any company has been acquired and that many individuals would relocate 3,000 miles away, so it really showed how much the staff believed in carrying the vision of our company through,” said Jon Karafin, formerly In-Three’s vice president of production operations and now director of production operations at Digital Domain Media Group.

Digital Domain Media Group is the parent company of academy award-winning visual effects studio Digital Domain, which is based in Venice, Calif. Digital Domain Media Group was lured to Port St. Lucie in late 2009 by state and local officials with an incentive package worth nearly $70 million. In exchange, the company agreed to create up to 500 jobs with an average annual salary of $65,000 by 2014.

The goal this year was 90 jobs. However, with the acquisition of In-Three, the company has topped 243 employees so far this year.

The kind of work In-Three and the visual effects side of Digital Domain — which mainly focuses on 2D films — is doing is allowing the company to hire many entry level type positions for job seekers fresh out of college.

“That’s what has allowed us to hire so aggressively local people who we can train,” Digital Domain Media Group CEO John Textor said.

In-Three organized in 1999 to pioneer research and development in stereoscopic reconstruction of two dimensional images and patented a process calledDimensionalization, which makes it possible to convert two-dimensional films into high-quality 3D films. Digital Domain 3D is the new name of the 3D division. However, Karafin said the company owns the In-Three trademarks.

“So we really show that we were really the ones who started the industry,” he said. “There wasn’t any stereo 3D projection essentially when (In-Three was) first developing the technology.”

In-Three has done work on films including, Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “G-Force.”

“What conversion allows you to do that 3D cameras cannot … the purists will say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to shoot it in 3D.’ Well, even the very best directors in the world get (that) this stuff is good. You can take a 10-year-old film like Star Wars and bring it back … in 3D,” Textor said. “The company we acquired owns the six original patents on this whole process.

“We’ve tested this out for all the major directors and producers,” Textor said. “That’s why they were so important to us. They were like the original scientists in space, you know freaky bright guys. “

The patents go back to the late 1990s when a lot of 3D wasn’t being used in films like it is today, Karafin said.

The 3D division is doing work on two Hollywood blockbusters set to be released this summer, and while the company can’t disclose the number of projects in the pipeline, “our capacity at this time is sold out, so there’s room for expansion,” Karafin said.

Because of confidentiality agreements with clients, the company is prohibited from revealing the details until the films are released.

“They will be huge films,” Karafin said, referring to the summer blockbusters.

He said the move to Florida has enabled the company to keep huge portions of its work in-house rather than outsourcing it overseas. He said costs in California are becoming too expensive, so the move to Florida made sense.

“We’re trying to bring industry back to Florida and populate out here,” he said. “The real estate prices are more reasonable, taxes are lower and there are a lot of incentives for any form of film and digital effects production.”

For Karafin, originally from the northeast, it was an easy move.

“Florida is a beautiful state so it wasn’t that difficult of a sell,” he said.

See the original post here: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/apr/22/3d-conversion-portion-of-digital-domain-has/

[Press Release]

DDD Group plc (AIM: DDD), the 3D consumer technology licensing group, has signed a license agreement with Samsung Electronics Company Ltd. (“Samsung”) to bundle DDD’s TriDef® 3D PC software products with Samsung’s new line of 3D PC Monitors.

The two-year license agreement allows Samsung to ship DDD’s TriDef 3D Experience software with Samsung’s 3D Monitor products that were showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) in Las Vegas in January 2011.

Announced at CES, Samsung’s 3D LED Series 7 and Series 9 monitors deliver a wide variety of content in 3D, from 3D gaming to 3D movies, 3D internet content, 3D photos, and 3D broadcast channels. 2D content can be watched on all of the 3D monitors, and many of them have real-time 2D to 3D conversion allowing 2D content to be watched in 3D. Samsung’s 3D monitors offer superior versatility delivering 3D viewing for broadcast, movies and gaming.

Samsung 3D monitors deliver stunning picture quality and color vibrancy. All Samsung 3D monitors have a combination of LED-backlight, 100% sRGB coverage and Samsung’s proprietary Ultra Clear Panel, which combines the vibrancy of a glossy display while maintaining the ease of viewing afforded by an anti-glare matte finish – blacks are deeper and contrast is enhanced.

Samsung’s SA/TA750 and SA/TA950 3D monitors offer a complete 3D solution in the box, including electronic 3D glasses, built-in sync emitter, and TriDef 3D software.

Available in over 37 languages, DDD’s TriDef 3D software allows over four hundred and fifty of the very latest PC games to be played in stereoscopic 3D ‘off the shelf’, even though the game has not been specifically developed for 3D.

DDD’s TriDef Ignition™ 2D to 3D game conversion engine is compatible with DirectX 9, 10 and 11 games. Its (Paris: FR0010370163 - news) unique high-performance stereoscopic 3D render mode enables 3D gaming on Samsung’s 3D PC model line up with no significant compromise in performance and is compatible with PC graphics processors from both AMD (NYSE: AMD - news) as well as Intel (NasdaqGS: INTC - news) ‘s 2^nd Gen Core processors.

In addition to a wide variety of PC games, DDD’s TriDef Media Player automatically converts PC media and photo files from 2D to 3D along with DVD movies and is compatible with the growing library of original 3D content available from DDD’s Yabazam! 3D content portal.

Chris Yewdall, Chief Executive of DDD said:

“We are pleased to have been selected by Samsung to provide the content solution for their new 3D PC products and this agreement broadens our existing relationship with Samsung. TriDef 3D software is fast becoming an industry standard within the emerging 3D PC market.”

See the original press release here: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/DDD-Group-PLC-License-afxcnf-3494080277.html?x=0&.v=1

[by www.tvbeurope.com]

[press release]

Lucasfilm, one of the world’s leading film and entertainment companies, and Prime Focus, the global visual entertainment services company, are proud to announce their collaboration on the 3D conversion of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace for theatrical release, heralding an exciting new era in Star Wars entertainment. Prime Focus was selected by Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) following an exhaustive testing process.

Utilizing Prime Focus’ proprietary View-D™ process, the cutting-edge conversion is scheduled to hit 3D theater screens on February 10, 2012. Involving meticulous crafting and attention to detail by Prime Focus’ global team of artists, the 3D release promises a wonderfully immersive experience for fans of the original, and a big screen introduction for a whole new generation.

“It was incredibly important to me that we have the technology, the resources and the time to do this right,” said Star Wars creator George Lucas. “I’m very happy with the results I’ve been seeing on Episode I.”

Prime Focus founder and CEO Namit Malhotra said: “Wherever you are in the world, the Star Wars films have become part of the very fabric of film-making – the epitome of the big cinema experience. To be chosen by Lucasfilm as a trusted partner, and to be given the time and opportunity to re-present this series as a new experience to both old and new audiences alike, is an incredible honor. For a project of this importance and magnitude, Lucasfilm and ILM would only have chosen a company with the best talent in the industry, leading proprietary technology and infrastructure, a production-proven pipeline and unmatched scale. I am hugely proud that Prime Focus is that company.”

The extensive conversion process is being completed under the close supervision of John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor for ILM.

“Getting really good results from stereo conversion requires a lot of attention to detail and it is imperative that you take the time to get it right – and that’s just what we’re doing,” said Knoll. “We’re taking a different approach than you might expect. George’s vision has been to add dimension to the film in subtle ways. This isn’t a novelty conversion, with things jumping out at the audience; our goal has been to enhance the classic Star Wars theatrical experience, utilizing the latest cinematic tools and techniques.”

Prime Focus is a global leader in 3D conversion and VFX, and has delivered work on films such as Avatar, Shrek, Tron: Legacy, Narnia: Dawn Treader and most recently Sucker Punch. Deploying its global View-D™ conversion team on the Star Wars project, led out of the Prime Focus Hollywood office, artists in Los Angeles, London and Mumbai are delivering shots via Prime Focus’ ‘Global Digital Pipeline™.’ In collaboration with ILM, the meticulous conversion is being completed with the utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.

Find out more about Prime Focus 3D at www.primefocus3d.com. Prime Focus is exhibiting at the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas April 11-14 – visit us at booth number #SL10205, South Lower Hall.

See the original post here: http://www.primefocusworld.com/news/2011/03/lucasfilm-works-prime-focus-convert-star-wars-episode-i-phantom-menace-3d

“Designed specifically for 3DTV sports, Stergen’s software takes advantage of sports- specific features, such as the planar and uniformly colored playing field, enabling accurate segmentation of objects like players, balls, and goal posts. A known geometry is then assigned to those objects; for example, players and goal posts are vertical, the field is horizontal, and stands have a known slope.”

—–

[press release]

In the same way that sports was the “killer app” that fueled early interest in HDTV, many sports networks such as ESPN 3D and Sky 3D are betting that live sports will drive the fledgling 3DTV medium. With many sports aficionados among the early adopters of 3DTV, broadcasters are hustling to produce as much live 3DTV sports as possible, and they need stereo 3D production tools that make the job faster, easier, and more cost-effective.

To answer that need, Stergen, a strategic partner of Vizrt, will show its new and groundbreaking Stergen Live software for live 2D to stereoscopic 3D conversion at Vizrt’s booth (#SL5408) at the 2011 NAB show, to be held from April 11-14 in Las Vegas, Nev. Unlike many of its rivaling options in the market, the software does not compromise on quality, making the end-product a real treat – even for the pickiest of eyes.

Stergen products can also be used for after-the-fact conversion of 2D footage, processing select game segments for 3D highlight programs and turning legacy archive materials into stereoscopic 3D content.

“Stergen software enables broadcasters and sports production companies to produce games in stereo 3D with their existing HD broadcast equipment,” said Dr. Miky Tamir, founder of Stergen. “This spares them the huge operational costs associated with the transition to stereo 3D, especially for live stereo 3D HD acquisition. Aside from adding the Stergen 2D to stereo 3D conversion software, their existing HD production infrastructure remains practically unchanged. This presents a very compelling value proposition for those seeking to expand their stereo 3D program offerings as simply and cost-effectively as possible.”

Stergen Live, which receives an HD signal via its SDI input and outputs the conversion results from dual SDI outputs, generates a realistic 3D stereoscopic video program of the event. Stergen Highlights executes 2D to stereo 3D conversion on video that’s already been produced, making it ideal for the conversion of existing 2D media assets, such as highlights programs, and for legacy archive materials.

“Stergen Live offer sports producers a compelling alternative to expensive, logistically complex live stereo 3D production,” said Gerhard Lang, Vizrt’s Chief Engineering Officer. “The ease and cost-effectiveness this provides will prove a game changer for 3DTV sports production. We’re extremely pleased to partner with Stergen to offer this exciting 2D to stereo 3D conversion technology as an integrated capability within our digital graphics and production environment.”

Designed specifically for 3DTV sports, Stergen’s software takes advantage of sports- specific features, such as the planar and uniformly colored playing field, enabling accurate segmentation of objects like players, balls, and goal posts. A known geometry is then assigned to those objects; for example, players and goal posts are vertical, the field is horizontal, and stands have a known slope.

On–the-fly calculation of the scene’s geometry and its stereoscopic 3D image rendering are then performed. This stereo information can be used by various 3D graphics systems for positioning their graphics in the image depth dimenstion. The in-booth video displays will showcase the tight integration between the Stergen software and Vizrt’s own stereo 3D digital production workflow.

Stergen offers high operational flexibility: in-stadium conversion of a single camera or a number of cameras connected through a matrix switcher, in-studio conversion of a live program feed and after-the-fact converison of pre-recorded footage.

Stergen Live is currently available. Several broadcasters and sports production companies have already conducted their own successful real-time demonstrations. The first field trials are set to begin in April.

About Stergen
Stergen is an Israeli startup company founded on January 2010 by Miky Tamir, Avi Klinger, Itzik Wilf and TheTime Investment Company. Stergen develops 2D to 3D video conversion technologies for the TV sports market.

About Vizrt:
Vizrt provides real-time 3D graphics and asset management tools for the broadcast industry and media houses – from award-winning animations & maps to online publishing tools. Vizrt’s products are used by the world’s leading broadcasters and publishing houses, including: CNN, CBS, Fox, the BBC, BSkyB, ITN, ZDF, Star TV, Network 18, TV Today, CCTV, NHK, The Globe and Mail, Times Online, The Telegraph, and Welt Online. Furthermore, many world-class production houses and corporate institutions such as the Stock Exchanges in New York and London use Vizrt systems.

See the original post here:  http://www.prlog.org/11410632-vizrt-to-demo-integration-with-stergen-live-2d-to-stereo-3d-conversion-software-at-2011-nab.html

[by Herald.ie]

Director James Cameron has revealed he is converting his blockbuster Titanic to 3D for release next year.

The movie, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio, was one of the highest grossing films of all time.

All six Star Wars films are also in line for the 3D treatment as movie bosses ramp up the new format.

Done properly, 2D movies converted to 3D can look fantastic, Cameron said.

“We have our third generation now of kids who are under 12 years old who have never seen Star Wars on the big screen,” fellow director George Lucas added.

“And I am betting a lot of people will go see a movie that they have seen on television a million times and they have the video at home, and they will go and see it because they want to see it in the theatre in a social experience.”

CRAZE

Star Wars creator Lucas says 3D will eventually take over at the cinema in the way colour replaced black and white.

Lucas and fellow technology pioneers Cameron, the maker of Avatar, and DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg pointed out that digital film-making was only in its infancy but would bring vast improvements to how movies were made and seen.

Digital technology in general was revolutionising film-making the way sound did in the 1920s, Lucas said. The new digital 3D craze had hits and misses, but should one day become the big-screen standard over 2D presentation, he added.

See the original story here: http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/film-cinema/titanic-and-star-wars-are-returning-in-3d-2602325.html

[Philip Lelyveld comment: the story is about a new Russian native-3D production company and conversion house entering the US market]

[by Oleg Nikishenkov, themoscownews.com]

A group of US and Russian businessmen have set up a venture to bring Russian 3D technologies to Hollywood.
Leonard Nebons, a consultant and private investor, together with Mike Lane, a partner in the Los Angeles-based company 4Intertainment, and Oleg Stepanov, head of Russia’s 3DTV Vision, found each other last year when then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the Russian capital.
“We had a meeting with Arnold Schwarzenegger at Spaso House and told him how much Russians love his movies, and that we could reissue his movies in Russia in 3D,” Nebons told The Moscow News in an interview.
Lane, a music marketing executive who has promoted such talents as Motley Crue, Blondie, Yes, Meat Loaf and The Cranberries, also got on board. His first Russian assignment was Fox Home Entertainment’s project to promote a new DVD electronic magazine business worldwide.
Quality issue

Nebons said that Schwarzenegger’s people were initially concerned about the quality of 3D movies produced in Russia, but they were soon persuaded it was no problem. “We checked movies made here together and they discovered that 3D in Russia was as good as in Hollywood,” Nebons said.
The films and cartoons were converted into 3D by Stepanov’s company. His portfolio includes BBC’s “Turtle, The Incredible Journey” and Russia’s “Belka and Strelka: Star Dogs”.
Stepanov has been working on developing 3D in Russia for the last five years. He told The Moscow News that he was offered a job in a joint venture between cable network NTV-Plus and Panasonic, who launched the first Russian 3D TV channel, but decided to focus instead on movie-making.
Conversion the key

“All 3D channels will face the problem of content and they’ll come to companies like ours,” Stepanov said. In the future 3D TV channels will have to convert a lot of old, classic movies if they want to avoid constantly repeating content, he said.
Electronics manufacturers hope to produce some 100 million 3D TV sets worldwide in the next three years, but these plans depend on there being enough 3D content. While the current average price for a 3D TV set in Russia is about $2,000, production of a TV movie and even conversion from 2D to 3D remains incredibly expensive and it takes long time to do it, Stepanov said.

The average 2D-3D conversion cost in Hollywood varies greatly, from $20,000 to $100,000 per minute of film, depending on the technical complexity of movie scenes.
Offering a discount

Nebons and his partners claim their venture can offer a 40 per cent discount on Hollywood’s conversion rates.
The first Schwarzenegger movie expected to get the 3D treatment is his 1984 classic “The Terminator”, which is quite a complex technical challenge. Nebons, Lane and Stepanov are hoping that Russian 3D technicians will be hired to do the conversion work.
“We’ll make the 3DTV not just local, but an international company, given that software specialists from Russia already have good reputation here,” Lane said.
Jumping on the bandwagon

Russia has still a long way to go to catch up with Hollywood, where already more than 100 movies have been produced in 3D.
The biggest worldwide 3D sensation so far, James Cameron’s “Avatar”, was a smash hit in the Russian box office too, prompting Russian film companies to jump on the 3D bandwagon.
About 800 of Russia’s 1,800 cinemas are already equipped to screen 3D movies, including all new cinemas being opened, Stepanov said.
But just showing a film in 3D is no guarantee of success. Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Nutcracker”, released at the end of 2010with a $90 million budget and 3D made in Hollywood, was a flop commercially.
New artistic formats
The 3D format could also breathe new life into other artistic spheres, said Lane, potentially turning a museum into a concert hall and giving a new dimension to art galleries.
“3D will change how we look at visual arts within the next two years,” he said.
Moscow has seen some evidence of this trend already, with Yury Bashmet’s orchestra trying an experimental performance in the city last November. During the concert Russian avant-garde paintings from the Tretyakov Art Gallery were shown in 3D. Although ticket prices were set high for Moscow, at $80 to $300, the concert was completely sold out.

See the original post with more pictures here: http://themoscownews.com/bizfeature/20110314/188492672.html?referfrommn