3ality Digital, LLC, a leading stereoscopic 3D (S3D) technology and production company, announced that it will collaborate with Verizon FiOS TV to deliver the first televised NFL game in S3D, which will be available to FiOS TV customers in parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The shoot will be among the first to feature 3ality Digital’s new and highly versatile TS-5 rig.
Verizon FiOS1 Executive Producer, Orlando Martinez, along with Nicky Nichols Productions and Stephen Warner of Third Wave Productions selected NEP Broadcasting LLC and 3ality Digital as the premier vendors to shoot the Sept. 2 preseason match-up between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, which will be telecast from the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
“We’re looking forward to working with Verizon to bring the action of the world’s premier sports league home to consumers in crystal clear S3D,” said 3ality Digital Director of Production Ted Kenney. “This league-first will be an opportunity for consumers to experience the transformative nature of S3D in the comfort of their own homes.”
3ality Digital enabled the first-ever live S3D broadcast of an NFL game in 2008; that production of a Thursday Night Football game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers was made available to select audiences at three U.S. theatres as a proof of concept.
Since the Thursday Night Football broadcast, 3ality Digital has been at the forefront of other groundbreaking S3D sports productions, such as Fox’s presentation of the 2009 BCS Championship game between the University of Florida Gators and the University of Oklahoma Sooners, and the New York Rangers-New York Islanders NHL game played on March 24, 2010, as well as the first S3D broadcast of a NASCAR race, the Coke Zero 400, presented on DirecTV’s n3D channel on July 3rd, 2010.
For the upcoming Giants-Patriots game, 3ality Digital will work with NEP Broadcasting, the leading international provider of outsourced broadcasting services, to help ensure the highest quality production. NEP Supershooters, a division of NEP Broadcasting, will be providing state-of-the-art mobile broadcast facilities for the shoot.
To capture all the action, 3ality Digital will be using a total of six rigs, including three TS-2 beam-splitter rigs, one TS-4 side-by-side rig and two of the company’s new TS-5 rigs. The TS-5 is the first fully-automated, remotely-aligned, hand-held lightweight beam-splitter on the market. Designed for wireless camera operations in tight spaces, it can be mounted on a Steadicam for maximum flexibility.
“S3D is uniquely able to bring the size and speed of NFL players to life on-screen,” Kenney said. “While football is exciting in 2D, it is completely immersive in S3D, giving viewers a whole new perspective on an experience they already love.”
FiOS TV customers in the region with S3D enabled televisions, 3D glasses and high-definition set-top boxes will be able to watch the preseason broadcast on FiOS1 Channel 834.
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