News Stories

RealD and Royal Opera House to Film Madama Butterfly in 3D

4.14.2011

[Press Release]

RealD Inc. and the Royal Opera House today announced that the companies are collaborating on the filming of Madama Butterfly in 3D for release exclusively in RealD 3D-equipped theatres worldwide. A follow-up to the companies’ recent co-production of Carmen in 3D, the first-ever opera filmed and distributed to theatres in 3D, Madama Butterfly will be a co-production of RealD and the Royal Opera House, filmed during live performances at Covent Garden in July and released in RealD 3D-equipped theatres on a date to be announced in 2012.

 

 

“We are committed to leveraging the immersive power of our 3D technology to give audiences a truly differentiated entertainment experience while providing our theatre partners with exclusive added value content,” said Joseph Peixoto, President, Worldwide Cinema at RealD. “Madama Butterfly will build on our successful production of Carmen in 3D by giving 3D fans a unique perspective on the arts and expanding the 3D cinema opportunity by introducing new audiences around the world to the RealD 3D experience. Madama Butterfly in RealD 3D will allow audiences to go beyond simply watching the performance and feel as if they’ve literally stepped into Covent Garden and on stage alongside the performers.”

 

 

Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, added, “Madama Butterfly is one of our audiences’ favorite productions, so to be able to share this with a global audience with the power of 3D in cinemas is wonderful. It’s an opera full of drama and stunning music. I’m really pleased that we can build on the success of Carmen in 3D with RealD and progress our partnership in creating unique experiences for opera and cinema fans the world over.”

 

 

The performance’s stage direction is by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, with cast including Patricia Racette in the titular role of Cio-Cio-San, a role for which she is acclaimed worldwide, and James Valenti, as a dashing Pinkerton. The esteemed Andris Nelsons will conduct The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Reprising their roles from Carmen in 3D, Phil Streather will produce and Julian Napier will direct for film.

 

 

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is the story of a Japanese geisha’s unwavering love for an American naval officer whose thoughtless toying with her devotion is the catalyst for this timeless tragic tale. Madama Butterflyfeatures music of rare and sensual beauty, but also of heartrending power as the tragedy unfolds to its devastating conclusion. The opera’s ravishing score features such wonderfully lyrical passages as Cio-Cio-San’s first entrance, Pinkerton’s seduction of her, the famous Humming chorus, and of course Butterfly’s ‘un bel dì vedremo’.

See the press release here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/RealD-and-Royal-Opera-House-bw-1557912321.html?x=0&.v=1

 

3D can be new standard for shooters, says SOCOM dev

4.13.2011

 

[by CVG staff, www.computerandvideogames.com]

A 3D display could soon become a new standard for shooters, according to the developer of PS3 FPS titles Mag and SOCOM 4.

Killzone 3, Crysis 2 and Call Of Duty: Black Ops have all recently included the option to play in stereoscopic 3D, winning rave reviews from critics for the implementation of the tech.

SOCOM 4: Special Forces, which releases in Europe next week, is the latest big hitter to go 3D, and we recently joined lead designer Travis Steiner during a Special Forces co-op event for a chat about both the game and life at Zipper Interactive.

During the course of a extensive interview which will be appearing on CVG soon, the conversation turned to how important 3D might become for the shooter genre. We asked Steiner if he thought 3D is likely to become a new industry standard.

He said: “Yeah, certainly… It’s been great [to use 3D] in SOCOM and it’s definitely something that we’re going to see more of in games in the future.”

Killzone 3 and now SOCOM 4 are at the forefront of 3D implementation on PS3, but what exactly does that third dimension really add to a game and how important has it been in the development of SOCOM 4?

Steiner was enthusiastic about its virtues saying: “Our goal is to make the game feel as realistic as possible and I think 3D is a big step in getting players immersed in the combat.”

“The 3D implementation in SOCOM really brings the locations to life. You really see great depth in the environment and when the combat starts. There’s things you notice a lot more.

“Particularly incoming enemy fire, rockets, grenades machine gun fire, you know it makes you tense up and feel like you’re really in danger.”

See the original post here: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/297979/news/3d-can-be-new-standard-for-shooters-says-socom-dev/

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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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