News Stories

NAB: Next3D and Turner Broadcasting Expand Alliance to Include Stereoscopic 3D Production and Delivery of Live Events

[Press Release]

Next3D and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) have expanded their collaborative alliance to include efforts to deploy 3D technology for the real-time production and streaming delivery of Live events to the emerging home 3D audience. The relationship leverages Next3D’s proprietary stereoscopic encoding technology and content delivery service to implement industry leading tools and techniques for end-to-end stereoscopic content acquisition and delivery.

“Our approach is to partner with advantaged technology companies, such as Next3D, to deliver high-quality 3D content over existing digital infrastructure,” said Jim McCaffrey, Executive Vice President, Operations & Strategy Chief Strategy Officer Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. “Next3D has demonstrated to us that its compression technology addresses some of the major challenges to delivering 3D content.”

“Next3D technology preserves and enhances image quality, producing a theater-like experience, the way 3D in the home should be,” said Steve Heyer, Chairman of Next3D. “Partnering with Turner to deliver Live events in vibrant High-Definition 3D is an important vote of confidence for us.”

Unlike current 3DTV broadcasting methods, which squeeze the 3D image into a single 2D image frame, Next3D’s patent-pending technology enables stereoscopic 3D video encoding and delivery in full high-definition 1080p. Reducing the amount of data to deliver a high definition 3D image by up to 75%, Next3D encoding reduces the bandwidth needed for home-delivery without sacrificing image quality. The ground-breaking technology also retains and enhances image details, critical to pristine 3D HD.

Next3D will demonstrate its advances in 3D technology at NAB 2011 in Las Vegas. To schedule a meeting or request an interview with company executives, visitnext3d.com or contact Pedro Chen (pedrochen@maxborgesagency.com).

See the original post here: http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/BW/20110405006806_univ.xml

 

Disneyland Park to Host World Premiere of 3D ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ May 7

[by George Savvas, Public Relations Director, Disneyland Resort]

[Excerpt]

Disneyland park will make history on May 7 when we host the first-ever 3D outdoor film premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” to benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of America. All of the film’s stars are expected to attend along with many more Hollywood celebrities.

The Walt Disney Company is hosting the gala event and funds raised from ticket sales will go directly to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The mission of Boys & Girls Clubs of America is to enable all young people, especially those who need it most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

Individual tickets for the premiere event are priced at $1,000 and are now available for purchase atwww.piratespremiere.com.

While only invited guests with the proper credentials may attend the film premiere, a limited number of Disneyland park guests may be able to view the “Red Carpet Arrivals” (the carpet is actually going to be black this time!) on Main Street, U.S.A., although, again, viewing capacity will be very limited.

Disneyland Resort park hours have been adjusted on May 7 for this very special event. Disneyland park will open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. Disney California Adventure park will open at 10 a.m. and close at 11 p.m.

 

Walt Disney Pictures’ and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” opens in theaters May 20, 2011, in Disney Digital 3D™ – and for those of you who simply cannot wait, remember, you can “join Jack’s crew” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights through May 30, and seven nights a week from April 15 through May 1, exclusively at Disneyland park!

See the full post, with video, here: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/04/disneyland-park-to-host-world-premiere-of-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-may-7/

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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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