News Stories

World’s first 3D TV tuner card – 3D TV comes to your PC

10.14.2010

Why spend thousands on a 3D TV set? For a lot less, you can add AVerMedia’s 3D TV card to your PC and watch local 3D broadcasts. The strange thing is, they DO look better on a PC.

If you want to take TV on your PC to the next level, there’s only one way to go – add the world’s first 3D TV tuner card. Together with some other necessary accessories (a 3D-capable monitor, 3D graphics card and 3D glasses kit), AVerMedia’s AVer3D CaptureHD will let you watch 3D TV broadcasts on your PC that are as good as anything you’ll see on a proper 3D TV.

While 3D broadcasts are still relatively rare  – launched in Australia in 2010 when Channel Nine screened the NSW vs Queensland State of Orgin rugby league series – many more are planned by the TV networks in 2011. The conventional way to see one is to buy one of the 3D TVs now on the market, from vendors like Samsung, Sony or Panasonic. These TVs won’t leave you with much change from $4,000.

Full story with many pictures here: http://apcmag.com/worlds-first-3d-tv-tuner-card.htm

Or you can spend around $1,000 to get 3D television on your PC. The AVer3D CaptureHD card itself retails for $199. Distributed in Australia by Altech, the PCI-e card  lets you tune into 3D broadcasts and also record and manage them with its 3D Media Center software. In all other respects it’s a standard HDTV tuner card, able to display and record full 1080p HDTV. AVerMedia says a USB dongle version will be announced soon.

Convergent Design adds anaglyph recording to nano3D (Product announcement)

10.12.2010

Convergent Design’s nano3D recorder simplifies 3-D field production by incorporating image-processing functions within the recorder. It offers isolated left/right-channel recording, necessary for post production rotate, crop and resize operations. In addition, the nano3D provides a simple workflow that is scalable from 2-D to 3-D, so production and rental companies don’t have to invest in different recording technologies‚ according to Mike Schell, president of Convergent Design.

The company is now offering a new firmware upgrade (available to existing customers for free) that adds anaglyph capability, allowing users to evaluate the stereoscopic images using a standard 2-D HD monitor. This eliminates the need to purchase and transport large, expensive 3-D monitors for field production. In addition to anaglyph, a 50/50 combine function has been added to help judge vertical and horizontal disparities.

Convergent Design has released a new firmware upgrade that allows users to evaluate stereoscopic images using a standard 2-D HD monitor.

There’s also a revamped menu control for the nano3D that includes a menu sync function. Instead of changing menus for the individual left and right recorders, all menu changes to the master (left) recorder will automatically be duplicated (synched) in the slave (right) recorder. Additionally, no menu changes will be required to switch between record and playback modes.

The new nano3D 1.6.145 firmware can be downloaded at http://convergent-design.com//Portals/58/Updates/nano3D/nano3D_1.6.145.zip/.

original post: http://broadcastengineering.com/products/convergent-design-adds-anaglyph-recording-nano3d-20101012/

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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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