News Stories

DDD licenses 2D to 3D PC game and video software products to Samsung

4.14.2011

[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 2nd 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

Stergen 2D-3D ‘even better than the real thing’

4.11.2011

[by www.tvbeurope.com]

Chairman and founder of Stergen Hi-Tech, Miky Tamir, has invented a new 2D to 3D software conversion tool which he believes boasts superior technology to that of live 3D captured natively with rigs.
Tamir is confident that his patent-pending software will be used by European sportscasters for the 2011-12 football season. The software is optimized for soccer, but versions for American Football, rugby, tennis and baseball are being developed; and it has been trialed by four broadcasters, with Stergen set to announce first sales at NAB.
“There are many 2D – 3D conversion systems and software codes based on general purpose algorithms which, when applied to a sports feed, give an impression of 3D but very far from real 3D because the depth perception is very weak,” says Tamir, who previously co-founded virtual sets specialist Orad Hi-Tech and sports data and tracking systems vendor Sportvu.
Stergen’s concept, specific to sports, takes cognizance of the geometry of the pitch and stadia: “If you could convert the video to a 3D model you could render the other eye very accurately,” says Tamir. “With sports we know about the environment such as the playing field, goalposts and stands, so we are able to separate every frame into its component objects – ball, players, stands, posts; and to each component, we apply appropriate geometry to generate a true and accurate 3D conversion.”
The geometry is classified as players and goal poles are vertical, the pitch is horizontal, and stands have a known slope. The bulk of soccer editorial is captured using the high and wide shot position which in 3D is widely regarded as looking flat.
“The virtual cameras in Stergen’s process have the versatility to be placed one or two metres apart from each other thus enhancing the 3D effect,” says Tamir. “We can play with convergence and converge as a function of a zoom which cannot be done in reality,” he says. “We have proved it to customers – our virtual cameras generate better 3D than real ones.”
The software, which runs from standard HP Z800 workstations, can be placed anywhere on the video path and will automatically detect a cut between camera and select the right algorithm for that camera angle.
“Broadcasters can operate it from the stadia or in a studio, saving greatly on the costs of a 3D outside broadcast,” says Tamir.
Input to the system is 2D SDI and output is either two SDI signals or side by side, line by line or whatever 3D format is required. Tamir says there’s a two second delay on the process, being brought down to one second; and that the technology is even applicable to horse racing or golf where there is undulating ground and less of a pre-defined area.
Interestingly, archive clips of legendary soccer players Maradona and Pele have been post converted using Stergen’s software.
In addition, Tamir claims the technology is uniquely positioned to contribute 3D content to autostereoscopic displays: “To produce autostereo content you need not just two views, but eight to nine views; and to produce that, you need eight to nine cameras beside each other, which is simply not possible. So in that case you are left with generating the views in software – this is a byproduct of our system.”
Stergen High-Tech is an Israeli company founded 18 months ago and 20% owned by graphics developer VizRT.
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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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