That’s right, I am here in Las Vegas spending 6 days at NAB getting smarter about all aspects of 3D - from content creation to post production; from cinema exhibition to home distribution methods and standards; from mobile to TV displays. It is enough to make you see double - literally and figuratively.

Chris Chinnock
Senior Analyst and Editor
for Insight Media

On Saturday and Sunday, I attended the Digital Cinema Summit, a really good conference that provided insight into the dynamics of the cinema industry including content creation, exhibitor issues and the status of the rollout of 2D and 3D screens. The good news - the credit markets are thawing so funds for the continuance of the rollout should start to flow this summer, but others are taking matters into their own hands too. We learned for example, that NEC has two financing programs, IMAX is self funding an aggressive roll-out and Sony isn’t asking for money to roll out its thousands of new 4K projectors to AMC.

SMPTE has also released its report on the 3D mastering process and it is available for only $20. It describes the requirements to create a 3D home master that will then be used to create derivative versions for delivery over various distribution channels and packaged media. It does not specify these formats, however.

I also learned a lot about the art and science of creating good 3D, hearing tips from numerous experts in CG, motion capture, live action and stop action. The very clear message was that this is a totally new medium with a whole new pallet - depth. As Buzz Hayes says, "It’s easy to create 3D; it’s hard to create good 3D." He got that right.

I saw many really excellent examples of good 3D including new trailers and clips from Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs, Cars II, Tron II, Toy Story III and Coraline. Everyone loved the scenes from "My Bloodly Valentine 3D", and I gained a new appreciation for the techniques pioneered in the U2 3D film too.

But I also saw plenty of painful 3D - whole sequences, scenes and cuts. There is a core group of stereographers that "get it", which means there is a huge need to train thousands more in this new medium. Luckily, 3Ality has launched a new training program to address this.

I also attended sessions that discussed consumer perceptions of 3D (ETC and CEA) and 3D sports in theaters. One really insightful take away from this session was the notion of building a business model around selling a seat location in an arena that offers a single 3D camera shot of the entire game. That is much more like being there and with 3D, it allows you to linger on shots, look at the people in the stands, etc. "It is like selling Jack Nicholson’s seat at a Laker’s game," quipped the NBA’s Steve Hellmuth. I’ve got to believe people would pay good money for this experience.

Today, we had an informational meeting of the 3D @ Home Consortium to highlight what we have done in our first year. With 40 members now working actively with several standards bodies, and reaching out to several more, attendees saw that the work product of the consortium is valuable and is indeed helping various organizations improve their knowledge and hasten decisions - exactly the goal of the consortium. I was gratified to hear feedback from several companies that said they would now be reconsidering their participation, as they liked what they saw and heard.

A new member, EUTELSAT, also spoke at the event and said it would now make available a satellite channel for 3D developers to experiment on - essentially creating a 3D delivery sandbox. Clever idea. This afternoon was spent in face to face meetings with each of the four consortium steering teams, where the strategies of each group were discussed and refined to be sure we are providing information and services that the industry and our members need and want.

I still have two days to go. These will be spent on the NAB show floor looking for the latest 3D cameras, post-production equipment, monitors and TV. On my list: Panasonic, JVC, Binocle, nVidia, Christie, Sony, Da-Lite, Avid, Autodesk, IDC/Sensio, 3DTV/Magnetic, 3Ality ColorCode/Wagner Media, NICT, Eizo, Virtz/Stat, TDVision/Magnum and more.

Want to get the inside scoop on what is really happening in the 3D industry: join the 3D @ Home Consortium; subscribe to our newsletters, buy our 3D reports or talk to our analysts about a consulting project.