state of the technology for DreamWorks speaks home viewing in stereo.
“There are ancillary tech-
nologies coming online, such as graphics processor cards for
IPTV Broadcast Production & Post Content Show Highlights Mobile TV Out-of-Home Media
BY MICHAEL GOLDMAN, SENIOR EDITOR, MILLIMETER
computers – ASIC (application-
specific integrated circuit)
developments for playback to a In the last year, Hollywood’s would like. Thus, dreamWorks
whole multitude of 3d devices,” leading evangelists for acceler- is pushing its stereoscopic
he says. ating the rewiring of traditional Cg film pipeline forward with
But will the public embrace movie theaters into high-end confidence. Officials at the
stereoscopic 3d at home, as it digital cinemas capable of studio say that, as the NAB
has to a degree in cinemas, with showing stereoscopic 3d Show looms, they are particu-
its continued current require- movies have been executives larly pleased with the state of
ment for clunky polarized or from dreamWorks Animation, technology that allows them
active-shutter glasses? A few led by company chief Jeffrey to more efficiently author Cg
display companies that will be Katzenberg, who announced feature films as native stereo-
exhibiting at the NAB Show that all dreamWorks animated scopic fare from the get-go.
think that autostereoscopic films, starting with this March’s “The idea is that 3d is mov-
(glasses-free) 3d will provide “Monsters vs. Aliens,” would be ing out of being thought of as a
stereo’s tipping point, and they natively produced as 3d prod- gimmick, and with these new
say that technology is, in fact, uct from now on. authoring tools, it can instead
on the way. Eventually, Hollywood stu- be part of the initial storytelling
Philips 3D Solutions (Booth dios and a consortium of cinema process,” explains dreamWorks
SL9220A) is one company that owners (called digital Cinema Chief Technology Officer Ed
will be exhibiting in the NAB Implementation Partners – Leonard. “In our case, Cg ani-
Show’s inaugural 3D Pavilion dCIP) jump-started stalled mation is even better suited than
(Booth SL9220). Its 2d-plus- negotiations about accelerating live action for this format. We
depth content format has been the conversion process across render things in the 3d world to
displayed on the show floor in the nation, and late last year, begin with, so adding a two-
Las Vegas since 2006, and com- dCIP and several studios finally camera renderer for two eyes to
pany officials say it continues reached an agreement to has- give a stereo view is almost triv-
to mature. Alioscopy is another ten the process of expanding ial in our case, and even better,
manufacturer of autostereo- stereoscopic’s cinematic reach. we can also create interactive
scopic displays. That company’s Then, of course, the econo- tools to pay attention to how we
NEC screens with lenticular my bottomed out, slowing the use 3d for storytelling and mood
overlays display content with process once again. Still, there during the filmmaking process.
eight camera views, and Alios- is agreement on moving it for- In the same way we use music,
copy officials see an exploding ward, and it is moving forward, color and cinematography, di-
digital-signage market that’s albeit slower than Katzenberg mensionality and depth in 3d is
continued on page 14 and many others in Hollywood now being used for storytelling
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