Next month’s launch of the world’s first live 3D transmission of an international sports event will blaze the trail for a 3D London 2012, a pioneer of the technology has told BritSport Weekly.
Andy Mills, director with Inition, one of three companies that make up The 3DFirm, which is now showcasing the technology in the UK, said: “There is great potential for 3D in sport and I’d be very surprised if we didn’t have live 3D transmissions into cinemas, bespoke venues and people’s homes by 2012.”
The 3DFirm, in conjunction with BBC resources, will launch its drive into the mainstream on March 8 when its shoots the Calcutta Cup match between Scotland and England in 3D alongside the normal BBC TV coverage.
“There is a precedent for live 3D, but this has never been done in the international sporting arena,” says Mills. “For last year’s NBA finals, live 3D was trialed for an invited audience and then screened to an audience of 14,000 on three big screens. The reaction was fantastic - the crowd acted as though they were at the game.”
And for those who claim 3D is nothing but a gimmick, Mills replies that 3D coverage of sport is not about distracting special effects. “It’s not about things flying towards you, it’s more of a window into the game. Over 90 minutes, it needs to be quite a subtle 3D event. You don’t want to cut between cameras a lot in 3D, so you use fewer camera positions and try to recreate the best seat in the house.”
For the Scotland versus England clash there will be just three camera positions – at the halfway line and at both ends of the pitch. The 3D material will then be transmitted via satellite to a specially invited audience of industry and press who will watch the match live on a big screen at the Riverside in London.
3D depends on a big screen for maximum impact, Mills adds, but with digital cinemas increasingly the norm, the technology is available for live transmission to the cinema or - as would be more cost effective - to 50 cinemas. Meanwhile, there are already 3D televisions on the market, including two from Samsung, and one from Philips. The ‘Philips Wow Display’, says Mills, is ‘glasses-free’ and will be on display at the Scotland/England screening.
If, as Mills predicts, 3D is to become mainstream by 2012, another factor in its favour is cost. Paul Carter, head of Axis Films, an outside broadcast partner in The 3Dfirm, explains how digital production systems have made it much cheaper to shoot in 3D.
"With digital there's only a 20-30 per cent cost difference [for film making] on the whole process and that's making a lot of people shooting 2D consider giving it a go," he said. “For sport, you currently need to shoot with two cameras in each position, but that doesn’t mean a doubling of the cost of the entire production. In terms of the live event, however, we will be a lot wiser about the costs after the Scotland match.”
Carter is confident there is a ready market for the technology. “Driving past Twickenham when England were playing France in Paris last weekend, one could easily imagine a scenario when 3D coverage is projected back into the stadium with 20,000 people in the ground paying £30 each. It will initially be available only in cinemas, then stadia and then TV further down the line. I think there will be live 3D events before London 2012, but they will have to be special events.”
The 3DFirm is a European-based alliance between Axis, Inition and Can Communicate, formed to provide a comprehensive solution for delivering high quality stereoscopic 3D experiences.
