Sunday, October 03, 2010

3D TV Debunked

This year's IBC in Amsterdam was dominated by claims of 3D's breakthrough. If you believed the blurb then you might be persuaded to chuck your 2D camera and film everything in 3D from now on. I can't see the shutter glasses taking on - not only do they cost a fortune, they need a battery and my experience is that the battery is always dead at the wrong moment.

I would wait a bit. Not only is the 3D distribution technology far from being all figured out yet, we're only in the very stages of understanding the production grammar needed to make enthralling 3D. Alice in Wonderland was great in 3D. But a lot of the rest is very poor - infact it gives me a headache. In short, it all not ready for prime time. But that doesn't mean we should be ignoring it in the long-term. I think we need to learn how to use 3D in clever ways. I see it more for the cinema, where the stereographers can control the Z axis during the shooting, whereas live events must be almost impossible to frame correctly.

Watch this interview with David Wood, Deputy Technology at the EBU who does a great summary of where we are at the moment with 3D. Filming at IBC is a challenge because of the limited lighting and the background noise. But I think David's story comes through clearly.


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