News 3D

Arqiva has successfully delivered the world’s first transatlantic 3D High Definition broadcast, at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam.

IBC chose Arqiva to provide the satellite connectivity between the USA and Europe, with other key technologies being provided by industry leaders including Real D, Christie and 3Ality Digital.

Over 1000 delegates watched a live interview with Dream Works Animation SKG CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg on Sunday 14 September. The satellite transmission was uplinked from Los Angeles, USA and transmitted in a single hop via the IS9 satellite owned and operated by Intelsat - Arqiva’s chosen Digital Cinema satellite partner. An Arqiva SNG truck downlinked the signal in Amsterdam, Holland, enabling the IBC audience to experience this world first.

“Digital Cinema is an important new medium and demand for alternative content is growing rapidly,” said Barrie Woolston, commercial director at Arqiva’s Satellite Media Solutions division. “Live 3D High Definition broadcasts add an exciting new dimension to the audience experience and present significant opportunities for live event organisers and exhibitors. The big screen is the perfect showcase for the 3D experience and this demonstration has highlighted its enormous possibilities for driving revenues across an exhibitor’s network.”

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. announced that Pandamonium will be back in 2011 when the sequel to its worldwide hit, Kung Fu Panda, is expected to hit theaters on June 3, 2011. The Company also anticipates releasing the film into IMAX® theatres worldwide. Kung Fu Panda 2, like all DreamWorks Animation feature films starting in 2009, will be produced in stereoscopic 3D technology.

During its theatrical run, Kung Fu Panda has reached over $626 million in worldwide box office to date, making it one of the most successful films of 2008 and DreamWorks Animation’s most successful original film ever. The sequel will follow Po, the world’s biggest kung fu fan, as he continues his journey as the chosen one who fulfills an ancient prophesy while mastering the art of kung fu.

The sequel to Kung Fu Panda will once again star Jack Black, Angelina Jolie and other original cast members and will be directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, head of story on Kung Fu Panda. It will be produced by Melissa Cobb. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who wrote and co-produced the original film, will also be returning.

DreamWorks Animation’s CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg, said, “We are thrilled to reunite the creative team that made ‘Kung Fu Panda’ such a global success. Because of their imaginative work, Po’s path to heroism proved popular with moviegoers of all ages around the world.”

Bill Damaschke, Co-President of Production and President of Live Theatrical, added, “The story of ‘Kung Fu Panda’ provided a great introduction to these characters and afforded wonderful opportunities to further expand on the world we created in ancient China. Quite simply, there’s more story to tell.”

Kung Fu Panda, which has exceeded $215 million in domestic box office and over $411 million in international territories to date, will be released on two-disc DVD and Blu-ray on November 9, 2008 alongside a brand new companion story, Secrets of the Furious Five.

Continuing to broaden its scope of development in the world of stereoscopic 3D, digital technology leader PassmoreLab now adds a hi-def microscopy division to its San Diego production facility. With already cutting-edge capability in the areas of live-action 3D video production, 2D-to-3D conversion, and other technical development for scientific research, education, and entertainment, this latest expansion enables the company to go where 3D has never been before - into the hidden world of animals, insects, plants, and the interaction of life on some of its smallest scale.

In order to accomplish such a breakthrough, it took the successful synthesis of microscopy with the technology of digital 3D video, coupled with the creation of specialized software, to surmount the technical problems that have hindered the process in the past. Company founder and president, Greg Passmore, noted that this recent success grew out of an ongoing process of innovation required to produce some of PassmoreLabs nature-oriented documentary films.

“We’re in the process of shooting a variety of nature-oriented projects,” says Passmore, “including films on sharks, vampire bats, butterflies, wasps, and other insects. One of the limitations we’ve had in the past has been that we have done some macro photography, but we were really lacking and wanted to be able to do high-definition stereoscopic microscopy. This is a very complicated process, it requires extremely scarce and expensive equipment, and there are a lot of complex technical issues involved in association with interocular distance and convergence. Many companies had, in fact, told us that stereoscopic microscopy was not possible, or certainly not practical.”

Over that past several months, PassmoreLab’s technicians have worked with a series of manufacturers to acquire and install a high-quality Leica binocular microscope that interfaces optically with a specially designed stereoscopic camera. “The unit operates in perfect synchronization,” says Passmore, “and it gives us the incredible capability now to shoot live microscopic life. We intend to use this imagery to significantly enhance the educational experience and viewing quality for our audiences.”

The company has already began experimenting with shooting live insects, as well as developing medical imagery related to human pathology, and other diverse scientific areas such as petrology and micropaleantology. Passmore points out that they are also working on a series of software enhancements for autocalibration and extremely fine levels of alignment. “We’ve been using bright-field and oblique optical microscopy,” he notes, “and we’re now experimenting with the use of stereopsis with dark-field phase contrast and digital-interference contrast microscopy. As we move into the use of high dynamic range photography in our mainstream productions, we expect to utilize many of the techniques we’re perfecting in HDR in order to cross apply into confocal microscopy.”

“We believe that PassmoreLab has special talents, by bringing together software engineers, mathematicians, visual artists, videographers, and musicians in a heterogeneous work environment, where everyone brings their own solutions to unique problems. Our goal is to use creative conflict and unique perspectives to produce novel solutions, which would normally be overlooked through the overspecialization that too often hinders the industry today,” Passmore stated.