Why ESPN 3D failed

Just a quick note on the ESPN 3D news today and my take on why the channel failed:
1) Marketsize: There aren’t enough 3DTV’s in the market yet. Broadcast, by definition, means that you have to reach a large audience in order to make economic sense. So, unfortunately ESPN was a few years too early. The action for 3D content is in Home Video and VOD as the dealflow of 3DContentHub shows.
2) Sports Rights: the nature of sports rights and sports franchises is such that it is almost impossible to own multi territory rights. Hence ESPN couldn’t sell their 3D assets overseas to the countries where 3D is performing better than in the USA. And they were also prevented to license their content to global customers such as VOD platforms or hardware makers.
3) Shelf Life: I wrote in January 2012 “most sport events lose their entire commercial value after the initial live broadcast.”  So, to have a channel with sports events is not necessarily the right “genre” as you have to re-run a lot of content during the day. And re-runs of live sports events isn’t so attractive to viewers.
4) High Costs:  Sports events require multiple cameras and in many cases two separate production crews (2D and 3D). This is (too) costly, especially if the addressable market of 3D TVs is still so small.
5) 3D Technology: we also have  to see the bigger picture and admit that the current 3D technology is not offering an enjoyable consumer experience and may not indeed be ready for the mainstream yet. 3D has not been as popular with the general public and the industry could potentially be making the same mistakes with 4k again. Here is me tackling the question “Is 3D Dead?“

As I wrote last week and have spoken about on many occasions, it is important to point out that it is not (the current) 3D or 4k what matters; In the future we will have ultra high definition screens and glasses-free 3D. Auto stereoscopic displays is where this is all going. So building 3D skills and 4k capabilities is a wise strategy for broadcasters and producers alike. Let me know your thoughts.

 

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Opinionpiece: 4k and what it means for 3D

Since January 4k (or UHD) has been in the press and many have celebrated the apparent “Death of 3D” *. An increasing number of producers, media executives and consumers have asked me about my opinion, so let me list what I think are the most interesting aspects of 4k and let me elaborate on what 4k means for the 3D industry. (I have linked to many related articles in this blogpost and we have included some stills from our 4k films).

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Oz the Great and the Powerful

Oz the Great and the Powerful by Dr Miriam Ross

The first striking aspect of Oz the Great and the Powerful (2013) is that its opening images are in both black and white and the 4:3 aspect ratio that was common to Classical Hollywood cinema but rarely seen nowadays. Although anyone who has seen the trailers for this film will know to expect the black and white 4:3, there is still the uncanny feeling that the image is curtailed. This is made all the more obvious after the opening credits when we see the circus where central character Oscar/Oz is based. A fire-eater blows a large arc of flames across the border of the frame, which also comes slightly out towards the audience in stereoscopic depth. In a similar action, a dove flutters beyond the confines of the image. The overt and ostentatious display of how the film can play with its own borders recalls early cinema that operated as an attraction concerned with demonstrating its magical trickery. This delight in optical illusions is made clear within the film through the depiction of cinematic toys such as the zoetrope and a (albeit improbable) modified praxinoscope. The link to early cinema is similar to the one made in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011) when the spectacular imaging of stereoscopic film was used to revitalise knowledge of film pioneer Georges Méliès’ magic effects in early French cinema. As a truly US production, Oz the Great and the Powerful, makes reference not to Méliès but to the American cinema and technology inventor Thomas Edison. Oscar speaks of his clear admiration for the inventor and the final battle in the film depends upon mechanical trickery inspired by the inventor.

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The Pulfrich 3D Effect

What is the Pulfrich Effect? 

The Pulfrich effect is a psycho-optical phenomenon that was documented by Carl Pulfrich in the early 20^th century. It is due to the difference in the speed of perception according to an object’s luminosity.  The Pulfrich effect is thus perceptible only in the case of moving objects.  For example, look at the movement of a pendulum swinging from left to right.  If you cover one eye with a piece of dark glass you will see the lateral swing seconded by a movement in depth, as if the pendulum were oscillating in a circle rather than a plane.  The darker the filter, the more pronounced the effect becomes.

If the filter is over the left eye, the moving object seems to be in front of the plane of the screen if it moves to the left and behind the plane if it moves to the right.  The explanation is simple:  The presence of a dark filter over one eye produces a lag in the perception of the scene coming from this eye.  The left eye thus sees the pendulum a split-second later, and that causes a horizontal disparity with respect to the right eye.  The brain interprets this difference as an interocular parallax and deduces a depth proportionate to the speed and direction of the moving object.  Motionless objects are not affected.

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13 Important Tips for 3D Producers (2/2)

In this opinion piece Torsten Hoffmann warns 3D filmmakers about common pitfalls and gives advice about how to best position your film for global distribution. This is the second installment of a two-part article. The first part is here.

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13 Important Tips for 3D Filmmakers (part 1)

In this opinion piece Torsten Hoffmann warns 3D filmmakers about common pitfalls and gives advice about how to best position your film for global distribution. This is the first of a two-part article:

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4/5 VX Oscar Nominations for 3D Movies

The final list of Oscar Nominations just came in. For visual effects there are 3 stereoscopic 3D movies (Hobbit, Life of Pi, Prometheus), one 2D-to-3D converted film (Avengers) and one Flatty (Snow White and the Huntsman). That’s 80% 3D or 60% S3D. For best movie, only Life of Pi made it into the list of final nominees (1 out of 10).

UPDATE 1: As some of you have pointed out on Twitter / Comments: All 5 of the Animation Feature Nominations are 3D Films.

UPDATE 2: Just realized that there are only 9 (not 10) Best Movie nominations this year. Does anyone know why?

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Guest Article: 3D is not a Fragile Egg + insights about China

Al Caudullo from http://3dguy.tv wrote this nice opinionpiece which was originally published here. Al and I were honored in Beijing last month by the Chinese  Government with two “3D Excellence” awards and during the course of the 3D Expo (our exclusive interview is here) there were voices about how ‘bad’ and ‘low budget’ 3D will ‘kill the industry’. This is a very well written counter argument which also contains some interesting facts about the Chinese 3D Industry – expect a longer report from me on this soon. Thanks Al, for allowing us to post it here.

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Announcement of Winners from Liege, Belgium

Here’s an update pursuant to our recent blog about the 3D Stereo Media event that took place two weeks ago in Liege, Belgium.

The highlight of the event was undoubtedly the Awards Ceremony which took place during the glamorous Gala Evening, where the much coveted golden Lumiere Statuettes were handed out.

The winners of the IS3D 3DCreative Awards are as follows:

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The 3D Industry in Korea and why it is so special

After my third trip to Korea this year and the interest that the first travel report about Avengers in 4D has generated earlier this year (http://3dcontentblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/travel-report-3d-and-avengers-4d-in-korea/) here is a more in-depth look at the Korean 3D industry. 3D Content Hub works with almost a dozen producers and has five customers and three agents in this market so we know the country fairly well. Blogarticle, Opinionpiece and private photojournal by Torsten Hoffmann

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