Bournemouth 3D Week Part Summary

The successful Bournemouth University 3D week drew to a close on November 19th and 3D Focus was there

Last week I travelled to the happiest place in Britain according to a 2007 survey, not to cheer myself up but to visit Bournemouth University for their inaugural 3D Week.

The Bournemouth 3D Week ended on Friday November 19th and unfortunately I only had the chance to visit Monday and Tuesday but it was a real pleasure to take part and I picked up some fascinating new 3D knowledge!

I would first of all like to thank Murray Weston, Co-Director of Bournemouth Skillset Media Academy who was so accommodating and supportive of 3DFocus.co.uk

The Bournemouth 3D Week was a mini season of lectures, 3D software workshops, 3D product demos and 3D screenings which culminated in a debate – “3D or Not 3D”. There was even a visit to a Sky 3D pub to watch a 3D match!

As I said, I was only able to attend Monday and Tuesday but there will be a full report available on this page soon.

Panasonic AG-3DA1 Camcorder

The season kicked off in the Bournemouth University’s Weymouth House HD Studio where Richard Payne from Panasonic distributor Holdan was showcasing the Panasonic AG-3DA1 3D Camcorder. This is the first chance I have had to view the camera upfront. 3D output was being screened on a Panasonic active glasses TV and the 3D quality was considerably more impressive than the consumer 3D camera, the Panasonic HDC-SDT750. Mind you, it does cost £15,000 more than its domestic counterpart!

Images were clear and convergence levels were easy to adjust. However, people on the demo footage did seem to appear flat – as if they were walking 2D layers. The width of the lenses cannot be adjusted within the housing but the convergence (where the two images meet to become a single image) levels can be adjusted with a simple dial. Certain shots looked more impressive than others and it is still something I would like to use properly to form a valid opinion.

Richard explained some of the features about the Panasonic AG-3DA1 and here is the video …

JVC IF-2D3D1 Image Processor

Next to Panasonic were a couple of guys from JVC Professional showcasing their £25,000 real time 2D – 3D convertor, the IF2D3D1 image processor – a professional standard box of sophisticated algorithms that can convert any high definition footage into a 3D ‘effect’. I use the term ‘effect’ because the result I was looking at was not true 3D.

Professional post produced 2D – 3D conversion is highly time consuming so it would be a big ask for a box to achieve the same conversion standards of Piranha 3D for example. Also, the 3D was positive only (the 3D effect goes ‘into’ the screen so no attention grabbing objects flying towards you I’m afraid!).

Sebastian from JVC stressed that the unit was not designed to be deployed as a full time 2D – 3D broadcast convertor, rather a ‘gap filler’ in between true stereoscopic shots. It can be used for archive 2D – 3D conversion and was incorporated into the 3D workflow of the World Cup 3D broadcast where a stereoscopic rig above the field would have been inpractical.

Here is Sebastian from JVC Professional talking about the IF-2D3D1 image processor …

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