Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/17668
bits & pieces Panasonic aggressive with stereo 3D F LUSHING MEADOWS, NY — Panasonic (www.panasonic.com) held a press event last month detailing the progress it’s making in its 3D initiative.The event was held in the venue that serves as home to the US Open tennis tourna- ment and marked what Panasonic’s VP of technology policy, Peter Fannon, described as “the opening of the 3D era in tennis.” The US Open ran for a week and a half, and was broadcast in 3D by both CBS and DirecTV. It made use of some of Panasonic’s professional 3D solutions. The US Tennis Association’s executive director, Gordon Smith, described the US Open as “the greatest show in tennis” and as one of the highest attended events in sports, with over 720,000 fans viewing matches in person.This year’s broadcast in 3D, says Smith, follows the USTA’s history of innovation. In 1973, the event awarded equal prize money to both men and women, he noted, and in 2006, the event in- troduced the use of instant replay.The 3D experience, says Smith, is a new way to engage tennis fans. DirecTV broadcast the Open on its N3D net- work, which launched earlier this year.The network has already broadcast sporting events in 3D, includ- ing the MLB All-Star Game, NASCAR races and PGA tournaments, so network senior VP Stephen Roberts says consumers should not fear that “there’s nothing to watch.”The same DirecTV re- ceiver that is already in many consumers’ homes can be used to take advantage of the 3D network. All they need is a 3D TV. Panasonic reps pointed out that the company al- ready offers numerous solutions for the home. In fact, Panasonic is packaging a 3D home theater system in its new SC-BTT350, and is planning a 3D-themed marketing campaign for the holiday season. CBS Sports’ EVP of engineering, operations and production, Ken Aagaard, said the venue for the US Open — Arthur Ashe Stadium — was well suited to create an effective 3D experience. CBS Sports cov- ered the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis back in April, but Lucas Oil Stadium was a much larger sta- dium by comparison. For the US Open, CBS Sports worked with Vince Pace (www.pacehd.com) on the camera set-ups, choosing 3D rigs that shadowed the traditional 2D broadcast cameras. This included a cover camera, a low-mid camera and a camera situ- ated opposite the umpire. Panasonic’s new 3DA1 camcorder, which captures 3D to SD memory cards, started shipping in Septem- ber and was used at the US Open for crowd and concourse shots, as well as for interviews between matches and during rain delays. In related 3D news, John Baisley, who’s with Pana- sonic’s Media & Production Services business, an- nounced that Createasphere (www. createasphere. com) is teaming up with the manufacturer to offer four two-day 3D workshops across the country. He also reported that Bexel (www.bexel.com) was building a 53-foot mobile 3D truck that would be avail- able to rent for 3D productions. The truck will be equipped with six 3D camera rigs; four 3Ality Digital models and two of the new Parallax3 Renegade mod- els. All will be equipped with Panasonic AK-HC1500G 1080i/720p HD cameras. By Marc Loftus Habanais ready for some football N EW YORK — For the fourth year, Habana Avenue’s (www.habanaavenue.com) EP/CD Steven J. Levy supervised production of the show open for ESPN’s Monday Night Foot- ball. Hank Williams Jr. returns again this year, marking the 22nd time he’s performed the football telecast’s open. This year’s open picks up where last year’s left off — at the fictitious “MNF Hall of Fame.” There, Williams unveils a gallery of highlights from past seasons. Habana produced the project at a facility in Nashville near Williams’ home. Production de- signer KJB Kiely, supported by Rose Brand, was challenged with replicating the look of last year’s location, the Parthenon museum in Nashville’s Centennial Park. An assortment of cameras were used for the shoot, including a Sony F 900,a Panasonic Varicam II,a Red One camera and a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Editing was handled on an Avid Adrenaline system. Steven J. Levy on set with Hank Williams Jr. (right). A variety of digital camera formats were used on the piece, which was edited on an Adrenaline. 10 Post • October 2010 www.postmagazine.com Box, Oxido buy FilmLight gear L ONDON — Filmlight, based here, re- ports that Box, a NY-based photo- graphic studio, founded by fashion photo retoucher Pascal Dangin, and Oxido, the Mexico City commercial post house, have invested in the company’s tools. Box (www.boxstudios.com) pur- chased a FilmLight Northlight 2 film scan- ner and a Baselight Eight color grading system for Box Motion, its newly- launched film services division. Box Mo- tion will handle post for both commercial projects and feature films. The new FilmLight systems have already been put to work, scanning and color grad- ing commercial campaigns for Levi’s and Prada. Dangin used the Baselight Eight to perform color grading and digital retouch- ing for Restless, a new film from director Gus Van Sant, scheduled for release in 2011.The project represents Dangin’s first grade for a feature film. Oxido purchased a Baselight HD color grading system, which complements the studio’s year-old Baselight One sys- tem while providing faster processing speed and no resolution restrictions. Oxido has also acquired a FilmLight Northlight scanner, which it plans to use to scan film elements for commercial and feature film projects. The second Baselight was purchased to help Oxido keep pace with demand from agencies and production companies in Central and South America. It will also allow the studio to take on digital inter- mediate-style grading and finishing for feature films. Oxido (www.oxido.tv) evaluated sev- eral low-cost, desktop-style color grading options before making the investment, but felt they lacked the performance of the Baselight system. “We learned that it is not as easy as it looks to set up a color grading suite that meets professional standards,” notes Oxido managing director Marco Ro- driguez. “There are compatibility issues and driver updates...and then there are the systems’ limitations.They are not able to work in 2K, which is our standard for media originating as 35mm and 16mm film.Working at lower resolution would be a problem for us, especially for sophisti- cated composites and visual effects.”