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Sony 3D University: Teaching us how to make better-looking 3D movies

Sony is funding a course for movie and TV-makers to educate them in making 3D content that doesn't give people a terrible headache. We checked it out

Ian Morris
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Sony has created a three-day course for media professionals aimed at getting them to understand the technical challenges of 3D. It teaches them how to produce TV and movies that doesn't give viewers a massive headache, but instead are realistic and enjoyable experiences. Sony is funding this training itself and it's not hard to see why -- it has a massive investment in the technology being a success.

No easy task -- there are some mighty issues to overcome. For a start, it's clear that everything Hollywood once knew is changing. Although 3D production doesn't alter the narrative of a movie, it does add technical issues that can create major problems. Currently there are virtually no people in Hollywood who understand how to shoot decent 3D, and that's why the format is unpredictable in its presentation to say the least. Hence the course.

Yesterday Crave popped along to the BBC's imperilled Television Centre to hear from Buzz Hays (pictured above), senior vice president for Sony's 3D technology centre. Buzz is the man who -- aside from having an awesome name -- Sony has tasked with turning us 3D haters into people who enjoy watching movies in the format.

Have a good click through the gallery above, and geek out to some photos of 3D equipment in use and the awesome technology that's involved in 3D production.

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3D camera rigs are hardly tiny, although advances are being made all the time.
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Here you can see the 3D camera's controller. It's capable of adjusting the camera's focus, iris and other shutter functions, as well as the rig's 3D adjustments.
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An audience of TV producers learn about how to make good 3D. It says a great deal that this was hosted at the BBC and strongly implies the corporation has 3D aspirations.
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A training model shows what the 3D settings affect, and how to shoot well in the format.
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Sony's new 3D broadcast monitor uses passive technology, like the polarised system found in cinemas. This makes the monitor very costly and reduces its resolution. The upside is it's suitable for use in production galleries -- active tech is useless for this as you can't sync the glasses to more than one screen.
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Currently, Hollwood favours shooting 3D with two cameras. Here, the pedestal-mounted system has one camera mounted in the traditional place, and another mounted above.
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The camera control system allows fine adjustment of 3D and the other camera controls.
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Hays demonstrates how the adjustment of the camera works, and how the technician makes the 3D work.
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Another Sony broadcast monitor shows plenty of information from the camera about the 3D setup.
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On-set, this screen would provide crucial information about the camera setup, and also allow 3D experts to produce the most usable images for the production.
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1080p at very nearly 24fps.
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A second 3D rig shows it's possible to reduce the size of the equipment slightly. This is the sort of camera that would be used at the World Cup, for example. Its low-mounted camera also makes it possible to mount this rig on a Steadicam.
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A central control unit produces screens with information used for the setup of the cameras.
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A laptop changes the configuration.
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The system is also capable of monitoring the images and can provide a warning if the operator does something stupid. It's very important to make sure 3D is shot properly, otherwise the effect doesn't work, and will possibly induce headaches.

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