Around this time in Amsterdam each year technology folks gather to get the latest in the world of digital content creation, management and delivery. Easy to say but that covers a lot of territory and the show has exploded in size, participation and exhibitors to keep up. Hot topics this year include digital signage, big screen TVs, IPTV, mobile broadcast and ultra high resolution displays. But for many, 3D stole the show with the highly publicized first trans-Atlantic 3D broadcast that featured DreamWorks Animation SKG co founder, Jeffery Katzenberg (the "K" in SKG) in a live "3D stereoscopic HD broadcast" interview.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor

We had Insight Media analyst Lutz Moher there on-site, who was quite impressed with the S3D event. He reported back in an e-mail saying the cinema theatre "Auditorium" for the event filled up quickly with around 1000 people. Enabling 3D technology provider 3Ality’s CEO Steven Schklair was on-stage being interviewed, with a large digital clock projected behind him, counting down until the live trans-Atlantic broadcast was to begin. Moher reported the switch to live pictures of the inner garden of the DreamWorks company building was 100% on-time, and the quality of the image and the sound was "EXCELLENT all the time!"

Moher, who is an old hand at 3D, came away from IBC with a new found conviction in the future of stereoscopic 3D (S-3D). "Given all the demonstrations, news, events and facts coming out of IBC this year, I am now 100% convinced that the world is already in the process of adapting S-3D technology, even if most of the ‘non-S3D-minded people’ doubt this or are pessimistic."

Katzenberg’s company is known for producing block buster hits and he used his talk to promote 3D in film stating, "As we enter the year of 3D, I have never experienced a more dynamic and exciting time within the film industry than right now." He also floated the idea that all films will be produced in 3D "after a reasonable period of time." For some this may be a no-brainer, as easy to predict as say… "all films will one day be made in color," or years prior, "all films will include sound" during those critical technology transition times. But as Moher indicates, not everyone is convinced.

Let’s face it, storytelling has always been about realism from the time of ancient oral tradition through the first application of technology piercing our senses, first with sound, then later images that continually improve to this day. All signs point to the fact that 3D is next in the long line of realism upgrades to enhance that experience and IBC was yet another milepost along that path.

For example, besides the live 3D interview, IBC dedicated Monday to stereoscopic 3D and the new digital technologies in cameras, post production and projection. The show also featured sessions on "Capturing and creating stereoscopic 3D content," one called "Putting it all together," a session called "The presentation alternatives, and considerations for exhibitors," one that asked the question "Unique to cinema - but for how long?" The day ended with the screening of Warner’s live 3D film hit, Journey to the Center of the Earth, based on the Jules Vern classic that featured a special Q&A session with director Eric Brevig.

But Katzenberg may simply be looking at the bottom line as 3D produced films have reaped a box office bonanza for film makers, revitalizing the industry and resulting in a plethora of newly announced films from all the Hollywood film makers. So the transition to 3D may just boil down to a line from a non-Katzenberg film: "No bucks, no Buck Rodgers." (The Right Stuff). After all, it was the audience going to see The Jazz Singer in droves that convinced Hollywood to move toward sound, no matter what the cost or whose careers were ended, and the same with the added dimension of color coming to films. Improve storytelling with advances that appeal to our senses and the audience will not only come, but also pay a premium to be entertained.