We search for the more interesting and provocative news and views of the past week…just so you don’t have to.
Our look at the past week’s news includes breakthrough 3D tech, 3D printing that’s easy enough for just about anyone to do, and a communications firm with a fresh take on augmented reality.
Is Phantom Making the most Viable 3D Camera System?
While opiners still predict that the current flush of 3D production will just fade away, don’t tell that to the technologists who continue to bring new 3D camera systems to market, and the creatives who find new uses for the gear. (This Scranton Times-Tribune article acknowledges a slow start to 3D TV in the US, but quotes one analyst as optimistic as prices for 3D TV sets continue to decline.)
This Abel Cine Tech blog points up a recent shoot by filmmaker and visual effects pioneer Doug Trumbull using the new Phantom 65-Z3D system to shoot a music video in New York. Vision Research’s Phantom line has become one of the most popular special use high-speed cameras for film and TV. Trumbull, meanwhile, has honed his visual effects techniques over decades with credits that include work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Blade Runner.
It’s no small praise when Trumbull says the Phantom system offers so many advantages over the leading dual camera beam splitter systems that he plans to use it in developing his new 3D projects. Click this link to also watch a behind-the-scenes video of the making of “Golden Eyes”, the Trumbull-directed music video.
Verizon’s Network to the Rescue
With the fast growing number of video-enabled networks and devices, the problem of actually delivering those streams without bankrupting producers or crashing the system is becoming a problem. Verizon announced plans to offer a solution—use its network to make streaming cheaper as well as easier by enabling media companies to deliver video without the need to create hundreds of different files.
Verizon’s Digital Media Services division, according to this article on GigaOM, plans to reduce the cost and complexity of IP-based video delivery compared to using the Internet. You can read more here.
Do You Suwappu?
Okay, so you haven’t heard of Suwappu, AR (augmented reality) isn’t something you expect will ever get much traction beyond simple apps such as games or guidebooks, and reading about something that labels itself the “future of communications” makes you want to turn off everything electronic around you.
Well, you just might change some of that thinking if you check here for a recent bit of R&D posted on Dentsu London’s site.
If you don’t want to read their explanation first, click on this link to see Dentsu’s video directly. You’ll land in a space where toy-like real world objects (Suwappu) blend with digital information overlays to create a mélange of “advertising, content, media and product”, something, we imagine, that you’ve never seen before.
Dentsu London describes itself as a creative communications agency seeking to “make future magic”. Their work may not change your opinion about the potential of AR, but this is a valid attempt at wrangling smartphone and other mobile digital technology into a more advertising friendly environment.
Easy 3D for You and Me
3D service company i.materialise launched Sketch to 3D this past week. This modeling service for 3D printing is for all of those who have wanted to make use of the latest generation of 3D printing technologies but who can’t seem to make their way through the complexities of most 3D modeling programs.
The idea? Forget the computer, just sketch what you want free hand. How’s it work? Give i.materialise a detailed sketch of what you want, and for around $80, they have a 3D modeler work up your sketch into a printable 3D design. Printing in an actual substance, of course, costs more, but you have over 20 different printing materials to choose from, along with access to the “world’s largest 3D printers” that will allow you to turn out designs of 6 ½ feet or more in length.
The company’s blog explains the process. Here’s their home page if you just want to dive in.
