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Comparing Usage of The Three D’s In Video Production: SD, HD, 3D
I know what you are thinking. For the love of everything good in this world can we please settle on one format/ one standard and just focus on producing good video again? You are not alone. We should count our blessings that we were able to ride the Betacam-SP train and hone our skills as long as we have because that ship has sailed and we need to find another mode of transportation. The positive thing that comes from this technology whirlwind, we are no longer required as Producers, Directors of Photography and Crew Coordinators, to memorize every camera, format, frame rate or newfangled mobile recording device that comes to market, our jobs are TO KNOW WHERE TO GET THE INFORMATION, which is infinitely easier. Phew!
A resource that Crews Control created in 2007 and is constantly expanding and updating is our TPI program. TPI stands for Technical Partnership Initiative and it is truly that; a software based proprietary program which gives our Production Managers technical transparency when managing all of the video shoots that Crews Control schedules worldwide. So seriously, what is TPI and how does it help you? Information baby and the good stuff! It’s data that you can use to answer your format questions now and plan your budgets with for the future. TPI is based on the need to answer questions like the following: “I hire your crews mostly near our corporate offices in Beijing, London, Sydney and New York what do my favorite crews own in those markets so that I can purchase compatible format and workflow solutions.” “I’m a manager of an in-house media department for a manufacturing company; how does my department compare with others in my industry?” “I’m a DP in Houston, TX what camera formats are mostly requested for my market? What video format should I invest in?”
Drum roll please! Here are examples of TPI data for percentages of camera formats booked by Crews Control for the 1st and 2nd quarters in 2010. Standard Definition, NTSC, DVCAM is still the highest booked format at 25% of the total video shoots to date in 2010. The most shot High Definition format is DVC Pro HD at 14% of the total booking. Standard definition comprises 53% of the Crews Control’s total shoots requested by our clients. High Definition makes up 47% of the shoots that are requested and booked here at Crews Control. 3D makes up a very slim portion of the shoots requested from our client base. Over half of our valued clients are shooting SD. With the huge push from the major manufactures to transform the HD consumer and professional space to 3D what’s a video professional to do?
We’ve all seen the ebbs and flows of 3D over the years; is this something that we should invest our time, energy and bottom lines to produce? This is what Stan Glasgow, President & COO of Sony Electronics said at the Sony 3D Launch Event in June. “Sony is excited to have the opportunity to be the company that truly gets 3D right.” They have made a huge investment in engineering everything from 3D theatre projections to content creation, via a partnership with ESPN. Panasonic is pushing 3D in the consumer and professional space as well. The types of business they foresee having a viable use for 3D are museums, travel agencies, real estate firms, telepresence, medical and simulation companies to name a few. This information was given as part of the Panasonic When It Counts Road Show which I attended this month in Washington, D.C. The Road Show highlights the P2 shoulder mounted AG-HPX370, the AVCCAM HD format and their AG-3DA1 3D camera which is set for delivery fall of 2010.
The manufacturers will continue to wow us with mind-blowing engineering and solutions that are supposed to make our lives easier. Crews Control has made education and generating information like our TPI data a priority and we will continue to make this information useful and relevant to our clients and our crews. With that I leave you with this eye candy from Sony as they demonstrate how the HDCP1 camera works in a 3D application.
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