Varied and important events took place during the 3 days of 3D Stereo Media! The current state of affairs in the audiovisual word took a step forward here and many professionals were able to have lots of meetings, contact, advice and eye candy. We will try to give you a full overview of the salon, by describing the string of big events that took place in Liège.
We start with the “Studio 3D life”, set up thanks to a close cooperation between 4 companies. According to the attending professionals, a world first of a very high technical level was achieved. A “real” presenter (Philippe Reynaert), accompanied by a virtual character (brought to life by Nic Balthasar), presented an opening ceremony from a virtual studio, and this was live broadcast via satellite and in 3D. This “studio of the future” made it possible to do 3D demonstrations and spectacles, live on auto-stereoscopic televisions and on cinema screens.

The companies NeuroTV, Outside Broadcast, Binocle and RTBF put their technical know-how together to achieve this feat. NeuroTV installed a virtual studio, complete with the most recent modifications as presented during IBC (trackless – virtual camera), adapted for stereography (2 flows reduced to only one). Even more, the video embeds in the décor were also done live! The contribution of Outside Broadcast consisted of a stereographic OBVan wherein the 2 camera flows were reduced to only one (with an XT by EVS which was also modified like this).
Binocle supplied the cameras and the RTBF took care of lighting and sound.
This presentation was a real production, ready for a repeat (even if some settings need to be tweaked still), and odds are that this example will give many a producer new ideas and that this configuration will be multiplied in the future to offer other events of equal quality.

Let's go further up with Flying Cam who dared to demonstrate 3D images taken by their helicopter, without having been able to run preliminary tests, all of this live and without any post-production on the images. Digital camera evolutions make it possible to take along 2 HD machines, which are sufficiently light and take up very little space. This is the main evolution in this field. For Flying Cam this means that a real market opens up and that soon, they will be able to answer very specific demands. The images Flying Cam brought are astonishing in their precision and give the effect of proximity, which is very important for 3D, and is very rarely reached in aerial views.
Now let's take a plunge into the content of these 3 3D days. So the competition revealed a Chinese winner. At a time when the Universal Exposition in Shanghai is being prepared and that several Chinese companies are setting up in Mons, it is good to see that the relationship between Belgium and China continues to grow stronger. It is important to note that the winning film (Finding by Milu King, China/Mandarin - Director : Weijiao GUO, Zhiyi ZHANG ; producer: Eisen YANG) is an independent production and previously unreleased. This was the goal of the competition: support independent production. The presentations of around twenty other films also were a good indicator of the worldwide independent production. The public and the professionals are impatient to see other innovating projects in the best conditions possible during a next edition. Ben Stassen, the honorary president of 3D Stereo MEDIA 2009, honoured with a special price for the whole of his career and his contributions to 3D, praised the work done by the crews of the festival and the professional meetings.
Now let's talk about the companies who actively participated in the promotion of 3D in Liège. They too were able to give their opinion about the films shown during the festival. They voted and awarded a price for the best short film. The laureate received his award from Minister Marcourt, who insisted on coming to experience the rise of new audiovisual talent together with the professionals. Next to this miniature competition, de companies present were able to participate in numerous workshops and very lively debates. Sometimes it was hard to make a distinction between the scientific and the commercial presentations, but in the end the balance between both was well kept. One of the most brilliant technicians in the circuit, Kommer Kleijn, certainly believed after 3 days that this was a tremendous success for the entire team, for a particularly ambitious project. The exchanges between the numerous professionals proved to be very useful.

Belgium, as European leader in the sector, showed a particularly engaging aspect of its know-how and its capacity to bring together efforts and initiatives. Let us hope that all companies, training centres, artists, the media, etc. Will continue to be able to take up all these new opportunities and that the existing network of worldwide known companies in the field of 3D (XDC, nWave Pictures, intoPIX, Barco Kinepoles, to only name a few) will continue to grow in the next months.
For your information, we give a list of workshops held during the 3 days, and a list of participants. For any further information, do not hesitate to contact TWIST or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This email address is protected against spam robots, you have to turn on Javascript to see it.

Session I-1: Basics of stereoscopy.
Advanced intro on the capacity of certain species to view distance, i.e., relief (stereopsy). Physiology, biology and evolution. Psychophysics. Perceptual and cognitive considerations. Optical illusions in 3D and 3D stereo. Work performance in an environment using 3D visualisation, f.e. for vehicle operators, such as helicopter pilots. Implications for the conception of 3D visualisations equipment, and to produce 3D content for several screen sizes.

Session I-2: Basics of 3D visualisation: Principles, technologies and products. Description of various basic methods making it possible for man to perceive relief from a screen (“display”) or from a combination projector-screen (canvas). Systems based on glasses, either passive or active. Systems which are not based on glasses, either auto-stereoscopic (strictly speaking with two views), or, more generally, multi-views/auto-multiscopic, with or without following (“tracking”) of the viewer. “Head mounted displays”. Considerations about the projection screen. Artefacts such as “ghosting”.
Session II-1: 3D graphic design and 3D animated film directing.
Intro to basic methodology used to direct 3D animated films. Used software tools. Movement capture and its transfer. 3D scan of objects. Advanced methods using real images in 2D or 3D in combination with CGI in 2D or 3D to heighten realism, like for facial expressions.
Session II-2: Stereoscopic cameras (“3D rigs”)
Overview of several types of stereoscopic cameras, which consist of pairs of cameras and are commonly called “3D rigs”. These cameras are used to create 3D films with real images. Side-by-side rigs vs. mirror rigs. Controls: interocular (or inter-axial) distance, focal angle, zoom, aperture,... Various considerations such as taking shots from mobile platforms, platforms subjected to vibrations and undersea platforms.
Session II-3: 3D for telephones and mobile machines
3D cellular phones (GSM and others) are coming up. Human factors, psychological and sociological aspects, ergonomics. Auto-stereoscopic technologies for small screens. Bandwidth problems with transmission, and image compression techniques. 3D transmission systems such as T-DMB. Why it will be necessary to adapt 3D content to the small size of the screen.
Session II-4: Encoding and distribution of 3D content for cinema and home (compression, encryption, formats, standards and practices)
Overview of the complete chain from 3D content production to its delivery in cinemas and homes. Specific considerations regarding delivery in cinemas. Specific considerations regarding delivery in homes, with the inherent difficulties to the multiple delivery methods (landlines, satellite, internet, blu-ray,...) and the visualisation methods (Tvs with or without glasses, computers, cellphones, digital photo frames,...). Brief description of image compressions, content encryption, standards and practices. Role of 3D@Home Consortium.
Session II-5: 3D images applied to sciences and engineering
Several examples of the use of 3D image acquisition and 3D visualisation in sciences and engineering, including mechanical engineering, aerospatial engineering, and medical imagery.
Free viewpoint television (FTV)
Masayuki Tanimoto (University of Nagoya, Japan)
Session II-6: Exotic methods for 3D imagery and visualisation
Discover 3D image shooting and 3D visualisation techniques who may appear to be completely mysterious, or even unknown to you. Discover the 3D imagery's Holy Grail, known as 'integral imagery', which makes it possible to recreate a scene from any point of view. On the long road towards integral imagery we find techniques such as free viewpoint television (FTV) and omnidirectional imagery, which are techniques where the user has a certain form of control over the angle at which he can see a scene. Get updated on the state of the art in the often misunderstood technology of holographic imagery. Come listen to the presentation on several types of equipment capable of mesuring the distance until every point in the scene, on technologies for HD depth imagery, and on 3D imaging with long distance laser radars ('ladars').
Session III-1: stereography and 3D film directing
Creation of 3D content which is pleasant for most of us is a new challenge. Indeed, on top of adjusting the zoom and the aperture, the 3D cinematographer also must take the interocular distance and the focal angle between his two cameras into account. How do you set these parameters for an optimal result? Generally, you have to be very careful when working with a dimension of depth. F.e., the depth (or distance, or 'range') can only progressively change from one shot to the next. Not respecting certain basic rules and not correcting certain artefacts, such as vertical parallaxis, can quickly make a viewer nauseous... en turn him off from viewing another 3D film. The 3D content should also be adapted to the size of the screen, to obtain the wanted effect and avoid unwanted effects such as 'cardboarding' or 'dwarfism'. Managing the depth demands new competences, to the point that a new profession was born: stereography. Come and learn what negative convergence, depth budget, floating windows, etc. are.
Session III-2: 2D-3D conversion ('dimensionalisation')
There are a number of situations in which it is nearly impossible, or at least too costly, to film a scene with a stereoscopic camera ('3D rig'). A conversion from 2D to 3D comes in handy here. Also, just like old black and white films are coloured in, we can bring depth to existing 2D films. Several well known 2D films have been, or are currently being, 'dimensionalised'. This session presents the reasons for such a conversation and certain methods to do it.

Session III-3: Audio 3D ('sound spatialisation') and its use together with 3D video
Techniques for sound spatialisation are being developed since some time. Their goal is to make it possible for the listener to locate sound sources in 2D or 3D, by using either speakers or helmets (headphones). On the other hand, very few research has been conducted so far on the production of 3D sound and audio which are coherent with 3D videos seen by the viewer. This session presents the state of the art in sound spatialisation (independent from any image) and in the use of it, together and coherent with 3D audio and 3D video.
Session III-4: 3D in marketing, communication and signalling.
3D already is or is starting to influence several communication methods, so it becomes necessary for marketing and communication bureaus to be ready to produce 3D content. It wouldn't make a terribly good impression on viewers to show 'flat' 2D ads after a brilliant 3D film. This session examines technologies and the uses of 3D for marketing, communication and signalling on various media such cinema, TV (with glasses or auto-stereoscopic), computers, the internet or even on packaging (made of lenticular sheets), supermarket products, such as the box with your favourite cereals!

Session III-5: Applications of 3D for space exploration.
It could come as a surprise for many people to know that stereoscopic cameras have been used aboard the ISS (International Space Station). Long distance ('baseline') stereoscopy is currently being made by the pair of satellites of NASA's STEREO mission: so far this brought us the 3D film '3D Sun'. 3D stereo imagery is also a fundamental part for autonomous nagivation of 'rovers' on distant planets such as Mars. 3D laser radars will prove to be necessary for future moon-landings. 3D visualisation is an ideal means to understand the movement of astral bodies and satellites.

Session III-6: live shooting and broadcasting of 3D
Normally, with 3D films, the stereographer has the opportunity to correct certain errors in the shot and the artefacts during the post-production, but obviously there is no possibility of manual intervention when shooting and broadcasting 3D live. All corrections must be made by a combination of sophisticated material and software, i.e. by digital processors which run subtle image and view treatment algorhythms on computer. It's no exaggeration to say that, even though several partial solutions for this problem seem to exist, that the end-all solution for this problem remains elusive, especially if the 3D rig is moving. Beyond the 'correct' shooting of 3D imagery, the problem of transmission towards its destination(s), is also far from trivial. Indeed, the left and right images must be kept in perfect synchronisation. More even, the stereoscopic images must generally be compressed more than usual to make it possible to be sent on the existing transmission channels. Even if most of the current commercial activities are focused on 3D stereo, certain laboratories are researching problems related to more general multi-camera systems.
Application of 3D shooting and visualisation to archeometrics: the “scale model of Ruhl” by the Medieval City in Liège.
Roland Billen (University of Liège, Belgium)
www.3dmedia2009.com
Benoît RENSONNET
Alain Derobe (Stereographer, France)
Alain Rémond (XpanD France, France/Slovenia)
Amandine Denis (University of Liège, Belgium)
Andrew Glennerster (University of Reading, UK)
Angelo d'Alessio (CDG, SMPTE, EDCF, Italy)
Arnaud Bourge (ST Ericsson, France)
Atanas Gotchev (Tampere University of Technology, Finland)
Ben Stassen (nWave Pictures, Belgium)
Benoît Michel (University of Louvain, Belgium)
Cédric André (University of Liège, Belgium)
Céline Tricart (Binocle, France)
Daniel Pierret (DP Lenticular, Belgium/Ireland)
David Urdánoz (D4D Ingeniera Visual, Spain)
Didier Debons (3DTV Solutions, France)
Dirk Callaerts (Eyetronics, Belgium)
Florian Maier (3D-Consult, Germany)
Gallien Chanalet-Guercy (Cow-Prod, New-Zeland)
Gilles Marcelier (Alioscopy, France)
Greg Passmore (PassmoreLab, USA)
Guy Vander Bemden (NeuroTV, Belgium)
Gwangsoon Lee (Electronics and Telecommunications Resarch Insitute - ETRI, Korea)
Jacques Delacoux (Transvideo, France)
Jacques G. Verly (University of Liège, Belgium
Jason Goodman (21st Century 3D, USA)
Jason King (Spatial View, Canada)
Jérémie Degruson (nWave Pictures, Belgium)
Jérôme Leens (University of Liège Belgium)
Jukka Häkkinen (Nokia, Finland)
Kommer Kleijn (Kommer Kleijn SBC, Belgium)
Laurent Lucas (Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France)
Laurent Verduci (UP-3D, France)
Malgorzata Kujawinska (Warsaw University of Technology, Poland)
Manuel Martinez-Corral (University of València, Spain)
Marc Van Droogenbroeck (University of Liège, Belgium)
Markus Schu (3D@Home Consortium and Trident Microsystems, USA)
Martin Banks (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Massimo Sabbatini (ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands)
Michael Vorländer (RWTH Aachen University, Germany)
Michel Chabrol (Eutelsat, France)
Neil B. Feldman (In-Three, USA)
Nick Holliman (University of Durham, UK)
Peter Wilson (HDDC, UK)
Philip Dutré (K.U. Leuven, Belgium)
Philippe Bekaert (University of Hasselt, Belgium)
Pierre Rochus (University of Liège, Centre Spatial de Liège, Belgium)
Ralf Tanger (Fraunhofer Institute – HHI, Germany)
Raquel Prieto Navarro (Barcelona Media, Spain)
Richard Marino (MIT Lincoln Laboratory, USA)
Ronald Meyvisch (Outside Broadcast, Belgium)
Sergi Pujades (Binocle, France)
Simon Watt (University of Bangor, UK)
Stéphane Rigotti (Victor Studios, Belgium)
Thomas J. Naughton (National University of Ireland, Maymooth, Ireland)
Wilfried Van Baelen (Galaxy Studios, Belgium)
Yannick Rémion (University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France)
Yves Pupulin (Binocle, France)
Yves Pupulin (Binocle, France)
Yvon Renotte (University of Liège, Belgium)