Montreal: Pay-per-view services Canal Indigo and Viewer’s Choice Canada have announced dates for a live stereoscopic 3D broadcast of three races in the Formula Atlantic/cart Toyota series. The 3D broadcasts are a first in Canada, according to the promoters.

Race broadcasts include the Toronto Molson Indy on July 15, the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres on Aug. 30 and the Monterey Grand Prix from the spectacular Laguna Seca track in California on Sept. 9.

C-3D Television, a 3D production and broadcasting company based in Los Angeles, is producing the events using adapted Hitachi pov cameras placed in two of De Sigi Auto Sport’s Formula Atlantic cars and a third camera placed in pit alley.

‘The viewer will see everything from the same perspective as the driver, including the tight turns and near misses with other cars, all in 3D,’ says Doug Stanley, C-3D’s gm. ‘In addition, you’ll hear the dialogue between the driver and his pit crew – their strategies, issues and concerns. This will be auto racing coverage like you’ve never seen it before.’

Stanley says today’s enhanced stereoscopic 3D broadcast technology is no longer just an oddity. ‘We’re looking to create professional television out of this medium, which has historically been used as a hobby, or as just a way to goose people.’ He says new digital set-top boxes will be able to instantly convert 3D signals back to 2D.

Seeks 3D product

On air since Jan. 1, C-3D needs a great deal of material. It is on air 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is in the process of converting up to 1,000 ‘public domain’ properties from 2D to 3D.

Stanley is producing 10 original 3D tv shows in l.a. and converting all existing 3D film for tv formatting. ‘Of course, the stereoscopic content originated in 3D is better [than the 2D conversion],’ he notes.

Stanley says 3D production costs are similar to those of standard video, but extra care is required in all steps, from preproduction to shooting to post. ‘Nobody can just step in and produce great 3D. There is a steep learning curve and it has to be comfortable for the viewer, which is an imperative.’

He says C-3D is looking to buy any existing 3D material – ‘any formats of 3D content produced on the planet because I have a tremendous need.’

The recently launched service is delivered via satellite to cable systems in the u.s. at a cost of approximately us$10 a month. According to the u.s. producer, stereoscopic 3D television ‘is a paradigm shift, the most significant change in television since color.’

Adapted Hitachi cameras

Stanley says in a ‘typical tv camera there are two fields of video and both fields are from the same camera point of view. In our camera, the signals are multiplexed together so that field one comes from the left and field two comes from the right. It’s called field sequential video.’

C-3D uses adapted Hitachi digital cameras.

The next technical issue is delivering the video to the eyes without mixing the two images, which is where the 3D (shuttering liquid-crystal) glasses come in, he says.

‘We grab a video output [signal] from anywhere within the system, and the small sync box on top of the tv emits an infrared signal. The infrared light [from the sync box] is grabbed by the crystal element on the glasses, causing the glasses to shutter, allowing one image in [right or left] while filtering out the other.

‘The 3D signal is an ntsc television signal and records right on your vcr right off the tv and works all the same. Occasionally we stumble on some of the compression scenes because they weren’t designed for 3D,’ says Stanley.

Indigo and vcc say subscribers will be able to purchase or rent a required 3D viewing kit, which includes two pairs of wireless 3D glasses. The program price is $29.95 for each race.

The races will be rebroadcast on the C-3D Television Network and on the 3D.COM Virtual Reality Portal. C-3D Television is a division of C-3D Digital, which also owns software and hotel ppv companies, and is listed on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol (ddd-a).

– www.3d.com