2009 FedEx BCS National Championship in 3D

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that the BCS National Championship game would be aired in 3D at select movie theatres throughout the U.S. Because I had already seen films in Real D — Meet the Robinsons 3D, U2 3D and Bolt 3D — I assumed it would definitely be shown somewhere in San Antonio.

Wrong.

Those films are distributed by their respective providers. I contacted Michelle Martell, COO of Cinedigm Entertainment, about why the game would not be shown in San Antonio. While I was under the impression the theatres chose not to air the game, Michelle informed me that none of the San Antonio theatres were part of Cinedigm’s “network of participating theatres”. Cinedigm will distribute the game using its CineLive® set of technologies. She also added that…

…each location selected for this first wave has [1] digital cinema compliant projection, [2] digital 3D systems, [3] satellite dishes, and a variety of other software and hardware installations…transmitting a large amount of data required to deliver live 3D in sync right eye/left eye

The broadcast is sent to the theater in an HD and 3D format. 3ality Digital has partnered with Fox Sports, Sony and Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. for this live 3D broadcast of the 2009 FedEx BCS Championship Game. It will shown in 80 theaters across 35 states on January 8th. This will be the first time that a live 3D broadcast will be available to the general public. Those fortunate enough to experience the game in this format should do so. To find out if the game is being shown in your city, visit Cinedigm.com for a list.

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Playing Hookie In Real D

A couple of days ago, I was sick as a dog and stayed home from work. As the day progressed, I developed cabin fever and decided to do something about it. Fortuntely, the feeling came over me around the time my son got out of school. So, I scooped him up for a trip to the ice cream parlor (parlor?) and a trip to the movies. I wanted to take him to see Spiderman 3; but given that he’s only 4 and neither his mom nor I have “previewed” the movie to determine if its suitable for a 4-year-old, we opted for Meet The Robinsons…in Real D.

Derrich wearing his FlippingRich.com T-Shirt.

Meet The Robinsons opened in theatres on March 31, 2007 and grossed a cool $7.1 million on just 581 3-D screens to become the largest digital 3-D opening in history. I was expecting those anaglyph paper shades with the traditional red and blue lenses. No dice. We were given special Real D glasses, which resemble those black rimmed Army-issue glasses. These were plastic and included polarized lenses with a yellowish tint. I’m keeping mine handy for the upcoming U23D film. Anyway, the movie started off with an old Chip & Dale cartoon, which wasn’t very impressive. The characters and scenery looked like raised cutouts versus 3 dimensional ingenuity. But once Meet The Robinsons began, it was a whole new viewing experience. More impressive was the attention to detail used on the scenery and background. I really liked the movie (animation and plot), and even more so in Real D. And after my kiddo flinched a few times and looked at me for approval, he was good to go with his 1-dimensional attention on the movie.

Click for larger image. Courtesy of IGN.com.

The 3-D picture in the movie was certainly worth more than a thousand words (unlike that mug above snapped by mini me…he’s getting better). According to Wikipedia, Real D utilizes a high-resolution digital projector that displays images at a higher frame rate than a typical movie — 144 images per second. The frames are divided between the left and the right eye by the following method: a liquid-crystal screen placed before the projector lens polarizes the pictures, so the audience, wearing plastic glasses with polarized lenses, sees different images in its left and right eyes, creating the illusion of depth. The result is a 3-D picture that seems to extend behind and in front of the screen itself.

I highly recommend that you find a Real D theater near you and check out Meet The Robinsons.

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