Star Trek TV Series To 3-D - CBS possible Conversion

[AviTrek]

Since there's been a lot of talk this early Summer about TNG-Remastered and CBS Television has already been mentioned as looking into converting TNG to 3-D today it was in the news that

According to DDD president and CEO Chris Yewdall, the company is able to convert 2D video into 3D for $10,000 per hour of content using a combination of an automated process with a human stereoscopic engineer.

The broadcast network is considering a strategy to gain distribution for the 3D channel through its retransmission-consent negotiations with cable, satellite and telco TV operators, according to one source.

However, another executive familiar with CBS's 3D tests said the network has not made a definitive decision on whether to move forward. "It is all very preliminary," this source said. "There are no solid plans to launch a network."

While nothing certain the fact that CBS owns star trek this would be an ideal place to launch a new trek series in 3-D say in 2016.

CBS Testing Waters For 3D Cable Net: Sources
Broadcaster Has Shown Private Demos of 2D-to-3D Converted Material

If they are testing new 2010s TV series for 3-D conversion or possibly older properties such as TNG-R that would be required to be retelecine'd to HD and go through the entire post process it is possible although a lot more investment on CBS's behalf for the new visual FX they would have to create in 3-D.

I still think if the next Trek on TV were animated 3-D would really make it better.

As far as their other high rated properties in the last 10 years:
Only season 1 of CSI was released on Blu-ray. It's possible CSI was selected as a possible 3-D conversion series and that's why they have held off on releasing the older seasons on Blu-ray for 2 years now.

Once new FX are being done in CGI, it would not cost that much more to render them in 3D. Just a second render pass from a different camera location.

Of course converting the filmed live action footage will be much more difficult. I wonder if this technology they claim to have is any good or if we're talking Clash of the Titans issues.

Either way, it's possible that the 3D channel is putting up money to convert shows and that is being used to fund TNG-R the same way HD-DVD was used to fund TOS-R.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I suspect you're oversimplifying a tad. With this sort of thing, even the inexpensive stuff costs a boatload of cash.

 

[AviTrek]

Of course, but rerendering a cgi film is a lot easier than converting live action to 3D. That's why a lot of the early 3D films were CGI.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I think what we'd be looking as is this: Take the cost of rendering the sequence in the first place. Now double it, because you're now rendering it twice, and odds are you won't be able to just use the first version and add another rendering to make it 3D, you'll have to rerender the whole damn thing. Twice. Plus the cost of having to figure out how far to offset the one rendering from the other for the desired 3D effect, which'll be different for each shot (remember, these guys don't work for free, or even cheap), and like I said, even the inexpensive route costs major bucks. And all this for something that's still pretty iffy as far as the home market is concerned, and, as stated above, where there's no industry standard at present, which always invites disaster for at least one party (like the poor schmucks holding the HD-DVD bag), sometimes all parties (anybody remember AM Stereo?).

Network execs and studio heads are basically cowards. Nobody wants to be the first on anything, and generally won't make a move until someone else sticks his neck out first.

 

[Gary7]

They're trying to do 3D technology without the glasses now. In theory, it sounds interesting, but in reality it is not. I saw it displayed on a new cellphone, the EVO 3D. It looks like those hologram postcards that shift the image as you move it, but a terrible version of it. Even if they get it to the point where it looks good, it's just bizarre. Has Hober stated, it becomes a matter of what the eyes can focus on. It isn't elegant by any means.

The physics are undeniable. Outside of an actual hologram, in order to properly see a 3D projection you need to have special glasses. A true hologram is a technology that is still quite a number of years away. And even still, it presents a big problem: A movie is about directing what your eyes see. If you can see everything, then your eyes aren't directed. You lose the substance of what the movie intends to show. So, I really don't think holographic technology will ever really make it as a viable entertainment medium for something like a movie. It will be terrific as an educational tool or for documentaries.

No... 2D provides an experience that feels "right." It enables a wonderful means by which a story can be told, which creates an illusion in the mind of the viewer. 3D works in some special respects, but not most. And quite frankly, at home it's seriously tedious, having to take off the glasses anytime you do something away from the TV and then put them back on when you resume watching.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

2D provides an experience that feels "right." It enables a wonderful means by which a story can be told, which creates an illusion in the mind of the viewer. 3D works in some special respects, but not most.

I think conversion of TNG or any other Trek TV series or TOS feature films would be very gimmicky.

I think that shooting the next Trek TV series in stereoscopic 3-D for the live action and the CGI fully rendered in 3-D would really take a TV series to the next level.
from the Could the next Trek TV series be shot in 3-D? thread:

3D might spark more interest in visual/action based TV shows.

And in that way, 3D might be the thing that drags Star Trek back onto the small screen.

It would always be available almost immediately in 2D high definition from such places as iTunes store, Amazon.com, and months later as full seasons in Blu-Ray in 2D & 3-D. CBS would not make it 3-D only and no way to purchase a 2D version.
Too much money to lose out on...

As far as 2D ruining the illusion in the mind of the viewer just watching in HD sometimes does it:from the TOS-R season 1 Blu-Ray

Pindar wrote:

I am staring at zippers in costumes instead officers in uniforms.

Instead of concentrating on the episode I was being pulled out of it by seeing zips and fasteners.

It is the Catch-22.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

CBS is considering a paid 3D channel of shows converted from 2D to 3D.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/3D_Network/3D/CBS/CBS_is_Considering_a_Paid_3D_Network/7239

At 10000 hour I think they would use their CBS library first to fill time.
TOS-R Trek anyone?

 

[AviTrek]

"The idea would be to offer a pay channel that would presumably broadcast the same content that's on CBS, but in 3D." Sounds more like a 3D simulcast of what's currently on CBS, not a library conversion.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Since CBS is doing TNG-R (still unofficially) as a Blu-ray sampler. Would it be possible that the sampler be available as a 3-D Blu-ray?
Any and all Visual FX would be CGI & rendered in stereoscopic 3-D?

There are 10-year old videogames which are being re-released in stereoscopic 3-D & high definition and better framerates as well as Pixar movies such as Toy Story and now Disney's Beauty & the Beast which are being re-rendered in 3-D.

see:
Huge Success of 'The Lion King' 3D Re-Release Has Studios Studying Their Libraries


Since CBS is retelecineing TNG from the original camera negative & redoing all the Visual FX why not do a stereoscopic 3-D conversion of the live-action footage & render all the CGI VFX in 3-D?
Maybe even get people to pay for it in the cinema for a short time for Best of Both Worlds in 3-D & then sell it as a 3-D Blu-ray?

 

[Captain Robert April]

I still have yet to see any mentions of redoing the effects in TNG.

 

[AviTrek]

I have still yet to see a post production 3D conversion that I want to watch, even assuming no difference in cost to me.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

With the official CBS announcement

All 178 episodes from seven seasons will be transferred to true high-definition 1080p for release on Blu-ray and eventual runs on television and digital platforms both domestically and internationally.

in the next 4 years I think we can safely put this thread to sleep. No mention of a Blu-ray 3D release or conversion of TNG in the above official press release so it is not happening.

also from the TNG subforum
The OFFICIAL STNG-R general discussion thread!

 

[Rarewolf]

I just got a new 3D small TV with built in convertor, and have been watching everything in '3D'. Results vary, but some are pretty good. Doctor Who and Torchwood looked amazing. Voyager looked very flat. I'll certainly check out what TNG looks like converted at home when I have the disc.

 

[Psion]

One of the advantages with 3D Star Trek is seeing interstellar vistas, spaceship battles, alien planets, and awesome aliens all in full-fledged 3D. Imo 3D doesn't really serve that much point for regular tv dramas or comedies. 3D has much more potential for films and series with exotic environments and creatures, like Scifi and fantasy. So in this regard I think 3D trek would definitely be interesting to watch, if nothing else then perhaps as a mini feature. Maybe something that ties in with the next trek movie.

Or, if live action 3D is too costly, then why not go all the way and make a full-fledged CGI Trek series in 3D?

I'd like to point out that interstellar vistas involve extraordinary distances and to be able to perceive anything on an interstellar scale in 3D in real life, you'd have to have a distance between your eyeballs measured in tens of astronomical units. Even the view of a starship hanging against a nebula should look pretty flat from a normal Star Trek shot since our stereoscopic vision doesn't work beyond about fifty feet ... if that. Any attempt to represent a 3D starship shot against an interstellar vista, while that sounds great, would actually make the ship look like a toy. Even ship-to-ship encounters like those seen in Wrath of Khan should look flat or they'll come out toylike.

Now that isn't to say that I disagree with the rest of your statements. Alien creatures and environments would work very well in 3D ... just look at the movie Avatar for an example.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I came across this today. a Hollywood Reporter article about Fox channel testing 2-D to 3-D converter technology for movies as well as television.

Ian Harvey, senior vp, advanced technology at Fox,

Harvey explained that the studio is working with JVC to improve the 2D-to-3D conversion workstation with with an eye toward developing a cost effective way to get a quality result. The JVC technology, he suggested, might “enable us to make decisions (to convert content). Right now it is cost prohibitive.”

Fox is also testing the JVC workstation with episodic series television content. A 3D trailer for the series New Girl was converted using the technology.

JVC has not yet established a US price for the system.

Fox Testing JVC Technology for 2D-to-3D Conversion

If JVC is allowing a major TV network to test it then a few other companies have similar technology they are working on too. There are a number of patents for this type of technology.
New Girl is a single-camera comedy that shoots traditionally and I don't really see the need to convert modern TV to 3-D with a post conversion. Why not shoot a sitcom in stereoscopic 3-D to give a sense of depth to the set?
Sure convert cheaply old episodes of Miami Vice because it will air on the 500 channel universe with 100 3-D channels. I guess if people have a 3-D HDTV they want new HD content to watch in 3-D other than stereoscopically shot native 3-D sports.

What else can CBS Home Video really do with TOS-R after syndication and selling the HD files and downloads of TOS-R? What other video products can they sell with the TOS property of the Trek franchise? I can see CBS doing this in 10 years when better technology comes out.