the BROADer issue

BSkyB publishes Sky 3D-enabled pub finder

It's the day before BSkyB's 3D broadcast of the Manchester United v Chelsea game, and you're possibly wondering where you can find a pub to watch it. Sky's marketing people are way ahead of you. They've published a handy Pub Finder. 

It looks like Sky already has pretty comprehensive coverage. I typed in my present location on Merseyside, and found three pubs showing the game in 3D within a 5 mile radius. I typed in my home postcode in Hertfordshire ... and also found three 3-D equipped pubs where I could watch it within a 5 mile radius there too. I'm quite impressed. Surprisingly perhaps, type in a random London W1 postcode and it only returns 3 results; the Slug & Lettuce in Lisle Street, off Leicester Square, the Thornbury Castle in Enford Street, and The Abbey in Orchard Street, SW1. Probbaly best to avoid them. They'll be packed.

I hope the game lives up to all the hype and the 3D experience is a good one. Me? I'll be listening to it on BBC Radio FiveLive as I head south on the motorway, hoping they both lose!

BSkyB rejects 2D to Stereo3D conversions for Sky3D

As reported on the TVB Europe website this morning, BSkyB has announced in its Stereo3D spec document, that it will not accept programme content on its Sky3D channel that was originated in 2D. Prodycers are allowed to submit content that contains up to 10% shot in 2D HD, but entire conversions are banned.

The document reads:

"The enable the 3D programmes to retain the highest quality throughout, a minimum of 90% must be native 3D footage. Where non-HD footage is utilised, it should sit within the editorial context of the programme. The 2D originated footage must be HD, be of segments not exceeding one minute, converted in a suitable manner to fit the 3D content and be of shots where there is minimal benefit from a true dual camera acquisition."

And, if that's not clear enough, the spec document goes on to state that converted content is 

"not acceptable and may only be proposed by prior agreement, with understanding of the editorial techniques and conversion process involved."

iPlayer iPhone app slapped with BBC ban

Predictably I suppose. the BBC is on the warpath, preventing the launch of an independently-developed app that allows iPhone users to time-shift iPlayer content. This would have been particularly useful when signal strength fades, on the London Underground, for example, had the Beeb not come down hard on the developers Camiloo, a two-man team from Manchester.

The Register reports that, even though the app respects iPlayer's 7-day calendar for programmes and deletes them accordingly, the BBC is adamant that iPlayer for the iPhone can stream, but not cache.

'Scandawegia' trailblazes 100Mb/s 4G networks

While the rest of Europe and many other parts of the world get used to being hooked up to 3G networks, mobile users in Oslo & Stockholm are about the start the new decade with fourth generation mobile services. 

Sometime in Q1 2010, the residents of Oslo & Stockholm 1 will begin to enjoy 100 Mb/s mobile connectivity - 10 x UK 3G speeds - that will enable subscribers to play real-time networked games & watch high resolution films while on the move.

Talking 3DTV on BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row'

I made my radio debut on Mark Lawson's 'Front Row' programme yesterday evening. I joined Mark and Heat magazine's reviews editor Boyd Hilton (@boydhilton) for a debate about the merits of 3DTV as Channel 4 prepared to begin a week of 3D programmes with the screening of 'The Queen In 3D'. 

The film was shot at the Queen's coronation in 1953 by Bob Angell and Arthur Wooster. Arthur's son David is MD of 3D production company Can Communicate. A while ago, David was about to go on a 3D shoot, and asked his father if he'd ever shot any 3D, hoping he'd have one over on his old man for a change.

Thwarted! 

Arthur had almost forgotten the cans of film languishing somewhere in the BFI archives, and so began the long process of finding, restoring and releasing the cleaned up version of the film.

As well as being broadcast in the analogue ColorCode format on Channel 4, 'The Queen In 3D' was recently shown at the NFT using the Xpand 3D system, which employs the active LCD shutter glasses.

To hear what Mark, Boyd and I discussed visit the 'Front Row' Listen Again page on the BBC website. Click on Listen Now to launch BBC iPlayer, and shuttle along to 16m 05s. 

All feedback welcomed!

Last night's RTS Technology Innovation Awards 2009

After a long day in the saddle working on various projects, I spent yesterday evening at BAFTA for this year's RTS Technology Innovation Awards dinner. It was a late night, which is why it's taken me 'til lunchtime to post this update.

Confession time. I told a little white lie on Twitter during the evening. I didn't share a lift with Michael Caine as he entered the building for a screening of his new film 'Harry Brown'. His minders wouldn't let me in, and I had to walk up the stairs while he travelled in style & conserved his energy. Good job all this swimming's working & I'm feeling fit.

Anyway, the evening went very well, and the company was excellent.

I was one of the judges for the 'Raising The Bar' & 'Under The Bonnet' categories. My fellow judges - Simon Fell (Chair), Andy King (BBC FM&T), Roland Brown & John Ive (NBC Universal's Andy Lucas was absent) - and I were on a table at the back, presumably to keep us out of trouble. But we did get a mention in dispatches for giving up our time to review the submissions and meet to vote for our choices. It's always nice to be appreciated.

Martha Lane-Fox & Brent Hoberman were the guests of honour and handed out the awards. Both made pretty good speeches, and Brent couldn't resist plugging his new venture mydeco.com, which borrows a lot from the John Lewis website, and adds a social communication element to the online shopping  experience. This is something I spent time working on with another company over the Summer. I'll be interested to see how it goes, as it can be a tricky concept for vendors and buyers to get their heads around.

The 'Raising The Bar' award went to BBC R&D for the Ingex Automated Tapeless Prroduction system, incidentally, and the 'Under The Bonnet' award went to another initiative involving the Beeb's R&D dept.; the development of DVB-T2 (AKA Freeview HD in the UK), which looks to have been a phenomenal feat of project management & logistics, as well as a technological conjuring act.

For a full list of the winners and nominees, visit this page on the RTS website.

Pinewood Studios drive-in gets world's biggest screen

Pinewood Studios is using the upcoming Halloween celebrations to launch its latest venture, the world's largest drive-in cinema. The studios' Paddock Lot has been equipped with a 73.1m x 18.3m screen.

Tickets are £35 per car, £55 if you want VIP parking & waitress service.

On the opening night, 31 October, the films are 'The Omen' (gates open 16.00, film starts at 16.45) and 'The Shining' (20.00 for 20.45). Other highlights of the series, which ends on 6 December and features films that were shot at Pinewood, include 'Mission:Impossible' (7 November, 16.45), 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (22 November, 16.45) and 'Full Metal Jacket' (6 December, 20.45).

Book tickets

Get directions to Pinewood

Why are you going to IBC this year?

I have to confess, I've not seen or heard much to get my juices flowing yet, but an update on the official IBC 2009 Twitter feed suggests that there are at least 100 embargoed IBC stories waiting to be told, so you have to expect those to contain something significant. I heard a rumour that Avid will announce something to turn the heads of FCP and Premiere users, but that's about it, really.

All a bit quiet and unspectacular, at least so far.

The issues surrounding the management of media assets and published content are never far from the top of media companies' agendas these days. Though it's the workflow, the business strategy, the process management and how DAM fits into an organisation's culture (without disrupting it or distorting it) that are more important than the tech. 

It's OK to have a great suite of products that are like snugly fitting puzzle pieces and a crack team of 'professional services' commandos on standby to help deploy a customer's (shudder) solution. Today's skil - and this is a role where independent consultants can excel - is helping a management team sell a new system, a new way of working, and the inevitable knock-on effects, to the staff. 

I'm guessing there'll be quite a few of us at IBC singing from that hymn sheet.

Stereo3D will inevitably be the talk of the show. If anything, given the small amount of content that's available and the limited amount of exposure it gets on screens large and small, there'll be too much talking, not enough viewing. 

I'm sure we'll be introduced to a ton of new rigs and stereoscopic 3D production hardware, as well as Stereo3D enhancements to new & existing content creation systems, but it's the display technology I'm looking forward to seeing. I'm curious to know how soon it will be before real, proper, stable 3D that doesn't make your stomach churn hits living rooms and public spaces.

And finally, for this update. Is the DI market becoming dominated by a few big players who can offer productions complete grading, finishing and 'film out' services and so freeze out smaller service providers, as suggested in this well-written piece by Broadcast's Will Strauss? If it's the case, you have to wonder what traffic around Hall 7's DI technology vendors will be like.

'Lights, Camera, Action...Network!' course review

Last week, I spent an enjoyable four days running a course at FDMX (the Film & Digital Media Exchange), part of The University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield (pictured).

'Lights, Camera, Action...Network!' is a practical introduction to social media marketing aimed at filmmakers, producers & distributors:

Day 1: an introduction to the tools, services, language and culture of 'the social web' and how to strategically manage your own online marketing and publicity campaigns.

Day 2: design & build a live online publishing environment, with RSS feeds, embedded Twitter and third-party content, monitoring & measurement etc.

Day 3: begin generating content and populate the site

Day 4: begin publicising the site and attracting visitors

We concentrated on building one site, to help film distributor John Letham of Park Circus publicise his Back In Cinemas campaign to get us of our sofas and watching classic movies on the big screen.

Follow this link to view the Back In Cinemas site, which was built from scratch - with tuition - by three complete newcomers to the world of social media, social networks and 'the social web'. The site will remain active for about another week, before being taken down and re-modelled.

I've been invited back to run the course again in October (dates TBC). If you're interested in knowing more, drop me a line - colin@informedsauce.com

Is this the best Christmas stocking-filler ever?

The Register is upping the Christmas gift idea stakes with yet another news item telling us that pico projectors for - and indeed built into - mobile phones will be commonly available by the end of the year. The image above is of a Texas Instruments-powered Samsung i7410 pico projector phone, gadget freaks!

I was talking to a Soho post house CTO last week, who has already bought a tiny pico projector to accompany his disk-based camcorder, and was raving about it.

Is this set to be a lad's mag fad, or is there genuine interest in being able to watch something using your mobile device without relying on its inadequate screen real estate?

Is that a projector in your pocket, or ...

There's a story on The Register website this week about a new DV camera, due to be launched at the end of 2009, that also features a pico projector.

The DigiLife DDV-JF1 will have a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor producing 1280 x 720 30 fps images, H.264 compression, and a 2.5-inch LCD display.

It will also boast a built-in pico projector designed to project 640 x 360 images as large as 50 inches (diagonal) at ranges up to 4m.

There are four possible projector technologies to choose from: Texas Instruments' DLP, 3M's LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon), and Displaytech's FLCOS (ferroelectric LCOS) systems, which each require a focusing lens; and the lensless laser-based system designed by Microvision and planned for both OEM customers and the company's own Show WX, which is scheduled for release later this year.

Earlier in the year, Explay showed off its Colibri pico-projector module (pictured) at the Mobile World Congress. It measures 24 x 28.6 x 7mm, and draws only 1.3 watts of power, but still manages to project 70-inch imagesat distances between 20 to 200cm, and from 7 to 70 inches (diagonal image size). The Colibri supports VGA, WVGA and SVGA resolutions.

All this may seem a bit OTT, but, come the end of this year, school classes, seminars, sales presentations and those oh-so-captivating holiday videos may never be the same again.

Channel 4 opens up entire archive for free on 4OD

According to this story on Electricpig, posted today, Channel 4 is making its entire archive available for free via its 4OD on-demand catch-up service. Why free? Why not make it an all-you-can-eat subscription or offer really inexpensive pay-per-view snacking?

It raises the suggestion that this could be how the company's keeping hold of its advertisers and sponsors. A commercial broadcaster offering its back catalogue buck-shee doesn't make sense otherwise. If I've guessed right, and this is to work, C4 is going to have to persuade them to part with decent sums of money, and be careful it doesn't cannibalise the ad revenue of its already shaky 'appointment television' service.

Build your own outdoor cinema

If, as predicted, we enjoy a hot and dry Summer this year, some of you might like the idea of having your own outdoor cinema.

I spotted this article on the Wired website, which tells you how to go about doing just that.

Frightened off by the high cost of an off-the-shelf solution, the article's author, Dave Banks, improvised. Co-opting a projector from work, and investing in some suitable speakers, he then decided to make his own screen (pictured), to save money on the most expensive part of the set-up.

The project seems to have been a great success, and Dave not only shows how he built the screen, but the mistakes he made, and how he'd avoid them if he did it all over again.

'8-bit Waterslide in REAL TIME' by Tea&Cheese

I really like this little animated movie, which dates from 1982. Thanks to @bpinaud for bringing it to my attention via Twitter.

'The Hunt For Gollum' debuts online to thrill LOTR fans

A remarkable 40-minute film, 'The Hunt For Gollum', inspired by Tolkein's appendices to 'Lord Of The Rings' and by Peter Jackson's trilogy of films, and made with a budget of only £3,000, debuts tomorrow (3 May) at a London sci-fi festival and on the internet.

What makes 'The Hunt For Gollum' remarkable is that it isn't, despite the tiny budget, a valiant but somewhat amateurish attempt by a bunch of fans to show their appreciation. I've watched the trailer and it looks fantastic. The lead actor looks uncannily like Viggo Mortensen, the make-up and costumes closely resemble those used in the Jackson movies (that's where a lot of the £3,000 went, apparently), and it's filmed and lit beautifully.

Director Chris Bouchard assembled a crew of 160, including a team of 'crowdsourced' VFX artists, to make the film, which was shot in North Wales, Epping Forest, and on Hampstead Heath.

The plot:

Gandalf and Aragorn realise that Gollum is out there somewhere and he has key information about the Ring and they have to track him down before the enemy captures him. They know the war is coming, and this sets up Middle-earth in a state of foreboding before it all kicks off.

For more information, visit the film's official website, and read this interview with Chris Bouchard on the BBC website.