Wimbledon, It's no happy accident that Wimbledon is being filmed in 3D this year.
The tournament is one of the biggest and most watched sports spectacles in the world – last year 365 million people watched the tournament, with an average of 12,140 hours of coverage shot – and thanks to Wimbledon's close relations with the BBC, it's a place where many televisual innovations have made their debut.
For instance, 1927 was the year the BBC brought radio to the tournament. TV was introduced in 1937, while colour TV arrived in 1967 and high definition pictures became supported in 2007.
With the arrival of 3D, Sony – which is supplying the 3D cameras – is hoping to bring Wimbledon closer to more people than ever before.
"We think 3D is one way of expanding Wimbledon to a global level," David Bush, Marketing Director of Sony Europe, told TechRadar.
"There's no greater expression of entertainment than the world of sport. So we are delighted to be partnering with Wimbledon. It's a fantastic opportunity to bring people closer to the action with 3D."
It's not all of Wimbledon that's getting the 3D treatment – the men's semi finals and the men's and women's finals are to be shot in 3D. But the question remains: just how will Sony, the BBC – which has television rights – and the folks behind Wimbledon broadcast Wimbledon in 3D?
Wimbledon 3d
To find this out, TechRadar was invited behind the scenes to the only 3D trial Sony will be having at Wimbledon, before the tournament itself begins 20 June.
Sony is no stranger to shooting major sporting events in 3D. It was its technology that was used to bring 2010's World Cup in another dimension.
So Wimbledon seems like a natural progression for the company and given that it has also procured the HawkEye technology, it can offer a complete Wimbledon package.
"Sport is incredibly important to us – we can contribute to the whole value chain, from lens to the living room," said Bush.
"The World Cup last year was a very important milestone for us. We shot 25 games in 3D."
The World Cup was something of a test bed for Sony's 3D cameras, as well as Can Communicate, the production company that helped produce the 3D games.
Based in Richmond, London, Can Communicate was one of the first production companies to embrace 3D, so much that it wasn't the 2010 World Cup which it began shooting in 3D, but the one before.
"We actually experimented with 3D in the 2006 World Cup, and when we finished that we thought there had to be another, better way to do 3D," Duncan Humphreys, Head of Production of Can Communicate, explained to TechRadar.
"So we spent time and money in learning how to shoot 3D."
Wimbledon 3d
The time and money paid off, as Can Communicate have so far shot 3D productions of the 6 Nations Rugby, 2008 World Ice Hockey final, a Ferrari F1 promo, Usain Bolt in the Great Manchester Run, the Roland Garros Tennis and the FIFA World Cup.
But all this experience is nothing without the industry's support for 3D – something Humphrys believes is finally here, and here to stay.
"In late 2009, technology was a key component and screens started to show 3D content.
"Once broadcasters and Avatar came along, it started a firestorm."
The experience of the World Cup means that the blue print of how to shoot Wimbledon in 3D is already set.
"There were 18 months of R&D which was put into four months' work in the World Cup," said Humphreys.
"In the end we were able to deliver an end-to-end 3D production that nobody thought possible.
"The workflow we used at the World Cup will be employed at Wimbledon. Everything has been streamed down, though, so it makes it easier to handle the 3D production."
Wimbledon 3d
When TechRadar walked around the OB truck used for the trial, it's hard to see that this is a streamlined operation – considering that the outside broadcast truck used for the actual Wimbledon finals will be almost twice the size as the one found in the Wimbledon carpark.
This is because it is packed with stenographers and convergence pullers whose job it is to make sure that the 3D shown to TV audiences is the best it can possibly be.
As for the actual shoot, five Sony HDC-P1 cameras will be used on Element Technica rigs.
The footage from these will all be piped through to Sony MPE-200 processors. These machines will iron out any convergence or interocular glitches that may appear in the live feed. This is why the kit has been given the name of 'stitch' by the production company.
The BBC is also allowing its feeds to be used, so the MPE-200 can also act as 2D to 3D converter for some of the more minor shots.
Sony and Can Communications are reciprocating the favour by making their feeds available to the BBC.
"We have five camera positions – the main 3D camera will be in what is usually seen as the traditional camera two position," explained Humphreys.
"We have two cameras in the pits and two at the other end of the court. We've put all the cameras much lower to create depth. And as it is in 3D, there's not much panning going on.
"Tennis is one of the sports that is designed for 3D. You're close to the action, so you end up with a lot of depth cues."
Wimbledon 3d
One of the ways the 3D filming process has been streamlined from what went on in the World Cup, according to Humphreys, is with the cabling – an important part of any setup, especially for an event such as Wimbledon, which is in a relatively confined space.
"There are two feeds wrapped in one fibre cable, which is sent back to the camera controller unit, which is fed to the image processor – at the World Cup this was treated as two separate cables.
"The process looks fairly complicated, but once everything is in position it's incredibly efficient.
"I am confident that what we will offer this year will be faultless."
Wimbledon 3d
Two amazingly talented children tennis players were filmed for the trial, and the results TechRadar saw relayed back in real time were impressive. It was clear to see that the 2D to 3D conversion needed some work but this is all part of the process of getting the footage right.
Unlike football, the camera operators can predict more or less where the action will be, so the 3D is more natural and there is a lot more of it.
"Tennis is well suited for 3D," said David Bush at Sony. "But there is a lot of discussion at the moment about sports that we didn't know at first would be good for 3D. Things such as wrestling and cage fighting.
"There may be sports coming from the leftfield which are particularly suited to 3D."
Wimbledon 3d
While we all hold our breath for chess in 3D, there is the small fact that the only place to see Wimbledon in 3D at the moment is at the cinema.
The Apollo cinema chain has the rights to show the games in 3D, something Rob Arthur, Managing Director of Apollo cinemas, is excited about.
"Two years ago Apollo didn't have 3D or digital or satellite technology. Now all of our cinemas are digital and satellite enabled and we will be screening Wimbledon in pretty much of all our cinemas.
"What we're trying to create is that feeling of excitement you get at Centre Court.
"We'll be offering Pimms, strawberries and cream – we're hoping to event-ise the matches to make audiences feel like they are part of an event.
"Our brand ethos is not just about film, but entertainment."
Wimbledon 3d
As for watching Wimbledon in 3D in the home, the BBC is still working out who it should give the content to. At the moment, 15 broadcasters in Europe and the world over are set to take the feed, but we'll have to wait a few weeks to see which, if any channel, will be showing it in the UK.
The obvious choice is Sky as it has the only 3D channel in the UK, but the BBC may well decide to offer 3D through its iPlayer service.
Wimbledon 3d
However you end up watching Wimbledon in 3D, it's another sign that 3D is more than ready for the mainstream – and a long cry from the 200 people who turned up to watch tournament on its debut back in 1877
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