Experts in stereoscopic cinema declare a winner at the 3D Theater session of the 23rd annual Stereoscopic Displays and Applications (SD&A) conference. SD&A is the largest and longest running technical conference dedicated to stereoscopic imaging, and is the world’s premier conference for 3D innovation.

The 3D content winner at the 2012 SD&A 3D Theater session was:

Best of Show – “All Is Not Lost” by OK Go and Pilobolus (USA)

Honorary Mention – “The Blackpool Tower 4D Experience” by Sharp Cookies Ltd. (UK)

This year’s judges of the SD&A 3D Theater session were: Percy Fung from Digital Magic Limited (Hong Kong) and Adjunct Professor at City University of Hong Kong; and Bernard Mendiburu, author of “3D Movie Making” and the follow-up “3D TV and 3D Cinema”. The judges were impressed with the high quality and inventiveness of the content, and had a challenging task to choose the winning entry from among a strong field.

The prizes for the Best of Show award were: a copy of “Stereoscopic Displays and Applications 1990-2009: A Complete 20-Year Retrospective (Special Collection DVD-ROM)” (ISBN: 9780819476593); an autographed copy of Bernard Mendiburu’s latest book “3D TV and 3D Cinema: Tools and Processes for Creative Stereoscopy”; and an autographed copy of Lenny Lipton’s seminal 1982 book “Foundations of the Stereoscopic Cinema”.

The Best of Show award was accepted by Eric Kurland who was the Stereographer for “All Is Not Lost”.

41 different 3D content segments were screened during the two hour SD&A 3D Theater session, showcasing a wide range of styles from 3D content producers from around the world.

The full list of 3D content segments screened during the SD&A 3D Theater follows:

Competition category:

Sony Two Worlds Sony and Grey London (UK)
UYUYUI! Santiago Caicedo (Colombia)
C30 Electric Crash Tests in 3D Volvo Cars Corporation (Sweden)
All Is Not Lost OK Go and Pilobolus (USA)
Random42 Showreel Hugo Paice (UK)
Hong Kong Skydrive Volker Kuchelmeister (Australia)
The Blackpool Tower 4D Experience Sharp Cookies Ltd. (UK)
Pro XXXRW Brian Drake and Jhonathan Florez (USA)
Dancing Girls Norma Kamali / 21st Century 3D (USA)
Make Every Second Count Nat Bartholomew (USA)
Ancient Russia 3D Andrey Anokhin (Russia)
Dimension3 2011 Trailer Dimension3 (France)
The Bird Man Yoshihiro Funabashi (Japan)
Bullproof Digital Revolution Studios (USA)
My Dream Joy Park (Korea)
Tarang Jonny Greenwald, et al (USA)
Monster vs Mini 3D Mini Cooper/BSUR/Camp David/WW7/
21st Century 3D(USA)

Demonstration category:

Brave (trailer) Pixar Animation Studios (USA)
Scrat’s Continental Crack-up, part 1 and 2
20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios (USA)
See You Later Amusic and Digital Magic Limited (Hong Kong)
3D Bubble Mania Extended Cut Peck Media (USA)
PlayStation 3 Stereoscopic Games Selection
Sony Computer Entertainment (UK)
Enxaneta TV3, Televisió de Catalunya (Spain)
GoPro 3D: Highlight Reel 2011 GoPro Media Team (USA)
De-Visions 3D Ryan Suits (USA)
John Carter (trailer) Disney (USA)
The Shadower Jenny Januszewski (USA)
Humor and Heartache of War Digital Revolution Studios (USA)
Cycle 3D (trailer) Andrew Murchie, Enhanced Dimensions (UK)
3D from 2D: HMAS Sydney II in 3D
Curtin University (Australia)
3D Mash-Up 2011 Lightspeed Design, Inc. (USA)
The 30 Second Intermezzo Chris Casady (USA)
Soar Over Asteroid Vesta in 3D
NASA / JPL-Caltech (USA)
Galaxy Mergers in the Early Universe
Ralf Kaehler and Tom Abel (USA)
Universe in a Coffee Cup Takashi Sekitani (Japan)
Le Fantôme de l’Opéra (The Phantom of the Opera)(1929)(restored in 3D)
Carl Hernz (USA)
NVIDIA 3D Vision thriller GALI-3D s.r.o. (Czech Republic)
Viu en 3D! (Live in 3D) TV3, Televisió de Catalunya (Spain)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 3D
KUK Filmproduktion and Fraunhofer HHI(Germany)
Monkey King Sight, Sound & Action and
Digital Magic Ltd(Hong Kong)
(NB: items in the demonstration category were not judged for the Best of Show or Honorary Mention awards)

The producers of the 2012 SD&A 3D Theater were Andrew Woods (Curtin University, Australia) and Chris Ward (Lightspeed Design, USA). The SD&A 3D Theater session was projected in high-quality polarized 3D using equipment and services from DepthQ Stereoscopic, Christie Digital, Visitech 3D, and Strong MDI Screen Systems. Additional support was provided by Dan Lawrence (Lightspeed Design) and John Stern (Intuitive Surgical Inc., retired).

The SD&A 3D Theater is the highest-attended session of the SD&A conference. Many audience members commented afterwards about the high quality and diversity of the program, and expressed their appreciation at being able to see such a wide range of 3D content.

http://www.stereoscopic.org/2012/program.html