It’s that time of year again when the world’s attention falls on The All England Lawn Tennis Club in London for The Championships, Wimbledon. Following 2011’s award winning 3D broadcasts, CAN in partnership with Sony will again be adding the extra dimension to The Championships.

An estimated 18,000 people in the UK watched the BBC’s coverage on 3DTVs in 2011 and screenings in cinemas around the world were completely sold out. Feedback from audiences was very positive with the detail and immersiveness that 3D added often being singled out for praise. Given the obvious appetite for 3D coverage of Wimbledon, this year’s broadcast coverage is being expanded to five days commencing from July 4th.

Based on the already proven 3D workflow we successfully used for the 2011 Championships and the 2010 FIFA World CupTM, this year’s 3D production will benefit from some of the latest broadcast production innovations. This includes the move to a fully tapeless operation based on Sony’s ground breaking HDCAM SR Master technology. Within the OB unit all recordings will be made directly to SR memory cards, ensuring all content is captured at the highest possible quality. For the first time at a major sporting event, we will be using Sony’s SR-R1 HDCAM SR recorders combined with highly portable TD300 camcorders to record interviews and onsite content, whilst capturing the action in high picture quality. We will also be using a TD300 in the commentary box camera position.

CAN’s Duncan Humphreys will once again be overseeing the 3D production and said: “Last year’s 3D production ran incredibly smoothly which allowed us to concentrate on the production values of the coverage and on the creative aspects of telling the story of the 2011 Championships. This year we will again be looking to heighten the viewer’s experience of the event and give them a true on court perspective of the tournament.”

Five broadcasters, BBC, Canal+ (Spain), ESPN, Nova (Greece) and Sky Italia have confirmed plans to broadcast the live 3D feed to viewers across the globe, whilst the Men’s Final on Sunday July 8th will also be beamed to cinemas worldwide. In the UK theBBC will be broadcasting full re-runs of the Men’s Singles semi-finals in 3D (one on Sat 7 July and one on Sun 8 July), and selective live coverage of the 2012 Ladies’ (Sat 7 July) and Men’s (Sun 8 July) Singles finals in 3D – free to air – on the BBC HD Channel.

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