DirecTV got a major league start on its original 3D production this week with its 3D broadcast of the 2010 All-Star Game at Angels Stadium in Anaheim on the n3D channel Tuesday, July 13.
The satellite service showed it can deliver all the customary VIP schmoozing opportunities by haivng Yankees manager Joe Girardi visit at length with media and clients in DirecTV’s party suite just prior to the game for which he was managing the American League team. Having seen his team’s games against Seattle the previous weekend, Girardi said he is a big fan of 3D and believes it will really help with scouting.
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DirecTV, which worked in cooperation with Fox Sports, which produced the 2D/HiDef version, and Vince Pace, who oversaw production for the All-Star Game and Monday’s Home Run Derby on ESPN 3D, is intent on producing many of its own 3D programs in partnership with Panasonic to fill the satellite service’s n3D network.
With few 3D commercials to run during regular breaks, n3D filled the time with some impressive interstitial 3D video footage that DirecTV senior VP Steven Roberts said was shot recently with a Panasonic 3D camera in Southern California at landmarks like Disneyland and Newport Beach.
The company and network plan to produce many original 3D programs, including several planned music sessions and concerts, Roberts said.
The game itself presented more challenges than ESPN 3D’s production of the Home Run Derby the night before since cameras were not allowed on the field or near the batter’s box, both of which provided closer and more effective additional dimensionality.
There were some minor technical issues early on such as the ball seeming to disappear during its flight from pitcher to batter. Vince Pace said later the problem was a timing issue that was quickly resolved. Technical problems, like that, he said, will only show up in a real game situation so they cannot be diagnosed in advance.
The impressive super slo-mo 1,000-frames-per-second camera system used on Monday was not functioning Tuesday, eliminating a fun and effective element.
Another missing component was the lack of customized 3D on-screen graphics as were on display in the ESPN 3D telecast.
Fox Sports senior vp, field operations, Jerry Steinberg, said 3D sports is clearly being enjoyed as evidenced by the sold-out theater audiences worldwide to watch the 2010 World Cup live in 3D and that kids who are not starting to play videogames in 3D will want to watch sports in 3D as they get older. But right now he said the 3D is “a medium in search of a business model” as the platform goes through its early stages of acceptance as did HiDef TV, which has taken about ten years to reach about half of all homes.
— By Scott Hettrick