Chris Condon was honored with the first lifetime achievement “Charles M. Brewster” Award at the International 3D Society’s 3D Technology Awards tonight at the Hollywood Mann Chinese Theatre.
Condon joined Panasonic Corp. in receiving the first awards for breakthrough innovation and achievement.
Eighteen different technologies were recognized amongst the individuals and organizations honored for contributions to the advancement of the stereoscopic medium.
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A highlight of the program was an in-progress, four-minute clip presented by Susan Lloyd from her grandfather Harold Lloyd’s classic silent black-and-white film “Safety Last,” in which the famous scene including Lloyd hanging several stories high over a busy downtown street from a giant clock is being converted to 3D and colorized by Legend 3D and founder Barry Sandrew, who invented digital colorization. Even though the clip looked pretty amazing, Sandrew told 3DHollywood.net that it is still being improved and the final version will be shown at the second annual 3D Society Awards honoring creative arts on Feb. 9, 2011. There are no plans to convert the entire film, he noted.
Chris Condon, whose work in 3D filmmaking spans 50 years, was unable to attend due to health issues, but presenter Lenny Lipton of Occulus 3D, said the award would be taken to him Wednesday at his hospital room in Burbank.
As previously announced, Panasonic received the “Charles Wheatstone” Award honoring its advocacy, technology and consumer engagement in the development of the stereoscopic 3D products. Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company president Shiro Kitajima flew in from Japan to accept the award, and credited collaborators from James Cameron to DirecTV, Best Buy, Major League Baseball, the Olympics, the U.S Open, and many others for helping the company be an advocate for all forms of 3D.
Eleven companies received Lumiere Awards:
* 3ality Digital was honored for its Stereo Image Processor (SIP) technology
* Autodesk for its “Maya” 3D visual effects software technology
* Dolby Laboratories for its “Dolby 3D” system
* Steve Hines and The Walt Disney Studios for the “Disney Dual Camera Rig”
* In-Three for its “Dimensionalization” technology
* MasterImage 3D for its “Digital 3D Cinema System”
* Nvidia for its “3D Vision” technology
* Quantel for its “Pablo” 3D color correction and finishing system
* Sassoon Film Design for its “2D to 3D Conversion” technology
* Sony Pictures Imageworks for its “3D Pipeline”
* The Walt Disney Studios for its “3D Pipeline”
* XpanD for its “Active 3D Cinema System.”
Recipients of Gold Awards were:
* Colonel Robert Bernier for his “Optics” technology
* IMAX for its “Solido Dual Strip 3D Camera” technology
* IRIDAS for its “Dual Stream” technology
Also as previously announced, IMAX, RealD and Texas Instruments each received the Century Award, the highest honor for a company or individual recognizing major contributions over the past thirty years.
IMAX was honored for its “Solido Systems” technology; RealD for its “Cinema System” digital 3D projection technology and Texas Instruments was recognized for its “DLP Cinema” technology.
“These innovators are helping pioneer the next generation of storytelling. Without them, we, as creators, would not have the bright 3D future ahead that we do,” said Buzz Hays, Society Chair and Executive Stereoscopic 3D Producer for the Sony 3D Technology Center, Sony Corporation of America.
“There was an excitement in the theater tonight reflecting the growing confidence that 3D is an art, a craft and a good business to be in,” noted Jim Chabin, President of the International 3D Society.
Interspersed throughout the program were historic 3D clips from films such as “The Stewardesses” (1969) and a short black-and-white clip from 1935 called “Arrival of a Train,” filmed using a unique horizontally-running 35mm stereoscopic camera and projector created by prolific French inventor siblings the Lumiere brothers, for whom the Society’s award is named.
The 3D Technology Awards Show featured MasterImage digital 3D cinema system technology and passive glasses, as well as NEC projectors and equipment.
XpanD, Panasonic and RealD were platinum sponsors of the 3D Technology Awards Show.
NEC Display Solutions, Deluxe and Texas Instruments were Gold Sponsors.
Nvidia, In-Three and Amazing 3D Post were Silver Sponsors.
International 3D Society underwriters include Signature Sponsor XpanD and Founding Sponsors MasterImage 3D, Panasonic Hollywood Lab, The Walt Disney Studios, PIXAR, DreamWorks Animation (DWA), Dolby Laboratories, Sony Corporation of America and IMAX; and Member Sponsors Discovery Communications, Autodesk and DirecTV
— By Scott Hettrick