In a refresh of its on-air look and feel, 24-hour 3D network
3Net is sent to launch a new stereoscopic graphics package on Nov. 4.
The new package for 3Net, a joint venture of Discovery
Communications, Sony and Imax, comprised more than 60 elements and was designed
and created by Steele Studios.
The package includes main logo opens, IDs, promotional and
sponsored elements, interstitials, promo opens and closes, and many other
transitional and supplemental elements.
Jerry Steele, co-founder of Steele Studios and the
stereographer on the new graphics package for 3Net, said that creating
stereoscopic 3D graphics poses a number of challenges.
"We had to figure out a way to deliver interesting graphics
which, when edited together, didn't represent distracting convergence shifts,
which can lead to audience eyestrain," he said in a statement. "You have to be
able to plan how to go from one extreme to another to engage viewers in 3D,
without visually confusing them. Additionally, the graphics had to be
consistent and represent a norm that all the content around them could work
with."
Steele Studios had worked with 3Net in the run-up to the network's
launch in February of 2011.
In addition to its work for 3Net, Steele Studios also worked
on a 3D video featuring Latin pop star Shakira for the opening ceremony of the
World Cup soccer competition and as online editor for Avril Lavigne's hit
stereoscopic 3D music video "What the Hell."
For those projects and the 3Net refresh, Steele used the
Quantel Pablo 4K with Stereo 3D.
"3D is definitely the next big thing in TV," Jo Steele,
co-founder and executive producer on the 3Net graphics package, said in a
statement.
While "many of our competitors are on the fence about 3D --
some think it's a fad and won't adopt the new technology until it has proven
itself, industry-wide," she added that Steele Studios saw a huge opportunity in
this area.
"It [stereoscopic 3D] will inspire the arrival of many new
channels, and will also revolutionize the gaming industry," she said.
