Yidio Focus: Sony, Discovery Channel and IMAX Invent the Three-Dimensional Future With 3Net (Watch the Trailer)

Mountain climbers cling from a craggly precipice. Parkour jumpers leap and boomerang off buildings and walls. Bullriders get launched from sharp horned longhorns eager to rip them limb from limb. 3D television isn’t required to be so in your face, but damn does it ever help.

We’re at a panel at NAB in Las Vegas with the creators of the newly launched 3Net, a 3D television station on DirectTV started by Sony, Discover, and IMAX.

They’re screening the sizzle reel for the channel, which launched in February, and it’s the first time they’ve ever screened it on a movie screen for a large audience, having spent most of the time focusing on making it look good for the small percentage of the population who can watch 3DTV at home.

So it’s kind of experimental, but holy jeebus is it awesome.

As a lion strolls by on screen looking very much like he wants to devour you and your funny glasses, 3Net CEO Tom Cosgrove says, “you know, every time I see that lion I think this is why we do this. I’ve worked with Discovery on Planet Earth and some other shows where the footage is amazing, and I think this is really special. When you see the lion up there on the screen like that, it has a real emotional component to it. It really pulls at your heartstrings.”

Screening a 3D trailer for the first time to a group of industry professionals on stage may sem a little like trapeze walking without a net, but that’s pretty much the whole 3D television industry right now.

3Net launched on DirectTV a few short weeks ago, and at the moment pretty much everything is experimental, including “High Octane” and “African Wild,” two of the rather mind-boggling series' previewed during the session. The channel is accepting submissions from a variety of acquisition platforms, including consumer grade cameras, and experimental rigs built by industry pros. From what it sounds like, even the guys from 'Avatar' are forced to get creative in this rapidly evolving format.

“It would be great if we could just follow a guy up a mountain and film it in 3D, but we’re not really quite there yet,” said Cosgrove.

Craig Tanner, 3D producer for 3Net and an editor on “Avatar,” reiterated those concerns.

“We shot a series called ‘3D Safari: Africa’, and three of our rigs broke down. It’s not like when you’re shooting footage in Africa, you can just run down to the parts store and replace this gear. My wife actually ended up getting on a plane and hand carrying parts to us so that we could get through the shoot. It was pretty ridiculous.”

Good on ya, Mrs. Tanner, good on ya.

Barriers to Entry

Even if you’re not prone to venturing out to film safaris, it seems as if the biggest barrier to entry is size and cost of the gear, though that is rapidly changing said Grant Anderson from the Sony 3D Technology Center, who also participated on the panel.

“The equipment has really improved and is getting much lighter so we can do many of the things we could never do before. In the last six months, cameras have come out that weigh half what they used to, which allows us to take them places we couldn’t reach before.”

Another hurtle to creating quality 3D TV is simply knowledge. James Cameron urged the audience to learn 3D themselves at the keynote for the conference this morning, saying “YOU are the future of 3D” and mentioning that the industry would need to rely on “2D talent” (how 2009) to bring 3D to the mainstream.

Anderson says interest in learning about 3D is growing.

“A lot more people understand how to work with the technology as well. We’ve trained over 1,000 production professionals on how to use 3D,” said Anderson.

While the challenges on the production said of things may be easily overcome in the coming years, we have to wonder how the simple viewing experience can truly be improved. Even 3net CEO Cosgrove admitted that the days of glass-less viewing for 3DTV are "probably far away,” and we have to wonder how the format will ultimately play out for a new generation of viewers used to watching their TV online or on their mobile devices.

Either way, it's a safe bet to say you'll soon be seeing far more 3D content than you are now.

Watch the promo trailer for 3Net on Direct TV (in YouTube, not 3D. D'oh).