In need of something special last month for the New York Auto Show exhibit of its client Mercedes-Benz designer and producer Dimensional Communications tapped Lightspeed Design to executive produce a six-minute 3D Stereoscopic film for the event. The fast-paced driving film was captured in 3D at 4K resolution and presented on both a large rear-projection screen as well as multiple 3D monitors in a massive 88-foot by 158-foot open exhibit area. Filmed on location near Santa Barbara California at the Sandpiper Golf Course Bacara Resort and Cojo-Jalama Ranch the six-minute film features live 3D running footage of the Mercedes SLS AMG E-Class Cabriolet and S400 Hybrid as well as pro golf played on a breathtaking oceanside course. The footage was shot on dual Red One cameras incorporated into Lightspeed's DepthQ Stereoscopic rig while the all-digital shoot used DepthQ Capture Software which provides real time monitoring recording and playback of the stereoscopic imagery. Post-production and editing at Lightspeed Design's studio added custom CGI special effects and incorporated Mercedes archival media. Chris Ward president of Lightspeed Design says Our production pipeline benefits from advanced filmmaking technologies that we've developed and honed over the past 17 years producing stereo 3D content. DepthQ Stereoscopic is actually a mature live-action 3D filmmaking process that maximizes creativity efficiency and accuracy from acquisition through post. Combined with our knowledge and experience in 3D film-making it allows us to produce comfortable visually impactful great 3D cost-effectively. In an email Ward told Digital Cinema Report “The project was clearly inspired by what is going on in the cinemas. The film contains footage from ESPN which is connected to Mercedes deep involvement with sports marketing. The project is a step in the direction of using 3D as an advertising medium based on the larger entertainment industry moves in this direction but actual presentation in movie theatres has not been part of the short term work.” The HD 3D film was displayed on a 16 foot wide by 9 foot tall rear-projection screen using two 30 000 lumen Christie Digital projectors as well as on four passive horizontally interleaved 3D LCD monitors distributed throughout the exhibit space. Custom-branded Mercedes-Benz plastic circular polarized glasses gave guests a first-class 3D experience on both the large projection and the 3D monitors. This is our second major promotional project for Dimensional Communications and Mercedes. Dimensional does a great job of intelligently incorporating unique and advanced multimedia systems into their exhibit designs ” says Ward. “They also produce artistic and beautiful booths with great attention to detail and we are very pleased to be able to support their direction and concepts. Robert Sneed partner and vice president of multimedia technologies at Dimensional Communications says With the worldwide success of Avatar I knew the time was right to produce the first large venue S3D film for tradeshow use and I knew Mercedes-Benz would be the perfect client to approach. The results were astounding and the film became the star of the Mercedes-Benz exhibit. Because of its success it will be presented at many more Mercedes-Benz events this year. Click here to view a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot. http://bit.ly/c2EbEb
