VRT-medialab

In “Het Ingenieursblad” of February 2010 you can read an interview with Jean Paul Schupp, manager and head of the VRT Medialab. This interview is in dutch.

Read the article online or Read the full interview

On May the 5th and 6th, the first Belgian Broadcast Days will be organised in the premises of Videohouse. This is a two-day network event for the broadcast professional, inspired by the AVManifestation in Hilversum. It is organised by Ludo Kerkhofs and AVi with cooperation of MediaNet Vlaanderen, Titan and Mediarte. The initiative has grown from the HD Days, that were organised three times between 2005 and 2008 by ten industry partners from the media sector. The Belgian Broadcast Days event brings together vendors and distributors in the context of ICT and new media for traditional and mobile broadcast applications, and is aimed at people that work for broadcasters and television stations.
The event includes a conference part, dedicated workshops, debates and an exhibition with about 40 exhibitors.
VRT-medialab will participate at this unique initiative with its own stand and two conference presentations in the context of tapeless workflows.

More info can be found at: http://www.belgianbroadcastdays.be.

Integrating computer generated images with camera footage is not a trivial task. Camera and lens parameters have to be correctly tracked throughout the scene.
This also includes camera motion tracking. When applying this on 3D footage, a second camera has to be tracked, as well as the mutual position of the cameras on the rig.
If you can’t achieve an exact match of the real and the virtual cameras in terms of interocular distance, focal length, convergence parameters and background dimensions, then you’re in for a serious headache.
Kasper Jordaens of VRT-medialab did an in-depth investigation of the problems and possibilities, and applied his findings on 3D TV footage of the Memorial Van Damme 2009 (shot by Outside Broadcast and Binocle 3D). The result has been demonstrated at the 3D TV workshop . The animated clip is presented below as a RED-CYAN anaglyph picture. In order to correctly view it, you need the widely available Red-Cyan 3D glasses. Cover your left eye with the RED filter of your glasses and your right eye with the CYAN filter, and watch in full screen.

The accompanying workshop presentation can be viewed here: 3Dtv_integratieDemo.pdf

Read the article in AVI (jan-feb 2010) about the 3D TV workshop here (in Dutch).
View the video recordings of the 3D TV workshop presentations and demo sessions here.

“3D TV: Is it here to stay?”, presented by Kommer Kleijn.

“An end-to-end 3D TV chain: fundamentals, technologies and products (part 1)” by Luk Overmeire (VRT-medialab).

“An end-to-end 3D TV chain: fundamentals, technologies and products (part two)” by Matthias De Geyter (VRT-medialab).

“3D IPTV - Networking technologies and impact”, presented by Donny Tytgat (Alcatel Lucent).

“3D TV - Lessons learned”, presented by Ronald Meyvisch (Outside Broadcast)

Short compilation of demo sessions.

“3D TV - If, when, how? A reality check”, presented by David Wood (EBU)

More footage follows.

On the 10th of December, VRT-medialab organised the workshop “3D TV - a distant perspective?” in cooperation with MediaNet Vlaanderen and Barco (host). The tempting and varied program drew a lot of interest: 150 people participated in this highly appreciated event. 
In the conference theatre, they could judge the added value of 3D by viewing “The Big Ask Again” during the key note speech of Kommer Kleijn. Luk Overmeire and Matthias De Geyter (VRT-medialab) explained the fundamental principles and main technologies of 3D TV. During the extensive and active demo session, up to ten Flemish media companies demonstrated their state-of-the-art 3D technology. A comprehensive set-up which even surprised David Wood (EBU), who commented not yet having seen anything like this before. He moderated the closing panel discussion on the future of 3D TV in Flanders, in which the main Flemish media players participated: Belgacom, Outside Broadcast, Telenet, Videohouse, VMMa en VRT.
If 3D TV will make its real breakthrough in the coming years, remains an open question but the majority of the audience in the room already believed in it. It will depend on the delivered quality, or as Ronald Meyvisch (Outside Broadcast) quoted: “3D TV: Waw of Auw?”.

The agenda of the 3D TV workshop: 3D TV workshop agenda.
The presentations of the workshop can be found here: 3D TV workshop presentations.
The video recordings of the different sessions can be viewed here: 3D TV workshop video recordings.
Read a summary of the panel discussion :panel discussion
Photos of the event can be viewed at photo link

More info follows.

The rabbit at the Memorial Van Damme.
Kasper Jordaens (VRT-medialab) demonstrates the integration of real and virtual 3D images.