NAB and partners ETC-USC (the Entertainment Technology Center at University of Southern California) and SMPTE (the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) announced that immediate and near future applications will be the focus of the Digital Cinema Summit at NAB2006. Set for April 22 and 23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Summit will feature case studies, expert tutorials, keynotes and panels that examine practical issues arising from the production, postproduction, distribution and presentation of digital cinema.
Saturday's program, produced by SMPTE, centers around digital cinema mastering, distribution and exhibition issues, including: creating the D-cinema package; 2K and 4K projection technologies; 3-D installation and its visual/psychological impact; and a worldwide progress report on digital cinema installations in theaters.
Sunday's schedule, produced by ETC-USC, looks at creating 3-D content; new digital cameras; color management software and services; and production and post-production projectors and displays through neutral analysis, user experiences and recent projects.
John Marino, NAB vp, science & technology, said, "Now in its fifth year, the Digital Cinema Summit is a very important educational segment of NAB2006. Our partnerships with the Entertainment Technology Center at USC and SMPTE ensure that NAB2006 attendees receive the most relevant and up-to-date status of technologies critical for the analog to digital transition of the cinema industry."
SMPTE president Edward Hobson, added, "It's time to step back and see what we can learn from the first wave of distribution and exhibition products and services as well as pioneering digital cinema release materials. The Saturday sessions will look at what has worked, what needs to improve and what lies in the imminent future, so that digital cinema can continue to expand."
Added Charles S. Swartz, exec director/ceo, ETC-USC, "Digital cinema has moved rapidly from prototype to realization and there are a host of new prospects on the near horizon in production and post. We are excited to bring this real-world information to Summit attendees, so they can take their digital cinema activities to the next level as well as make informed decisions on the convention floor."
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is the leading technical society for the motion imaging industry. SMPTE members are spread throughout 85 countries worldwide. As well, more than 250 sustaining (corporate) members belong to SMPTE, allowing networking and contacts to occur on a larger scale. Touching on every discipline, members include engineers, technical directors, cameramen, editors, technicians, manufacturers, educators and consultants.
Founded in 1993, the Entertainment Technology Center at University of Southern California (ETC-USC) is a neutral, non-partisan research organization in the School of Cinema-Television that studies entertainment technology developments that are critical to the creative community; production companies; content owners, distributors and exhibitors; and technology companies. ETC-USC's sponsors include the USC School of Cinema-Television; Hollywood's major studios: Sony Pictures Ent., Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, Universal Pictures, Viacom/Paramount Studios, The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros.; Lucasfilm; Cisco Systems; Deluxe Laboratories; Laser Pacific Media Corp., a Kodak company; Panasonic; and Thomson. For more information, visit www.etcenter.org.
The Digital Cinema Summit is part of the 13th annual NAB Conference Series. NAB2006 will take place April 22 27 in Las Vegas (exhibits open April 24). It is the world's largest electronic media show covering the development, delivery and management of professional video and audio content across all media. Complete NAB2006 details are available at www.nabshow.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
