Pace, Quantel Team on 3-D post System

"Vince Pace, who co-developed the Fusion 3D camera system with director James Cameron, has been working closely with manufacturer Quantel on the design of a 3-D stereoscopic postproduction system.

Last week, Quantel and Pace presented private technology demonstrations of the developing system. Quantel's Mark Horton estimated that there were about 100 visitors to Pace's Burbank office, including directors, visual effects supervisors, postproduction execs and representatives from most of the major studios.

Horton said the feedback was encouraging and that as a result, Quantel intends to release the toolset as a product. A shipping date has not been determined, but Horton said that it would be a new version release of Quantel's Pablo digital intermediate/color grading system. Current Pablo customers would have the option to upgrade.

The goal is to increase speed, reduce cost and add creative flexibility in 3-D stereoscopic filmmaking. Quantel said the technology is being developed to enable creative post decisions to be made and viewed in 3-D in real time.

"I'm excited to make post go as quickly as possible and make this a reality so we can do more and more 3-D projects," Pace said.

With growing interest in 3-D coming out of Hollywood, numerous manufacturers are looking to get into the 3-D post realm. In September, for instance, Assimilate introduced 3-D capabilities in its Scratch digital intermediate system, which is a part of the post workflow being used on the upcoming U2 concert motion picture "U2 3D."

By Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter