Intel, Dreamworks Create Tools for Stereo 3-D

Intel Corp. is partnering with DreamWorks to create enhancements for stereoscopic 3-D in the cinema. The partnership is an aspect of a broader initiative at Intel to bring stereo 3-D to a wide variety of devices, including TVs. The move comes at a time when a broad array of Hollywood studios, consumer electronics companies and technology providers are converging to define 3-D TV.

DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg came to the Intel Develop Conference to announce the partnership, calling stereo 3-D a third generation in entertainment following the shift to talkies and color. All DreamWorks' animated features will be created and made available in stereo 3-D starting in 2009, said Katzenberg who showed the 2,500 attendees here clips from its next 3-D title Monsters versus Aliens.

Katzenberg said major Hollywood directors, including Stephan Spielberg, James Cameron and Peter Jackson, are working on live-action movies in stereo 3-D. "In the next few years they will make some of the best films using these new techniques," he said.

Intel is developing a variety of tools to help deliver 3-D on multiple devices, said Renee James, an Intel software executive. The work with DreamWorks on 3-D cinema enhancements will be branded Intru3D.

The move was Intel's second big step into the CE market this week. The company also announced a new system-on-chip and software partnership with Yahoo! to bring the Internet to TV.

By Rick Merritt, EE Times