All: AAnd another news release.....
Friday December 19, 11:59 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Xenotech and Imagica Show New 3-D Image Conversion Technology
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 1997--Xenotech (Alberta Stock Exchange: XEN - news)
LARGE-FORMAT INDUSTRY ENTHUSIASTIC
FIRST 70MM/15-PERF FILM TESTS TO PREVIEW IN MAY
Members of the large-format film industry responded enthusiastically to demonstrations of a new digital technology for converting
2-D images to stereoscopic 3-D in post production. The demos took place at the offices of Imagica USA, the large-format optical
and digital studio. Developed by Xenotech Inc. of Australia, the technology allows any 2-D footage - for film, video or broadcast -
to be converted to high-quality, stereoscopic 3-D, viewable through polarized glasses. The technology is being supplied to the
large-format film industry under an agreement between Xenotech and Imagica USA.
''The new 3-D conversion process is going to kickstart 3-D production for the large-format film industry,'' says Christopher Reyna,
president of Imagica USA. ''It won't replace CGI, and it won't completely replace shooting with a 3-D camera - you'll still need
those tools to create certain kinds of shots. But we've added something powerful to the large-format filmmaker's toolbox, something
that will greatly simplify the process of creating a 3-D film. You'll be able to get most of your shots with a 2-D camera, yet come
out of post-production with 3-D, full resolution, photorealistic imagery.'' Filmmakers will also be able to use the process to rescue
3-D rigged shots that didn't turn out and to smooth out bumpy shot transitions in final edited films.
The Xenotech 3-D conversion process has arrived at a crucial time for the large-format industry. Only seven 70mm/15p 3-D films
are currently in distribution - a supply insufficient to serve the rapidly growing network of large-format 70mm/15p 3-D theaters,
many of which are located in commercial movieplexes. Large-format 3-D cameras and 3-D rigs are bulky, complicated and in short
supply; shooting with them is expensive and takes much longer than shooting a film with a 2-D camera.
''By adapting existing 2-D films for 3-D re-release and simplifying the making of new films, the new 3-D conversion process will
dramatically increase the number of high-quality 3-D film titles available to large-format theaters, said Xenotech president Robert
Baker. ''The conversion technology is a benefit to the special format film industry in the short term and the long term, for
70mm/15p and for other giant-screen formats such as 70mm/8p and 70mm/5 perf, and for the ridefilm industry which is now
moving into 3-D formats. Our software has been developed to the stage where it allows conversion of any imagery, independent of
content, resolution or format.''
Hardware manufacturers, film distributors and filmmakers representing the large-format business and other sectors of the
entertainment industry reacted positively to the demos. Companies represented included BRC Imagination Arts, Catalyst
Entertainment, Consolidated Film Industries, Eastman Kodak, Imax, Iwerks, L(2), New Wave International, Old Bones,
Paramount/Viacom, RPG Productions, Universal Studios, Showscan, Sega, TCI, and VIFX. The 3-D material shown was
converted footage from television programs, feature films and cartoons screened in NTSC projected 3-D video. The source material
was videotape, laser disk and digital masters.
Antoine and Charis Compin, producers of two 70mm/15p 3-D films, Wings of Courage and the forthcoming T-Rex, spoke
favorably of the new technology. ''We're all very impressed and interested in its potential,'' said Antoine Compin. ''It should have
definite uses in areas where using a 3-D camera is not practical because of cramped quarters and the weight and bulk of the camera.
I'm sure it will be quite good.''
Noel Archimbaut, Imax Corp [Nasdaq:IMAXF - news].'s 3-D sterography specialist, agreed that the new 3-D conversion process
has the potential to develop into a viable tool, particularly useful ''for certain things that are otherwise cost-prohibitive or impossible
- dialogue scenes, special effects, Steadicam shots.''
''It's extremely interesting and really successful,'' commented Charlotte Huggins after viewing the demos. Huggins is COO of New
Wave International, an independent large-format production company now working on its first 70mm/15p 3-D film Encounter in the
Third Dimension. ''I find it really easy to look at,'' said Huggins. ''There have been other conversion processes attempted but no
one's done it like this. I'm very encouraged by what I saw. We're considering using the process to restore some archival footage
used in Encounter.''
The next step is to take the conversion process all the way to 70mm/15-perf film. Xenotech and Imagica are currently testing the
process on shots from several large-format films, including the 70mm/15p blockbuster Antartica and the 70mm/15p destination
classic, Grand Canyon. The completed tests will be screened later this year in Los Angeles during the annual conference and film
festival of the Large Format Cinema Association May 13-16 at the California Science Center.
The patented conversion process combines automated batch processing with operator manipulation and supervision. It involves
scanning the footage frame by frame and then using a system of algorithms to create a schematic that enables depth mapping and
motion tracking of each object. There are 256 possible levels of depth. Large-format footage will be scanned at high resolution
(3K-4K) on Imagica's 65mm ''Bigfoot'' scanner and the finished product recorded to 70mm film. The cost of creating 3-D film
with the new process is expected to start out on par with the cost of shooting with 3-D camera rigs and less than the cost of CGL. It
may eventually drop as the cost of the technologies involved drops.
Xenotech Inc. provides 3-D enabling technologies for entertainment, multi-media and communication. The company is
headquartered in Perth, Australia and maintains offices in Calgary and Los Angeles. Xenotech is publicly listed on the Alberta Stock
Exchange.
Imagica Corporation of Japan has extensive expertise pioneering in the specialty film industry dating back to the early 1980s. In
1993, the company founded Imagica USA in Los Angeles to provide optical and digital effects to the large-format film industry.
Imagica USA is a full-service digital lab providing 65mm film scanning, image manipulation and 70mm film recording.
The Alberta Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.
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