3D Makes Return to NBA All-Star Saturday Night; Available in Movie Theaters Across Country

By Ken Kerschbaumer

The NBA All-Star Game festivities this weekend in Phoenix will once again enter the third dimension, as Turner Sports, the NBA, Cinedigm, and Pace work together to deliver NBA All-Star Saturday Night in 3D to more than 80 movie theaters across the country. “This is a return to action of the team that did the All-Star game in 3D in Las Vegas back in 2007,” says Steve Hellmuth, NBA EVP, Operations and Technology.

One difference this go around is the 3D production truck that Pace has rolled into Phoenix (the 2007 game was produced out of a custom-built trailer that featured a wealth of equipment from Bexel). A cool feature of the truck? Two projectors coupled with multiviewers that will allow the producer and director to see all camera feeds in 3D, not just the program and preview feed. “The director will be able to look at every camera shot in 3D and chose the best one,” says Hellmuth.

The production will once again feature five 3D cameras but the camera positions will be different to improve the 3D effect. “This time, we have a main camera on the foul line extended and about 10 rows lower than the main cameras,” says Hellmuth. “It’s perfect because it will have a lot of foreground elements.”

A 3D Steadicam will also make its debut, and two slash cameras, one near the entertainment stage and a second behind the basket where the slam-dunk and three-point shootout will take place, will also be in place.

In 2007, the All-Star Saturday Night was shown in 3D only to an invited audience of NBA guests at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. But this year, Cinedigm will deliver it to more than 80 movie theaters across the country. To find the theater nearest you, please click here.

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