The New York Times has an article on ESPN’s 3-D broadcast of the Miami Heat and the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. This is the first N.B.A. game broadcast in 3-D. As such it is interesting to note that it takes two people to operate a 3-D camera. The first person is in charge of pointing the camera to follow the action on the court. The second cameraman is called a convergence engineer. They focus the camera on the action. The article has more information on some of the challenges that are faced in shooting an N.B.A. game in 3-D:
3-D cameras have to pan slower than standard cameras, because of the more complex focus issues. In a game where the ball was moving up and down the court quickly, there were times when they could not keep up.
While I am not a huge fan of 3-D, I think that a lot of these issues will be resolved. What remains to be seen is whether consumers will watch 3-D, or is this just another fad like the 50’s and 80’s.
I did rather watch the game in HD.