Onsight in deal with Imcube to offer 3D conversion tools

Onsight will annotate 2D footage at its central London facility, with the software acting as an instruction manual for artists based in China, where Imcube has set up a conversion facility with 150 artists.

The software includes visualisation and quality control tools that can cut the time spent on revisions, which Onsight chief operating officer Andy Shelley said can “plague” conversions.

“It’s a window on the whole process,” Shelley said. “Content owners have specific instructions at the outset, and this will allow them to see what their converted footage looks like before it is returned. That can cut time and cost.”

The software also minimises the manual workload of rotoscoping, depth assignment and in-painting that normally occurs in a 2D to 3D conversion process.

Shelley said Onsight will market the software as a supplementary tool for native stereo projects where it might be impractical to acquire 3D content.

The cost of converting HD content for broadcast is expected to be in the region of £6,220 per minute of footage.

Onsight has provided kit and post-production services for BBC and Sky 3D projects, and is working on natively shot 3D projects including Galapagos 3D With David Attenborough for Sky and Mr Stink for BBC1.

The facilities firm is also working on an unnamed project with Sky that uses Imcube software.