Pushing for 3-D growth in the industry

The entertainment industry’s local 3-D video technology pioneers are taking matters into their own hands to ensure the popularity of the emerging medium doesn’t fizzle out because of a lack of expertise.

The worldwide success of the 3-D hit “Avatar,” which has raked in more box office sales than any movie in history, has catapulted 3-D technology into the spotlight, drawing the interest of broadcast networks and producers who want to film projects in the medium.

That has brought a surge of opportunities to area specialists like Burbank-based Modern Videofilm, which offers 3-D digital enhancement services at its Glendale offices.

But with demand for 3-D services increasing and new projects coming into the pipeline, Burbank-based Pace Technologies and 3ality Digital are on a mission to make sure the industry workforce is able to support the medium’s growth.

The companies have implemented training and instructional programs for industry workers in an attempt to solidify 3-D as a viable option for new productions, they said.

“Our goal here is to get more people educated now so that they understand that this is a medium that has to be respected,” said Vince Pace, the owner of Pace Technologies.

Pace hopes to expand the company’s educational efforts to ensure that industry workers can easily be hired by major studios to operate 3-D equipment, he said.

Pace, who developed his 3-D camera systems with “Avatar” director James Cameron, has seen business more than triple since last year, but acknowledged that educating the workforce will be key for 3-D growth to continue, he said.

3ality has focused on 3-D education since the start of its operations, said Angela Gyetvan, vice president of sales and marketing for the firm.

“Our main role in life is not to function as a production company but to arm the marketplace to be able to do this themselves,” Gyetvan said.

The company recently struck an agreement to provide its equipment and training services to British television broadcaster Sky and has developed a curriculum to get industry workers up to speed on their new systems, she said.

“It builds the market,” Gyetvan said of the training programs.

The approach will likely help to not only bring workers up to speed on the new platforms, but could be a part of each company’s efforts to establish their systems as the preferred resources for 3-D films, said Philip Lelyveld, a manager for the Entertainment Technology Center at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

Other organizations, like USC, are also responding to increased interest in 3-D systems to establish training courses in the medium, Lelyveld said.

“Moving forward, everyone in Hollywood wants the 3-D experience to be a quality experience, so the faster we can bring everybody in the field up to speed in being a quality experts, the more successful 3-D will be in general,” he said.