David Bush, Director of Marketing at Sony Professional believes the World Cup has fast-tracked live 3D technology, thanks to enormous learnings on the ground in South Africa.

While delivering his showcase at ‘Sport & Technology: The Conference 2010’ by SportBusiness Group on Friday 16 July, Bush stated the learning curve for the FIFA partner had been enormous and would have far reaching effects on live 3D production for years to come. Sony delivered 25 games live from five locations across South Africa (almost one per day), travelling in excess of 5,000 miles during the four week tournament. Two production units were tasked over an eight month period with developing, producing and distributing the experience to fans around the world, including UK fans via special cinema viewings. Key production learnings included the fact that eight cameras and a maximum of 12 positions deliver the best results, that cameras need to frame wider and cut and pan slower, plus new techniques that now make set-up/break-down of mobile production in venues just as fast as HD technology (maximum of four hours).

According to Bush the holy grail is the delivery of comfortable, compelling and affordable live 3D – it can be disturbing if not delivered well. Sony research has found that demand for 3D is increasing and that fans are willing to pay more for it, however quality content and limiting technology (3D glasses) are a risk. Content is king in 3D. While 2D is a technology decision (flat screens etc), 3D success is determined by the quality of the content delivered and how. Bush argues that there is scant quality content available at present, and that this, along with glassless 3D technology, will be the key focus for producers in the future.

Enormous learnings on the ground in South Africa have seen the technology take giant step forward - Sony is now planning to deliver 64 matches at Rio 2014. Live 3D sport is here to stay.

- Rachel Froggatt, director of sport at Braben (www.braben.co.uk) the PR partner of the SportBusiness Group Conferences and Events division.