NAB summit adopting wider view

Digital event looks at dawn of digital age

By DAVID S. COHEN

'300' will be a case study at the DCS.

In the past, much of the focus on digital cinema has been on the exhibition end, but with the Digital Cinema Initiative specifications in place, SMPTE standards yet to come and most theater chains in their testing phase, the action has shifted to other parts of the digital cinema pipeline.

That's reflected in the Sunday lineup at the NAB Digital Cinema Summit.

"Now that d-cinema deployment has tremendous momentum, the Summit has expanded its focus both up and downstream," says Entertainment Technology Center executive director David Wertheimer.

After Saturday's more tech-oriented sesh, Sked includes case studies of Warner Bros. hit "300," whose sets and settings are almost entirely computer generated; Disney's "Meet the Robinsons," one of the first CG animated films to be produced from an early stage with 3-D in mind; and Rogue Pictures table-tennis laffer "Balls of Fury" shot and posted digitally.

"These sessions will provide a rare opportunity for attendees to learn how these projects made the most of new digital technologies and workflows ... as well as to explore the pipeline challenges that remain," Wertheimer says.

Sunday's program includes a tribute to Wertheimer's predecessor, Charles Swartz, who died this year. Distribution, exhibition and antipiracy panels follow, with the focus shifting back to production for the afternoon session.