The 3D Conversion Game

Whether you like it or not, 3D content is all set to become all pervasive.

Whether you like it or not, 3D content is all set to become all pervasive. Until recently, the cost of converting 2D movies to 3D was prohibitive: around Rs 20 lakh per minute of footage, says Sushil Kumar Agrawal, chairman and managing director of Ultra Ray 3D, a Mumbai based company. It is now offering this conversion service at 10 to 15 per cent of that amount. Also, while earlier a 150 minute movie used to take about nine months to convert, Agrawal says he can now do it in two months. But even at this rate, the market is rather limited because converting a full movie to 3D would cost about Rs 45 crore. So Agrawal is looking at another market: he is thinking small. Converting a 5 minute ad film would cost around Rs 15 lakh, which seems much more doable. The company recently struck its first success with an ad in 3D that was featured alongside The Amazing Spider-Man in India. Agrawal says he has achieved this cost advantage because of a proprietary software (which he owns legitimately) and labour cost advantages in India. Obviously, these are early days for this market: prices are only going to fall further and 3D is here to stay.

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Alok Singh