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The Mercury News Movie watchers can swap camera angles Remember when DVDs were still a novelty known as the "digital video disc"? One of the features that Hollywood studios touted -- but that never became widely used -- was the ability for viewers to change camera angles as they watched DVD Finally, technology from MX Entertainment in San Francisco delivers on that long-ago promise. It lets the viewer swap video images swiftly and smoothly, using the remote control. No special hardware required. "The idea here is I can choose what I want to see," said MX President Zane Vella, who together with former game-industry executive Jeff Braun started the company in September 2001. MX's software has already been used to create interactive concert DVDs such as The Rolling Stones' "Four Flicks" and "Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival." And it makes its debut on its first major DVD film release in the winter. Vella and Braun started exploring ways to make DVDs more interactive four years ago. They kicked around a number of ideas, like adding Internet connections to DVD players or enhancing surround sound. Then, they stumbled upon a little-used technical feature of DVD players -- multi-angle viewing. Every DVD player and remote control is built to accommodate multiple viewing angles. But previous attempts at bringing this kind of interactivity to DVDs flopped. MX developed DVD-authoring tools used by studio post-production houses to add multiple channels of video to a disc. MX also found an innovative way to speed the transitions when the viewer decides to switch video streams. "They know where to put all the assets to be logically close as someone might want them," said Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group in Seaford, N.Y. "If you're in the middle of a Santana piece, you may want this angle or this one. Put them all near each other. So it seems to be more interactive than any other disc out there." MX also created a software interface for viewers that made it easy to choose from a number of video streams. "What MX technology gives you is the interface controls so you can use the regular arrow keys on the remote control," Vella said. "That was the big breakthrough." On the "Four Flicks" DVD, the feature is called "Select A Stone." You see four thumbnail video images along the left side of the screen. You use the arrow keys on the remote control to select the performer you want to watch -- Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts or Ron Woods. Press the "enter" key and the screen fills with the new image of the single musician, without interrupting the music. Rock band Incubus used MX's software to incorporate video images that served as a backdrop during live concerts into its interactive DVDs. The DVD "Incubus at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater" lets viewers switch from the musicians to the "eye candy" video footage of jellyfish swimming across the screen. MX has software for DVD movies, as well. DVDs are already brimming with bonus material, such as a director's commentary or interviews with the actors. The technology could be used to quickly summon the director on screen to discuss a pivotal scene, or the special-effects director to deconstruct an on-screen illusion. Indeed, MX has teamed up with one of the best-known names in film, Technicolor, to promote the technology to studios. And MX hints that the movie studios are starting to bite. "We have a great partner in Hollywood that's already in production on MX features for Hollywood films, but I can't announce who they are," said Vella. Michael Gartenberg, research director for Jupiter Research in New Jersey, said MX is among the first to capitalize on the latent interactive features of the DVD. Its challenge is to persuade the directors and studios to shoot the footage that would create an engaging experience.,/p> "I think there's a lot of opportunities for this kind of stuff," said Gartenberg. "The key here is to take it to the next level in partnership with folks at the studios, so they're producing more content." Contact Dawn C. Chmielewski at dchmielewski@mercurynews.com or (800) 643-1902. |
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