Automated 2D-To-3D Conversion Software Business Model? : Stereoscopic 3D

Hello All,

I'm part of small team of graphics researchers working on a fully automated, high quality 2D-to-Stereo3D image/video/film conversion algorithm. It will work as follows when it is finished:

2D source footage -> Fully Automated 3D Conversion Algorithm -> High quality Stereo 3D (Anaglyph) footage with "just One-Click".

The algorithm we are working on is still a few months away from being "Production Ready" (Good enough visually to perform Hollywood Movie level 3D conversions) and we are working every day to make it better & faster.

A question on our minds is, what kind of business model would work best for the 2D-to-3D conversion software?

We are considering using an "Honors System" where you pay-per-project, like this:

1. The 2D-to-3D software is a free download

2. It has no restrictions whatsoever and can be used to test, experiment, play, convert to your heart's content without charge

3. If a project you have converted to Stereo 3D with our software is made public/released/exhibited/sold commercially...

e.g. to Cinema, Broadcast, Web Video, IPTV, DVD, BluRay

...then you pay us a set conversion fee for that type of project.

Examples:

1 Hour documentary for TV broadcast - 2000 Dollars

2 Hour Indy Film sold as DVD/BluRay - 5000 Dollars

Music Video for Youtube/Dailymotion etc - 1000 Dollars

Major Hollywood Film for Cinema Exhibition - 50,000 Dollars

We would like to use an "Honors System" approach where we don't chase after people to pay the fee but rather rely on professional users to be honest and

1. Look up the type of fee required for the project in question

2. Pay the fee via Internet/Credit Card (e.g. PayPal)

3. Get a payment receipt that serves as "proof" that the 3D conversion has been paid for and is 'fully paid for and legit'

My question is, would such an approach work well for production professionals?

Would the majority of people who use our 2D-to-3D
solution commercially pay the required "project conversion fee" without someone checking* on them?

(* - It is possible to weave an invisible "Digital Watermark" into the converted footage to be able to see whether our algorithm was used to convert a project to Stereo 3D or not, but we consider that to be a little "Big Brother" and don't really want to do business that way.)

To sum up the questions:

1. Would a "pay a set fee once for each finalized, 3D converted commercial project" work well with production companies and professionals?

2. What kind of 2D-to-3D conversion fees are realistic to charge per project type:

5 min Music Video = ??? Dollars

1 Hour TV Program = ??? Dollars

Internet Film Trailer = ??? Dollars

I'm sorry that I can't show any screenshots or footage of our 2D-to-3D algorithm yet because we are busy copyrighting and patenting parts of it and still improving it.

If all goes well, the first public "test version" of our software that can be downloaded and tested/played with may appear on the internet around mid-to-late 2011. (I will post in this forum when its ready). The exact time will depend on how long the algorithm patenting/copyrighting takes us to get through.

Thanks in advance for any feedback on the questions listed above.

Cheers,

Mehmet T. Gökyavuz
Software Developer
Graphics Researcher