For Zhou Weiyi, a veteran of the television industry in China, it was the remembrance of a film made nearly 30 years ago that recently sent him to the forefront of today's 3D film industry.

"It was a domestically made (3D) movie named Magician's Adventure. I can hardly remember the story of the movie, but the 3D effects, which are not good by current standards, impressed me a lot," he says.

In June last year, Zhou recalled the decades-old film after he was asked to join Shanghai 3D Communication Co and saw a bright enough future in the new film medium to give up his 10 years of experience as a TV editor.

"Though 3D TV production is quite new, I'm not even sure whether or not I can define it as an industry right now due to its small size. But I have always believed that 3D is the future for the TV industry," Zhou says.

China, as with other countries around the world, has as of yet made little ground in producing 3D TV content.

Asked what he would do to jump-start the industry, he emphasizes safety.

"If we don't do it properly, the 3D effects of our shows may not be seen clearly on TV. Or sometimes, the 3D effects are too strong and the audience may feel dizzy after watching it for a long time. It is all about balance," he says.

Though he says his team's first 3D documentary, 3D Expo, failed to garner any fanfare late last year, his team's latest project, a 3D show made for the Spring Festival gala

in conjunction with a Shanghai TV station made a splash among Shanghai families during Chinese New Year.

"The feedback gave us a lot of confidence. We plan to do more 3D TV shows this year. The problem is that we don't have enough people working in this field," Zhou says.

He says the lack of 3D TV specialists will keep the industry from progressing further.

"It seems that all the insiders of 3D TV industry are blaming the lack of content as the bottleneck for the growth of the 3D TV industry. But for us, the lack of 3D TV talents is (keeping us back)," says Huang Hong, deputy secretary-general of the 3D committee under Shanghai Digital Content Industry Promotion Center.

The committee, founded in December, is the only organization in China promoting 3D TV content.

"Most people in 3D video production in China are 3D animation makers and 3D movie producers. The number of 3D TV professionals is around 30 to 40," Huang

says.

Huang says that the committee is scheduled to make a 3D movie, 3D documentary, 3D TV program, 3D animation show and a 3D TV soap opera this year.

"But most importantly, we will offer a training session and train 100 3D TV specialists this year. Talent is the key," he says.