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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

Updated: 02/22/2008 12:11 am

TALLAHASSEE - Get out of the way!

Here comes Preston Parker running full speed, and he's not stopping.

Whoa, that tomahawk chop nearly poked somebody's eye out!

Say, is Florida State coach Bobby Bowden really talking to you? Sure seems so, with Noles defensive tackle Paul Griffin standing close by, as Bowden implores: "Let's play bad to the bone; we need to knock it out of them!"

So it goes for FSU football recruits, one jarring scene after another, each equally captivating thanks to cutting-edge movie technology and a pair of plastic glasses.

Recruiting has a new dimension.

Bob LaCivita, FSU's director of player personnel, shows a 3-D DVD to recruits and their families on official visits. He takes them into the football team's 150-seat, theater-style meeting room with comfy chairs and a huge movie screen. He turns up the surround sound and shows them a film titled "The Florida State Football Experience."

The ending is LaCivita's favorite part.

"It's exciting to me to see the prospects and their parents sitting there not knowing what to expect," LaCivita said. "After the movie, you get to see everybody's faces when they turn around at you and say, 'Wow, that was cool.'

"That's when we get to the rest of the visit."

In the ultracompetitive world of college football recruiting, more and more schools use state-of-the-art technological advances to gain an edge. Schools create their own Web sites aimed at recruits, such as FSU's FeartheSpear.com, and use Web-based recruiting databases such as CyberSports and Recruiting Radar.

At FSU, the football program is the first in the nation to partner with 3hd Communications, an Atlanta-based company specializing in a process that produces realistic 3-D holographic-like images to create live-action 3-D film packages.

In the past, 3-D technology has been used mostly for animation rather than live action, such as an occasional TV special or movie productions at amusement parks.

But FSU officials see 3-D as a way to grab the attention of 17- and 18-year-old recruits and, more importantly, as a future coaching tool to instruct those players once they arrive on campus.

"To my knowledge, no one else is doing this," said LaCivita, hired in 2007 to oversee FSU's recruiting operation from inside his office at Doak Campbell Stadium. "We're going to take it and run with it. Studies have shown that the brain retains more in 3-D than 2-D.

"Right now, it's more of an entertainment tool, but eventually, we want it to become a teaching tool for the coaches."

To help usher in the new era, FSU plans to begin shooting the majority of its practices this spring using two 3-D cameras it purchased for about $12,000 each. Seminole Productions, the multimedia company that creates most of FSU's online content and game film, started using the technology last season on a limited basis.

Using footage shot at games, FSU created a short film and unveiled its first live-action 3-D package to recruits during the weekend of the Miami game in October.

"When you see something in 3-D, it feels like you're actually in the movie," said FSU freshman linebacker Nigel Bradham, who took his official visit that weekend. "It definitely gives you a good idea of the atmosphere here."

Seminole Productions director Mark Rodin said the only other time he has seen live-action 3-D footage is during a recent Hannah Montana concert he took his daughter to see. Rodin was notified of the technology offered by 3dh by an FSU grad who works in marketing at the company. One thing led to another, and now FSU is embarking on a strategy to use the technology more extensively.

"They have patented the process where you don't get the dizziness, nausea, headaches, eye strain and other stuff that people have experienced using 3-D," Rodin said. "They are working on technology now that, in the near future, you won't even need the glasses."

FSU's staff envisions the possibilities.

"We're on the forefront," said Seminole Productions associate director Jim Garbarino. "We've done the fluff stuff, now we want to put it to the test with instruction. If the players can retain that knowledge, they can become a better player. That's ultimately what we're hoping for."

In the meantime, they certainly will be entertained.

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.

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