10 Newest Tutorials
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Sunday 5 December 2010
3D Tutorials
3D MAX Tutorials
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Saturday 4 December 2010
Your Ultimate 3D Resources
Resources
Check the following resources, they are USEFUL:
- General Sites
- Software Firms
- Models
- Textures
- Production Houses
- Exhibits
- Tutorials: 3D Studio MAX
- Tutorials:
- Tutorials: Blender
- Tutorials: ElectricImage
- Tutorials: Lightwave 3D
- Tutorials: Strata 3D
- Tutorials: Softimage|XSI
Thursday 2 December 2010
The 3D Modeling Techniques Of Today
The modeling techniques of today are the antiquated clichés of tomorrow. Seeing what is down the pipeline, and watching for emerging trends and riding those trends helps keep you employable and the 3D romance alive. Change is a big part of 3D-be ready for it. However, after having said that, make sure that you are not just a 3D technician. Incredible proficiency at a software package, but poor vision and design, does not bode well for a demo reel. Do target your demo reel.
Know Your Audience Once you have found the areas of 3D in which you are interested, make sure you know who else is interested in it. Watch for job listings at sites like 3Dcafe, HighEnd3D, and in magazines like 3D Magazine's annual "Get a Job" supplement. Read the descriptions carefully. Note their likes and dislikes. Watch for software preferences. Check out target company Websites to see work they have done and where they are going. Once you understand what your target employers are looking for, give them what they want.
If you know that you want to work in architectural pre-visualization, and every firm you have looked at uses Viz and Auto-CAD, do not spend the next year becoming incredibly proficient at Light-Wave. Developing your craft as a 3D artist is a never-ending process. Although the speed at which 3D technology is changing may eventually slow, it certainly is not showing signs of it now.
If you want to animate characters, create a demo reel strong in lots of moving characters. A house looking for character animators probably does not care if you have a perfect grasp of different refractive qualities of different sorts of glass-so do not include a lot of glass renders. If you want to be a compositor artist, have lots of compositing examples.
Animation houses are deadline oriented, and as such, do not have a lot of time to waste on chunks of demo reel that have nothing to do with the job at hand. In addition, some animation houses have very specific requirements for reels. Some want to see completed stories, some want to see snips of lots of different projects, and some want to see a project from wireframe renders to final raytraced versions. Some want reels less than one minute, while others want to see more.
Find out what your target wants and make it right. Do develop your own style. Artistic vision is often lost as beginning 3D artists struggle with grasping the technical demands of the software. Break through the level of work listed in software or book tutorials. Without your own style of modeling, texturing, animation, or design, your demo reel will feel like the other 50 reels the employer received that day.
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The New 3D TV 0f 2010
Years ago, we used to watch TV shows in a 12-inch black and white television set. There weren't so many shows to watch back then. But as years passed by, we can notice how the television has evolved from a simple box with pictures into the newest, grandest design TV sets. Starting with black and white TV to plasma TV then Flat screen TV, a new technology now appears and enters into the market. The newest technology when it comes to television is the 3D TV. This TV will surely change the way we will watch our favorite TV shows.
This year 2010 is considered a gateway for 3D movies. One 3D movie that had a great impact to viewers is the "Avatar" which made over $2.5 billion dollars in the first 66 days of its opening. This implies that shows are now presented in a different and a much higher level of movie presentation. Until now, more and more movies are being produced in 3D versions. This paved way to the creation of the newest, most advanced Television set, the 3D Television set. For the 6 top television companies - Sony, Toshiba, LG, Samsung, Vizio and Panasonic, this is another battle for them to show off their brand, outshine their competitors and prove to the consumers that their brand is the best.
What makes 3D TV different? Just like in 3D movies where 3 Dimensional features are produced, 3D TV also uses the stereoscopic effect in creating its 3 dimensional pictures. This creates an illusion making 2 slightly different images of the scenario for the left eye and right eye, tricking the brain that the flat image we are watching truly has depth in it. The truth is 3D TV technology isn't new at all, it was actually marketed few years ago but the main problem why people did not patronize it is because of its glasses. During that time, you need to wear 3D glasses for you to appreciate the 3D technology on this type of TV. But because of the continuous research by leading companies, they've come up withthe latest 3D TV version which does not need special 3D glasses.
In CEDEC 2010, one of the leading television manufacturers unveiled their newest 3D TV free from 3D glasses. Also, Panasonic announced its released of its own version the Viera VT25 series. Then, later, Samsung also already releases their own brand, the BD-C6900 a 3D Blu-ray Player. In year 2011, it is expected that more versions and brands of 3D Television sets will come out and it's for consumer to see which company manufacturers the best 3D TV. This technology would surely be a big hit! But of course, there are certain issues manufacturers have to address and one of them is price of this 3D TV. Before the 3D TV could invade every home, they should make it more affordable especially for the middle class.
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3D TV Buying Guide Basics
If you want 3D TV in your home, you will need the following products to get set up...
1. A 3D-Ready TV.
If you want to enjoy 3D entertainment at home, you need a new 3D-ready TV.
2. One Pair of 3D Glasses per viewing person.
As of right now, you need 3D glasses to enjoy 3D Entertainment at homes. While there has been some research and development done, there are no 3D TV's available for purchase that do not require glasses.
3. A 3D-ready Blu-ray Player
If you plan to watch 3D Blu-ray discs (the only option for home movies as of now), you will need a 3D-ready Blu-ray player. The Playstation 3 will have the ability to play 3D Blu-rays after a summer 2010 firmware update.
4. HDMI 1.4 Cables (13.8 Gbps or higher Speed Rating)
You need "high-speed" HDMI cables that are rated as 1.3 and have a 10.2 Gbps speed rating or higher. 3D content requires twice as much data to be transferred to your TV to deliver 3D images, thus the need for higher-speed HDMI cables.
Note: Some sources have stated that HDMI cables rated as 1.4 with a 13.8 Gbps speed rating are required to watch full quality 3D content. From our research and experience, 13.8 Gbps HDMI cables are not required, and the lower speed 10.2 Gbps HDMI cables will suffice.
5. A Home Theater Receiver with 3D Pass-Thru Technology.
Most 3D TVs only have 4 HDMI Inputs which will limit the number of components you can connect to your 3D TV. If you need more than 4 HDMI inputs, you will need a home theater receiver with 3D Pass-Thru Technology. Old home theater receivers (without 3D Pass-Thru) will not work be compatible with 3D content/components.
6. 3D Content!!
Movies, video games, or 3D TV Channels.
There are already Home Movies, Video Games, and TV channels available in 3D with plans for more and more content to be released in 2010 and 2011. Check out our Content Guides below or with your local cable/satellite provider for more info.
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3D Display Technology - What Is It and How It Works?
The 3D display technology is revolutionizing the television and cinema viewing experience. The latest marketing gimmick to promote movies and video games is to make a 3D version of them. Once consumers have got a taste for the new technology, it is likely to change viewer ship in a big way. But the technology is not currently cheap - a reason why marketers instead of regular consumers have taken to it in a big way. 3D LCD display rentals have also seen a boost owing to the tremendous response the technology has received at the trade shows and other marketing events.
How Does 3D Work?
Strange though it may sound, 3D actually works using the natural depth perception that human vision possesses. To put it simply, we have two eyes at a distance from each other, approximately three inches. Each eye sees an image or scene from a different perspective or angle. Our brain merges the two perspectives and processes them further to calculate distance or depth of the object being viewed. When visuals send a different image to each eye, a 3D effect is created. 3D movies or games can be viewed only by wearing a pair of special color filter glasses, polarized glasses or shutter glasses. All 3D TV manufacturers sell these special glasses with the TV units. For those opting for 3D LCD display rentals, the equipment rental firm will provide the glasses along with the display unit.
The latest in technology however is 3D viewing without glasses. Contrary to the first impression, the technology still requires a special lens. For viewers who dislike wearing goggles while watching TV, a few manufacturers have come up with lenticular lenses, which could be used instead. These are fixed on the screen but needs to be exactly aligned to the image being viewed. Using lenticular lenses may seem more comfortable than wearing glasses, but they come with a set of conditions like specific viewing distance and so on. 3D LCDs like the ones developed by Sharp come with a parallax barrier that controls the direction of light and the way it is viewed.
How much does a 3D LCD TV cost?
The worst thing about this great technology is that it costs a bundle. However, the average consumer seems quite ready to pay the price for such extraordinary viewing experience. 3D LCDs can cost around $3000 on an average with base models coming in at $1700. And the ones with better features can cost anywhere between $6000 and $7000. Each set comes with only a pair of goggles so additional glasses will need to be purchased for ideal family viewing.
Where price is a deterrent, consumers can always look to an equipment rental service. 3D LCD display rentals solutions are already being offered by many equipment rental firms. Companies like Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba and LG are pushing their 3D LCD models with many interesting deals offers. The internet is often the best place to begin looking for these special deals.
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Difference Between 2D and 3D Animation
Animation is a field of art or science that has the capability to impart life and zeal to non living characters. Basically it is based on the phenomenon of persistence of vision that allows the visual illusion of the objects. It is a phenomenon of an eye in which an image continues to appear in one's vision after the exposure to the original image has ceased. This happens for about one twenty-fifth of a second. In early days animation was restricted to only hand drawings. But with the advent of technological know how animation has got a new face that is known as two dimensional and three dimensional animations. A three dimensional animation is far better than two dimensional. It adds more vigor and vivacity to animation.
Animation is simulation of movement created by a series of pictures or frames. It starts with drawing independent pictures and putting them together in a frame to form the illusion of continuous motion. Two dimension means that the picture is drawn with help of two coordinates of geometry. These are designated as x (horizontal) coordinate and y (vertical) coordinate. 2D is flat which means that if a picture is turned to the side then it becomes a line. Whereas 3D includes an extra dimension known as z coordinate which stands for rotation and depth. The basic difference between 2d and 3d can be illustrated by drawing a rectangle and a cube. Rectangle is a 2D figure whereas cube is a 3D figure. 3D presents the object from every possible direction like in real life. 2D bitmap or vector graphics are used to create 2D animation figures.
Various techniques that are used in creating 2D figures are morphing, twining, onion skinning and interpolated rotoscoping. Whereas 3D animation involves digital modeling of characters. Various steps that are involved in 3D animation are character sketching, character modeling, scene building, texturing, lightening and camera setup, rendering, lightening and camera setup, rendering, editing and mixing etc. Other techniques that can be applied are the use of mathematical functions, simulated fur or hair and the use of motion capture. In this way we can extract greater use of multimedia through 2D and 3D animation.
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Create a 3D Presentation
I need to create a presentation recently. Usually I use Powerpoint, but in this presentation need present some 3D model and chart, you know the PowerPoint can't display a 3D model without a plug-in. I was fortunate to find the Presentation3D software. The software could display 3D model and all the content was displayed in a real 3D space, Exciting!
1. Install Presentation3D software. Then start Presentation3D.
2. Add Slide, When Presentation3D start, it auto add one slide. If you want more than one slide, please add slide manual.
Click Toolbar window Slide Arrow button, The Slide Templet window will show. And click the templet, A slide is insert complete, It is place below current slide position.
3. Add Nodes, click the add node with a type of Text, Shape Or Object. For example:
Add 3D Text:
(1)Click the Text button to add a default text or click the Arrow button below it to select a type text to add.
(2)Drag on render window the text will add.
(1)Click the Text button to add a default text or click the Arrow button below it to select a type text to add.
(2)Drag on render window the text will add.
Add Rect Shape:
(1)Click the Shape button to add a default shape or click the Arrow button below it to select a type of text to add.
(2)Drag on render window the shape will add.
(1)Click the Shape button to add a default shape or click the Arrow button below it to select a type of text to add.
(2)Drag on render window the shape will add.
Add 3D Model:
(1)Click the Object button to add a default object or click the Arrow button below it to select a type of object to add.
(2) Most Object pop up a dialog to set up the data except particle,these dialog was introduce at Basic Working Procedures Edit Node Content section.
(1)Click the Object button to add a default object or click the Arrow button below it to select a type of object to add.
(2) Most Object pop up a dialog to set up the data except particle,these dialog was introduce at Basic Working Procedures Edit Node Content section.
Add text and shape, need use mouse to drag in the render window. Add 3D model, just select a model file.
You can drag the node's size, position, rotation and scale in the render window.
You can drag the node's size, position, rotation and scale in the render window.
4. Design Interactive, Open Interactive window(Press F3). Drag a animation from Node Animation Templet to the Action List, you can add node event, key press event, custom animation, camera animation, play sound and other interactive action to design more complex interactive.
5. Play the presentation, Press F5, click the screen can play the designed animation.
This is the brief introduction of Presentation3D, I hope you can create your own beautiful 3D presentation.
Note: You can watch the Youtube video about Tutorials an Demo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biUjIIszSKw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzgXOEnUVnU Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Justin_Xu |
The History Of 3D Films And Glasses
Three dimensional films are motion pictures that utilize special technologies to enhance the viewer's illusion of depth perception. Special cameras and equipment are used to film the images and then stereoscopic hardware and eye wear are used to provide viewers with the feeling of depth. The most crucial part of the 3D movie viewing experience are the glasses that must be donned in order to do so.
The era of stereoscopic movies began in the 1890s. Around that time, a man named William Friese-Greene developed a three dimensional movie making process and filed a patent for it. His technique consisted of playing two side by side on a screen and using a stereoscope to view the images as one. Though his work was groundbreaking, Friese-Greene's method was too unpractical for theatrical use.
The very first 3D film that was played to a paying audience was The Power Of Love. It premiered in 1922 to a packed Los Angeles Ambassador's Hotel. The movie consisted of dual red and green strips and, to view it, the audience members were given anaglyph glasses. Despite receiving rave reviews, the film was lost after a brief exhibition in New York.
Small jumps in three dimensional technology were accomplished slowly over the next few years but by the early 1930s, interest in the format had dipped. The Great Depression had swept through the country and left behind a nation filled with people who were understandably uninterested in the film industry in its wake.
It wasn't until 1936 that MGM commissioned and released a series of 3D movies called Audioscopiks. The movies were collectively considered a massive success and nominated for an Academy Award for the short subject novelty category.
Starting in 1952, Hollywood experienced a sort of golden era when it come to 3D films. Every single major production company released a number of three dimensional movies during this period. In fact, so many films were released that the general public began to tire of the format. By the mid fifties, the decline in interest and high costs of shooting 3D movies had caused most production companies to abandon the format altogether.
In the early seventies, a new method called Space-Vision 3D had emerged and helped to usher in a revival for the genre. The latest technologies allowed for three dimensional films to be shot and played in a way that didn't hurt the audience member's eyes when watched. When Stereovision used the new technology to make the immensely popular and profitable soft-core film, The Stewardess, other companies began to once again follow suit.
Beginning in the early 2000s, the technology used to create these films has been progressively improving. The 3D glasses used to watch the films are no longer the flimsy cardboard pieces that they once were. Most movies today require polarized glasses to view them. The objects closely resemble regular sunglasses both in their frame and lenses. The devices offer a more realistic viewing experience and are the gold standard for most 3D movies and theme park attractions.
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Samsung 3D TV LED Leads the 3D TV Revolution
If you're eager to get the 3D experience in your own living room, what items will you need in order to be ready for 3D TV? First of all, you'll need a TV that is specifically designed for 3D, and the great news is that currently there are some excellent offers available. One example of these exceptional deals is the Mitsubishi WD-60638 60 inch 3D-ready DLP HDTV that is available online for, if you can believe it, less than $1000.
This is an awesome TV at a ridiculously low price but you might chose instead the Samsung 3D LED TV UN40C7000, which has a manufacturers retail price of $1,999, but you can find it for less with some great discounts. Another Samsung best seller on 3D TV's is the UN46C7000 which is currently available with a savings of over $500. One of the great benefits of buying online is that there are some websites that offer free shipping on these TVs, which means no hauling it from the store yourself, if you even have the truck it takes to fit it into.
You will most likely need a 3D starter kit to go along with most any of the 3D TVs you might buy. Usually you'll be required to purchase a starter kit that is the same brand as the TV although it looks like the Samsung kit will also work with some of the Mitsubishi TVs. You should make sure before you purchase either the TV or the starter kit. Manufacturers have hinted that the technology will most likely advance to the point where you won't have to wear 3D eyeglasses. But if and when this might happen is anybody's guess and how long do you want to wait for eyeglass-free viewing? Besides, the price for the new technology will undoubtedly be much higher than the price of the current 3D televisions.
So what exactly do you get in a 3D starter kit? There's no set definition of what comes in one, so it'll depend on which manufacturer you choose. If you decide on a C7000, C8000 or C9000 series Samsung TV, you'll want to pick up the 3D starter kit from Samsung. Their package includes 2 pairs of adult 3D active glasses which are battery-operated, in addition to a specially-released 3D Blu-ray movie named Monster & Aliens. The retail price on the eyeglasses is about $150 a pair, so make sure you really need them before you buy any additional ones. If you're going to be inviting members of your family or friends over a lot to watch 3D movies, a pair of glasses might make a good Christmas gift for them.
You might think you're good to go at this point, but you actually need one more component to get the 3D experience. You also need a piece of equipment that will play the 3D movies. Examples of this equipment are a 3D Blu-ray player, a cable box (make sure you have a subscription that gives you access to the right channels), or a Playstation 3 box, as long as you've updated it with the absolute latest 3D capability.
Different from the 3D starter kit, there's more choices available to you if you decide on a Blu-ray player since you don't have to buy the same brand of player as what the TV is. The LGBD570 model Network Blu-ray Disc player continues to be a best seller and has earned a lot ratings that are four and five stars. Part of the reason for its high ratings is its excellent video and audio clarity. Another benefit of this particular player is that it is wireless, allowing you to connect to your wireless broadband router and access all kinds of multimedia like HD movies from Netflix (assuming you have a Netflix subscription).
One final component you may need to put the finishing touches on your 3D TV setup is an HDMI cable. This cable is used to connect your television set and your disc player and may not come with either one of these pieces of equipment. Be sure to find one that maintains high quality transmission even at high speeds. Luckily, if it does turn out that you need to purchase this cable, they are relatively inexpensive especially when you compare them to all the rest of the components you'll need to put together to be ready for 3DTV.
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3D Animation Design: Promote a Business Through 3D Animation Design
There are plenty of opportunities and creativity found in the field of 3D animation. It is most challenging field for a creator. Today's competitive environment forces us to use latest technology in the field and 3D animation is one of them.
Use of 3D animation design has several advantages. The first and foremost is the retention of your visitors. 3D animation holds the visitor for a long period on your website. Thus, it can be easily converted into the prospective customer. 3D animation leaves a long lasting impression over the minds of your website users. In compare to flat 2D images 3D images are more memorable. It is fact that you have an extra edge when you use cartoon animation or character animation in your advertising campaign.
3D rendering and animatronics technique is quite useful in so many areas and some of them are as follows.
• 3D Modeling Animation
• 3D Graphics Animation
• 3D Design Animation
• 3D Animation Rendering
• Architectural 3D Animation and Rendering Design
• 3D - Animation Movies
• 3D Animation Presentations
• 3D Animation Images
• 3D Graphics Animation
• 3D Design Animation
• 3D Animation Rendering
• Architectural 3D Animation and Rendering Design
• 3D - Animation Movies
• 3D Animation Presentations
• 3D Animation Images
3D animated design is perfect presentation of your services or products. When you use 3D modeling or 3D animation design in your modeling of a car or a house it becomes the perfect presentation for your products or services. You can animate a product using 3D rotating or 3D walkthrough and you will have full control over the product display. You can show its all facets or aspects.
You can simplify any hard concept with the help of 3D animatronics or 3D modeling. You can easily do the things with 3D images which is quite difficult to do verbally. Architectural design in 3D or character animation is the intricate idea of simplifying the things using visual cues.
It is not easy thing to find a good 3D animator. You have to search it in outsourcing companies because they have such talent available for affordable rates. You can hunt especially for the companies that offer their services for hire an animator. These companies are working in competition so their rates are reasonable and they are reliable too. They use latest software for 3D animatronics design and 3D modeling. They have good infrastructural facilities including latest rendering instruments.
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3D: The Future of Gaming
In the past, the largest barrier to the 3D market was the content. It wasn't so much that the devices were not ready, but that there wasn't much content available to be seen on the devices. That's all changed. Samsung televisions are available now that are ready to show you all the 3D content that is out there and available for your consumption.
If movies and TV are moving into the 3D world, then it's expected that video games cannot be far behind. In fact, Sony PlayStation 3 has already entered the 3D gaming market, which is sure to expand exponentially over the next few years. Currently the PS3 is the only system on the market that is capable of displaying games in 3D and that is a huge advantage in new market.
All Hype?
The burning question that remains, is whether or not the 3D gaming evolution is all just hype that isn't ready for prime time. This isn't the first time that video has tried to break the 3D barrier and all the previous attempts claimed to be ready for mainstream as well. The difference this time is that the technology has moved forward and there is far more 3D content available than ever before and the consumer is much more aware of all that content. So the current ecosystem of game developers, TV technology, broadcasters, and publishers all seem to be aligned to bring 3D entertainment "to life".
The burning question that remains, is whether or not the 3D gaming evolution is all just hype that isn't ready for prime time. This isn't the first time that video has tried to break the 3D barrier and all the previous attempts claimed to be ready for mainstream as well. The difference this time is that the technology has moved forward and there is far more 3D content available than ever before and the consumer is much more aware of all that content. So the current ecosystem of game developers, TV technology, broadcasters, and publishers all seem to be aligned to bring 3D entertainment "to life".
The availability of 3D TVs has been the missing piece of the puzzle for the gaming industry. Video games have a much lower entry barrier to 3D than films or broadcast TV, because there is no infrastructure for the game publishers to replace. Video games don't require new cameras or editing equipment since their focus has been on displaying 3D worlds in a 2D environment for at least the past decade. The problem has been how to get the 3D content to the consumer.
The short answer to the question is that it doesn't look like hype this time.
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Friday 26 November 2010
Wikipedia: what is 3D film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For more information on 3D film titles, see List of 3-D films.
A 3-D (three-dimensional) film or S3D (stereoscopic 3D) film[1] is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception. Derived from stereoscopic photography, a special motion picture camera system is used to record the images as seen from two perspectives (or computer-generated imagery generates the two perspectives), and special projection hardware and/or eyewear are used to provide the illusion of depth when viewing the film. 3-D films are not limited to feature film theatrical releases; television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorporated similar methods, primarily for marketing purposes.
3-D films have existed in some form since the 1950s, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion picture industry because of the costly hardware and processes required to produce and display a 3-D film, and the lack of a standardized format for all segments of the entertainment business. Nonetheless, 3-D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema, and later experienced a worldwide resurgence in the 1980s and '90s driven by IMAX high-end theaters and Disney themed-venues. 3-D films became more and more successful throughout 2000–10, culminating in the unprecedented success of 3-D presentations of Avatar in December 2009 and January 2010.
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[edit]Techniques
Stereoscopic motion pictures can be produced through a variety of different methods. Over the years the popularity of various systems being widely employed in movie theaters has waxed and waned. Though anaglyph (see next section) was sometimes used prior to 1948, during the early "Golden Era" of 3-D cinematography of the 1950s the polarization system was used for every single feature length movie in the United states, and all but one short film.[2] In the 21st century, polarization 3-D systems have continued to dominate the scene, though during the 60s and 70s some classic films which were converted to anaglyph for theaters not equipped for polarization, and were even shown in 3-D on TV.[3] In the years following the mid 80s, some movies were made with short segments in anaglyph 3D. The following are some of the technical details and methodologies employed in some of the more notable 3-D movie systems that have been developed.
[edit]Anaglyph
Anaglyph images were the earliest method of presenting theatrical 3-D, and the one most commonly associated with stereoscopy by the public at large, mostly because of non theatrical 3D media such as comic books and 3D TV broadcasts, where polarization isn't practical. They were made popular because of the ease of their production and exhibition. Though the earliest theatrical presentations were done with this system, most 3D movies from the 50s and 80s were originally shown polarized.[4]
In an anaglyph, the two images are superimposed in an additive light setting through two filters, one red and one cyan. In a subtractive light setting, the two images are printed in the same complementary colors on white paper. Glasses with colored filters in each eye separate the appropriate images by canceling the filter color out and rendering the complementary color black.
Anaglyph images are much easier to view than either parallel sighting or crossed eye stereograms, although the latter types offer bright and accurate color rendering, particularly in the red component, which is muted, or desaturated with even the best color anaglyphs. A compensating technique, commonly known as Anachrome, uses a slightly more transparent cyan filter in the patented glasses associated with the technique. Process reconfigures the typical anaglyph image to have less parallax.
An alternative to the usual red and cyan filter system of anaglyph is ColorCode 3-D, a patented anaglyph system which was invented in order to present an anaglyph image in conjunction with the NTSC television standard, in which the red channel is often compromised. ColorCode uses the complementary colors of yellow and dark blue on-screen, and the colors of the glasses' lenses are amber and dark blue.
The anaglyph 3-D system was the earliest system used in theatrical presentations and requires less specialized hardware, but the polarization 3-D system has been the standard for theatrical presentations since it was used for Bwana Devil in 1952,[4] though early Imax presentations were done using the eclipse system and in the 60s and 70s classic 3D movies were sometimes converted to anaglyph for special presentations. The polarization system has better color fidelity and less ghosting than the anaglyph system.
In the post-'50s era, anaglyph has been used instead of polarization in feature presentations where only part of the movie is in 3D such as in the 3D segment of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare and the 3D segments of Spy Kids 3D.
3D polarized TVs and other displays only became available from several manufacturers in 2008, these generate polarization on the receiving end, polarized light isn't broadcast.
[edit]Polarization systems
Further information: Polarized 3D glasses
To present a stereoscopic motion picture, two images are projected superimposed onto the same screen through different polarizing filters. The viewer wears low-cost eyeglasses which also contain a pair of polarizing filters oriented differently (clockwise/counterclockwise with circular polarization or at 90 degree angles, usually 45 and 135 degrees [5], with linear polarization). As each filter passes only that light which is similarly polarized and blocks the light polarized differently, each eye sees a different image. This is used to produce a three-dimensional effect by projecting the same scene into both eyes, but depicted from slightly different perspectives. Since no head tracking is involved, the entire audience can view the stereoscopic images at the same time.
In the case of RealD a circularly polarizing liquid crystal filter which can switch polarity 144 times per second is placed in front of the projector lens. Only one projector is needed, as the left and right eye images are displayed alternately. Sony features a new system called RealD XLS, which shows both circular polarized images simultaneously: a single 4K projector (4096×2160 resolution) displays both 2K images (2048×858 resolution) on top of each other at the same time, a special lens attachment polarizes and projects the images.[6]
Thomson Technicolor have produced a system using a split lens which allows traditional 35mm projectors to be adapted to project in 3D using over/under 35mm film. This is a very cost-effective way to convert a screen as all that is needed is the lens and metallic (silver) screen rather than converting entirely to digital.[7] A metallic screen is necessary for these systems as reflection from non metallic surfaces destroys the polarization of the light.
Polarized stereoscopic pictures have been around since 1936, when Edwin H. Land first applied it to motion pictures. The so called "3-D movie craze" in the years 1952 through 1955 was almost entirely offered in theaters using polarizing projection and glasses. Only a minute amount of the total 3D films shown in the period used theanaglyph color filter method. Polarization was also used during the 3D revival of the 80s.
In the 2000s, computer animation, competition from DVDs and other media, digital projection, and the use of sophisticated IMAX 70mm film projectors, have created an opportunity for a new wave of polarized 3D films.[8][9]
[edit]Eclipse method
With the eclipse method, a mechanical shutter blocks light from each appropriate eye when the converse eye's image is projected on the screen. The projector alternates between left and right images, and opens and closes the shutters in the glasses or viewer in synchronization with the images on the screen. This was the basis of the Teleview system which was used briefly in 1922.[10][11]
A variation on the eclipse method is used in LCD shutter glasses. Glasses containing liquid crystal that will let light through in synchronization with the images on the computer display or TV, using the concept of alternate-frame sequencing. This is the method used by nVidia, XpanD 3D, and earlier IMAX systems. A drawback of this method is the need for each person viewing to wear expensive, electronic glasses that must be synchronized with the display system using a wireless signal or attached wire. The shutterglasses are heavier than most polarized glasses though lighter models are no heavier than some sunglasses or deluxe polarized glasses.
[edit]Interference filter technology
Dolby 3D uses specific wavelengths of red, green, and blue for the right eye, and different wavelengths of red, green, and blue for the left eye. Eyeglasses which filter out the very specific wavelengths allow the wearer to see a 3D image. This technology eliminates the expensive silver screens required for polarized systems such as RealD, which is the most common 3D display system in theaters. It does, however, require much more expensive glasses than the polarized systems. It is also known aswavelength multiplex visualization.
[edit]Pulfrich
The Pulfrich effect is based on the phenomenon of the human eye processing images more slowly when there is less light, as when looking through a dark lens.
Imagine a camera which starts at position X and moves right to position Y as shown by the arrow. If a viewer watches this segment with a dark lens over the left eye, then when the right eye sees the image recorded when the camera is at Y, the left eye will be a few milliseconds behind and will still be seeing the image recorded at X, thus creating the necessary parallax to generate right and left eye views and 3D perception, much the same as when still pictures are generated by shifting a single camera. The intensity of this effect will depend on how fast the camera is moving relative to the distance to the objects; greater speed creates greater parallax. A similar effect can be achieved by using a stationary camera and continuously rotating an otherwise stationary object. If the movement stops, the eye looking through the dark lens (which could be either eye depending on the direction the camera is moving) will "catch up" and the effect will disappear. One advantage of this system is that people not wearing the glasses will see a perfectly normal picture.
Of course, incidental movement of objects will create spurious artifacts, and these incidental effects will be seen as artificial depth not related to actual depth in the scene. Unfortunately, many of the applications of pulfrich involve deliberately causing just this sort of effect and this has given the technique a bad reputation. When the only movement is lateral movement of the camera then the effect is as real as any other form of stereoscopy, but this seldom happens except in highly contrived situations.
Though pulfrich has been used often on TV and in computer games, it is rarely if ever used in theatrical presentations.
[edit]Spectral separation
ChromaDepth uses a holographic film in the glasses that creates an effect like a dispersive prism. This causes redder objects to be perceived as near and bluer objects as farther away.
[edit]Lenticular or barrier screens
In this method, glasses are not necessary to see the stereoscopic image.
Both images are projected onto a high-gain, corrugated screen which reflects light at acute angles. In order to see the stereoscopic image, the viewer must sit within a very narrow angle that is nearly perpendicular to the screen, limiting the size of the audience. Lenticular was used for theatrical presentation of numerous shorts in Russia from 1940–1948[3] and in 1954 for the feature length films Crystal, Machine 22-12 andThe Pencil on Ice.[12]
Though its use in theatrical presentations has been rather limited, lenticular has been widely used for a variety of novelty items and has even been used in amateur 3D photography.[13][14]
[edit]New systems without glasses
There is increasing emergence of new 3-D viewing systems which do not require the use of special viewing glasses. These systems are referred to as Autostereoscopic displays. They were initially developed bySharp. The first Autostereoscopic LCD displays first appeared on the Sharp Actius RD3D notebook[15] and the first LCD monitor was shipped by Sharp in 2004 for the professional market.[16] Both have since been discontinued. The first Autostereoscopic mobile phone was launched by Hitachi in 2009 in Japan and in 2010 China mobile is to launch its version. Manufacturing trials are being run for TV. For the gaming market the first probable commercial application will be handheld gaming devices, such as the Nintendo 3DS. These systems do not yet appear to be applicable to theatrical presentations.
[edit]History
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[edit]Early patents and tests
The stereoscopic era of motion pictures began in the late 1890s when British film pioneer William Friese-Greene filed a patent for a 3-D movie process. In his patent, two films were projected side by side on screen. The viewer looked through a stereoscope to converge the two images. Because of the obtrusive mechanics behind this method, theatrical use was not practical.[17] Frederick Eugene Ives patented his stereo camera rig in 1900. The camera had two lenses coupled together 1 3/4 inches apart.[18]
On June 10, 1915, Edwin S. Porter and William E. Waddell presented tests to an audience at the Astor Theater in New York City. In red-green anaglyph, the audience was presented three reels of tests, which included rural scenes, test shots of Marie Doro, a segment of John Mason playing a number of passages from Jim the Penman (a film released by Famous Players-Lasky that year, but not in 3-D), Oriental dancers, and a reel of footage of Niagara Falls.[19] However, according to Adolph Zukor in his 1953 autobiography The Public Is Never Wrong: My 50 Years in the Motion Picture Industry, nothing was produced in this process after these tests.
[edit]Early systems of stereoscopic filmmaking (pre-1952)
The earliest confirmed 3-D film shown to a paying audience was The Power of Love, which premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles on September 27, 1922.[20][21][22] The camera rig was a product of the film's producer, Harry K. Fairall, and cinematographer Robert F. Elder.[17] It was projected dual-strip in the red/green anaglyph format, making it both the earliest known film that utilized dual strip projection and the earliest known film in which anaglyph glasses were used.[23] Whether Fairall used colored filters on the projection ports or whether he used tinted prints is unknown. After a preview for exhibitors and press in New York City, the film dropped out of sight, apparently not booked by exhibitors, and is now considered lost.
Early in December 1922, William Van Doren Kelley, inventor of the Prizma color system, cashed in on the growing interest in 3-D films started by Fairall's demonstration and shot footage with a camera system of his own design. Kelley then struck a deal with Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel to premiere the first in his series of "Plasticon" shorts entitled Movies of the Future at the Rivoli Theater in New York City .[24]
Kelley, who was an early producer of color films, used Prizma to print his anaglyph films. In early 1923, he shopped around a second Plasticon entitled Through the Trees – Washington D.C., shot by William T. Crespinel, which consisted of stereoscopic views of Washington, D.C., but found no buyers.[24]
Also in December 1922, Laurens Hammond (later inventor of the Hammond organ) and William F. Cassidy unveiled their Teleview system. Teleview was the earliest alternate-frame sequencing form of film projection. Through the use of two interlocked projectors, alternating left/right frames were projected one after another in rapid succession. Synchronized viewers attached to the arm-rests of the seats in the theater open and closed at the same time, and took advantage of the viewer's persistence of vision, thereby creating a true stereoscopic image. The only theater known to have installed this system was the Selwyn Theater in New York. Only one show was ever produced for the system, a groups of shorts and the only Teleview feature The Man From M.A.R.S.(later re-released as Radio-Mania) on December 27, 1922 in New York City.[11]
In 1922, Frederic Eugene Ives and Jacob Leventhal began releasing their first stereoscopic shorts made over a three-year period. The first film entitled,Plastigrams, which was distributed nationally by Educational Pictures in the red/blue anaglyph format. Ives and Leventhal then went on to produce the following stereoscopic shorts in the "Stereoscopiks Series" for Pathé Films in 1925: Zowie (April 10), Luna-cy! (May 18), The Run-Away Taxi (December 17) and Ouch (December 17).[25] On 22 September 1924, Luna-cy! was re-released in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film system.[26]
The late 1920s to early 1930s saw little to no interest in stereoscopic pictures, largely due to the Great Depression. In Paris, Louis Lumiere shot footage with his stereoscopic camera in September 1933. The following year, in March 1934, he premiered his remake of his 1895 film L'Arrivée du Train, this time in anaglyphic 3-D, at a meeting of the French Academy of Science.[27]
In 1936, Leventhal and John Norling were hired based on their test footage to film MGM's Audioscopiks series. The prints were by Technicolor in the red/green anaglyph format, and were narrated by Pete Smith. The first film, Audioscopiks, premiered January 11, 1936 and The New Audioscopiks premiered January 15, 1938. Audioscopiks was nominated for the Academy Award in the category Best Short Subject, Novelty in 1936.
With the success of the two Audioscopiks films, MGM produced one more short in anaglyph 3-D, another Pete Smith Specialty called Third Dimensional Murder (1941). Unlike its predecessors, this short was shot with a studio-built camera rig. Prints were by Technicolor in red/blue anaglyph. The short is notable for being one of the few live-action appearances of the Frankenstein Monster as conceived by Jack Pierce forUniversal Studios outside of their company.
While many of these films were printed by color systems, none of them was actually in color, and the use of the color printing was only to achieve an anaglyph effect.
[edit]Introduction of Polaroid
While attending Harvard University, Edwin H. Land conceived the idea of reducing glare by polarizing light. He took a leave of absence from Harvard to set up a lab and by 1929 had invented and patented a polarizing sheet.[28] In 1932, he introduced Polaroid J Sheet as a commercial product.[29] While his original intention was to create a filter for reducing glare from car headlights, Land did not underestimate the utility of his newly dubbed Polaroid filters in stereoscopic presentations.
In January 1936, Land gave the first demonstration of Polaroid filters in conjunction with 3-D photography at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.[citation needed] The reaction was enthusiastic, and he followed it up with an installation at the New York Museum of Science.[citation needed] It is unknown what film was run for audiences with this installation.
Using Polaroid filters meant an entirely new form of projection, however. Two prints, each carrying either the right or left eye, had to be synced up in projection using an external selsyn motor. Furthermore, polarized light would not register on a matte white screen, and only a silver screen or screen made of other reflective material would correctly reflect the separate images.
Later that year, the feature, Nozze Vagabonde appeared in Italy, followed in Germany by Zum Greifen Nah (You Can Nearly Touch It), and again in 1939 with Germany's Sechs Mädel Rollen Ins Wochenend (Six Girls Drive Into the Weekend). The Italian film was made with the Gualtierotti camera; the two German productions with the Zeiss camera and the Vierling shooting system. All of these films were the first exhibited using Polaroid filters. The Zeiss Company in Germany manufactured glasses on a commercial basis commencing in 1936; they were also independently made around the same time in Germany by E. Käsemann and by J. Mahler.[30]
In 1939, John Norling shot In Tune With Tomorrow, the first commercial 3-D film using Polaroid in the US[citation needed]. This short premiered at the 1939 New York World's Fair and was created specifically for the Chrysler Motor Pavilion. In it, a full 1939 Chrysler Plymouth is magically put together, set to music. Originally in black and white, the film was so popular that it was re-shot in color for the following year at the fair, under the title New Dimensions[citation needed]. In 1953, it was reissued by RKO as Motor Rhythm.
Another early short that utilized the Polaroid 3-D process was 1940's Magic Movies: Thrills For You produced by the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. for the Golden Gate International Exposition[citation needed]. Produced by John Norling, it was actually shot for him by Jacob Leventhal using his own rig. It consisted of shots of various views that could be seen on Pennsylvania Railroad's trains.
The 1940s was further hindered by World War II, and stereoscopic photography once again went on the back-burner in most producers' minds.
[edit]The "golden era" (1952–1955)
What aficionados consider the "golden era" of 3-D began in 1952 with the release of the first color stereoscopic feature, Bwana Devil, produced, written and directed by Arch Oboler. The film was shot in Natural Vision, a process that was co-created and controlled by M. L. Gunzberg. Gunzberg, who built the rig with his brother, Julian, and two other associates, shopped it without success to various studios before Oboler used it for this feature, which went into production with the title, The Lions of Gulu.[31] The film starred Robert Stack, Barbara Britton and Nigel Bruce.
As with practically all of the features made during this boom, Bwana Devil was projected dual-strip, with Polaroid filters. During the 1950s, the familiar disposable anaglyph glasses made of cardboard were mainly used for comic books, two shorts by exploitation specialist Dan Sonney, and three shorts produced by Lippert Productions. However, even the Lippert shorts were available in the dual-strip format alternatively.
Because the features utilized two projectors, a capacity limit of film being loaded onto each projector (about 6,000 feet (1,800 m), or an hour's worth of film) meant that an intermission was necessary for every feature-length film. Quite often, intermission points were written into the script at a major plot point.
During Christmas of 1952, producer Sol Lesser quickly premiered the dual-strip showcase called Stereo Techniques in Chicago.[32] Lesser acquired the rights to five dual-strip shorts. Two of them, Now is the Time (to Put On Your Glasses) and Around is Around, were directed by Norman McLaren in 1951 for the National Film Board of Canada. The other three films were produced in Britain for Festival of Britain in 1951 by Raymond Spottiswoode. These were A Solid Explanation, Royal River, and The Black Swan.
James Mage was also an early pioneer in the 3-D craze. Using his 16 mm 3-D Bolex system, he premiered his Triorama program on February 10, 1953 with his four shorts: Sunday In Stereo, Indian Summer,American Life, and This is Bolex Stereo.[33] This show is considered lost.
Another early 3-D film during the boom was the Lippert Productions short, A Day in the Country, narrated by Joe Besser and composed mostly of test footage. Unlike all of the other Lippert shorts, which were available in both dual-strip and anaglyph, this production was released in anaglyph only.
April 1953 saw two groundbreaking features in 3-D: Columbia's Man in the Dark and Warner Bros. House of Wax, the first 3-D feature with stereophonic sound. House of Wax, outside of Cinerama, was the first time many American audiences heard recorded stereophonic sound. It was also the film that typecast Vincent Price as a horror star as well as the "King of 3-D" after he became the actor to star in the most 3-D features (the others were The Mad Magician, Dangerous Mission, and Son of Sinbad). The success of these two films proved that major studios now had a method of getting moviegoers back into theaters and away from television sets, which were causing a steady decline in attendance.
The Walt Disney Studios waded into 3-D with its May 28, 1953 release of Melody, which accompanied the first 3-D western, Columbia's Fort Ti at its Los Angeles opening. It was later shown at Disneyland's Fantasyland Theater in 1957 as part of a program with Disney's other short Working for Peanuts, entitled, 3-D Jamboree. The show was hosted by the Mousketeers and was in color.
Universal-International released their first 3-D feature on May 27, 1953, It Came from Outer Space, with stereophonic sound. Following that was Paramount's first feature, Sangaree with Fernando Lamas and Arlene Dahl.
Columbia released several 3-D westerns produced by Sam Katzman and directed by William Castle. Castle would later specialize in various technical in-theater gimmicks for such Columbia and Allied Artists features as 13 Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill, and The Tingler. Columbia also produced the only slapstick comedies conceived for 3-D. The Three Stooges starred in Spooks and Pardon My Backfire; dialect comic Harry Mimmo starred in Down the Hatch. Producer Jules White was optimistic about the possibilities of 3-D as applied to slapstick (with pies and other projectiles aimed at the audience), but only two of his stereoscopic shorts were shown in 3-D. Down the Hatch was released as a conventional, "flat" motion picture. (Columbia has since printed Down the Hatch in 3-D for film festivals.)
John Ireland, Joanne Dru and Macdonald Carey starred in the Jack Broder color production Hannah Lee, which premiered June 19, 1953. The film was directed by Ireland, who sued Broder for his salary. Broder counter-sued, claiming that Ireland went over production costs with the film.[citation needed]
Another famous entry in the golden era of 3-D was the 3 Dimensional Pictures production of Robot Monster. The film was allegedly scribed in an hour by screenwriter Wyott Ordung and filmed in a period of two weeks on a shoestring budget.[citation needed] Despite these shortcomings and the fact that the crew had no previous experience with the newly-built camera rig, luck was on the cinematographer's side, as many find the 3-D photography in the film is well shot and aligned. Robot Monster also has a notable score by then up-and-coming composer Elmer Bernstein. The film was released June 24, 1953 and went out with the shortStardust in Your Eyes, which starred nightclub comedian, Slick Slavin.[citation needed]
20th Century Fox produced their only 3-D feature, Inferno, starring Rhonda Fleming. Fleming, who also starred in Those Redheads from Seattle, and Jivaro, shares the spot for being the actress to appear in the most 3-D features with Patricia Medina, who starred in Sangaree, Phantom of the Rue Morgue and Drums of Tahiti. Darryl F. Zanuck expressed little interest in stereoscopic systems, and at that point was preparing to premiere the new widescreen film system, CinemaScope.
The first decline in the theatrical 3-D craze started in August and September 1953. The factors causing this decline were:
- Two prints had to be projected simultaneously.
- The prints had to remain exactly alike after repair, or synchronization would be lost.
- It sometimes required two projectionists to keep sync working properly.
- When either prints or shutters became out of sync, the picture became virtually unwatchable and accounted for headaches and eyestrain.
- The necessary silver projection screen was very directional and caused sideline seating to be unusable with both 3-D and regular films, due to the angular darkening of these screens. Later films that opened in wider-seated venues often premiered flat for that reason (such as Kiss Me Kate at the Radio City Music Hall).
- The few cartoons made in 3D had a "cardboard cutout" effect, where flat objects appeared on different planes.
Because projection booth operators were at many times careless, even at preview screenings of 3-D films, trade and newspaper critics claimed that certain films were "hard on the eyes."[citation needed]
Sol Lesser attempted to follow up Stereo Techniques with a new showcase, this time five shorts that he himself produced.[citation needed] The project was to be called The 3-D Follies and was to be distributed by RKO.[citation needed] Unfortunately, because of financial difficulties and the growing disinterest in 3-D, Lesser canceled the project during the summer of 1953, making it the first 3-D film to be aborted in production.[citation needed] Two of the three shorts were shot: Carmenesque, a burlesque number starring exotic dancer Lili St. Cyr. and Fun in the Sun, a sports short directed by famed set designer/director William Cameron Menzies, who also directed the 3-D feature The Maze for Allied Artists.
Although it was more expensive to install, the major competing realism process was anamorphic, first utilized by Fox with Cinemascope and its September premiere in The Robe. Anamorphic features needed only a single print, so synchronization was not an issue. Cinerama was also a competitor from the start and had better quality control than 3-D because it was owned by one company that focused on quality control. However, most of the 3-D features past the summer of 1953 were released in the flat widescreen formats ranging from 1.66:1 to 1.85:1. In early studio advertisements and articles about widescreen and 3-D formats, widescreen systems were referred to as "3-D," causing some confusion among scholars.
There was no single instance of combining Cinemascope with 3-D until 1960, with a film called September Storm, and even then, that was a blow-up from a non-anamorphic negative.[citation needed] September Stormalso went out with the last dual-strip short, Space Attack, which was actually shot in 1954 under the title The Adventures of Sam Space.
In December 1953, 3-D made a comeback with the release of several important 3-D films, including MGM's musical Kiss Me, Kate. Kate was the hill over which 3-D had to pass to survive. MGM tested it in six theaters: three in 3-D and three flat.[citation needed] According to trade ads of the time, the 3-D version was so well-received that the film quickly went into a wide stereoscopic release.[citation needed] However, most publications, including Kenneth Macgowan's classic film reference book Behind the Screen, state that the film did much better as a "regular" release. The film, adapted from the popular Cole Porter Broadwaymusical, starred the MGM songbird team of Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson as the leads, supported by Ann Miller, Keenan Wynn, Bobby Van, James Whitmore, Kurt Kasznar and Tommy Rall. The film also prominently promoted its use of stereophonic sound.
Several other features that helped put 3-D back on the map that month were the John Wayne feature Hondo (distributed by Warner Bros.), Columbia's Miss Sadie Thompson with Rita Hayworth, and Paramount'sMoney From Home with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Paramount also released the cartoon shorts Boo Moon with Casper, the Friendly Ghost and Popeye, Ace of Space with Popeye the Sailor. Paramount Pictures released a 3-D Korean War film Cease Fire filmed on actual Korean locations in 1953.
Top Banana, based on the popular stage musical with Phil Silvers, was brought to the screen with the original cast. Although it was merely a filmed stage production, the idea was that every audience member would feel they would have the best seat in the house through color photography and 3-D.[citation needed] Although the film was shot and edited in 3-D, United Artists, the distributor, felt the production was uneconomical in stereoscopic form and released the film flat on January 27, 1954.[citation needed] It remains one of two "Golden era" 3- D features, along with another United Artists feature, Southwest Passage (with John Ireland and Joanne Dru), that are currently considered lost (although flat versions survive).
A string of successful 3-D movies followed the second wave. Some highlights are:
- The French Line, starring Jane Russell and Gilbert Roland, a Howard Hughes/RKO production. The film became notorious for being released without an MPAA seal of approval, after several suggestive lyrics were included, as well as one of Ms. Russell's particularly revealing costumes.[citation needed] Playing up her sex appeal, one tagline for the film was, "It'll knock both of your eyes out!" The film was later cut and approved by the MPAA for a general flat release, despite having a wide and profitable 3-D release.[citation needed]
- Taza, Son of Cochise, a sequel to 1950's Broken Arrow, which starred Rock Hudson in the title role, Barbara Rush as the love interest, and Rex Reason (billed as Bart Roberts) as his renegade brother, released through Universal-International. It was directed by the great stylist Douglas Sirk, and his striking visual sense made the film a huge success when it was "re-premiered" in 2006 at the Second 3-D Expo in Hollywood.
- Two ape films: Phantom of the Rue Morgue, featuring Karl Malden and Patricia Medina, and produced by Warner Bros. and based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", and Gorilla At Large, a Panoramic Production starring Cameron Mitchell, distributed through Fox.
- Creature from the Black Lagoon, starring Richard Carlson and Julie Adams, directed by Jack Arnold. Arguably the most famous 3-D movie, and the only 3-D feature that spawned a sequel, Revenge of the Creature in 3-D (followed by another sequel, The Creature Walks Among Us, shot flat).
- Cat-Women of the Moon, an Astor Picture starring Victor Jory and Marie Windsor. Elmer Bernstein composed the score.
- Dial M for Murder, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Ray Milland, Robert Cummings, and Grace Kelly, is considered by aficionados of 3-D to be one of the best examples of the process. Although available in 3-D in 1954, there are no known playdates in 3-D, since Warner Bros. had just instated a simultaneous 3-D/2-D release policy. The film's screening in 3-D in February 1980 at the York Theater in San Francisco did so well that Warner Bros. re-released the film in 3-D in February 1982.
- Gog, an Ivan Tors production, dealing with realistic science fiction. The second film in Tors' "Office of Scientific Investigation" trilogy of film, which included, The Magnetic Monster and Riders to the Stars.
- The Diamond Wizard, the only stereoscopic feature shot in Britain, released flat in both the UK and US. It starred and was directed by Dennis O'Keefe.
- Irwin Allen's Dangerous Mission released by RKO in 1954 featuring Allen's trademarks of an all star cast facing a disaster (a forest fire).
- Son of Sinbad, another RKO/Howard Hughes production, starring Dale Robertson, Lili St. Cyr, and Vincent Price. The film was shelved after Hughes ran into difficulty with The French Line, and wasn't released until 1955, at which time it went out flat, converted to the SuperScope process.
3-D's final decline was in the late spring of 1954, for the same reasons as the previous lull, as well as the further success of widescreen formats with theater operators. Even though Polaroid had created a well-designed "Tell-Tale Filter Kit" for the purpose of recognizing and adjusting out of sync and phase 3-D,[citation needed] exhibitors still felt uncomfortable with the system and turned their focus instead to processes such as CinemaScope. The last 3-D feature to be released in that format during the "Golden era" was Revenge of the Creature, on February 23, 1955. Ironically, the film had a wide release in 3-D and was well received at the box office.[34]
[edit]Revival (1960–1984) in single strip format
Stereoscopic films largely remained dormant for the first part of the 1960s, with those that were released usually being anaglyph exploitation films. One film of notoriety was the Beaver-Champion/Warner Bros. production, The Mask (1961). The film was shot in 2-D, but to enhance the bizarre qualities of the dream-world that is induced when the main character puts on a cursed tribal mask, the film went to anaglyph 3-D. These scenes were printed by Technicolor on their first run in red/green anaglyph.
Although 3-D films appeared sparsely during the early 1960s, the true second wave of 3-D cinema was set into motion by Arch Oboler, the same producer who started the craze of the 1950s. Using a new technology called Space-Vision 3D, stereoscopic films were printed with two images, one above the other, in a single academy ratio frame, on a single strip, and needed only one projector fitted with a special lens. This so-called "over and under" technique eliminated the need for dual projector set-ups, and produced widescreen, but darker, less vivid, polarized 3-D images. Unlike earlier dual system, it could stay in perfect sync, unless improperly spliced in repair.
Arch Oboler once again had the vision for the system that no one else would touch, and put it to use on his film entitled The Bubble, which starred Michael Cole, Deborah Walley, and Johnny Desmond. As withBwana Devil, the critics panned The Bubble, but audiences flocked to see it, and it became financially sound enough to promote the use of the system to other studios, particularly independents, who did not have the money for expensive dual-strip prints of their productions.
In 1970, Stereovision, a new entity founded by director/inventor Allan Silliphant and optical designer Chris Condon, developed a different 35 mm single-strip format, which printed two images squeezed side-by-side and used an anamorphic lens to widen the pictures through polaroid filters. Louis K. Sher (Sherpix) and Stereovision released the softcore sex comedy The Stewardesses (self-rated X, but later re-rated R by the MPAA). The film cost $100,000 USD to produce, and ran for months in several markets.[citation needed] eventually earning $27 million in North America, alone ($140 million in constant-2010 dollars) in fewer than 800 theaters, becoming the most profitable 3-Dimensional film to date, and in purely relative terms, one of the most profitable films ever. It was later released in 70 mm 3-D. Some 36 films worldwide were made with Stereovision over 25 years, using either a widescreen (above-below), anamorphic (side by side) or 70 mm 3-D formats.[citation needed] In 2009 The Stewardesses was remastered by Chris Condon and director Ed Meyer, releasing it in XpanD 3D, RealD Cinema and Dolby 3D.
The quality of the 1970s 3-D films was not much more inventive, as many were either softcore and even hardcore adult films, horror films, or a combination of both. Paul Morrisey's Flesh For Frankenstein (aka Andy Warhol's Frankenstein) was a superlative example of such a combination.
Between 1981 and 1983 there was a new 3D craze started by the spaghetti western Comin' at Ya!. When Parasite was released it was billed as the first horror film to come out in 3D in over 20 years. Horror movies and reissues of 1950s 3D classics (such as Hitchcock's Dial ´M´ for Murder) dominated the 3D releases that followed. The second sequel in the Friday the 13th series, Friday the 13th Part III, was released very successfully. Apparently saying "part 3 in 3D" was considered too cumbersome so it was shortened in the titles of Jaws 3-D and Amityville 3-D, which emphasized off the screen effects to the point of being annoying at times, especially when flashlights were shone into the eyes of the audience.
The science fiction film Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone was the most expensive 3D movie made up to that point with production costs about the same as [[Star Wars ]] but not nearly the same box office success, causing the craze to fade quickly through spring 1983. Other sci-fi/fantasy films were released as well including Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn and Treasure of the Four Crowns, which was widely criticized for poor editing and plot holes, but did feature some truly spectacular closeups.
3D releases after the second craze included The Man Who Wasn't There (1983), Silent Madness and the 1985 animated film Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, whose plot seemed to borrow heavily from [[Star Wars]].
Only Comin' At Ya!, Parasite, and Friday the 13th Part III have been officially released on VHS and/or DVD in 3-D in the United States (although Amityville 3-D has seen a 3-D DVD release in the United Kingdom). Most of the 80s 3D movies and some of the classic 50s movies such as House of Wax were released on the now defunct Video Disc (VHD) format in Japan as part of a system that used shutter glasses. Most of these have been unofficially transferred to DVD and are available on the grey market through sites such as eBay.
[edit]Rebirth of 3-D (1985–2003)
In the mid 1980s, IMAX began producing non-fiction films for its nascent 3-D business, starting with "We Are Born of Stars" (Roman Kroitor, 1985). A key point was that this production, as with all subsequent IMAX productions, emphasized mathematical correctness of the 3D rendition and thus largely eliminated the eye fatigue and pain that resulted from the approximate geometries of previous 3D incarnations. In addition, and in contrast to previous 35mm based 3D presentations, the very large field of view provided by IMAX allowed a much broader 3D "stage", arguably as important in 3D film as it is theatre.
In 1986, Disney Theme Parks and Universal Studios began to use 3D films to impress audiences in special venues, Captain Eo (Francis Ford Coppola, 1986) starring Michael Jackson, being a very notable example. In the same year, the National Film Board of Canada production Transitions (Colin Low), created for Expo 86 in Vancouver, was the first IMAX presentation using polarized glasses. "Echos of the Sun" (Roman Kroitor, 1990) was the first IMAX film to be presented using alternate-eye shutterglass technology, a development required because the dome screen precluded the use of polarized technology.
From 1990 onward, numerous films were produced by all three parties to satisfy the demands of their various high-profile special attractions and IMAX's expanding 3D network. Films of special note during this period include the extremely successful "Into The Deep" (Graeme Ferguson, 1995) and the first IMAX 3-D fiction film Wings of Courage (1996), by director Jean-Jacques Annaud, about the pilot Henri Guillaumet.
Other stereoscopic films produced in this period include:
- The Last Buffalo (Stephen Low, 1990)
- Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D (Jim Henson, 1991)
- Imagine (John Weiley, 1993)
- Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (Daniel Rustuccio, 1994)
- Into the Deep (Graeme Ferguson, 1995)
- Across the Sea of Time (Stephen Low, 1995)
- Wings of Courage (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1996)
- L5, First City in Space (Graeme Ferguson, 1996)
- T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (James Cameron, 1996)
- Paint Misbehavin (Roman Kroitor and Peter Stephenson, 1997)
- IMAX Nutcracker (1997)
- The Hidden Dimension (1997)
- T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (Brett Leonard, 1998)
- Mark Twain's America (Stephen Low, 1998)
- Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box (Brett Leonard, 1999)
- Galapagos (Al Giddings and David Clark, 1999)
- Encounter in the Third Dimension (Ben Stassen, 1999)
- Alien Adventure (Ben Stassen, 1999)
- Ultimate G's (2000)
- Cyberworld (Hugh Murray, 2000)
- Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man (Keith Melton, 2000)
- Haunted Castle (Ben Stassen, 2001)
- Space Station 3D (Toni Myers, 2002)
- SOS Planet (Ben Stassen, 2002)
- Ocean Wonderland (2003)
- Falling in Love Again (Munro Ferguson, 2003)
- Misadventures in 3D (Ben Stassen, 2003)
By 2004, 54% (133 theaters of 248) of the IMAX community was 3D-capable.[35]
Shortly thereafter, higher quality computer animation, competition from DVDs and other media, digital projection, digital video capture, and the use of sophisticated IMAX 70mm film projectors, created an opportunity for another wave of 3D films.[8][9]
[edit]3-D re-enters mainstream cinema (2003–present)
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In 2003, Ghosts of the Abyss by James Cameron was released as the first full-length 3-D IMAX feature filmed with the Reality Camera System. This camera system used the latest HD video cameras, not film, and was built for Cameron by Vince Pace, to his specifications. The same camera system was used to film Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003), Aliens of the Deep IMAX (2005), and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005).
In 2004, Las Vegas Hilton released Star Trek: The Experience which included two films. One of the films, Borg Invasion 4-D (Ty Granoroli), was in 3D. In August of the same year, rap group Insane Clown Possereleased their ninth studio album Hell's Pit. One of two versions of the album contained a DVD featuring a 3-D short film for the track "Bowling Balls", shot in high-definition video.[36]
In November 2004, The Polar Express was released as IMAX's first full-length, animated 3-D feature. It was released in 3,584 theaters in 2D, and only 66 IMAX locations. The return from those few 3-D theaters was about 25% of the total. The 3-D version earned about 14 times as much per screen as the 2D version. This pattern continued and prompted a greatly intensified interest in 3-D and 3-D presentation of animated films.
In June 2005, The Mann's Chinese 6 theatre (now Grauman's Chinese Theatre) in Hollywood became the first commercial movie theatre to be equipped with the Digital 3D format. Both Singin' in the Rain and The Polar Express were tested in the Digital 3D format over the course of several months. In November 2005, Walt Disney Studio Entertainment released Chicken Little in digital 3-D format.
The Butler's in Love, a short film directed by Anders Laursen and starring Elizabeth Berkley and Thomas Jane,[37] was released on June 23, 2008. The film was shot at the former Industrial Light & Magic studios using KernerFX's prototype Kernercam stereoscopic camera rig.
Ben Walters suggests that both filmmakers and film exhibitors regain interest in 3-D film. There are now more 3-D exhibition equipments, and more dramatic films being shot in 3-D format. One incentive is that the technology is more mature. Shooting in 3-D format is less limited, and the result is more stable. Another incentive is the fact that while 2-D ticket sales are in an overall state of decline, revenues from 3-D tickets continue to grow.[38]
Through the entire history of 3D presentations, techniques to convert existing 2D images for 3D presentation have existed. Few have been effective or survived. The combination of digital and digitized source material with relatively cost-effective digital post-processing has spawned a new wave of conversion products. In June 2006, IMAX and Warner Bros. released Superman Returns including 20 minutes of 3-D images converted from the 2-D original digital footage. George Lucas has announced that he may re-release his Star Wars films in 3-D based on a conversion process from the company In-Three.
In late 2005, Steven Spielberg told the press he was involved in patenting a 3-D cinema system that does not need glasses, and which is based on plasma screens. A computer splits each film-frame, and then projects the two split images onto the screen at differing angles, to be picked up by tiny angled ridges on the screen.[citation needed]
Animated films Open Season, and The Ant Bully, were released in Analog 3D in 2006. Monster House and The Nightmare Before Christmas were released on XpanD 3D, RealD and Dolby 3D systems in 2006.
On May 19, 2007 Scar3D opened at the Cannes Film Market. It was the first US produced 3D full length feature film to be completed in Real D 3D. It has been the #1 film at the box office in several countries around the world, including Russia where it opened in 3D on 295 screens.
2008 3-D films included Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Bolt.
On January 16, 2009, Lionsgate released My Bloody Valentine 3D, the first horror film and first R-rated film to be projected in Real D 3D.[39] It was released to 1,033 3D screens, the most ever for this format, and 1,501 regular screens. Another R-Rated film, The Final Destination, was released later that year (August 28) to even more screens. It was the first of its series to be released in HD 3-D.
On May 7, 2009 the British Film Institute commissioned a 3D film installation. The film Radio Mania: An Abandoned Work consists of two screens of stereoscopic 3D film with 3D Ambisonic sound. It stars Kevin Eldon and is by British artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.
The first 3-D Webisode series was Horrorween starting September 1, 2009.
| “ | I think it's a misnomer to call it 3-D versus 2-D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it's three-dimensional....95% of our depth cues come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2-D movie a '2-D movie' is a little misleading....When you watch through any of the conventional 3-D processes you're giving up three foot-lamberts. A massive difference,...[though] your eye compensates. | ” |
— Director Christopher Nolan[40] | ||
Major 3-D films in 2009 included Coraline, Monsters vs. Aliens, Up, X Games 3D: The Movie, The Final Destination, and Avatar.[41] Avatarhas gone on to be one of the most expensive films of all time, with a budget at 237M; it is also the highest-grossing film of all time. The main presentation technologies were Real D 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, MasterImage 3D, and IMAX 3D.
March and April 2010 saw three major 3-D releases clustered together, with Alice in Wonderland hitting US theaters on March 5, 2010, How to Train Your Dragon on March 26, 2010 and Clash of the Titans on April 2, 2010.
On May 13, 2010, China's first IMAX 3D film started shooting.[42] The pre-production of the first 3-D French shot film Derrière les murs began in May 2010.
Released in the United States on May 21, 2010, Shrek Forever After by DreamWorks Animation (Paramount Pictures) used the Real D 3Dsystem, also released in IMAX 3D.
Due to growing popularity of 3-D and an increase in 3-D screens, the latter half of 2010 will have an unprecedented amount of 3-D theatrical film releases, about three per month.
2011 will continue the 3D film releases with
Wide Release 3-D films in this era include:
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- 2010
- Alice in Wonderland [Disney, post-converted to 3D] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – March 5
- How to Train Your Dragon [Paramount/Dreamworks, designed in stereoscopic 3D] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – March 26
- Clash of the Titans [Legendary Pictures, post-converted to 3D) (Real D) – April 2
- Shrek Forever After [Paramount/Dreamworks, designed in stereoscopic 3D] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – May 21
- Toy Story 3 [Disney/Pixar] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – June 18
- The Last Airbender [Paramount, post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – July 1
- Despicable Me [Universal] (Real D) – July 9
- Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore [Warner Bros., post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – July 30
- Step Up 3D [Touchstone] (Real D, Dolby 3D, Xpan 3D) – August 6
- Piranha 3-D [Dimension, post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – August 20
- Avatar (Extended Re-Release, only in 3D) [Fox] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – August 27
- Resident Evil: Afterlife [Screen Gems, shot with 3D fusion camera system] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – September 10
- Alpha and Omega [Lionsgate] (Real D) – September 17
- Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole [Warner Bros.] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – September 24
- My Soul to Take [Universal, post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – October 8
- Jackass 3D [Paramount Pictures, filmed in 3D] (Real D) – October 15
- Saw 3D [Lionsgate, filmed in 3D] (Real D) – October 29
- MegaMind [Paramount/Dreamworks, designed in stereoscopic 3D] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – November 5
- Tangled [Disney] (Real D) – November 24
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [Fox, post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – December 10
- Tron: Legacy [Disney] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – December 17
- Yogi Bear [Warner Bros.] (Real D) – December 17
- Gulliver's Travels [Fox, post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – December 22
- 2011
- The Green Hornet [post-converted to 3D] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – January 14
- Sanctum (Real D) - February 4
- Gnomeo and Juliet (Real D) – February 11
- Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (Real D) - February 11
- Drive Angry (Real D) – February 25
- Mars Needs Moms! (IMAX 3D, Real D) – March 11
- Rio (Real D) – April 8
- Thor [post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – May 6
- Priest [post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – May 13
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (IMAX 3D, Real D) – May 20
- Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom (IMAX 3D, Real D) – May 27
- Green Lantern [post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – June 17
- Cars 2 (IMAX 3D, Real D) – June 24
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (IMAX 3D, Real D) – July 1
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2 of 2) [Warner Bros., post-converted to 3D] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – July 15
- Captain America: The First Avenger [post-converted to 3D] (IMAX 3D, Real D) – July 22
- The Smurfs (IMAX 3D, Real D) – August 3
- Conan - August 19
- Fright Night (IMAX 3D, Real D) – August 19
- Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (IMAX 3D, Real D) – August 19
- Final Destination 5 (IMAX 3D, Real D) – August 26
- Dolphin Tale 3D (IMAX 3D, Real D) – October 7
- The Three Musketeers – October 14
- Contagion (IMAX 3D, Real D) – October 21
- Puss in Boots (IMAX 3D, Real D) – November 4
- Happy Feet 2 (Real D) – November 18
- Arthur Christmas (IMAX 3D, Real D) – November 23
- Hugo Cabret (Real D) – December 9
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (Real D) – December 16
- The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (IMAX 3D, Real D) – December 23
- The Cabin in the Woods [post-converted to 3D] (Real D) – TBA
- Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – TBA
- 2012
- Ice Age: Continental Drift
- Clash Of The Titans 2 3D (Real D) - Spring 2012
- Titanic 3D (IMAX 3D Real D) – April 27, 2012
- Men in Black III (Real D) - May 25, 2012
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D Re-Release (Real D) - Late 2012
- Yellow Submarine (2012 film) (Real D) - TBA 2012
- 2013
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 3D Re-Release (Real D) - TBA 2013
- 2014
- Avatar 2 [Fox, shot in 3D Fusion Camera System] (IMAX 3D, Real D, Dolby 3D, XPan 3D...in 2000+ 3D screens)
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 3D Re-Release (Real D) - TBA 2014
- 2015
- Avatar 3 [Fox, shot in 3D Fusion Camera System] (IMAX 3D, Real D, Dolby 3D, XPan 3D...in 2000+ 3D screens)
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 3D Re-Release (Real D) - TBA 2015
- 2016
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back 3D Re-Release - TBA 2016
- 2017
- Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 3D Re-Release - TBA 2017
[edit]World 3-D Expositions
In September 2003, Sabucat Productions organized the first World 3-D Exposition, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original craze. The Expo was held at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre. During the two-week festival, over 30 of the 50 "golden era" stereoscopic features (as well as shorts) were screened, many coming from the collection of film historian and archivist Robert Furmanek, who had spent the previous 15 years painstakingly tracking down and preserving each film to its original glory. In attendance were many stars from each film, respectively, and some were moved to tears by the sold-out seating with audiences of film buffs from all over the world who came to remember their previous glories.
In May 2006, the second World 3-D Exposition was announced for September of that year, presented by the 3-D Film Preservation Fund. Along with the favorites of the previous exposition were newly discovered features and shorts, and like the previous Expo, guests from each film. Expo II was announced as being the locale for the world premiere of several films never before seen in 3-D, including The Diamond Wizard and the Universal short, Hawaiian Nights with Mamie Van Doren and Pinky Lee. Other "re-premieres" of films not seen since their original release in stereoscopic form included Cease Fire!, Taza, Son of Cochise, Wings of the Hawk, and Those Redheads From Seattle. Also shown were the long-lost shorts Carmenesque and A Day in the Country (both 1953) and William Van Doren Kelley's two Plasticon shorts (1922 and 1923).
[edit]Criticism
| “ | After Toy Story, there were 10 really bad CG movies because everybody thought the success of that film was CG and not great characters that were beautifully designed and heartwarming. Now, you've got people quickly converting movies from 2D to 3D, which is not what we did. They're expecting the same result, when in fact they will probably work against the adoption of 3D because they'll be putting out an inferior product. | ” |
— Avatar director James Cameron[43] | ||
Most of the cues required to provide humans with relative depth information are already present in traditional 2D films. For example, closer objects occlude further ones, distant objects are desaturated and hazy relative to near ones, and the brain subconsciously "knows" the distance of many objects when the height is known (e.g. a human figure subtending only a small amount of the screen is more likely to be 2 m tall and far away than 10 cm tall and close). In fact, only two of these depth cues are not already present in 2D films: stereopsis (or parallax) and the focus of the eyeball (accommodation).
3D film-making addresses accurate presentation of stereopsis but not of accommodation, and therefore is insufficient in providing a complete 3D illusion. However, promising results from research aimed at overcoming this shortcoming were presented at the 2010 Stereoscopic Displays and Applications conference in San Jose, U.S.[44]
Motion sickness, in addition to other health concerns,[45] are more easily induced by 3-D presentations.
Film critic Mark Kermode[46] argued that 3d adds "not that much" of value to a film, and said that, while he liked Avatar, the many impressive things he saw in the move had nothing to do with 3-D.
Film critic Roger Ebert has repeatedly criticized 3-D film as being "too dim" (due to the polarized-light technology using only half the light for each eye), sometimes distracting or even nausea-inducing, and argues that it is an expensive technology that adds nothing of value to the movie-going experience (since 2-D movies already provide a sufficient illusion of 3-D).[47] While Ebert is "not opposed to 3-D as an option," he opposes it as a replacement for traditional film, and prefers 2-D techologies such as MaxiVision48 that improve image area/resolution and frames per second.[47]
Another major criticism is that many of the movies in 21st century to date were not filmed in 3-D, but converted after filming. Filmmakers who have criticized this process include Michael Bay, George Lucas andJames Cameron, the latter whose film Avatar (created in 3-D from the ground up) is largely credited with the revival of 3-D.[43]
[edit]See also
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