Steve Withers
Outstanding Member
Last week I was lucky enough to be invited by Sony to a special 3D event held at their 3D training facility in Basingstoke. This is one of four facilities that Sony currently has in operation, the others being at Culver City to provide support to Hollywood productions, Mumbai to provide support to the Bollywood film industry and Hong Kong which supports Asian filmmakers. At these facilities Sony run a series of courses that teach industry professionals about the history of 3D, the development of the technology for both capture and delivery and a guide to the correct 3D filming techniques. The courses themselves are run by Sony Professional Education And Knowledge (SPEAK) and whilst they cover 3D techniques for both the cinema and for TV the emphasis tends to be on filmmaking at Culver City, Mumbai and Hong Kong, with Basingstoke concentrating more on 3D broadcasts.
The course is run by Paul Cameron and what he essentially did was condense the first day of the course into three hours for the benefit of the assembled journalists. During Pauls presentation we covered everything from the history of 3D to the development of modern 3D capture and delivery technology to the dos and donts of creating good 3D. After all that we actually got a chance to put our new found knowledge into practice and shot some 3D footage using a Sony professional 3D rig. Before I go into more detail about areas that Paul covered I would just like to thank him and Sony for what was an absolutely fascinating and very enjoyable day.
History of 3D
Believe it or not, the first 3D movie was actually created as far back as 1903 but the first 3D boom really took off during the period 1922-25. This first boom in 3D was in fact the only time that anaglyph glasses were actually used for theatrical presentation because the traditional popular image of rows of cinema goers sat in their red and cyan glasses is largely a fallacy. However the 1920s boom was the exception and unfortunately because they used anaglyph glasses the colours were quite bad, in addition the technology was obviously quite primitive. Creating a camera rig with two synchronised cameras was hard enough but synching the projectors proved even more difficult. Given that the art of 2D filmmaking was still in its infancy there was obviously little understanding of 3D filming techniques and as a result of this and the technical limitations the boom quickly died out.
The evolution of 3D would take a big leap in the 1930s with the development by Edwin Land of film polarising technology. The first use of this technology for 3D was at the Worlds Fair in New York in 1939. It was here that Chrysler used linear polarised glasses for the first time to present four short 3D films. Paul actually has a very rare pair of these glasses in his personal collection which he was kind enough to show us.
The second 3D boom was in the 1950s when studios were trying to compete with television and get audiences back into the cinema by offering an experience that they couldnt get at home. This led not only to the 3D boom but also the introduction of widescreen formats like CinemaScope which of course are still with us today in one form or another. Thanks to linear polarised glasses the colours were now much better but it was still difficult to synchronise the projectors and the camera rigs were very ungainly. In addition the production values were often limited and there was still little understanding of 3D filming techniques which resulted in quite poor content. It is interesting to note that even Alfred Hitchcock dabbled in 3D, shooting Dial M For Murder in the format but unfortunately by the time the film was released the fad had passed and sadly it was never shown theatrically in 3D - now thats a 3D Blu-ray Id kill for!
The third 3D boom was in the 1980s and is probably fondly remembered by many readers at AVForums. I can certainly remember seeing a lot of threequals in the format, including Amityville 3D, Jaws 3D and Friday the 13th - Part 3D as well as forgotten classics like Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone. Once again linear polarised glasses were being used but the camera rigs and projector synchronisation was much better although filmmakers were still developing the language of 3D cinema. I can certainly remember a lot of poking you in the eye shots at the time including a swordfish flying at my face at one point in Amityville 3D.
The next big step in 3D evolution came with the development of active shutter glasses in the early 1990s. These were developed as an alternative to linear polarised glasses and were often used during this period by IMAX for 3D presentations. By the mid 2000s the technological problems of 3D filmmaking had all been overcome, thanks in a large part to advances in digital image capture and projection. This resulted in the latest boom - driven in part by the success of films like Avatar - and whilst 3D booms seem to come and go about every 30 years if you add up all the available content (3D broadcasts, 3D movies and 3D games) this is by far the biggest boom in 3D ever.
The reasons for the failure of previous 3D booms are many but they are largely related to the limitations of the technology, poor production standards and excessive use of 3D. The current boom doesnt suffer from these technological limitations and benefits from much better production standards and a more artistic approach to the use of 3D. In addition the current 3D boom has something that the previous booms didnt have - an effective way of delivering 3D content into the home. For 3D to survive - especially as a domestic format - it needs to overcome a series of basic challenges many of which will be familiar to anyone who has read our 3D TV reviews. First of all the 3D image needs to be bright enough, this is true both at the cinema and domestically, and for domestic viewing there also needs to be a wide enough viewing angle and no drawbacks when watching 2D material. For both capture and distribution 3D needs to be reasonably cost effective and finally and most importantly there needs to be good content. It is this final challenge - the creation of good 3D content - that the Sony course seeks to address.
Seeing in 3D
When we look at the world around us we obviously see it in three dimensions but interestingly of the eight depth cues that the brain uses to estimate the relative distance of objects, the first six are equally as applicable to content that is in 2D. The eight depth cues that the brain uses are:
Focus and Depth of Field: Focus is an important tool that the brain uses to determine how far away something is, when the eyes refocus the brain interprets that as depth information. Our brains remember how we focus and build up a memory of the relative distance of each object in the scene. When shooting in 2D cinematographers use depth of field to pull objects out of a scene, a person might be in focus but the background out of focus for example. When shooting in 3D there are additional depth cues so you can open up the depth of field much more but in doing so you might lose some that cinematic look.
Perspective and Size: The brain knows that things get smaller as they get further away and is always searching for the vanishing point in every scene we look at. This is the point, often on the horizon, where things become so small that they disappear all together. which results in may compositions having a vanishing point. Straight lines and the relative size of objects help to build a map in our minds of the relative distance of objects in the scene.
Occlusion: Certain objects will hide (occlude) other objects within a scene and the brain makes certain assumptions based on accumulated experiences as you grow up. If a shape appears broken by another object we assume the broken object is further away and behind the object causing the breakage.
Lighting and Shadow: Light changes the brightness of objects depending on their angle relative to the light source. Objects will appear brighter on the side facing the light source and darker on the side facing away from the light source. Objects also produce shadows which darken other objects. Our brains can build a map of the shape and relative position of the objects in the scene from the way light falls on them and the pattern of the shadows caused.
Colour Intensity and Contrast: Even on the clearest day objects appear t lose their intensity the further away they are in a scene. Contrast (the difference between light and dark) is also reduced in distant objects. We can build a map in our minds of the relative distance of objects from their colour intensity and level of contrast.
Relative Movement: As we walk through a scene, close objects appear to be moving past us faster than distant objects. Watch an aircraft landing from a distance and it almost appears to be standing still. Watch it from the runway and you get a very different impression. The relative movement of each object compared to others provides a cue to their relative distance. Cartoonists use this movement to give and impression of depth in animation and film and television producers often use relative movement to enhance depth.
Vergence: Vergence is a general term for both convergence and divergence. If we look at objects in the far distance both our eyes are pointing forwards, parallel to each other. If we focus on an object close up, our eyes converge together. The closer the object the more the convergence. Our brains can calculate how far away an object is from the amount of convergence our eyes need to apply to converge on the object. Film and television producers can use divergence as a trick to give the illusion that objects are further away, but this should be used sparingly because divergence is not a natural eye movement and may cause eye strain.
Stereopsis: Stereopsis results from binocular vision, it is the small differences in everything we look at between the left and right eyes. Our brain calculates which objects are close and which ones are further away from these differences.
The course is run by Paul Cameron and what he essentially did was condense the first day of the course into three hours for the benefit of the assembled journalists. During Pauls presentation we covered everything from the history of 3D to the development of modern 3D capture and delivery technology to the dos and donts of creating good 3D. After all that we actually got a chance to put our new found knowledge into practice and shot some 3D footage using a Sony professional 3D rig. Before I go into more detail about areas that Paul covered I would just like to thank him and Sony for what was an absolutely fascinating and very enjoyable day.
History of 3D
Believe it or not, the first 3D movie was actually created as far back as 1903 but the first 3D boom really took off during the period 1922-25. This first boom in 3D was in fact the only time that anaglyph glasses were actually used for theatrical presentation because the traditional popular image of rows of cinema goers sat in their red and cyan glasses is largely a fallacy. However the 1920s boom was the exception and unfortunately because they used anaglyph glasses the colours were quite bad, in addition the technology was obviously quite primitive. Creating a camera rig with two synchronised cameras was hard enough but synching the projectors proved even more difficult. Given that the art of 2D filmmaking was still in its infancy there was obviously little understanding of 3D filming techniques and as a result of this and the technical limitations the boom quickly died out.
The evolution of 3D would take a big leap in the 1930s with the development by Edwin Land of film polarising technology. The first use of this technology for 3D was at the Worlds Fair in New York in 1939. It was here that Chrysler used linear polarised glasses for the first time to present four short 3D films. Paul actually has a very rare pair of these glasses in his personal collection which he was kind enough to show us.
The second 3D boom was in the 1950s when studios were trying to compete with television and get audiences back into the cinema by offering an experience that they couldnt get at home. This led not only to the 3D boom but also the introduction of widescreen formats like CinemaScope which of course are still with us today in one form or another. Thanks to linear polarised glasses the colours were now much better but it was still difficult to synchronise the projectors and the camera rigs were very ungainly. In addition the production values were often limited and there was still little understanding of 3D filming techniques which resulted in quite poor content. It is interesting to note that even Alfred Hitchcock dabbled in 3D, shooting Dial M For Murder in the format but unfortunately by the time the film was released the fad had passed and sadly it was never shown theatrically in 3D - now thats a 3D Blu-ray Id kill for!
The third 3D boom was in the 1980s and is probably fondly remembered by many readers at AVForums. I can certainly remember seeing a lot of threequals in the format, including Amityville 3D, Jaws 3D and Friday the 13th - Part 3D as well as forgotten classics like Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone. Once again linear polarised glasses were being used but the camera rigs and projector synchronisation was much better although filmmakers were still developing the language of 3D cinema. I can certainly remember a lot of poking you in the eye shots at the time including a swordfish flying at my face at one point in Amityville 3D.
The next big step in 3D evolution came with the development of active shutter glasses in the early 1990s. These were developed as an alternative to linear polarised glasses and were often used during this period by IMAX for 3D presentations. By the mid 2000s the technological problems of 3D filmmaking had all been overcome, thanks in a large part to advances in digital image capture and projection. This resulted in the latest boom - driven in part by the success of films like Avatar - and whilst 3D booms seem to come and go about every 30 years if you add up all the available content (3D broadcasts, 3D movies and 3D games) this is by far the biggest boom in 3D ever.
The reasons for the failure of previous 3D booms are many but they are largely related to the limitations of the technology, poor production standards and excessive use of 3D. The current boom doesnt suffer from these technological limitations and benefits from much better production standards and a more artistic approach to the use of 3D. In addition the current 3D boom has something that the previous booms didnt have - an effective way of delivering 3D content into the home. For 3D to survive - especially as a domestic format - it needs to overcome a series of basic challenges many of which will be familiar to anyone who has read our 3D TV reviews. First of all the 3D image needs to be bright enough, this is true both at the cinema and domestically, and for domestic viewing there also needs to be a wide enough viewing angle and no drawbacks when watching 2D material. For both capture and distribution 3D needs to be reasonably cost effective and finally and most importantly there needs to be good content. It is this final challenge - the creation of good 3D content - that the Sony course seeks to address.
Seeing in 3D
When we look at the world around us we obviously see it in three dimensions but interestingly of the eight depth cues that the brain uses to estimate the relative distance of objects, the first six are equally as applicable to content that is in 2D. The eight depth cues that the brain uses are:
Focus and Depth of Field: Focus is an important tool that the brain uses to determine how far away something is, when the eyes refocus the brain interprets that as depth information. Our brains remember how we focus and build up a memory of the relative distance of each object in the scene. When shooting in 2D cinematographers use depth of field to pull objects out of a scene, a person might be in focus but the background out of focus for example. When shooting in 3D there are additional depth cues so you can open up the depth of field much more but in doing so you might lose some that cinematic look.
Perspective and Size: The brain knows that things get smaller as they get further away and is always searching for the vanishing point in every scene we look at. This is the point, often on the horizon, where things become so small that they disappear all together. which results in may compositions having a vanishing point. Straight lines and the relative size of objects help to build a map in our minds of the relative distance of objects in the scene.
Occlusion: Certain objects will hide (occlude) other objects within a scene and the brain makes certain assumptions based on accumulated experiences as you grow up. If a shape appears broken by another object we assume the broken object is further away and behind the object causing the breakage.
Lighting and Shadow: Light changes the brightness of objects depending on their angle relative to the light source. Objects will appear brighter on the side facing the light source and darker on the side facing away from the light source. Objects also produce shadows which darken other objects. Our brains can build a map of the shape and relative position of the objects in the scene from the way light falls on them and the pattern of the shadows caused.
Colour Intensity and Contrast: Even on the clearest day objects appear t lose their intensity the further away they are in a scene. Contrast (the difference between light and dark) is also reduced in distant objects. We can build a map in our minds of the relative distance of objects from their colour intensity and level of contrast.
Relative Movement: As we walk through a scene, close objects appear to be moving past us faster than distant objects. Watch an aircraft landing from a distance and it almost appears to be standing still. Watch it from the runway and you get a very different impression. The relative movement of each object compared to others provides a cue to their relative distance. Cartoonists use this movement to give and impression of depth in animation and film and television producers often use relative movement to enhance depth.
Vergence: Vergence is a general term for both convergence and divergence. If we look at objects in the far distance both our eyes are pointing forwards, parallel to each other. If we focus on an object close up, our eyes converge together. The closer the object the more the convergence. Our brains can calculate how far away an object is from the amount of convergence our eyes need to apply to converge on the object. Film and television producers can use divergence as a trick to give the illusion that objects are further away, but this should be used sparingly because divergence is not a natural eye movement and may cause eye strain.
Stereopsis: Stereopsis results from binocular vision, it is the small differences in everything we look at between the left and right eyes. Our brain calculates which objects are close and which ones are further away from these differences.
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