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MillimeterNAB 2006
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By S. D. Katz, D. W. Leitner, Dan Ochiva, and Jan Ozer
Bitcasting Arrives
Photos by Mark Forman
In the Digital Cinema Summit panel, James Cameron discussed advances in 3D production and conversion.
3D Coming at You
By S.D. Katz
The Digital Cinema Summit was certainly entertaining. Each day the packed room of engineers, cinematographers, exhibitors, producers, and press donned glasses and watched 3D movies. The ringmaster in all this was director James Cameron, joined by John Fithian, the president of National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), lending support to the notion that shaky box office performance and competing HD in the home is best combated with 3D movies.
There was little doubting Cameron's claim that today's 3D technology was far superior to the '50s-style anaglyph technology (the cardboard glasses with one red lens and one green lens). 3D technology is largely made possible by virtue of the fact that the new stereoscopic projection systems necessary for 3D projection can be rolled out as part of the overall upgrade to digital projection.
Cameron has been shooting 3D for several years and he emphasized that new camera systems make acquisition far easier then in the past. Of course, this is a director who is used to working with extensive visual effects as well as shooting underwater, so other directors may be less open-minded about extra gear.
One important advance in 3D production is the ability to control the interocular distance (space between a pair of human eyes) when filming. This also helps reduce the eyestrain associated with 3D movies. Excerpts from the 3D version of Polar Express and The Terminator 3D movie were screened as examples of the improved experience, but also as examples of movies that did very well at the box office.
Two 3D systems were demonstrated; one active and one passive. Real D uses passive glasses that cost less than $1, but require the installation of a special surfaced silver screen. Passive glasses are cheap enough to be disposable, but the cost of the screen is not trivial. The alternative is active glasses that cost approximately $25 a pair, but must be collected at the end of each performance and disinfected for reuse. Again, this is an extra expense for theater owners, but active glasses can be used with all the normal screens currently installed.
NuVision manufactures the active glasses supplied to the audience at the Summit; they are about the size and weight of normal, rather clunky, “pointdexter” glasses. NuVision glasses have a shutter in each lens that operates at 96Hz. This technique of opening and closing the lens separates the images supplied to each eye temporally. The advantage to this system is that the tinting of the lenses is very slight, far less than the nearly 30 percent light reduction typical of the older polarized stereoscopic system. Sitting towards the back of the theater, the 3D effect was pronounced, and the usual headache-inducing vision problems were largely absent. The test, however, will be to sit through an entire movie with either system and not be cross-eyed at the end.
You have to wonder, though, what audience Cameron is hoping to attract. So far, recent 3D movies have appealed to a younger demographic, adolescent mostly, and exhibition is already skewed toward a young male crowd. Cameron, however, touted the 3D experience as suitable for dramatic films and cited Titantic as a dramatic film, “if you leave out the boat sinking.”
This remark was unintentionally funny, but Cameron continued on and suggested a 3D version of The Godfather. This reference to converting older films to 3D was part of another technology demonstration in which the opening seven minutes of Star Wars was shown in 3D. It was an impressive conversion and showed true dimensionality rather than the flat, multi-planed effect that those old handheld ViewMaster viewers presented. Neil Feldman, senior VP and owner of In-Three, the company responsible for Star Wars conversion, went on far too long about the process without ever explaining how it was done. That may be because it was all hand rotoscoped and not patentable. In-Three has been working with NuVision to develop a 3D viewing system, and is hoping to convert many classic blockbusters to 3D.
This may all catch on, but we will have to wait until digital cinema actually begins a serious roll out, as there are still less than 1,000 digital systems in the United States. While the movie studios are finally making progress in solving the rights management issues, a truly comprehensive roll out does not seem imminent.
While the exhibitors listened to Cameron carefully, it was clear that the movie theater of the future is not aimed at pure movie lovers. On screen advertising, 3D glasses, gaming, and sporting events are all parts of the new business model to wring every last cent out of theater real estate when what is really needed are better movies. Turning the cineplex into an amusement park of mixed experiences seems like a life preserver thrown to businessman treading water. Or as James Cameron might have said, “The exhibition market is like Titanic — without the drowning.”
