Studios keep taking our childhood favorites and “retrofitting” them into stereoscopic 3D productions. Lacking the true depth information of a stereoscopic camera rig or laser distancing, it’s a lengthy and time consuming process. One would think that at least new productions would opt for the stereoscopic camera rigs, but at a recent panel discussion assemble by the International 3D Society, it would seem we would be wrong.
“Shooting with a twin-camera setup vs. doing a subsequent 2D-to-3D conversion is a creative choice ” said Rob Hummel topper at Prime Focus which includes conversion among its services. “Both methods are a way to trigger depth cues in the brain.”
They claim that the recent disaster of “Clash of the Titans” was an anomaly, and not indicative of the capabilities of the process when used properly. They do make one good point about the conversion process:
Hummel said in some situations, especially extreme close-ups, it’s not practical to shoot with a bulky two-camera rig and conversion is the preferred way to give those scenes the illusion of depth.
Having dealt with this personally, I know that’s a particularly difficult thing to shoot with a stereoscopic rig.
However, it still doesn’t make me happy to hear about the Lion King in 3D.
via No end to 3D retrofits – Entertainment News, Technology News, Media – Variety.
See what I mean?
Lion King will look awesome in 3D. Anyone in the stereo 3D business should promote 3D conversion. That’s the only way content critical mass will be achieved to drive and sustain the 3D industry.
So a panel made up of people who do conversions professionally agrees that conversions are good?