| Author | Message | ||
     clyde Rating: N/A |
..an article link posted by RayZone on the yahoo boards. Associated Press Imax Plans Big Role in 3-D Film Resurgence Friday April 22, 12:13 am ET Hollywood Appears to Be on the Cusp of a 3-D Renaissance, and Imax Plans Big Role TORONTO (AP) -- Hollywood appears to be on the cusp of a 3-D renaissance, and Imax Corp. intends to play a big part. Imax, known for its eight-story-high film screens, has released traditional documentaries filmed in Imax 3D for years. In the last couple of years, the Canadian company has captured the attention of Hollywood studios with Imax DMR, a digital remastering technology that transforms standard 35mm films into the giant Imax format. The process has allowed it to exhibit commercial films the likes of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," "The Matrix Reloaded," and "Spider-Man 2" in its theater network. In November, it went a step further, releasing the computer-animated film "The Polar Express" with Warner Bros. Pictures in Imax 3D, which turned out to be its biggest Hollywood release to date, grossing nearly $50 million in Imax theaters. After about a decade of research and development, Imax says that it's ready to release a live-action feature film in Imax 3D, and is in discussions with studios for such a project. Richard Gelfond, co-chief executive of Imax, said the company hopes to announce a live-action Hollywood film in Imax 3D sometime this year for release in 2006. He disclosed that Warner Bros.' "Superman Returns" and "The Poseidon Adventure" are two projects under discussion. To do that, Imax has come up with a method to convert footage shot in two dimensions to three. Gelfond said Imax demonstrated scenes of its live-action 3-D technology in the late 1990s, and its 2002 Imax 3D documentary "Space Station" actually included a scene that was originally shot in two dimensions. While the cost of 3-D conversion for computer animation is about $10 million, live-action is somewhat cheaper at $6 million to $8 million, he said. Imax isn't the only player vying for a piece of the live-action 3-D pie. Another is California-based In-Three Inc., whose technology can upgrade almost any digital cinema to show an extra dimension. The process received an endorsement from filmmaker George Lucas, who demonstrated 3-D clips from two of his "Star Wars" films at ShoWest recently. Imax filed a patent-infringement claim against In-Three in March. On Friday, In-Three filed a countersuit denying any wrongdoing and asking the court to declare the suit invalid. Neil Feldman, vice president of In-Three, said the company has patent-violation concerns of its own. He said Imax had approached In-Three, which did some 3-D conversion tests for Imax. He assumed a business relationship would result, but obviously Imax decided to go its "own direction," he said. Feldman said Imax will always have a special place for film fans, but In-Three is aiming to get its 3-D content on all 35,000 screens out there -- not just a couple of hundred. Gelfond argued that 35mm film is inferior to Imax. "Part of what makes the Imax experience so special is that it goes to the peripheral vision and it enables viewers to be immersed into the 3D action," he said. He noted that James Cameron released "Ghosts of the Abyss" in 3-D in 50 Imax and 50 conventional theaters, and the box office was four times as high in Imax. Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures -- one of Imax's biggest supporters in Hollywood -- said he's open to exploring the possibilities that all these new 3-D technologies offer. But it remains to be seen how it all unfolds. "I think it's just great that there's all this innovation out there and that people are working hard with technology to try to enhance the experience of moviegoing," he said in a recent interview. In the meantime, he looks forward to future projects with Imax. He said the results for "The Polar Express" astonished the studio. "Right now, (Imax has) a wonderful brand, people like it, we're going to continue to support it. And we look forward to some healthy grosses at the box office down the road," he said. _------------------------------------------------ I had no idea there was this much of controversy going on on 2d conversions. As you may know X3D owns a few key patents (check their website) on 2d conversions to 3D. I'm investigating who's infringing on whom (for my satisfaction only). regards Clyde | ||
| Scott Warren Rating: N/A |
"Gelfond argued that 35mm film is inferior to Imax. 'Part of what makes the Imax experience so special is that it goes to the peripheral vision and it enables viewers to be immersed into the 3D action,' he said." He does realize, doesn't he, that (unless you specifically turn your head from side to side) what is seen in one's peripheral vision is inherently monoscopic. ;) Scott | ||
| clyde Rating: N/A |
Lol@Scott good one!  BUt OH MY GOD.. i just googled imax +inthree and came up with a multitude of links. I havent been really looking at the all the places for stereoscopic news it seems. any way check this link out... http://www.videopost.com/pages/inthree3.html very positive review.. but scroll a bit towards the end few paragraphs.. {quote}Besides scenes from Star Wars and Ghosts of the Abyss, the audiences sampled 3-D sequences from Top Gun, The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, The Lord of the Rings and The Polar Express. Each of the choices was ideally suited to the re-conversion process, with images and action literally erupting from the screen.{/quote} THIS FEULS MY BELIEFS>>..if you pick the RIGHT scenes for a demo you make a GREAT impression. If you check many of my previous posts on this, I expressly mentioned clips like Lordof the Rings, Top Gun, the Tie fighters chases in Star wars etc.. ALL PRIME TIME PARALLAX BASED CANDIDATES for 2d to 3D conversions. Now added to that, if you do process a few seconds of in-between frames by lifting out objects and recompositing them with added negative parralax, you'll have a killer demo. I had also mentioned the first few minutes of the movie Cliff hanger.. this was the clips used to demonstrate the VFX boxes a few years ago.. I HATE to say this but here's comments by Lucas et al, which leads me to belive that hollywood needs more than a crash course on what stereoscopic filiming is. Sure, I have no place to say this, as they are film millionaires and im just one of the few ranters on a free board .. but hey so what.. Regards Clyde P,S any death threats/replies, please dont post as anonymous, include an email or two | ||
| Neil Rating: N/A |
Only the Star Wars (Episodes II and IV), Top Gun,and Lilo & Stitch clips were Dimensionalized by In-Three. Ghosts of the Abyss, Aliens of the Deep, and Spy Kids 3D were shot standard dual camera 3D (not converted). As far as I know there was absolutely no material from The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D screened at all and I was there. The Lord of the Rings clip was converted from 2D-to-3D by Peter Jackson's post-production company called WETA. It was a test they did on CGI material only. |
