NEWS
3-D More than an Illusion
Lenny Lipton Brews Up Interest in Stereoscopic Cinema
by Debra Kaufman
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If you’re of a certain age, 3-D cinema conjures up over-the-top images of Bwana Devil and House of Wax. With spears jabbing at your face and other three-dimensional tricks, those stereo movies were a short fad, barely worthy of notice for most cinephiles.
With the release of such films as Beowulf and U23D, however, stereoscopic films have arrived in their 21st century incarnation, and members of the Editors Guild had the opportunity to learn more about today’s 3-D stereo cinema at a presentation in January. At the offices of Real D, a company that manufactures a 3-D projection system, president Joshua Greer, who co-founded the company with chairman/CEO Michael V. Lewis, spoke enthusiastically about the possibilities of 3-D cinema. “We’ve crossed a chasm,” he said. “Technology is allowing new ways to express art.”
 Lenny Lipton. Photo courtesy of Real D. |
Greer introduced the evening’s speaker: “the godfather of 3-D,” Real D chief technology officer Lenny Lipton. Lipton, who holds more than 25 patents in the field, saw those early 3-D stereo films in the 1950s, and became enamored of the art form, building his first projector when he was 12.
After making dozens of independent films, Lipton turned to his childhood hobby and founded Stereographics, creating a sophisticated 3-D system for industries as diverse as oil exploration and computer-aided design. Four years ago, Lipton licensed his technology to Real D, which acquired Stereographics in 2005, the same year the company opened its first 3-D Stereoscopic Cinema.
Lipton talked to the audience about the evolution of 3-D stereo within the context of the evolution of cinema itself: from black-and-white to color, from silent to sound, from analogue to digital. To answer charges that the expense of upgrading theatres for 3-D will prove prohibitive, he countered that the only big change in cinema that didn’t require exhibitors to upgrade theatres was color. Lipton further noted, “Complicated projection systems won’t work in neighborhood theatres.” That’s why, he says, earlier 3-D systems such as Cinerama couldn’t prevail. In the 1950s, theatres used two projectors with polarized filters over the lenses, a silver screen and glasses. But all the pitfalls of getting two projectors in perfect synch killed the stereo boom of that era.
Digital cinema is the single most powerful development that has permitted the growth of 3-D cinema, according to Lipton, who explained that Real D’s 3-D stereoscopic system relies on a single DLP cinema projector. Real D’s Z-Screen is an electro-optical modular polarizing filter installed in front of the projector’s lens. Because there is only one projector, none of the pitfalls of a dual projection system come into play. The exhibitor needs a silver screen (which, Lipton noted, is actually aluminum-coated); glasses cost less than $1 a pair.
Very shortly, Real D will be able to project 3-D films onto a 60-foot screen.
Improvements are being made to the surface of the screen, says Lipton, and
tomorrow’s projection repetition (which today is 144fps based on a 24fps
capture rate) could be 120fps based on 30 fps, for smoother movement.
Studios that have embraced 3-D filmmaking include Disney, Sony Imageworks
and DreamWorks Animation. Lipton pointed to a growing list of 3-D films including,
most recently, Beowulf and U23D, the latter of which he called “an amazing
work.” The list of 3-D films scheduled for release in 2008/2009 is quite
impressive, among them James Cameron’s Avatar, Tin Tin, How to Train
Your Dragon, and Monsters vs. Aliens.
Lipton mentioned that stereoscopic films are easily created from CG animated films, since the virtual camera can easily create a second, off-set “eye.” But stereo films can also be shot live-action, or re-created from an original 2-D version, the latter of which was done with Star Wars and The Nightmare Before Christmas, via rotoscoping.
A new workflow—especially a post-production workflow—is required for 3-D stereoscopic films, admitted Lipton, but he pointed out that some post houses have set up a 3-D stereo post suite based on Quantel technology, and Sony Imageworks and 3ality (which produced U23D) have their own 3-D post workflows, based on proprietary gear, as does director Cameron at his Lightstorm Entertainment studio. He also revealed that Mitsubishi and Samsung have released home theatre 3-D stereoscopic projection systems (based on rear screen projections), and that 3-D films can be released in the high-definition Blu-ray format.
“Digital cinema and 3-D stereo are a good match,” Lipton concluded. “My prediction is that 3-D cinema is here to stay.” That assertion is confirmed by the growth of Real D theatres, which stand at over 1,000 worldwide. Real D projects that it will have at least 4,000 screens by 2009.
But will 3-D stereoscopy ever be ubiquitous? Lipton thinks so. “When was the last time you saw a silent movie?” he asked. With Lipton’s encouragement, Editors Guild members now have 3-D stereo filmmaking and post on their collective radar screens. For those who want to learn more, Lipton’s book The Foundations of the Stereoscopic Cinema is available for download from the Real D website, www.reald-corporate.com/resources_ download_whitepapers.asp.
Debra Kaufman is a freelance writer who is also West Coast Editor of Film & Video Magazine, and editor of DI Studio, an online newsletter on digital intermediates. She can be reached at dkla@ca.rr.com.
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