3D

How 3-D Works

3-D technology is an optical illusion based on stereoscopy. Stereoscopy is how the eyes and the distance between them conveys to the brain the perception of 3D. 3D can be controlled by projecting two different images onto the screen and then filtering them out with glasses that each have a different lens. Originally, this was done with simply a red lens and a green lens. Now, though, more specific color styles are placed on the lenses and the projectors do much of the work, showing different images at different angles. In fact, there are now certain screens that show 3D images without the need of cameras, simple by having different images pointing in different angles (they only work if you look head-on at the screen).

Since much of modern 3D technology has to do with how the images are aligned and angled, looking at a 3D image from an angle will result in distortion and blurryness, even if you wear the 3D glasses. Also, visual impairment in one eye prevents one from experiencing the 3D illusion (as it hurts the ability to see real 3D as well.

Old 3D

Bwana Devil

3D has been around for over half a century. The first 3D feature film was Bwana Devil in 1952. This form of 3D was rather primitive, relying mostly on filtering different colors with glasses lenses and funky cinematography. It gave the appearance of a diorama, with hundreds of different planes of vision rather than one continuous 3D view. As a result, it became perceived as a gimmick and faded into obscurity.

New 3D

Avatar

In the 2000s, 3D made a comeback in films (and then television) due to superior technology. This used a combination of filtering colors and distorting images using a computer. Films like Chicken Little and Journey to the Center of the Earth brought it to the public's attention, causing many movie theaters to buy new (and expensive) projectors to play 3D features. Film companies began producing more 3D movies; Pixar and Dreamworks Animation decided that starting in 2009, all of their movies would be in 3D. In winter of 2009, James Cameron--a pioneer in 3D technology--stunned audiences with the highly advanced 3D imagery in Avatar. The movie became the highest grossing of all time and 3D became an important part of cinema.

Types of modern 3D include Digital3D and RealD.

Glasses-less 3D

Instead of using glasses to distort the viewer's vision, black stripes and twisted angles can also cause the 3D illusion when one's eyes each adjusts the images to a slightly different version of the picture. Up until very recently, this technology only worked by having the projector aimed directly at the viewer, as on a computer screen or an Ipod. Movie theatres have their projectors located in the back of the room, because it would take an enormous monitor to show the movies at that scale. Up until very recently this meant that glasses-less 3D was impossible in the cinema.

In Augusto of 2012, a South Korean research group published a detailed essay in Optics Express explaining a projector they developed that would be able to use the black stripes and twisted angles to show glasses-less 3D as well. Wired explained:

"The new method would allow movie theaters to keep their projectors where they’ve always been, behind the audience, and uses fairly simple optical technology. A special array sits in front of the projector and polarizes its light. A filter covering the screen then obscures different vertical regions of the screen, like the slats of venetian blinds. Each of your eyes, sitting at a slightly different angle, has some of the screen blocked and some of the screen visible. The movie has the right-eye and left-eye images interleaved in vertical columns with one another. The trick then is to have the light visible to your left eye contain the left-eye pixels and vice versa for the right eye."

The technology is not easily accessable at this time, but the researches believe it would be fairly cost-effective to modify existing theatres with the new technology. It is believed it could become widespread in as soon as five years.

Shooting in 3D

Special types of cameras are required if one wants to shoot a film in 3D, since it must take multiple images that are then distorted and projected at the same time. Work with a computer afterwards is an important part to making these images presentable.

Converting into 3D

3D imagery can also be created using a computer that digitally distorts and copies the images to create a 3D picture. After hastily converted projects like Clash of the Titans and The Last Airbender disappointed audiences, many people labeled this form as "fake 3D." However, many successful 3D visuals have been made using this format--in fact, 40% of Avatar was NOT shot in 3D, but converted later on.

International Preference

In the United States, 3D is only somewhat popular. It is not unusual for a film to make only 40% of its gross in the format, even once one accounts for the higher cost of 3D tickets. However, in most foreign markets, including Easter and Western Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, audiences are much more likely to pay for a 3D ticket than a 2D one (generally at least 60% of grosses come from 3D theaters).

3D Rereleases

A common practice that became popular in the early 2010s is to convert an older movie to 3D and rerelease it in theaters. These rereleases are popular around the world, but more-so in the US. After The Lion King became a huge hit in a 3D rerelease, Disney announced its intention to convert many of their family films into the format. Many "classics" were or are being converted into 3D by their original Oscar winning directors, such as Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg), Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (George Lucas), and Titanic (James Cameron).