It's a Brave New World – Blog edited by Scott Arundale

After attending the Digital Summit this weekend, I hate to admit this but my eyes are still sore.  I wouldn’t say that I overdid it but after on-again off-again viewing of content using the Panasonic active shutter glasses and the RealD’s (not to mention that guy who keeps popping his strobe camera off every few minutes in the dark) my vision is slightly toasty.

Like Olympic athletes,  perhaps we need to start training before these events.

On Monday, my first stop was the Autodesk booth where expert colorist, Kent Pritchett demo’d the 3D Lustre software using the luxuriant Dave Matthews concert footage that he graded recently.  He reports that hours spent in front of a the 3D console (only when wearing the glasses) may have to be reduced by 50% due to eye strain and fatigue.

UPDATE 5.07.10

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UPDATE 4.17.10

Remember when Nintendo released one their Pokemon movies back in 1997 and later withdrew it because one of the strobe sequences caused epileptic seizures in kids and small animals?  Well now Samsung has issued a warning about their stereo displays.  Being forewarned is forearmed and reduces threats of lawsuits.

“Viewing in 3D mode may also cause motion sickness, perceptual after effects, disorientation, eye strain, and decreased postural stability.”

Eye strain goes with the territory when sitting in a darkened conference room and donning the RealD glasses every half hour for  most of the  day.  But the footage was worth it!  We looked at U2, Dave Matthews, NFL football, Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans, as well as a Praying Mantis eating the head off a fly.  Much of the material was breathtaking, but why do they have to play the music at 100+ decibels?  Do they think it makes the images look better?

Morning Session

I’m a morning person but they managed to run out of coffee by 8:30am (ouch!) when the session was due to start.  Strangely, the organizers had not anticipated such a huge turnout as many were left standing without enough chairs, but not having caffeine in the morning was a cruel hoax, courtesy of  Sony and NAB.

Understanding Stereopsis and 3D Image Capture

Peter Lude’ and Steve Schklair kicked off with an illuminating and sweeping explanation of Stereopsis.  We began to grasp the concepts of divergence, floating windows, edge violations,vertical alignment and the “wow” factor.  We also began to appreciate the difference between side by side cameras and beam splitters.

3D programming:  Lessons learned

Al Barton, Patrick Devlin (Evergreen), Thomas Edwards (Fox Technical Group) and Jason Goodman (21st Century 3D) each took turns explaining their approach to 3D.  The Fox sports reel was the most annoying and in your face, but Tom brought up an interesting dilemma: where does the ever-present score box go?.  Evergreen’s production of the Dave Matthews concert was most exciting to watch.  Jason Goodman (Call of the Wild) has been tearing apart and re-building the Panasonic DVX cameras and creating lightweight 3D rigs which work great on the steadicam.  Their 3DVX 3.5 444 2.75″ 10 Bit Uncompressed rig warrants further investigation.  The Red dual camera setup looks just plain big and unwieldy.

3D Conversion

Warren Littlefield (formerly NBC) gave the sales pitch for 3D describing when in 1987, Third Rock from the Sun created a special 3D episode as a lead-in for Gulliver’s Travels. As the “yes man” for 3D he was the used car salesman of the day,  advising us that we should go out and stereo retro-fit all original content from the last 20 years. Chris Bond’s story was the most harrowing as he described the 2D/3D conversion of Clash of the Titans during which they had a mere 8 – 10 weeks working on an unlocked picture.  The word on the street is the final product looks like a quickie, but the upside is Prime Focus has developed the know-how to turn around features under a tight deadline.

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A Case for Quality in Production and Post-Production

Buzz Hays (Sony Technology Center)  talked about the importance of education and getting the D.P.’s. Directors, Game Developers and Editors on board.  Based on their credits, Sony is clearly an industry leader in 3D and I look forward to dragging my students through their learning center.

After the Capture – What other Tools Exist?

Matthew DeJohn (In Three) described Dimensionalization as the patented process created by his company for 3D conversion. By this time, my eyes are hurting and every demo reel seems to feature converted and original 3D material and quite frankly, I am having trouble telling the difference.

So now it is time to quote, Jeffrey Katzenberg:

“All 3D is not created equal.  It is first and foremost a very, very powerful creative storytelling tool”.

Stereography and Storytelling

I started reading the Bernard Mendiburu book, this morning entitled 3D Movie Making and I my review will post shortly. I enjoyed his rather flip examination of the creative process.  Chuck Comisky (Avatar) is clearly a 3D god and lives and breathes this stuff 24/7.  Phil Streather’s (PLF) reel was gorgeous but uneven.  The bug footage was startling.  Clearly you can shove a 3D camera into a macro nature scene and still achieve great results.  By the time Phil, the indie filmmaker got up to speak, it was the end of the session. I was spent and so was most of the audience.  The scene he showed with the clown in the elevator was painful to watch but this guy is someone we should keep our eye on.  When micro budget filmmakers post their 3D films on youtube, I think this is a game changer.

Despite being a tech-head for all these years, I have resisted ever attending the NAB Conference in Las Vegas.  My main excuse has always been that it lands right in the middle of pilot season which traditionally is a very busy time for me.  For the last few years I have been working on my teaching credentials and leaving in the middle of the semester always seemed like an iffy proposition.

The real reason is, I start to get very anxious around all this new technology, amidst an army of strangers, in the barn-like convention center.  A form of vertigo begins to take over, and I am soon ready to flee.

This year Dodge College has generously offered to pay my way for the 2 day Digital Summit to be held as part of the convention.  We currently have a mandate which is to grasp all things related to 3D and employ them both in our facilities and in our pedagogy.  So this is a crash course for me and my colleagues and I hope to share as much of the wisdom as I can glean along the way.
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In the meantime I have ordered a raft of books from Amazon and will be doing as much research as I can handle and will share my notes with you. And if you see me in Las Vegas breathing into a paper bag, it’s because it’s just so damn exciting.

-Scott Arundale

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new blog dedicated to all things related to digital filmmaking.  The primary goal is to explore new and emerging methods of acquisition, editing and distribution of filmed entertainment. Topics to be discussed will be cameras, lighting, digital imaging, media management, editing and manipulation, motion graphics, sound and music, playback and display systems, mobile computing, and last but not least all things related to 3D production and consumption.

We are hoping along the way to enlist some help from my friends and colleagues and get their input in areas that will fill the knowledge gap.  I admit that I am not an expert in all of these areas. I bring to the table 25 years of film, tape and non-linear editing experience, and as you will see, I am particularly fascinated in the evolution of film and digital technology and how it has affected storytelling.

The genesis of this blog came from two recent developments in my career.  One is my desire to write a book on the topic of digital cinema.  The other is my latest assignment as member of a 3D Task Force at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts which is part of Chapman University located in Orange, California.  I recently joined the faculty and teach Editing and DI Workflow as well as Location Filmmaking.
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I’ve enlisted my colleague, Tashi Trieu to join me in this endeavor and share his wisdom and experiences in the front line of shooting and coloring film.

When our Dean Bob Bassett announced that Dodge College would be converting the Folino Theater to 3D and we would begin exploring ways to support and teach 3D filmmaking, I leapt at the opportunity to participate.  Like many of my colleagues, I find the whole world of 3D to be somewhat mysterious and perhaps uncharted territory. In the course of my research, I will use this discussion page as a repository for ideas and information and I would like to invite you all in and encourage as much discussion and input as possible.

Scott Arundale