3D Society Conference and Awards

I attended the second annual 3D Society Conference and Awards in Hollywood Feb 8th and 9th. I also attended the LA SIGGRAPH 3D event smartly hosted by Marty Schindler of the Schindler Perspective(www.ishindler.com ).

Stereography is an emerging craft and becoming a essential crew position. My key learning is that all 3D is subjective and almost all 3D experienced by an audience is a creative decision controlled by a handful of variables. stenographers are a crossbetween VFX Sups and Assistant Camera Operators. They must interpret the artistic direction from the Director and DP and control both hard camera controls as well as soft post processing. Done wrong, audiences will run from screens with strained eyes and aching heads. Done right and 3D is an immersive experience audiences will pay more for and upgrade to 3D TVs. Storytelling now includes manipulating the audiences point of convergence, the foreground, background, and how depth perception changes when the camera moves.
3D perception is a complex psycho-physiological phenomenon only accurate forabout 20 feet where binocular convergence gives us a true "sense" of depth. Beyond that; vanishing points, lighting cues, atmosphere cues, occlusion and parallax play layer roles. For example, estimating distance on the ocean is notoriously difficult compared with in a city with all it's depth cues.

Aside from on-set decisions, the next crux of 3D is when to go native Vs to convert from 2D to 3D. Which is better when is an ongoing debate. The craft of 2D to 3D conversion is rapidly evolving, time consuming and expensive at between $30k and $150k per minute!
You can count on 3D growing. Sports and music performances will likely lead the way for home adoption. Panasonic demoed a live HD 3D Switcher! 3D Channels are already being launched and 3D TVs were everywhere at CES 2011.

The second annual 3D Society awards exceeded my expectations for glitz and glamour. They rolled out the red carpet for nerdville and showcased the years best examples of 3D film land TV. It was difficult for me to tell what it was about some of the winners that stood out, but some, like HUBBLE 3D IMAX, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND for best conversion, were obvious.

Here is the list of Winners:

LIVE ACTION 3D FEATURE OF THE YEAR:
“TRON: Legacy”
The Walt Disney Studios

ANIMATED 3D FEATURE OF THE YEAR:
“How to Train Your Dragon”
DreamWorks Animation (DWA)

SHORT 3D MOTION PICTURE/NARRATIVE:
“Day & Night”
Pixar

BEST 3D DOCUMENTARY:
“Hubble 3D”
IMAX

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT OF 2D TO 3D CONVERTED FEATURE:
“Alice in Wonderland”
The Walt Disney Studios and Sony Imageworks

3D LIVE EVENT:
“Black Eyed Peas 3D: Live”
AEG Live

BEST 3D SCENE OF THE YEAR:
“Tangled”
The Walt Disney Studios

BEST 3D STEREOGRAPHY – LIVE ACTION:
“TRON: Legacy”
The Walt Disney Studios

BEST 3D STEREOGRAPHY – ANIMATED:
“How to Train Your Dragon”
DreamWorks Animation (DWA)

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