A MULTIPLE METHODAPPROACH TO 3D CREATION

Using shooting, CG and Dimensionalization® together to create “Perfect 3D” (I.e., 3D that achieves a director’s

vision with no discomforting disparities)

With Contributions from and thanks to:Rob Engle, Sony ImageWorks

Jason Goodman, CEO of 21st Century 3DLenny Lipton. CTO of RealD

Chris Townsend, VFX supervisor on “Journey to the Center of the Earth”Chris Ward, President of Lightspeed

And others

The natural domain of each technique:Where the Multiple Method Approach isn’t appropriate

Stereo shooting alone is required and may work well in venues where multiple dual rigs can be set up and pre-calibrated to get the “best seat in the house” for any live action, for instance stage settings and arenas.

Stereo CG alone, of course, is required and can produce perfect 3D for any fully animated 3D content.

Dimensionalization alone is required for legacy 2D content to be converted to 3D.

Approaches to Conversion

Automatic depth detection software Standard software Dimensionalization

What is “Dimensionalization”:Creating 3D from 2D in three steps

Identify objects to be given unique depth (In3D or roto tools)

Give each object depth, shape and perspective (In3D). Depth grade to conform transitions and adjust internal depth (i.e., provide depth continuity)

After artistic approval, touch up occluded areas (In-Painting tools)

What does Dimensionalization bring to the party?

Fast depth mapping Object meta-data Depth grading for intra and inter shot depth

continuity No discomforting disparities

Why his works so well:1) Our left/right views start defect free

We start with two perfectly matched left/right eye views (I.e., a copy of the original).

As long as we treat each object appropriately we will end up with depth the way a director wants it and no discomforting disparities.

Why this works so well:2) Knobs: A helpful metaphor

With dual cameras a stereographer has 3 parameters or “knobs”.

Stereo CG has additional knobs, 3 for each virtual dual camera rigs.

Why Dimensionalization works so well:‘Knobs R Us’

With Dimensionalization there are three knobs for each element: These adjust its depth, shape and perspective. Therefore a scene can have many dozens of knobs available to get the scene right and to conform the scene to camera captured stereo layers or CG created stereo layers.

This allows us to do depth grading and ensure depth continuity within a shot and between shots.

Examples of where Multiple Method Composites are appropriate:

Stereo CG/Dimensionalization:– Dimensionalized live action composited into a stereo CG

scene. – Stereo CG element composited into a Dimensionalized

scene. Stereo shooting /Dimensionalization:

– See “Multiple Methods” document at In-Three.com

Examples of where Interleaved Multiple Methods are appropriate:

Stereo CG/Dimensionalization:– Interleaving of stereo live action scenes and stereo CG

Stereo shooting/Dimensionalization:– Stock footage– Others requiring judgment (see In-Three.com)

Of course, 911

Going forward

As our industry gains experience and improves the interoperability of our tools it’s safe to say that much, if not most, 3D content will incorporate at least two of these three approaches. This will shorten time to completion, lower cost, and give directors the control they want and find so attractive about Dimensionalization. Our current project profile indicates that this is happening. Our software is evolving to accommodate it.

The In-Three Depth Machine