An all-star cast of 3D visionaries made up the ETC’s 3D Creatives Panel at “Entertainment Technology @ CES” – and they had plenty to say regarding the future of 3D creation and the state of the industry.
Buzz Hays from Sony Imageworks kicked off the panel by talking about the incredible momentum behind 3D, citing all the products and content deals announced at the show. He then sparked a discussion on how to define quality for 3D (and what makes bad 3D).
The panelist agreed that the language of 3D still needs to be written. Hays said, “New 3D directors like to throw things at the audience. Those who have been in 3D for a while simply think of 3D as an extension of their world.” Phil McNally (a.k.a. “Captain 3D”) from DreamWorks elaborated, “Quality of construction is under control. Quality of creative use is what needs to be defined.”
Habib Zagarpour of EA said that for 3D gaming you can get yourself into situations that are unpredictable. “It is the wild west as you freely roam an environment. The only solution is lots of testing,” he said.
When asked about all the new televisions announced at CES with a 2D-to-3D conversion chip in them, McNally responded, “Real-time 2D-to-3D conversion is crap. I don’t care what anyone says. Going from 2D-to-3D is just very hard to do. There is not enough information out there right now for a chip to do it well. Let me clarify that games can be rendered in true 3D, so I am not talking about those.“
Hays continued, “One other big no-no is anaglyph. We hope 2010 is RIP Anaglyph.”
Steve Schklair, CEO of 3ality Digital, simply stated, “If you get a headache, it is bad content.”
When asked about shooting films in 2D and then converting them in post, Schklair was quick to point out that the cost and schedule limitations to shoot in 3D were falling, and that it just makes sense to shoot in 3D rather than go to the expense of a conversion.
“We have all seen good 2D-to-3D conversions, but in the future why would you shoot a 3D film in 2D?” he asked. “The train has left the station. Manufacturers are on board, broadcasters are on board, the shooting schedules are there.”
Ted Kenney of 3ality summed up the conversation by stating, “Things can go wrong. We need more experience. We need feedback from manufacturers, viewers and filmmakers.”