“G-Force” is a hybrid, using both techniques since it has both live and animated characters, said Phil Lelyveld, project manager of the Consumer 3D Experience Lab at the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center.
After films are prepared for 3-D viewing, viewers who want the full effect must wear the special glasses.
“The two-color glasses, used for years and years, go back to the 1800s,” Lelyveld said. “They achieve the 3-D effect by sacrificing color. One lens is red and the other is green or blue, so there is a color each eye cannot see. “(The newer) polarized glasses are slightly gray in tint, and they don’t take the color out. With polarized glasses, which look like sunglasses, the light is spinning clockwise in one eye and counterclockwise in the other. If you tilt your head, you still get the 3-D effect, unlike with the colored glasses. Polarized glasses currently predominate in theaters.”
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