Avatar and the Next Level for 3D Stereoscopy 

James Cameron’s Avatar is set to be a ‘tipping point’ in stereoscopic cinema – not only for the cinema goer, but also from a production point of view.
Avatar is the story of a crippled ex-marine whose consciousness is implanted into the body of human/alien genetic hybrid so he can breathe the air of an alien planet (Pandora) and subjugate the natives (the Navi) in order to obtain an exotic mineral unknown on Earth.
Virtual Cinematography – it’s a phrase you’ll hear more of, not only because it is central to the way in which the film was made, but because it raises visual FX to a level where, in certain cases, it can surpass live action filming.  
While Cameron undertook a great deal of live 3D stereoscopic work for the film using the proprietary Fusion digital 3-D camera system developed by Cameron and Vince Pace, the bulk of Avatar is “photorealistic CG production” and was put together using game authoring tools.

For your Holiday Season edification, ImageTechnology.info has donned the polarised glasses to bring you a look at Avatar and what it means for both 2D and 3D production.

STORIES INCLUDE:

• 3D Avatar – Shades of a New Cinema
• Avatar Changes the 3D Game
• Modern VideoFilm Finishes Avatar
• Rip Up Your Pipelines - Outsourcing Post
• Empire Leicester Square Hosts Avatar Global Premiere

 Other New Stories

• da Vinci Renaissance with a Little Blackmagic
• Thought Equity and BBC Together in Motion
• Previsualization Society Launched
• Website for Used Telecines

 Lenny Lipton, Former Chief Technical Officer of RealD 3D

Lenny Lipton has been called the godfather of 3D cinema - this wave of 3D cinema at any rate. 
The previous wave of 3D movies hit theatres in 1952 but proved to be a fad that petered out after a year or two.
But this time it promises to be different, thanks to digital technology which eliminates the technical deficiencies of the 1950s 3D film projectors and improvements in content creation – also made possible by digital technology.
Lipton is not a godfather in the mafia sense, but in an experience sense - he has been working on 3D systems for some 40 years, accumulating a comprehensive array of inventions, patents and awards along the way.    
For the whole story, click here

Dolby - Sounding the Same in D-Cinema?

Dolby has a dominance over feature film sound tracks that would be like owning every property on a Monopoly board. Feature film producers pay Dolby to use the technology, the sound track mixing facility pays for the mixing room to be certified by Dolby, and the exhibitors use Dolby or Dolby licensed equipment to decode the sound track for screening.
The development of Dolby’s film program into a de-facto standard gives quality control and consistency of playback that is appreciated by sound mixers, and producers – for now at any rate - seem to accept the costs. Producers and mixers over about 40 years of age probably remember how bad cinema sound was before the first Dolby film sound tracks in the mid 1970’s.
But digital projection is changing the exhibition landscape, and in the DCI digital projection world Dolby’s 35mm print patents no longer apply. This loosens Dolby’s grip on both the technology, but also on the quality control of film sound tracks.
For the whole story, click here

Featured Video 

Gary Adcock of Chicago’s Studio 37 talks about AJA Video Systems Ki Pro, a portable tapeless video device that records files to the Apple ProRes 422 codec directly from camera. It also comes with an ergonomic exo-skeleton that screws in-between tripod and camera.

To view this and other videos, click here 

Classic Cameras

Cinema Products CP16

Although based on the original Auricon camera movement from the 1950s, the CP16 was the mainstay of news camera operators around the world from the mid-1970s until the Sony Betacam replaced them in the mid-1980s.

For a closer look, click here