Digital Vision in 3D

3D is the latest trend to capture the imagination of the industry and consumers alike. Avatar is a box office smash and as such we are now seeing a steady stream of classics receiving a 3D makeover. Toy Story 3 (Pixar) and Guardians of Gahoole (Animal Logic) are in production and due for release this year, using Film Master 2009. There has been a swathe of work across Europe in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Poland. 

As the leader in the colour grading sector Digital Vision announced fully equipped stereoscopic updates to its Film Master colour grading system last year. Since then the system has been used to grade a number of high profile 3D projects. German post production facility, Post Republic is currently grading the UK’s first 3D feature film StreetDance, which is due for release later this year, using Film Master 2009. The trailer and teaser have already been graded at the facility using the latest Film Master update and have been distributed worldwide.

Set in London and featuring some of Britain's top dance talent, the film tells the story of a street dance crew who, in a bid to win the UK Street Dance Championships are forced to team up with a group of classical dancers. Shot in 3D, rigs were supplied by LA based 3D specialist, Paradise FX who also supplied rigs for major features such as The Hole 3D and My Bloody Valentine.

Based in Berlin, Post Republic’s grading suite boasts a RealD projection system and silver screen display technology, which applies a polarizing filter system in front of the projector lens and passive polarizing glasses for left eye/right eye separation. The RealD cinema system is currently the most widely deployed 3D projection system in the world. Post Republic upgraded its Film Master specifically for this project. For a reliable calibration in the grading suite the facility technically replicated the RealD cinema experience. Its graders wear polarized glasses throughout the session watching the grade on the silver screen and finally master onto a stereoscopic DCP. Film Master’s stereoscopic capability has allowed Post Republic to switch the monitoring between stereo, side by side or blended overlay at the touch of a button meaning it is an ideal platform for grading, final conform and mastering stereo projects.

London’s Ascent 142 recently graded The Queen in 3D, a project for the British Film Institute (BFI), using Film Master’s stereoscopic toolset and restored on Digital Vision’s DVNR.  Often with restoration projects the facility has to cut between several sources of material. In this instance Ascent 142 had two complete rolls of 35mm Technicolor film prints from the fifties which were made as left eye/right eye. Using Film Master they checked that both films were complete and the same length.  The colourist then graded each identically in 2D using a split screen, making two complete HD masters that could be superimposed into the 3D software. The ability to see both tracks at the same time and do wipes between them significantly simplifies the process. The facility then restored the material by doing an HD DVNR pass.

In France Ymagis, a facility entirely dedicated to digital cinema located just steps from the Champs Elysees, is also using its Film Master to grade stereoscopic projects. In December the facility completed a project for Lobster Films based in Paris. Lobster Films, a specialist in the retrieval and restoration of old films, compiled some old 3D/stereo shorts in a feature called Retour de Flamme. Ymagis adapted the 3D/stereo to widescreen projection using Film Master.

“The original footage had a lot of 3D defects such as vertical disparity, different image sizes and colours for each eye and rotation problems.Film Master was the ideal tool to correct these problems because of its ability to output both eyes simultaneously to a Christie 2K projector. All corrections (pan, tilt, resize, rotate and grade) were displayed directly in 3D,” comments Jérémy Boisseau, Ymagis' laboratory supervisor.

Ymagis also uses the Film Master to conform and grade HD/2K/4K/Red content.

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