3D is breaking into your living room

 

More than 50 years after the film "Bwana Devil" promised a "lion in your lap," 3-D movies are back.

 

Just as the first wave of stereoscopic films were an attempt to make the movie theater experience new again, the latest set of 3-D comes at a time when theaters are still feeling the hangover of the box office slump and facing increasing competition from DVDs, video games & satellite TV.

 

3-D is a technology whose time has finally arrived.Cinema complexes globally are now all offering the 3D experience.

The main system inSouth Africais Real D which relies on a high-resolution digital projector souped up to show the stereoscopic 3d movie.

 

Images much faster than a typical movie--144 images per second, half of them intended for the left eye, half for the right. Hanging in front of the projector lens is a liquid-crystal screen that polarizes the pictures, so the audience, wearing plastic glasses with polarized lenses, sees different images in its left and right eyes, creating the illusion of depth.

 

The result is a crisp 3-D picture that seems to extend behind and in front of the movie screen itself. Theaters pay to upgrade the auditorium with the Real D equipment and a new, more-reflective silver screen.

 

3D audiences receive comfortable, lightweight glasses that enable them to view the motion picture in the 3D format. Unlike traditional anaglyph (red and blue) 3D, REAL D Digital 3D leverages digital cinema projection technology to eliminate eye fatigue, ensuring moviegoers enjoy the most comfortable 3D viewing experience possible.

 

The new film from James Cameron, has revolutionized the 3D genre with new ground breaking technology. Digital 3D greatly enhances a film's box office performance and this month’s 3D presentation of Avatar exceeded the highest expectations by beating Titanic and will soon reach the 2 billion dollar mark.

 

One top industry executive describes it as a "game changer" - a movie that has changed the way people watch films forever. Only five movies have ever broken the $1 billion box-office benchmark. Yet the sci-fi 3D epic "Avatar" smashed through in only three weeks.

 

Just 20 days after its release, James Cameron's new film raked in $1.1 billion worldwide, making it the top-grossing film of all time. There's a big gap between second and first place, currently held by Cameron's previous opus "Titanic"

 

Curiously, these worldwide numbers hold little correlation to domestic box-office figures. Only one-third of the movie's spoils came from American theaters ($374 million).

 

The movie's stellar success concludes what was already a great year for 3D films. Four of the 10 top-grossing movies in 2009 were screened in 3D. The allure of an extra dimension convinced more than a few video-rental fans to open up their wallets for a ticket and pair of polarized glasses Most theaters charge a premium for 3D movies, boosting a film's box-office numbers. An explosion in the number of 3D cinema screens across the USA, UK  and the world with ten new ones opening every week. It is estimated to reach 10,000 in 2010.

 

Now though, with Sony, Panasonic, LG and all the other big major manufactures getting in on the act, 3D is about to break into your living room.

 

When you're watching a 3D movie or commercial it feels like you're in it instead of just watching it.  The film and hardware industry have invested millions of Dollars to make 3D a success. Disney and Pixar are to make eight new 3D animated films over the next four years.

 

"We're excited to be pushing the boundaries of 3D and computer technology to tell our stories in the best possible way," said John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, said: "We couldn't be more proud and excited about our upcoming line-up of feature 3D projects.

 

With the New York Times heralding the trend on its front page, new TV models on display at CES, broadcasters announcing distribution and sponsorship deals, and Avatar's record take at the box office piling up steadily, the hype for 3D is at its climax. But how will marketers fit in?

 

The essentials of 3D ad production with the right brands, with the appropriate disposition, have big opportunities in 3D advertising

 

We're going to first see it in 3D cinema commercials, which is a great, a whole new, immersive world for advertising, because of 3-D,"

 

Local filmmaker Don Searll is a stereoscopic director, an innovative and world-leader in 3D filmmaking.  His company's Haptic’s unique specialty lies in their advanced pioneering of Stereoscopic 3D Production globally

 

Haptics produces enhanced 3D content ranging from live-action to computer animation, producing films that only a true Digital 3D experience can bring to life.

 

Don Says” 3D is the wave of the future and the future has arrived. What better way for a client to see there product displayed but to see it in high definition 3D”