DreamWorks Animation CTO: Bad 3-D movies can make you sick

Backlash? What backlash? DreamWorks Animation is still very much committed to 3-D, said the company’s CTO Ed Leonard at our GigaOM Roadmap conference in San Francisco on Thursday. “For us, it was an exciting opportunity to take the next evolutionary step in film making,” said Leonard about 3-D, going on to say that the step from 2-D to 3-D was similar to going from black-and-white film making to color.

However, Leonard admitted that some of Hollywood’s 3-D releases in recent months have been duds. “There’s been some stuff that has hit the market that has been less than great,” he said diplomatically. Unfortunately, 3-D is a much more sensual experience, which can include very physical side effects when you watch a bad movie. “With “3-D, you are really like: I don’t feel that good,” said Leonard.

He went on to say that he sees a big opportunity for 3-D in the home as well, particularly once the technology advances to displays that don’t require viewers to view glasses anymore. “Those kinds of technologies will really get us over the hump of consumer adoption,” he explained.

Leonard also gave a brief look behind the curtain of the technology involved in making movies like the current blockbuster Puss in Boots, explaining that that the amount of computing used to produce a movie doubles every times DreamWorks releases a sequel to an original title. He not only credited Moore’s law for this kind of progress, but said that the company actually had its own version of the popular prediction, named after DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. So what’s Katzenberg’s law? Said Leonard: “We always want more and more.”

Source is
http://gigaom.com/2011/11/10/dreamworks-roadmap-2011/

James Cameron Wants 60p

James Cameron in 2009 (photo by Natasha Baucas)
Whatever you think of 3-D, it's hard to deny that James Cameron took it to a new level with Avatar. Now he's talking about another innovation for Avatar II - increasing the frame rate from the current standard of 24 frames per second (AKA 24fps or 24p) to 48 or even 60fps.

This will undoubtedly cause a similar reaction from traditionalists as the 3-D trend. 24p is hugely popular amongst filmmakers and is often considered a critical element of the genuine "film look". Many filmmakers and critics will be highly reluctant to reverse years of endorsing 24p over higher frame rates.

Part of Cameron's rationale for higher frames rates is that 3-D really needs it, which of course will mean little to the hordes of anti-3-D activists. However Cameron is quick to point out that 2-D will benefit just as much.

60p has been tried before, for example the technologically successful but virtually unknown Showscan. In the past, economics and existing hardware were against higher frames rates but this is no longer the case. Most new digital projectors could be capable of 60p after a simple software update.

The main challenge for 60p now is not technology, it's resistance from filmmakers who prefer 24p on aesthetic grounds.

Cameron claims to have supporters in George Lucas and Peter Jackson. He will certainly need a few allies - even Cameron's status won't be enough to shift the balance from 24p. The technology is already here, but moving to a higher frame could be just as much of a challenge as gaining acceptance for 3-D.

Source is http://www.mediacollege.com/forum/content.php?69-James-Cameron-Wants-60p