“2D – 3D Conversion Can Be Better Than Native 3D”



Dr Barry Sandrew, Founder of 2D 3D Conversion Company Legend3D, Talks Exclusively to 3DFocus.co.uk

Legend3D has converted some of the most high profile 3D movies ever released and at eight movies will be 2D to 3D converted by Legend3D over the next 7 months including all three Shrek films. Legend3D also recently won the 2010 Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Award at CONNECT’S 23rd Annual MIPAwards for its 2D – 3D conversion technology.

Will 2D – 3D conversion ever be as good as native 3D? What’s happening with Titanic 3D? How does 2D to 3D conversion work? Dr Barry Sandrew has all the answers.

3DF: How does 2D – 3D conversion get better? Is it getting better with every new project Legend3D is working on? Is 2D to 3D conversion a constantly evolving skill?

Dr Barry Sandrew: We know we are achieving our established goals when the Legend3D proprietary 2D 3D conversion process and technology becomes faster and more efficient. Our most important goal is realised when our clients let us know that we have achieved a significant level of quality, exceeding their expectations. The Legend3D creative team is continuously refining, experimenting and advancing their craft and, together with our full-time team of R&D engineers, they are steadily advancing the sophistication of our process and technology.

Each feature film we take on presents its own set of unique challenges. The Legend 3D creative team presents these challenges to our software engineers and the two collaborate on the creation of new tools that will provide a wide range of conversion solutions. Consequently, with every new feature film converted by Legend3D, we are building a serious suite of tools that will allow us to more efficiently create high quality 3D films in the future.

3DF: When I watched your 2D to 3D conversion presentation during the 3D Experience in New York (2010), I was blown away and it made a good argument for converting all content from 2D to 3D rather than shooting in native 3D. However, since then I have spoken to a couple of Directors who have told me that 2D – 3D conversion will never be as good or preferable to native 3D. What are your comments?

Dr Barry Sandrew: Well first of all, everyone has to acknowledge that humans do not view 3D cinema the same way they experience binocular vision in real life.  That’s because 2D 3D conversion and stereo capture are both Hollywood illusions and when we are performing a conversion we are producing extremely complex, full feature film visual effects. Both conversion and stereo capture require the theatre going audience to experience an aberration in how their visual physiology works, so when I hear people calling capture “real” and conversion  “fake”, it drives me a little nuts as does the term “native” capture because there’s very little “native” involved.   Such comments often reflect an inadequate understanding of the underlying technology of stereo cinema and the physiology employed in human binocular vision from our retinas to our higher brain areas.  Because both synthetic stereo methods are treated the same by our visual system, they should look the same when placed next to each other.  We have demonstrated that the difference between captured stereo and 2D – 3D conversion can be imperceptible when done correctly.    In fact, we have just finished converting part of a trailer for a feature film that includes scenes that were shot in stereo 3D, as well as 2D scenes that our team then converted. In our recent screenings of the trailer neither the filmmaker nor the rest of the crew could tell the difference between the scenes that were shot in 3D versus the portion that we converted.

It should be stressed that shooting in stereo is not without its challenges, for example, when shooting with an over/under 3D rig that uses a mirror beam splitter to accommodate the close interaxial normally required; the camera that shoots through the mirror is shooting polarized light, while the camera shooting the reflection is not.  This is just one instance that can lead to conflicting images.  In this case, one eye sees a reflection on a window and the other eye does not.  It’s not a show stopper, but this is one point to display the myth that shooting in 3D is an automatic easy way to create 3D or that it’s somehow more “natural” than 2D 3D conversion.

3DF: You mentioned that you would have refused the conversion of Clash of the Titans due to the short turnaround. Can you please tell me what sort of timescale is involved behind a successful 2D – 3D conversion?

Dr Barry Sandrew: We were not approached to convert Clash of the Titans, but had we been asked we would have refused the project because there was simply not enough time to provide a quality conversion. We recently converted three animated feature films for Dreamworks which took about eight weeks each but even that would be considered fast. Anything upwards of 12 weeks, with an average of around 16 weeks, is what we would usually aim for to complete a high quality conversion.  Currently we have four feature films in various stages of 2D – 3D conversion.

3DF: Is Legend3D converting Titanic into 3D?

Dr Barry Sandrew: No, we are not at the present time converting Titanic into 3D and neither is anyone else from what we understand. I’ve received word from pretty reliable sources that Cameron, et al., are still deciding what to do and when to do it. We did, however, produce a 3D Titanic demo that I consider one of the best examples of 3D conversion that’s ever been produced.

3DF:  Are there certain ways of filmmaking which facilitate a successful 2D – 3D conversion?

Dr Barry Sandrew: Not necessarily, and that’s the beauty of what we at Legend3D do. If a film is being produced with the intention of it being converted to 3D, it should inherently have ideal framing and blocking for 3D because the director will likely be working off of a depth score, similar to a music score but designating how depth will be used to tell the story.  However, it’s not absolutely essential to pre-produce a film with 3D in mind in order to have a stunning 3D feature film or 3D Blu-ray release. We have done 2D – 3D conversion work on catalogue titles and the stereo looks natural and absolutely stunning. They look as though they were originally produced in 3D or at least planned for 3D. <
To date, Legend3D has produced two films that were scheduled to be 3D from the start of pre-production and 5 films that are either catalog titles or titles that went through conversion in post-production. Not one of our conversions has been panned for bad stereo.  Quite the contrary, without exception, every film Legend3D has converted over the past year has been lauded as the highest quality stereo feature film product anyone has seen.Tweet