How Regular Movies Are Converted To 3D [3D]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...0x_alice3d.jpgNow that Avatar is officially the highest grossing movie of all time, it's inevitable that studios will continue to push 3D as the new frontier of cinema. But actually filming in 3D is prohibitively expensive. Here's how they fake it.
Not many directors share James Cameron's obsession with three dimensional authenticity, and not many films have the budgets to support the directors who do. Filming in 3D involves requires the use of two cameras, barely offset, capturing all the action in tandem. The technology involved, and the people who know how to use it, come with a high price tag. So most of the 3D movies that will be coming out of Hollywood in coming months, including the two new Harry Potter films as well as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, create the effect in post-production.
Basically, graphic artists separate shots out into layers of depth, which can be anywhere from two layers for shots with simple composition to eight layers for more complex scenes. Then, the objects in each layer must be carefully traced, creating a topographical map of the scene. Here, the computer steps in, simulating the second camera's perspective by creating another, slightly offset image.
The more complicated the shot, the more work must be done by hand. With Tim Burton's detailed worlds, you can bet that a whole team of artists were doing a whole lot of tracing. To read about the process in more detail, head over to Slate. [Slate]


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