Florida 3D update

[P3D Jan Gjessing <gjessing@xxxxx>]

Florida 3D update
First, thanks to Paul Enchelmayer who came up with a review on  the list
of the 3D scene in Florida just before I  went to Florida. I had the
pleasure to visit Paul in Orlando on my trip, get the 3D topics,
snorkeling down the Keys as well as going by jet boats in the Everglades
in just one week!=20

IMAX 3D.
During this  trip to Florida in November, I and my wife saw the new IMAX
film  "L5 The first City in Space", shown at the Kennedy Space Center.
No shutter goggles were used, just ordinary polarizing glasses. A lot of
the images were shown up close in front of the audience. In this way the
apparent short distance from the actors and individual onlooker gives a
lot more impact and  feeling of being  in the movie. The size of the
actors  will look almost "real" with relation to the forced location in
front of you. If you don=92t mind  stepping out of the illusion for a
moment, take off  your glasses. You will discover that the "real" size
actually fills up the entire screen seen in 2D. Its not possible to
present any additional  space around or far away from the main scene.
This would either conflict with too much parallax or increased awareness
of possible stereo window violation. To hide "the out of window"  action
cut through the stereo window, the surroundings of the main spot of
attraction fades out into black before it will reach the border of the
stereo window.
Scenes that showed  large structures or exterior scenery would  have a
different apparent viewing distance with nothing visible too close in
front of the audience. This is done to avoid too much parallax and
discomfort for the audience.In spite of the highly acclaimed Imax
quality the image seemed duller(less contrast) that I have seen earlier
at the IMAX 3D cinema  in Montreal. Strangely, on several occasions=20
very fast flicker occurred with no relationship to any panning movement.=20
On the other hand, I could never spot any visual crosstalk. What could
be improved, is the motion blur that was clearly noticeable, in
particular in the "out of the screen" presentation mode. It destroys the
resolution until the moving actors slows down a lot and its not related
to fast panning either. I assume that our awareness of image resolution
is much more sensitive while perceiving the images in stereo. This
problem could be solved at least for the IMAX system, since they have
developed a compatible High Definition(HD) film system which lets the
film run at 48 f/s, instead of the regular 24 f/s.

A second IMAX 3D theater at The Museum of Discovery & Science(MODS) in
Fort Lauderdale was showing "Across The Sea of Time" daily.
Unfortunately I never got time to see it!

ROLL 360 Degree in 3D
Stereoscopic film combined with a true 360 degree simulator at the
Astronaut Hall of Fame, just  5 min. from Kennedy Space Center added
just what have been missing with simulators. Again polarizing glasses
(Imax type) were handed out. Much more improvement in resolution would
make this great. This simulator had been running for more than 3 years.
I was told that two new types of simulators would be added soon, but no
information their outfit was available yet.=20
 =20
G-FORCE
Fore even more 3D experience for the whole body I  tried the G-FORCE
simulator. Although the  film displayed on the screen was only in 2D,
the G-force was real compared with other simulators. The simulator could
only take two people locked inside a cabin opposite each side of the
centrifuge. You would be exposed to 4G during the "flight".  It was
advised not to move immediately  afterwards and  take a little rest!=20
Even a Zero-G simulator was available for play too, but I was heading
for Orlando and Universal Studios.

Terminator 2 in 3D=20
The main attraction at Universal Studios. =20
Short to say, this movie expanded the limits of the ordinary single
screen 3D movie. A thrilling action right from the start, live actors
climbed right into the 3D film and became part of the triple screen
experience. The film was also well done in particular regarding the care
that had been taken  to avoid all the pitfalls that might turn up in any
ordinary 3D movie making. A lot of the events at Universal Studios is in
fact not film at all.  Full size recreations of dramatic actions scenes
incorporates all kinds of effects including smell, flooding water and
live action which make the use of 3D glasses obsolete. Even a whole day
exposure of events is not sufficient to cover it all.=20

Honey, I shrunk The Audience, Epcot Center
Presented by Kodak, this film did  utilize to a great extend to play
with the size factor that is offered in 3D by the use of  different
stereobases. An beware, you will experience true tactile sensations too!
However, as mentioned earlier on this list, the film was not in a good
shape at all. Large vertical discrepancies showed up, in particular in
the beginning of the film. Brief moments, while manipulating the large
size of the dog into the interior scenery, clearly showed  a mismatch
that violated the rule of true occultation. This annoying error, even if
brief, kills the illusion or at best puts the brain to undertake
impossible perceptual tasks. Also, the overall quality
(color/resolution) was unfortunately not the best. Important highlights
looked burned out for details.=20
Panning flicker is also more obvious in a 3D movie so precaution should
have been made in advance. Who is responsible for quality management at
Kodak?

jan


------------------------------