Sebastian Sylwan.

Technological and Aesthetic Breakthroughs in 3-D
At the other end of the pipeline from 3-D projection -- but just as complex a process -- is 3-D acquisition. It is no coincidence that the first and vast majority of the current stereoscopic 3-D projects are CG animated features, since this eliminates many of the complexities inherent in shooting stereoscopic 3-D images with real-world cameras and lenses. CG environments pose no physical limitation to the cameras and allow filmmakers to optimize the impact of stereoscopic 3-D sequences while avoiding any limitations of the acquisition system.

In contrast, shooting live-action 3-D is hard. Camera rigs are rapidly becoming more sophisticated, but the process is inherently complex and has potential for problems as the 3-D parameters need to be controlled simultaneously to the standard camera controls, synchronized between the two cameras and, in most cases, with the action on set. Physical limits of lenses and cameras also introduce some unavoidable issues that will need to be "fixed in post."

However, in this case, the rise in popularity and affordability of digital tools to process 3-D images is making it easier to bring these films to life. The level of control that current tools provide over digital images is almost limitless, enabling digital artists to "fix" any problem encountered on-set, be they due to the physicality and constraints of the cameras and lenses, or to human errors.

This level of control is unprecedented and allows for much better results, but to fully exploit the potential, traditional linear workflows are not sufficient. I believe that planning and design needs to be done specifically for 3-D content and existing established processes adapted.

The workflows and solutions for the creation and processing of 3-D images should be handled holistically across the entire content creation pipeline. This fact has been the guiding light for the development of 3-D solutions at Autodesk. I think working on a 3-D project should enhance and not limit the creative toolset at your disposal, and artists should always be able to immerse themselves in the experience they are creating. We are living the infancy of these tools, but we should be very deliberate and clear about the fundamental principles.

There is no one product in a modern pipeline that works in isolation; stereoscopic production impacts every step, and every bit of the pipeline needs to take it into consideration since the ramifications of the 3-D decisions -- wherever they are made -- are different, tighter, more complex and have much further-reaching implications.

When developing content for stereo projection, all production tasks become more interdependent and tight iterations in the various processes are key to optimizing the final result.

Since the stereoscopic component is so tightly integrated in the overall experience, it is critical to the final result that these decisions are made coherently, in a coordinated manner and that they are designed just like any other part of the project.

The Future of Stereoscopic Filmmaking
While it is relatively easy to track the progress of 3-D technology and how far it's come, it is much more of a challenge to predict exactly where it will be going. There is a lot of excitement around the promise of 3-D and audience response and some of it is even bleeding into home entertainment with such manufacturers as Samsung, Mitsubishi, NVIDIA and Philips developing in-home 3-D stereo solutions.

DreamWorks Animation broadcast the first-ever 3-D film trailer for Monsters vs. Aliens on television earlier this month during the Super Bowl; some advertisers followed suit and although the results were not necessarily optimal, it made millions of people in the U.S. aware of the new wave of 3-D content.

The success of this medium depends on the quality of the content that will be produced, and this requires a wider understanding of the impact stereoscopy has on all areas of digital production and audiences' perception. As 3-D becomes more prevalent, the need to design the stereo experience as an integral part of the overall movie needs to be a priority for content creators. Previsualization is an excellent tool for that, as it enables an interactive design but, being younger than previs for planar non-stereo films, is less sophisticated and -- in a different process -- will yield different results.

The traditional previs pipeline allows filmmakers to launch into a production with a locked camera, and a pretty good roadmap for how the final resulting film will look; that's not necessarily the case in 3-D unless the DP, stereographer and director all collaborate very tightly on the previs and throughout production. However, despite the extra layers of complexity, there is a greater opportunity for visual experimentation and for a real discovery of the storytelling potential of stereoscopy.

There is also a demand for tighter interaction between 3-D camera rigs and 3-D image processing to improve efficiencies through more sophisticated generation, recording, transport and use of metadata across various steps in the digital production pipeline.

While the benefits of the use of metadata descriptors are self evident, there is no standardized way of generating, storing, tracking or processing this metadata. Most digital content creation tools at this point don't recognize any of this data, or treat it and store it in a proprietary manner. Since so many facilities manage this data in a proprietary way, there is no standardized way to integrate use of metadata in off the shelf 3-D digital production tools.

As stereoscopy becomes more commonplace, and makes its way into the home, technologies such as the display developed by Paul Debevec at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) might evolve into a more practical shape. His team created a device that almost entirely recreates a light field without the need for glasses. This is based on a spinning mirror and displays objects as if they were physically there (imagine Princess Leia's hologram in Star Wars). Today, this is still a research effort, but it's nevertheless very interesting to follow. Don't miss it if it comes near you.

At the end of the day, however, all these tools, technologies and digital projectors are meaningless without the backing of a strong creative force and a good old-fashioned story. Designing specifically for 3-D storytelling will need to take a more central role in the production of content, for its full potential to be developed.

Early examples of the design of the 3-D experience as an integral part of the movie are starting to appear. I think Coraline is a perfect example of 3-D effects being used in service of the storytelling and not vice versa. A scene in Journey to the Center of the Earth that featured an awkward conversation with an adolescent delivered a heightened sense of awkwardness, since the 3-D effect made me feel more "there."

Zoom lenses in cinema production went past their initial gimmicky use only when Alfred Hitchcock applied them in a completely novel way, developing the dolly-zoom for Vertigo, immediately conveying the falling into an abyss feeling that James Stewart's character experienced. Similarly, the bullet time effect in The Matrix conveyed the control of the outside world by using technology to break the link between the narrative time and audience time. I look forward to the day when modern-era masters like Hitchcock or the Wachowskis will surprise us all with a similar 3-D effect.

One analogy I like to use -- and not just for 3-D -- is this: Technology can be compared to sophisticated hammers: with a hammer you can build a house or you can smash somebody's head. Case in point is that the tools are only as good as the intentions with which we drive them. A perfect 3-D acquisition, processing and projection system will be nothing without that creative intent. Once the intent is clear, however, the tools are needed to efficiently realize it.

What's ultimately going to make or break the success and longevity of stereoscopy in this industry, again, is whether it becomes a cinematic language all its own: bringing something new and meaningful to visual storytelling. Thus, if stereo allows filmmakers to deliver stories that couldn't have been told otherwise, it will be a clear sign of its success and a good predictor of its longevity. I believe I have seen some signs of that happening already and hope to see more, but only time will tell.

Sebastian Sylwan is Autodesk Media & Entertainment's senior film industry manager. Prior to Autodesk, Sylwan was director of technology at Academy Award-winning Digital Domain. Sylwan also served as principal technology advisor at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies.