This was my comment Twitted to the author in the original site.
Dear Mr. Engber,
Thank you for a most thorough and incisive article.
Let me shed some additional light on this matter and if I may be so bold present an alternative business model for the cinema industry (2.75D) to be able to show intellectually superior content in their 3d equipped auditoriums. The plot thickens.
As a pioneer in the High-End Home Cinema systems design our business has gravitated into tweaking digital cinema 3d equipment for augmented depth, higher contrast and maximum image MTF to be implemented into notable individuals homes, some belonging to the industry even have access to pre-release movie screenings at home. The Bel Air Circuit..It is a cross over between DCI and Home Cinema and a very technical and difficult to implement crossover at that.
Performance wise our Bel Air type systems here in Miami steamroll over the studio heads' own systems at home, which having been acquired for free, look and sound just as a regular movie theater. As a result of investigations into recently decommissioned Ronald Reagan era STAR WARS spy-satellite technology I came across a company named Teranex who markets video processing that is the direct result of a Peace Dividend. As it turns out, when we USA were reading the license plate of vehicles leaving the Kremlin from miles above we were doing so in 3D and what a beauty of technology it is. 20 something billions worth.
MY 5 minute argument with James Cameron during CINEMACON (an exerpt):
At Cinemacon in Caesar’s Palace lobby mal, while returning from dinner I bumped into Cameron talking with 3 fans and asked him how he felt about real time dimensionalization using massive parallel processing. Of course my thought was in the context of home cinema watching of blu-rays and as a way to check the production work conducted by the dimensional zing firms in Hollywood and Florida not as replacement for 3d at cinemas (My 2.75D epiphany of last September 17-my birthday) - which I will get to but I digress.
CAMERON: (Bends over and inserts 2 fingers in his mouth). " It is genuinely atrocious you see weird things in the middle"
Me: Not with the $ 65K Teranex processor you don't. The middle is beautiful...
CAMERON: Are you inferring I am stupid? I have 3 studios working for me, with 1,700 employees and so much and so forth.
Me: Au contraire I think you are a genius and a boon to the economy.Being your biggest fan I am merely suggesting that with the shoddy conversions being rushed on (think of a Cubist -like edge beveling around the heads and torsos in Clash Of The Titans and Piranha 3D, think of softness outdorr scenes in Alice) you the creator of Terminator out of all people would grasp the concept of the "Machines checking on Mans work" . A joke not well received.
Cameron: Look; take a 3d camera and put the 2d through your Teranex, then take the 3d ..."
Me: I don't shoot anything I merely put together highly tweaked large screen images,
however to add insult to injury i used your film (as he opened his eyes) put it through the teranex and then took the panasonic blu-ray 3d version and compared it...
Cameron: And...and?
Me: It didn't work.
Cameron: raising his level in a slight gloat. YOU SEE???!!!
Me: (Pointing quickly my index finger back at his face)But that is because of your heavy CGI's, take any movie from the 50,60, 70's or non cgi intensive (actually the star wars and lord of the rings look great in 2.75D) and you will find that it works perfectly. You could see these movies back to back and you would swear they were shot in 3d.
What is the name of this heady movie about Guadalcanal?(me drawing a mental blank).
Cameron: Look if you are going to come to confront me you better come prepared.
Me: The Thin Red Line.... .... Right there and then I realized why YOU would want to dimensionalize Titanic. Those scenes of the Navy battleships threading water and those bow shots are truly incredible in 3D. (He was looking intently not disagreeing). And the anime (i exclaimed).
Cameron: doing parallel Karate chops in the air 3 times while saying in rhythm "that is because you have NO FRAME OF REFERENCE (in anime).
Me: But the technology cost 20 billion dollars to develop under the Star Wars program.
Cameron: I don't care-It cannot work!!!! Look I have to go check on this 60 frame per second 3d presentation I am doing in the morning, if you want to see good images ... but I will look into this.
He did do a dramatic presentation of the next level in cinema exhibition, I felt privileged to have had such exchange but at the time I had been testing on a 65" visio passive 3d so could not exactly be sure of how it would look in a cinema..
Fast forward to the outfitting in collaboration with our vendors a new laboratory with a 225 inch reald Equipped Barco 4K and Teranex in Miami. We finally had a chance to fire the thing up the day of my 53rd birthday. 2 days after reading your article and if this is not synchronicity and serendipity in action, every guest that sees the dci 3d content (with enhanced depth and without), the blu ray3d content , and the Teranex everyone favors the natural easy on your eyes as looking out though a window 2.75D image.
After showing 2D they all violently rejected it. We saw, Lord of the rings elephant scene, das boot submarine charge, north by northeast ,Jack Hawkins in the cruel sea, transformers 2 Imax scene, a fish call Wanda, what's up doc.
THESE MOVIES SHINE ON 2.75D.
So for showeast we are going to open house to present to the studios an alternative business model. Off the cuff honest this movie was shot in2d but it is being shown here in 3d for you viewing enjoyment.
I would like to invite you to showeast to experience this wonder with your own two and you then decide if the more honest, intellectually stimulating, and visually un-invasive 2.75D experience (for the record Lucas started the decimal system with his reference of 2.2D this winter)- let superior intellects decide the matter. It appears I was right and Cameron was wrong.
DEMO Kaleidescape script PLAYLIST
The Lord of the Rings III: The Return of the King scene Scene 2.
Play IMAX: Adrenalin Rausch - Der ultimate Kick scene Scene 3.
Play Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen scene New Scene.
Play X-Men: First Class scene New Scene.
Play Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith scene Scene 1.
Play G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra scene Scene 1.
Play Galaxy Quest scene Scene 1.
Play The Road Warrior scene Scene 1.
Play King Kong scene Scene 1.
Play Barry Lyndon scene Scene 2.
Play IMAX: Adrenalin Rausch - Der ultimative Kick scene Scene 2.
Play The Fifth Element scene Leeloo Escapes from the Lab.
Play Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull scene Scene 1.
Play Thunderball scene Scene 1.
Play Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace scene Scene 1.
Play Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace scene Scene 2.
Play Alien Resurrection scene Scene 1.
Play Terminator 2: Judgment Day scene Scene 1.
Play Apocalypse Now scene Scene 1.
Play The Thin Red Line scene Scene 1.
Play The Sound of Music song The Sound of Music.
Play Amarcord scene Scene 1.
Play Mars Attacks! scene Scene 1.
Play A Fish Called Wanda scene Scene 1.
Play A Fish Called Wanda scene Scene 2.
Play What's Up, Doc? scene Scene 1.
Play Le Mans scene Scene 1.
Play A Bridge Too Far scene Scene 2.
Play The Gauntlet scene Scene 1.
Play Mission to Mars scene Scene 1.
Play 2001: A Space Odyssey scene Scene 1.
Play 2001: A Space Odyssey scene Scene 2.
Play Where Eagles Dare scene Scene 1.
], but naw after my last week birthday epiphany THIS NEEDS TO REPLACE all but the finest 3D productions. There are ZERO MEDICAL ISSUES with 2.75D all the goodness none of the aggravation. SHEER VISUAL COMFORT and a trip of discovery in every one of your favorite Blu-ray titles.
