First it was digital projection. Then 3D. And now James Cameron has set his sites on a more subtle – but possibly more important – innovation in film: frame rates. While the industry has been stuck at 24fps since the Roaring ’20s, Cameron believes that by bumping that up to 48fps, or even 60fps, Hollywood can dramatically change our cinematic experience.
Microsoft gave a sneak preview of its latest Natural User Interface (NUI) research recently at their Seattle offices, giving lucky observers a good look at just how far 3D Avatar capture and model rendering has progressed in the last few years.
We’ll remember 2010 for a lot of reasons. The iPad. The bacon thing finally got old. Teabaggers. And it was the year Hollywood and electronics tried to drag us into another dimension: 3D got big.
Tough luck if you were planning on buying Avatar 3D on Blu-ray. The only way you’ll be able to pick one up is by purchasing a Panasonic 3DTV or Blu-ray player, as Panny has an exclusive deal until February 2012.
We knew the 3D version of the Avatar Blu-ray would be a Panasonic exclusive at first, but they’ve just confirmed the “Ultimate Pack” is available now – when one of their Viera 3DTV is purchased.
On Tuesday you saw the Simulcam, one of the revolutionary new camera technologies developed by James Cameron to make Avatar. The other is The Virtual Camera, and in today’s video from the special behind the scenes event we attended recently, James Cameron himself shows us how this new technology is changing the way CG films will be made in future.
Yesterday it was Avatar’s amazing Simulcam, and today we have a look at how Avatar re-engineered 3D camera technology to deliver natural, free-flowing camera operations. It’s a bit lecture style but the man speaking is James Cameron’s Director of Photography, Vince Pace.
There was so much focus on the 3D technology used to shoot Avatar that some of the truly game-changing film technologies have been overlooked. We were invited to a special studio day in Los Angeles with James Cameron and his team to look at many of the technologies used to shoot the biggest movie of all time. Like real-time overlay of CG performers and environments on the cameraman’s viewfinder. Say hello to Simulcam.
