This book helps you master the technical requirements of shooting 3D stereoscopic images. This title defines the concept of a professional 3D camera system and describes what features are required to make a successful unit to keep your production on schedule and on budget.

Hollywood is going 3D, readers learn how to adapt their production skills to this hot new medium so they can be part of the movement.

Riding on the success of 3D cinema blockbusters and advances in stereoscopic display technology, 3D video applications have gathered momentum in recent years. 3D-TV System with Depth-Image-Based Rendering: Architectures, Techniques and Challenges surveys depth-image-based 3D-TV systems, which are expected to be put into applications in the near future. Depth-image-based rendering (DIBR) significantly enhances the 3D visual experience compared to stereoscopic systems currently in use. DIBR techniques make it possible to generate additional viewpoints using 3D warping techniques to adjust the perceived depth of stereoscopic videos and provide for auto-stereoscopic displays that do not require glasses for viewing the 3D image. The material includes a technical review and literature survey of components and complete systems, solutions for technical issues, and implementation of prototypes. The book is organized into four sections: System Overview, Content Generation, Data Compression and Transmission, and 3D Visualization and Quality Assessment. This book will benefit researchers, developers, engineers, and innovators, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students working in relevant areas.

Stereographers, who represent the key new role on set liaising between director and cinematographer, believe it is a key part of their job to inform and inspire directors and producers about the potential of 3D stereo. In Exploring 3D leading directors, editors, and cinematographers of 3D film and TV production argue persuasively that 3D techniques should become a staple visual storytelling tool on a par with lighting, set design, or sound. They share their views on how this evolving set of technologies and filmmaking techniques are used to create a new aesthetic and language for visual storytelling. Highlights include interviews and images form How to Train Your Dragon, Coraline, Hugo, and The Great Gatsby.

Going beyond the technological building blocks of 3DTV, 3D Television (3DTV) Technology, Systems, and Deployment: Rolling Out the Infrastructure for Next-Generation Entertainment offers an early view of the deployment and rollout strategies of this emerging technology. It covers cutting-edge advances, theories, and techniques in end-to-end 3DTV systems to provide a system-level view of the topic and what it takes to make this concept a commercial reality. The book reflects the full-range of questions being posed about post-production 3D mastering, delivery options, and home screens. It reviews fundamental visual concepts supporting stereographic perception of 3DTV and considers the various stages of a 3DTV system including capture, representation, coding, transmission, and display. Presents new advances in 3DTV and display techniques Includes a 24-page color insert Identifies standardization activities critical to broad deployment Examines a different stage of an end-to-end 3DTV system in each chapter Considers the technical details related to 3DTV—including compression and transmission technologies Discussing theory and application, the text covers both stereoscopic and autostereoscopic techniques—the latter eliminating the need for special glasses and allowing for viewer movement. It also examines emerging holographic approaches, which have the potential to provide the truest three-dimensional images. The book contains the results of a survey of a number of advocacy groups to provide a clear picture of the current state of the industry, research trends, future directions, and underlying topics.

3D Storytelling is the ultimate guide for directors, cinematographers, producers, and designers of stereoscopic 3D movies and videos. With an emphasis on the aesthetic over the technical, this book is an essential foundation for showing you how to use 3D creatively to tell a story. Hollywood producer Bruce Block and Dreamworks stereoscopic supervisor Philip Captain 3D McNally blend their vast real-world experience and teaching skills to help you learn how to: * Think in 3D * Integrate 3D design into your script or story * Direct and design the 3D depth of your shots * Use stereoscopic windows * Work with the depth cues in 3D * Create a comfortable viewing experience for the audience * Plan editing and directorial considerations for 3D * Understand closed, open, and unstable 3D space Brimming with practical information that can be immediately applied to your 3D production, the book also features interviews with some of the industry’s leading stereographers, as well as 3D diagrams and photographs that illustrate how 3D works, how it can be controlled in production, and how 3D can be used to tell a story.

In 2009, Avatar, a 3-D movie directed by James Cameron, became the most successful motion picture of all time, a technological breakthrough that has grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide. Its seamless computer-generated imagery and live action stereo photography effectively defined the importance of 3-D to the future of cinema, as well as all other currently evolving digital displays. Though stereoscopic cinema began in the early nineteenth century and exploded in the 1950s in Hollywood, its present status as an enduring genre was confirmed by Avatar's success. 3-D Revolution: The History of Modern Stereoscopic Cinema traces the rise of modern 3-D technology from Arch Oboler's Bwana Devil (1952), which launched the 50s 3-D boom in Hollywood, to the rapidly-modernizing 3-D industry today. Ray Zone takes a comprehensive approach that not only examines the technology of the films, but also investigates the business, culture, and art of their production. Influencing new generations of filmmakers for decades, the evolution of 3-D cinema technology continues to fill our theaters with summer blockbusters and holiday megahits.