8mm Forum: Technicolor 35mm 3D

This is topic Technicolor 35mm 3D in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on November 03, 2010, 04:01 PM:

I wondered if any Forum members might have seen Technicolor's new 35mm 3D system? I'd be interested to hear the opinion of film collectors. The initial independent research found that it had the same approval level as digital systems. It was apparently installed in over 250 screens in North America within 4 months of being launched. Their website has a list of cinemas that have it, but this only covers ones in Canada and N America:

http://www.technicolor.com/en/lo/3d-innovation/3d-in-the-theater

Posted by Martin Jones (Member # 1163) on November 04, 2010, 03:52 AM:

Well I haven't seen it in operation because I no longer go to the cinema. I have read the basic blurb in the link and as far as I can see it is basically a re-hash of the earlier "under-over" systems.Not that that is a criticism... the two image polarised light method from a single film frame of 35mm film remains the best method so far.And (dare I say it?) it translates directly to Digital in all it's forms easily.
The basic defect of the original systems is one of screen image intensity... the loss of light due to polarization when using standard 35 mm projectors is no longer anywhere near so serious now that modern presentation in multi-screen complexes is on much smaller screens than previously. However, this does introduce one complication. smaller screens mean that true representation of "infinity points" is more difficult to achieve: the stereoscopic effect will be reduced as a result.
It will be interesting to see if "old " features already printed in "over-under" will surface again. I would love to see "House of Wax" in it's original glory.
Martin

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on November 04, 2010, 08:49 AM:

To work properly, the polarization system requires a metallic screen to compensate for the loss of light.
The older systems (from the late 60s and 70s plus 80s) and the newer ones (RealD, MasterImage 3D and Technicolor 3D) all need that special screen (as opposed to systems like Xpand, Volfoni, Dolby which don't).
When it was re-released in the 80s, House of Wax was in double-strip format with interlocked projectors (at least on these shores). The only single strip prints that I've heard of are in Stereovision (not over/under but side-by-side).

The cool thing about Technicolor 3D (on top of the fact that it uses actual film) is that it is technically feasible to show older over/under prints (like Martin just said). It is also theoritically possible to show recent T3D releases on old over/under systems (Paramount, Parallex...)
Needless to say that Technicolor won't you do that. Their system is locked, ie it is leased and handled by T3D techs and the print circulation is being monitored.

[ November 04, 2010, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: Jean-Marc Toussaint ]

Posted by Larry Arpin (Member # 744) on November 04, 2010, 12:49 PM:

I was fortunate to see HOUSE OF WAX in dual projection 3D here in Los Angeles. Not only that, it was a special night and a very frail Vincent Price attended & the director Andre DeToth. I remember that night quite well. They continued to play 3D films for awhile but soon faded off. There was also a theater, the Tiffany, that showed many 3D films, such as KISS ME KATE, & many more that I attended. And probably one of my favorite 3D films IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE was shown at a theater in Hollywood that is no longer there. Many good memories. To-days 3D films are very dim including the 2D films that are shown digitally. The theater in Burbank has switched over to all digital. It looks as though they are running a 100 watt bulb in a GS is the best way I can describe it.

Posted by Fabrizio Mosca (Member # 142) on November 04, 2010, 03:21 PM:

The polarization system requires a metallic screen because otherwise polarization will not be maintained when the image is reflected by the screen itself. Normal screen depolarize the light coming from the projector

Posted by Joerg Polzfusz (Member # 602) on November 05, 2010, 04:12 AM:

...when you copy those T3D-films onto Super8/16mm-material, will it do to have a special polarizer-filter in front of the projector's lens (and of course 3D-pol-glasses on your nose) to enjoy 3D in 1:2.66?

Posted by Martin Jones (Member # 1163) on November 05, 2010, 05:01 AM:

You will also need means of registering the two images correctly on the screen... and, of course, the metallised screen referred to before.
Martin

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on November 05, 2010, 05:05 AM:

There's no special image treatment in over/under films. Each frame contains both left and right images on top of one another, separated by a thick black bar. Format is somewhere between 1.85 and scope, as a matter of fact, it's quite close to the old Techniscope system.
All is done through the lens attachment. Separation is achieved through polarizing filters (linear in the old system, circular in the newer ones) convergence of Right/left is done through prisms. One would need to design and build this kind of special lens attachment to fit either super 8 or 16mm lenses. Quite the optical nightmare.
Then, there would be the issue of light power...

Posted by Martin Jones (Member # 1163) on November 05, 2010, 07:18 AM:

The over under system... "Stereovision" and others, (side by side Anamorphic was actually "Stereographic", Jean-Marc) utilised a special lens assembly individually manufactured for throw and screen size for a particular cinema. There was, however, a "budget" prismatic attachment for a standard lens, called "Stereoflex" which could be aligned in situ for any cinema. For full details, see the Manuals section of the Film-Tech main website under "3D Systems".A fair copy of the Steroflex could be made by a competent amateur.
Martin

[ November 05, 2010, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Martin Jones ]

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