Compositing a 3D documentary: How to maximize stereoscopic effects

Now that our first 3D documentary is almost completed, compositor Jakub Kuczynski has time to give the lowdown on some of the challenges he faced editing Blowdown.

Challenge 1: Double-rendering

Because 3D is filmed in stereo pairs rendering for each eye is required. For a compositor with tight deadlines this process can be a painful one.

Challenge 2: Editing in anaglyph

3D compositing in anaglyph can be deceiving because it crushes depth perception.

The tendency is to compensate for this by creating more depth, but sometimes you can overshoot the mark – a discrepancy that becomes obvious when you view the footage on polarized monitors.

An extra step is then needed to make sure sure stereo pairs are aligning perfectly which, of course, means more time and inevitably more stress.

Challenge 3: Finding the happy balance between formats

Until that fine day when everyone is experiencing our documentaries in full stereoscopic glory it’s important to make sure shots work just as well in 2D as they would in 3D. That in itself is an art.

Here’s an example of one of Jakub’s most technically challenging shots – a 3D within 3D effect composited for Blowdown’s episode on the implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium in Brazil:

  And here’s how he brought it all to life:

But, of course, mastering challenges like these come with the rewards of creating 3D VFX everyone can get a kick out of.

–Ian Herring, President

@ianherring

Compositing a 3D documentary: converting 2D to 3D

Even though we’re going to shoot our first 3D documentary entirely in the third dimension, our visual effects will still be generated from stills.

Our compositor, Jakub Kuczynski, has been converting 2D VFX from previous episodes of the explosive demolition series Blowdown as he preps to work with photos from the implosion of the Fonte Nova Stadium in Salvador, Brazil.

He’s working in 3D space in Adobe After Effects. So to convert shots, he:

1) Generates a second camera in the 3D space, so there’s a camera for the left eye and the right eye.

2) Positions the second camera being aware of the same elements as shooting on location: how close objects are to the camera, etc.

3) Goes thorough the shot, key frame convergence depending on where the camera is in relation to objects.

4) Creatively decides where the depth cues will work best.

5) Renders both eyes.

6) Hand over to edit, then check the shot out on our polarized monitor.

Go through the shot, key frame convergence, spit out a left eye and a right eye.

It’s great to see some of the shots of 2D past converted into 3D – prominent, big and impressive.

Here’s the anaglyphic version of one of the shots, a bunker fly-in from Spyship: sinking the Hoyt S. Vandenberg – now the second-largest artificial reef in the world – off the coast of Florida.