Director’s Legend

Three days later, Shao Shuaijun returned to the crew from USC with a look of confusion. He went to the Digital Art Center of USC Film and Television Academy, which is the research institute established by director Robert Zemigis for new film technology. He was also received by Robert. Unfortunately, the most popular result is that the current 3D technology is not qualified and cannot be integrated with imax.

If you simply use 3d to complete a movie, you can indeed record it on 35mm film. Once it is set to a 65mm high-definition film, many of the drawbacks of 3d will be exposed one by one, forming a disaster.

At that time, for Shao Shuaijun who came to inquire, Robert showed the enthusiasm of a world-class director and patiently explained the current film technology to Shao Shuaijun.

"Young people, combining imax and 3d has always been my pursuit. We are fellow people." In his office, Robert turned on a computer for lectures, connected to a projector, and called up a piece of information. "I think you, as a director, have an understanding of all forms of film. I will give you a detailed explanation of the prospects and difficulties of imax-3d."

According to the information of the projector, Robert explained patiently.

Nowadays, there are four ways in terms of screening type. The first type is traditional film projection, which generally refers to the use of 35mm film to expose the picture. Because of film and photography, its resolution is between 1k-2k, and the master tape of the film can reach 3k, 4k resolution, after many copies. Appears in movie theaters, usually 2k, which is 2048x1556 resolution.

The second is the emerging digital projection, which uses digital cameras to shoot, replacing traditional film exposure with digital signals. Its resolution is relatively stable, about 2k. Its code name on TV is hd, which is high definition. The resolution is almost several times that of the DVD format, which is slightly higher than the Blu-ray Disc bd. However, the current digital cinema is just emerging. There are not many digital cinemas.

It is worth mentioning that. Sony is developing a 4k digital version in an attempt to occupy the high-end digital market. This 4k resolution is converted from a high-quality 4k film master and cannot be shot with a digital camera. Only film cameras can be used for shooting.

The third type is imax screening. This is a film projection system that can project larger and higher resolution films than traditional negatives. The standard imax screen is 22 meters wide and 16 meters high. But it can be played on a larger screen. In order to greatly increase the resolution of the image, imax uses a special 70mm film, so the real imax film should be shot with a 70mm (65mm horizontal grid film is also included) film camera.

This kind of camera. It is the only seven imax cameras in the world.

The theoretical resolution of the imax camera is up to 18k (18000x13433 pixels per frame), but the film studio cannot handle this size of the picture. Accordingly, the resolution can only be reduced to less than half of the original, to only 8k film scan The maximum resolution. Therefore, the current mastering limit of the film industry is 8k, and the resolution of 70mm film can reach 6k when the imax cinema is showing, which is the limit of commercial projection.

Whether it is making imax movies or showing imax film version, it will cost a huge price. The projection equipment alone requires hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase and maintain. This is the reason why imax has been troubled for decades, but only less than 300 imax cinemas have been built. People are neither willing to make this kind of film nor to build a special cinema. It is too expensive!

In recent years, with the rise of digital cinema, imax could no longer stick to their 70mm film photography, so another kind of film appeared. This is the imax-dmr format that "Painted Skin" sought before.

The process of dmr movies is like this. First, the production company delivers the 35mm film copy of the film to imax, which uses dmr technology to scan each frame of the 35mm film with the highest resolution and convert it into a digital picture; then, use proprietary image enhancement Technology, optimize each frame, and finally print it on 70mm film.

The imax movie developed in this way has a resolution of 4k-6k in theory, which is also the most mainstream approach for commercialized blockbusters.

"It is said that imax company has begun to study the imax digital version of the film, which is a traditional film copy after the "digital cinema packaging" conversion format, formed an imax version, it is said that it can effectively reduce the screening standard, but the resolution is only 2k-4k between."

Robert shook his head: "I don’t know if I should say that imax’s broom cherishes itself, or should be blamed on our filmmakers’ ignorance of progress. After more than 40 years of development, we have not yet found a suitable film technology to match imax. Standards to cater to the current photography conditions... Well, maybe imax appeared too early."

"So, there is another type of screening that is 3d?"

"Yes, it is 3D projection. At present, 3D projection systems in the world are mainly divided into 5 categories, xpand system, Dolby system, reald system, dual 3d or single dual lens 3d, and imax-3d. xpand, Dolby, reald The three systems are the mainstream on the market, but there is a big disadvantage, that is, the brightness is too low."

Rob introduced it in detail: "Dual 3D or single dual-lens 3D, also developed by Sony. The 4k ultra-high-definition chip can easily accommodate two 2k images, and a single camera can output two 2k images at the same time, and the 3d projection is smooth and smooth. , There is no high-frequency flickering and blurring of the picture, and it eliminates the visual fatigue and dizziness of the triple-frequency time difference single-camera 3d system projection. It is currently the best single-camera 3d projection system with the best image quality. But unfortunately, it needs the help mentioned just now Yes, the sony-4k digital version is not universal."

Turning off the projection mechanism, Robert said regretfully, "I am also considering whether imax-3d is the most suitable limit for future film effects. You know, the brightness of 3D is a big problem, and the clarity is even more of a big problem. On normal screens, they are easy to ignore. But when I get to the imax cinema, I have to say that it is a disaster. Imax is known for its brightness and clarity. Adding 3d will ruin it. So you see, I am committed to Studying the animated version of imax-3d movies, I can’t do anything about the live-action version."

Hearing Robert's words personally shattered Shao Shuaijun's last illusion.

After returning to the crew, Shao Shuaijun was annoyed for a whole day before announcing to the reporter who was visiting the crew that he had given up 3D shooting.

"I have to regret to say that "Nightman" will give up the idea of ​​3d shooting. With current technology, it is difficult for us to integrate 3d into imax. I think that the 3d version cannot be achieved. We will consider increasing the length of imax photography. In short, "The Night Watcher" will not disappoint you!"

Although the 3D idea cannot be realized, Shao Shuaijun's tone is still full of confidence and firmly believes that "Night Watcher" will succeed. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!