More on 3D

3D Not So Bad, Maybe
Walter Murch's comments about 3D reprinted in Roger Ebert's column have, of course, provoked a reaction. Several people have questioned whether Murch has the science right, including David Newman, CTP of CineForm. He posted a response on Ebert's original article, as well as reprinting it in CineForm's blog:

While there are issues with 3D presentation, the claim that the "convergence/focus" issue makes 3D unsolvable is false. There is an error made in the assumption that "the audience must focus their eyes at the plane of the screen", while that is generally true for objects close to a viewer in space, it is not true for a movie screen "80 feet away."
[...]
With various ways of computing the hyper-focal range of the eye suggests that objects from around 15 feet to infinity will appear in focus. That means a 3D presentation that has objects appearing no close than 15 feet and beyond will appear in focus whether the audience is focusing at the screen plane of not -- the eye is free to convergence and focus anywhere within the volume of space projected, just as it naturally would.

I don't know enough about the subject to know who is right or wrong, though I have been to enough 3D presentations to know that there are extremes that you have to avoid because you will cause discomfort for the viewer. Having things coming too close to the viewer is one of them.
CineForm Insider: Another overstatement that 3D won't work.


The Rules of 3D Cinema
Meanwhile, Stuart Heritage at The Guardian lists the ten "3D Movie Conventions" that seem to be cropping up again and again, and creating a sameness to the 3D movie landscape.

2 Floating credits
4 Gratuitous slow motion

TheGuardian: The rules of 3D cinema



Another Sony Video - Maybe - Answers Some Questions
Sony has put together some self-generated video reports from CES. The latest one answers some viewer questions, including a couple to do with the upcoming Sony 3D Handycam HDR-TD10. Specifically they explain why, though Sony Vegas will edit 3D, it can't edit the video files created by the HDR-TD10 - yet.
See also: More On Consumer 3D Cameras