Threshold Digital:
Pioneers in Stereoscopy

Interview with George Johnsen

I don't want the audience to come out of the theater saying "wow, those were great effects." I want them to say, "Wow, that was a great movie." George Johnsen CTO, Threshold Digital Research Laboratories Santa Monica

We know you well from your venue work. How did Threshold get into that market?

Nothing scares us. We specialize in the jobs that others won't do. That's why we do so much work in the special venue area: it calls for leading edge story-telling that has to keep drawing crowds for five or more years.

How do you make good effects?

We approach all our work from the point of view of the two senses: sight and sound. Effects generally have to be larger than real life so that they become an experience for the senses. You can't have fire, for instance, and not have it scary; to be effective in visual story telling, the effect is like a character.

When did you start doing stereoscopic work?

I had been working in stereo content before coming to Threshold, so it was fun for me to get back into that. Threshold's first stereoscopic project was for the Hershey Park in Pennsylvania.

What did you learn from that project?

We found that a lot of people got headaches from stereoscopic content. In our work we studied carefully how the eye perceives and we were able to find ways to reduce the number of people who felt physical discomfort to 10 percent. Then we tweaked it some more and no one got ill from watching. We learnt how to do this by finely tuning how the background is placed and adjusting the separation between channels. We are patenting our techniques for doing this.

Did you use FrameCycler for this?

Yes, the stereo versions FrameCycler helped us a lot. In fact, having the capability for real-time viewing allowed us to develop many of the tools and techniques we use in our stereoscopic work.

How has FrameCycler helped with 3D projects?

One of the most difficult things about making 3D in film is the faith you have to have when the images go into the camera. When working 3D in digital, either live action or animated, guesswork and dependence are taken out of the equation when you are able to see the images correctly in real-time. Any mistakes, any errors in alignment, indeed any artifacts at all, are revealed when looking at the work in the way the audience will see it. Uncompressed stereo is the only way to work quickly and cost effectively. That is why FrameCycler has been so important for us.

What kind of display technology do you use?

We use FrameCycler with two projectors and polarized glasses.

What makes a stereoscopic movie good?

I don't like stereo when it is just a gimmick. I hate when things come out to poke you in the face; that takes the audience out of the story. Used properly, the 3D experience becomes a window into the story.

I want to make great 3D movies, so that this is a success and not just another passing fad. With the proper tools artists will be able to see what they are doing, and make the experience one that contributes to the theatre experience. That will make 3D a success- good stories told well.

To read more about Threshold Digital Research Labs, please visit www.threshold-digital.com

> Return to IRIDAS Magazine Overview