[Wired]

When prepping to film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor put themselves through a hellacious fact-finding mission. The daredevil directors tried out nearly every 3D camera rig on the market, at one point becoming convinced they would need to build custom hardware, bolt by bolt, to capture the type of comic-book action they envisioned.

“We were under the impression,” Taylor told Wired, “as many people are, that [shooting in 3D] was inherently superior to post-converting.” But after their tests, they compared what they could do with 3D cameras to what could be accomplished with computers — and the machines won.

“Now that the software guys are getting to the point where they can do incredible work with anything you shoot, then why wouldn’t you just free up filmmakers to shoot the movie they want to?” said Taylor, whose PG-13 Ghost Rider sequel opens Friday. “The hardware guys and the software guys are sort of in a race — it’s like an arms race for 3D.”  ….

Converting to 3D saves time and headaches on set
Proponents of post-conversion point out that turning everything 3D after the fact makes the filming process easier because directors don’t need to worry about getting a shot perfect while on set — or about wasting actors’ valuable time while complicated 3D shots are set up.  …

To make sure their 3D was badass instead of half-assed, they got their conversion partner — Canadian company Gener8, which has developed its own conversion software called Stereo Composer — on board early.  …

Making 3D rigs with a 2D feel
Even as film-conversion companies hustle to improve their software, the makers of 3D camera rigs — structures that hold the dual cameras necessary to capture a stereo image — are devising ways to make their gear cheaper, smaller, lighter and more like regular camera set-ups. The goal is to make shooting native 3D as inexpensive and easy for directors as employing a room full of nerds at a conversion shop.  …

“They’d like no rigs at all, and ultimately that’s the future,” 3ality CEO Steve Schklair told Wired. “At some point it won’t require a rig to make good 3D images, and those are technologies that we’re working on today and are actually very far along with.”  …

Read the full post here: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/20/rise-of-3d-conversion?page=all