I.E. Effects' "Inspiration For Flight" Pushes S3D Envelope

Michael here. As a followup to my visit to the set of I.E. Effects' "Inspiration For Flight", I was invited to their offices in Culver City to see their state of the art creative effects studio as well as production artwork and clips from the film.

The show will be a groundbreaking S3D experience, incorporating panaramic screens, beautiful CG animation as well as live action footage to create a unique and envelope-pushing ride. It will debut at the 2010 World's Fair in Shanghai later this spring.

Above and below: images from one of the panoramic cityscapes from "Flight"

I.E. Effects has set up a studio that allows the creative talent behind a project to work on any part of the production pipeline from within a single facility. Clients can work on previsualization, CG effects, color grading, editing, stereo 3D supervision, art design and more without having to jump around from place to place.

The cornerstone of I.E.'s work on "Flight" is a technique called "corner pinning." Their custom corner pinning techniques allow people on the moving ride to see the correct, undistorted image regardless of the angle from which they view the action. Corner pinning also adjusts for the 180 degree curved screens that make up a portion of the ride. I.E. Effects accomplishes all of this by pre-skewing the images and then sequentially projecting these images at the correct locations at the correct moments in time. This allows for a seamless immersive experience from the viewer's point of view.

Seeing 180 degree S3D that is perfect from any angle is something that I would love to experience. From what I saw I.E. Effects has created incredibly awesome CG animations, and the artwork I got to see was stunningly detailed in its depiction of futuristic cities and environments. I eagerly look forward to reports on this ride from Shanghai, and wish I could make it there myself.

Visit I.E. Effects' website

I.E. Effects Creating Groundbreaking S3D Experience for 2010 World's Fair

Michael here. Today I had the chance to visit visual effects and creative production company I.E. Effects as they worked on a soundstage in Carson, CA to shoot live action components of a revolutionary stereoscopic 3D project destined for the 2010 World's Fair in Shanghai.

The part of the shoot I witnessed featured an actor on a green-skinned vehicle atop a large rotatable green disk. All in front of large green screens. According to I.E. Executive Producer David Kenneth, the CG elements are already at an advanced state of completion. The stereo was worked out in advance so that the live action would perfectly match the CG.

The set featured a Hyundai 3DTV which displayed a realtime 3D feed of what the camera was capturing.

I.E. shot with dual RED ONEs on an Element Technica beamsplitter stereo rig. The 3D content will be exhibited as part of a fully immersive ride which will seamlessly blend elements like 180 degree panoramas with a physical set. I.E. has done a great deal of research and development to push the boundaries of what's possible with traditional projected content. Some of the techniques they are employing have never been used before.

I'll be meeting at I.E.'s Culver City offices to take a much more detailed look at this project and some of the revolutionary ideas and technologies it will incorporate. Stay tuned!