IMAX 3D

IMAX 3D

"The weakest link has always been the projection," says Archambault, explaining why 3D in the 1950s and 1960s didn't work well. "Even though those old films were well shot, by the time they got to the theater, the projectionist didn't know how to show it, and the equipment was not properly set up. People walked away from it saying it was interesting, but it hurt their eyes, and was too difficult to watch."

The basic principles of filming in 3D haven't changed much from the 1950s, Archambault says. The goal has always been to reproduce the illusion of depth as faithfully as possible on film. But the advent and rapid progress of IMAX filmmaking in the 1970s and 1980s made it feasible to take another crack at perfecting the 3D film experience.

Bigger can be better

The enormous IMAX film negative - 10 times the size of standard 35mm film stock - records images in much greater detail, which enhances the 3D image. An IMAX frame is 40 times sharper than a 35mm frame, and 80 times more crisp than a televised picture. The more precise the film image, the more it looks like what the human eye perceives in reality.

Filming and projecting in IMAX requires much more light than standard films, making IMAX ideal for 3D, Low says. This is because the film records images with such precision that a scene must be powerfully lit if it's going to appear clearly on the screen. And when the projected image is as big as the side of a building, it requires an enormous amount of light to make it crisp and clean.

Plus, IMAX projectors are much steadier than 35mm systems found in typical cineplexes, and that rock-solid steadiness is essential in reproducing a fragile 3D image. The problems with light and projection, as well as the relative lack of precision imaging, conspired to keep 35mm 3D films from enjoying much success.