3D Cinema Doesn't Work and Never Will

circletimessquare writes "Walter Murch, one of the most technically knowledgeable film editors and sound designers in the film industry today, argues, via Rogert Ebert's journal in the Chicago Sun-Times, that 3D cinema can't work, ever. Not just today's technology, but even theoretically. Nothing but true holographic images will do. The crux of his argument is simple: 600 million years of evolution has designed eyes that focus and converge in parallel, at the same distance. Look far away at a mountain, and your eyes focus and converge far away, at the same distance. Look closely at a book, and your eyes focus and converge close, at the same distance. But the problem is that 3D cinema technology asks our eyes to converge at one distance, and focus at another, in order for the illusion to work, and this becomes very taxing, if not downright debilitating, and even, for the eyes of the very young, potentially developmentally dangerous. Other problems (but these may be fixable) include the dimness of the image, and the fact that the image tends to 'gather in,' even on Imax screens, ruining the immersive experience."

Comments

Re:I KNOW! Ebert's point! It is bulshit.

[jammer170]

I can't believe that was modded insightful. Whether you are joking or not, two channels can not provide 3D sound. To get true 3D sound (without bouncing sound off of walls or other such tricks) you would need at least eight speakers at the corners of a room plus a microphone to set up your location (or else there is a "sweet spot"). Setups such as 5.1 and 7.1 are not true 3D sound; instead, they simply mimic it better.