Star Wars 3D

[Geekyfanboy]

Yes they have been working on these films the past four years. There is another thread buried in the forums about this. A few years ago I worked at a production company that was doing the actually 3D conversion. A co-worker of mine saw some of the scenes and said they were amazing. They plan on doing all six films starting with A New Hope.

I for one will shell out a few more bucks to see one of my all time favorite movie series in 3D.

[Rico]

Don't get me wrong, if they do make these and there is a theater near me that can play them I'm there on opening day.  I just have my doubts about the whole concept.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Eh, 3-D never seems to work except at amusement parks and such.  3-D at home is worse as it doesn't work at all.  We'll just have to see.

King

[Geekyfanboy]

Lucas Says 3D "Star Wars" While Off
By Garth FranklinFriday, August 8th 2008 12:54am
image George Lucas tells Newsweek that 3D versions of the "Star Wars" films are a while off it seems.

Lucas says "We worked on some, with a company that was developing the technology a few years ago to convert films into 3-D, we worked with them. But the system works great. It's just not very practical."

Despite the setbacks, he seems set to continue with it - "What we've been working on since then is to develop a sort of practical way to do it. And we will get there. It's just a technological challenge."

[Geekyfanboy]

There has been talk of this forever.. but it looks like it's finally happening.. this is from USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-09-29-starwars29_ST_N.htm

'Star Wars' films going 3-D, starting with 'Phantom Menace'

By Anthony Breznican, USA TODAY
Star Wars has always taken place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Now it will take place in another dimension: 3-D.

Lucasfilm has decided to reprocess the series into that format and release the films in theaters again, starting in 2012 with the 1999 prequelThe Phantom Menace. It's only one-sixth of the news that Star Wars fans have been waiting to hear, but it's the first step toward converting the other prequels and original trilogy.

"The process is really extensive, and we want to make sure each of the films gets the attention it needs, so we're not ready to talk about the release patterns of the other films," says Lucasfilm spokeswoman Lynne Hale.

The highest-quality 3-D is achieved by shooting with cameras that capture two images simultaneously, just as two eyes would, which was the process used to film Avatar. But films that are not originally shot with 3-D cameras, such as the Star Wars series, can undergo a computerized refinishing that creates the illusion of depth.

It requires that each image in the film be scanned and slightly adjusted to create two images, as if viewed from two eyes. When those images are projected on a screen and viewed through polarized lenses, the brain perceives three dimensions.

But when the process is rushed, it can — in Star Wars terms — give people "a bad feeling about this."

Some recent 2-D films, such as the Clash of the Titans remake and The Last Airbender, were hastily converted shortly before their releases to claim the prestige (and higher ticket prices) of a 3-D experience, but audiences and critics balked at the low quality of the presentation. Even relentless 3-D prosthelytizer Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks Animation has scorned such quick changes as sloppy.

That's why Lucasfilm is being cautious and not locking itself into a strict timeline. Even the approximate season of release for The Phantom Menace in 2012 is being left open.

To oversee the conversion, the series is getting its own Jedi knight of digital imagery: John Knoll, visual effects supervisor for Industrial Light & Magic (and coincidentally the co-creator, with his brother, of Adobe Photoshop).

He described the process of converting the films as a partnership between a human artist and the digital precision of a computer, intricately studying and adjusting every frame.

"You're generating a synthetic second eye," Knoll says. "You're finding out where the boundaries of objects are in the scene and what their distance is to the camera, and you're using that information to generate (3-D)."

Only so much of the work can be done automatically by computer, and even then it has to be studied closely by a human being. "If you see a round object, you're reconstructing what is behind it," Knoll says, since both "eyes" see a slightly different perspective than the 2-D image allowed.

Although the prequels were shot more recently than the original trilogy, converting them will be more complicated because there is more intricacy to the background effects. Knoll cites a chase scene through a galactic city's floating traffic in Attack of the Clones as a particular challenge. "There are thousands and thousands of flying images," he says. "But the nice thing about stereo (visuals) is you get this wonderful immersive effect if it's done right."

[Bryancd]

LucasFilm has the cash to do this right.

[Bryancd]

Big announcement here:

http://www.starwars.com/

[Rico]

LucasFilm has the cash to do this right.

Rather they spent the cash on the live action TV series.

[billybob476]

Yeah, bleh. I'm really having a hard time caring about this aside from being able to see Star Wars on the big screen again.

[Rico]

Yeah, bleh. I'm really having a hard time caring about this aside from being able to see Star Wars on the big screen again.

x2

[Geekyfanboy]

I don't understand everyone is freaking out about this (not here, but online in general). I mean they aren't holding a gun to your head to go see these. If you are interested then go see them if you are not then don't.

I for one am very excited to not only see the original movies on the big screen again but to see what they do with the new 3D. Like Bryan said Lucas has enough money to do it right.

[Bryancd]

I don't understand everyone is freaking out about this (not here, but online in general). I mean they aren't holding a gun to your head to go see these. If you are interested then go see them if you are not then don't.

I for one am very excited to not only see the original movies on the big screen again but to see what they do with the new 3D. Like Bryan said Lucas has enough money to do it right.

I'm with you, Kenny! I am cynical enough about a great many things, STAR WARS isn't one of them. I love it all and will consume it with reckless abandon! 3D? Hell yes! 47 re-releases of the DVD with :15 of extra footage? I'm buying! I'm a Lucas sucker/apologist/sycophant and proud!!!

:)

[Blackride]

LucasFilm has the cash to do this right.

Rather they spent the cash on the live action TV series.

Thought they were doing that anyways....?

[Rico]

LucasFilm has the cash to do this right.

Rather they spent the cash on the live action TV series.

Thought they were doing that anyways....?

Not right now.  On indefinite hold.  Frankly, probably to work on this 3-D thing.  Sigh....

Oh, I can see why some people might be a bit bothered by this.  You guys know I love "Star Wars" but Lucas has milked this cow of six films dry.  I mean, make some new content.  I think people are just feeling a bit used.  And yes, no one is forcing anyone to see these 3-D versions (oh - I'll definitely go still), but I think it still bothers them to see this constant re-re-re-re-edit-release of the same movies.

[X]

I honestly think that this is nothing more than a lucas money grab for the sole purpose of getting Star Wars back into the #1 position of top grossing film.

I was fooled once with the special edition, which could have been release direct to video with no problems as a director's cut. I don't plan on being fooled again.