If you’re a film fan, you’ve probably been to the cinema to see a 3D movie. It might have been Transformers 4, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Avatar, or even the brand new blockbuster Gravity – as long as you were suitably captivated and astounded, the magic of film has done its job. The question is – how are the 3D images that you watch at the cinema produced?

Are they any different to the 3D images used for commercial purposes, like corporate planning and projection? How do they compare to the technology that makes 3D printers work? Well, the answers to all of these questions are relatively straightforward. The technology behind the creation of 3D images isn’t nearly as complicated as people seem to assume. Here is a guide to the various ways in which 3D films like Avatar and Gravity are routinely produced and presented to a waiting public.

The Nature Of Sight –

if you want to understand how 3D technology works, you have to first understand how your own eyes work. If you look at an object close by and close your left and right eyes in turn, you should see that each view is slightly different. It is impossible to see the world from your left eye in exactly the same way as you see it from your right one – this has to be the case, or we wouldn’t be able to naturally see in three dimensions. This stereoscopic effect is what filmmakers have to replicate if they are to create a 3D film, say the experts at Psychics.

A New Way To See -

in order to replicate the stereoscopic effect, two lenses are placed side by side. These two lenses represent your two eyes – or in the case of cinema, they represent two slightly different views of the same footage. In old fashioned 3D movies, footage for the left eye would be filmed using a red filter and footage for the right eye would be filmed using a blue one. The two representations would then be superimposed when it came time to screen the film. The three dimensional footage worked, because the blue and red filters would only let in light that matched their colours, says ExtremeTech.com journalist David Cardinal. The problem with this method is that filmmakers can’t use a full colour spectrum.

Modern Methods –

to get around this issue, contemporary filmmakers use polarised light. A polarised light wave is a wave that vibrates on only one plane – the vast majority of light sources are unpolarised, but a polarising filter can be used to alter this. A polarising filter has tiny parallel lines etched into its surface, meaning that it will only let light travelling on a particular plane through the filter, says HowStuffWorks.com journalist Marshall Brain. Whilst three dimensional films are still shot by two different camera lenses, the subsequent reels of film are projected through different polarising filters rather than simply being superimposed on top of one another.

An Abundance Of Uses -

it is not just the arts that has been benefiting from the development of new 3D techniques and technologies. This type of technology is very useful when it comes to things like architecture, sculpture and large scale planning – modern 3D visualisation software is very much the future of corporate prototyping. Visit Ninety90 for more information and advice on the many advantages of 3D visualisation software and technology. There will always come a time when it is better to show than tell – three dimensional images are the perfect way to do this.

Author Bio: Amber Barrington has been a software designer for eleven years. She recommends Ninety90 for more information and advice on the many advantages of 3D visualisation software and technology. Amber can usually be found drawing up prototype plans and business models.