Why does 3D look worse than 2D?

Also, not everybody is that great at seeing 3D.


I find 3D at the cinema a bit blurry, and on occasion when the 3D effect is very 'close to your eyes' it falls apart to a horrible jumbled mess for me. Worst offender I can think of is the new Star Trek movie at the beginning of the film, when they are on that very colourful planet running through reeds: I REALLY wished I'd only watched that in 2D, I couldn't see what was happening for the first 5 minutes. Since having it on Blu Ray, it's much better :)
 
Yeah, whoever decided to use such harsh 3D on that scene (at the beginning of the film too!) is an idiot. I distinctly remember kicking myself for settling for a crappy 3D screening of that film as soon as it started!

Trouble is in the west end at least, during the week after work hours, all you can get is 3D :(
 
Last film I watched in 3D was Age of Ultron - it reminded me why 3D has been around for decades yet hasn't really caught on.

Ruined the film a bit for me to be honest.
 
I still Cant believe how poorly directors understand 3f, it's mind boggling.
I agree most 3d films look crape, but that's because they are filmed poorly. There's certain scenes that are filmed right and look amazing.

Number one tip to directors, never bring 3d out of the screen, it should always go into the screen.
Number two would be no over exaggeration of 3d.
 
Glaucus said:
I still Cant believe how poorly directors understand 3f, it's mind boggling.
I agree most 3d films look crape, but that's because they are filmed poorly. There's certain scenes that are filmed right and look amazing.

Number one tip to directors, never bring 3d out of the screen, it should always go into the screen.
Number two would be no over exaggeration of 3d.
Click to expand...

Out can work - but it needs a director that understands 3D filming from the ground up - none the least the moment extruded objects clip the frame it ruins the immersion.

I've seen very few which were shot from the start with 3D in mind - largely they are just basic processing that guesses at the depth and composites objects like cardboard cutouts :S
 
I actually quite enjoy 3D. I've not watched a 3d film in the cinema, but I have a 3dtv indoors, and always try to watch 3d versions of films. There haven't been too many out lately, though.

It does matter where you are sitting, in relation to the tv, as if you're off-centre, it doesn't work so well. Horses for courses, really.
 
I love 3D films, especially when they are done well... but too often, they aren't.

Firstly, 3D will only ever work for a certain percentage of people, as there are some whose vision is outside the normal range for whatever reason(s). No different to Technicolor for colour-blind people, really.

Secondly, it shouldn't matter where you are in the cinema, so long as they are using circular polarisation glasses. Linear polarisation is where you had position troubles.

Thirdly, as mentioned, a film has to be designed for 3D to begin with. That means everything, from the colours to the sets, to the shot techniques.
Regardless of how a 2D film works, 3D requires depth to infinite focus. So even if something is a thousand miles away and something else is only 900 miles away from the camera, the difference between the two must occur on screen otherwise it will look wrong.
Often, directors use forced focus, which is where something is in focus to draw your eyes to whatever is going on. In 3D this fails because even teh slightest movement outside the focus area will catch your eye and you'll see blurry images where you shouldn't - happened in Avatar quite a lot. This is also where fast action fails in 3D. Things moving fast across the camera end up blurry - This happened in The Hobbit.

Lastly, 3D is supposed to be a background effect like Surround Sound, where you don't particularly notice it. The temptation for directors and the expectation of audiences to have things popping out of the screen is what's keeping it as a gimmick.

None of the above is a new discovery, either. These are ongoing criticisms from industry professionals (3D experts and pioneers) from as early as the 1950s... and film makers still have trouble getting it right!
 
I find for me that 3D only works when I am watching on a big screen. If I am not immersed then I don't feel the 3D working. 3D on TVs does nothing for me.

So unless this somehow changes then 3D will always be a gimmick for me, despite saying this, Jurassic World in Imax 3D was pretty good.
 
I love 3D but have had some terrible experiences with it at the cinema, especially with Odeon, who seems to be unable to calibrate their projectors properly. We had our showing of mavity ruined with tons of crosstalk and a very fuzzy image (complained and refunded).. Our most local cinema (Merlin run) has an awful 3D system using different glasses, that seem to be semi mirrored on the inside, so you get a reflection all the time, and all the sets are scratched.

Vue and Picturehouse have usually delivered a great 3D experience, but I prefer it at home on our passive set TBH. To me the PQ is far better than in the theatre, with seemingly greater depth to the 3D and far better clarity overall.

I hope 3D is here to stay as for some films it really adds to the experience, but it needs to be done properly and not just chucked in as a post process gimmick.
 
I strongly prefer to watch films in 2D at the cinema. I find 3D glasses distract me from the viewing experience and besides that I don't think the 3D effect is very good for most films. Some films do manage to pull it off well though, Pixar films for example.
 
I've only seen about 10 3D films at the cinema and go out of my way to not watch them if at all possible.

Not a single one of the films have i thought "I'm glad i saw it for that 30s added "3d" bit that was utterly unnecessary." Oh and the opening and closing credits they look good in 3d usually... Woot...

I have however cursed at the blurred fuzzy mess that high speed action sequences become in 3d films.... Maybe its just me ?? I don't like it as it is now....
 
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