Lighting for 3D

The area that I decided to focus on this week is lighting for 3D.  The biggest point that resonated with me is that, “infinite focus comes with an infinite amount of light, or close to it.”¹ What this meant to me is that the depth of 3D requires focus and clarity and this detail of depth may only be achieved by utilizing much more illumination than lighting for 2D photography.  The exact ratio of lighting for 3D cinematography is: “3D = Light + Light + Light”².  That is three times the normal light level one would use in 2D cinematography!

I followed up this new incite on light by looking at what cinematographer and editor Tim Dashwood had to share about 3D lighting, “The beamsplitter will […] cause a density and color shift on the reflected camera which will need to be corrected in post."² However, the thing that I found most interesting about his comments was the following, “Creative lighting can be used to help with window violations. For example, if shooting an over-the-shoulder shot I may use some negative fill to darken the foreground person on the side of the window he/she is touching. This can help soften the negative effects of the window violation.”²

In closing, the things that were most striking to me were that you will need three times the light of a 2D production and Tim Dashwood’s remarks about the density and color correction issues caused by the reflected image in a beamsplitter 3D rig.  Hands down, the biggest tip was about the use of creative lighting for an OVS shot to minimize the stereo window violation.  A technique that I am sure may be useful as I continue my journey through the realm of 3D.

I hope you enjoyed my post and look forward to your comments.

Cheers-

Russell McGee

¹ B. Mendiburu, 3D Movie Making, (Focal Press, Burlington, MA, 2009), pp. 113.

² H. McKnight, 3D Lighting, WWW Document, http://www.videomaker.com/article/14936/