All posts by 3DM

3D, Business

‘Avatar 2’ sequel in 2020 could kick start #3D again

Avatar was a huge success and caused many studios to rush out 3D conversions of existing 2D content – but which were, frankly, terrible conversions.

Certain studios took the time to make high-quality 3D films, but some films that were put into 3D were garbage. As a result, not all 3D was created equal,” says Eric Handler, a media analyst with MKM Partners. “There was a lot that people didn’t want to pay a premium for anymore.”

There’s hope from certain sectors that the release of “Avatar 2” in 2021 could reignite passion for the format. Cameron is planning three subsequent sequels in the coming years, with a fifth installment wrapping things up in 2027.

Source: ‘Avatar’ Anniversary: James Cameron’s Box Office Epic Turns 10 – Variety

3D

Watch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 3D?

The reviewer notes that significant scenes are very dimly lit, very dark, and these types of scenes do very poorly in 3D:

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker isn’t the worst 3D conversion in Star Wars history, but it certainly doesn’t hit the lofty heights of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ 3D conversion efforts. A decent end to a saga’s third dimensional run, there are stumbling blocks that could have been avoided, but weren’t.

If you’re a 3D fanatic, this presentation isn’t a total waste of time, but it won’t rival some of the best examples of the medium we’ve seen in recent years. However, if you’ve been catching up on all the other films in 2D, you might not want to dive into the world of Star Wars’ 3D universe with this particular film.

Source: To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Ticket

I am a 3D fan but will probably not see this in 3D. Partially, I need to drive about 20+ miles (30+ km) to the nearest theater where it is showing in 3D versus driving just over 1 mile (1.6 km) to see it in 2D 🙂

Other

3d.coldstreams.com has moved to a new server (this one)

On December 18, 2019, my Internet web hosting provider announced they are shutting down in February 2020. I am now in process of relocating my 5 web sites to a new web host (and once this is done, a 6th site located elsewhere will also be relocated).

This post you are reading right now is on the new web host, however, the final appearance of this page and some other key items still need to be updated. These final fixes will occur over the next week or so.

Unfortunately, the instructions I had for migrating a WordPress web site to another server were incorrect and only “sort of worked”. These incorrect instructions appear widely on the Internet, unfortunately. After migrating 3 of my 5 web sites, I discovered the instructions did not lead to a fully functioning web site. Consequently, this process has become more complex and time consuming than expected.

I ended up inventing my own migration strategy however it may require that I temporarily run a brief function on the old web server. To do that, I may need to temporarily re-assign the DNS to point back at the old web host server, and then reset it back to this one. That will occur sometime during the coming week (but I have an idea that might avoid this step altogether – we will see!). As a result, the appearance of this web page will be going back and forth during the coming week or so and will not be finalized for another week.

The following web sites are affected and will be in a state of transition during the migration over the coming week.

Business, Cameras

Olympus says it has no plans to sell its camera business

“For Imaging, however, we currently have no plans to sell the business. The task is therefore to stabilize and strengthen its market position. To achieve that, we are actively running marketing activities, and have already established a clear and exciting product roadmap for the coming months and years. We are actively pursuing future technology developments that will enhance photography and video for creators. Furthermore, Imaging is and will continue to be an important technology and innovation driver for our other businesses.

Source: Olympus addresses rumors of sale | Photofocus

A few days ago, a Russian blogger posted rumors that Olympus Imaging staff were looking for new jobs and that the camera division would be sold or shut down in January.

Then Bloomberg ran a report that implied the Olympus CEO was not opposed to selling the division, but did so in a unusual way without direct quotes. This only furthered the rumor. (Bloomberg ran a fake news story last year claiming a secret chip was installed on servers at Amazon, Apple and other U.S. companies during manufacturing by agents of the Chinese government, for the purpose of spying. All of the companies and Homeland Security denied any such chip existed.)

Olympus has replied with a statement that it has no plans to sell the business.

The weirdest is that the micro four thirds community that posts to online forums, is the most negative group of people ever met. Those that post frequently focus on gloom and doom and seize upon every poorly source rumor to further their victimization mentality. I do not get this attitude at all.

Olympus is still recovering from their mega accounting scandal in 2011 and like all camera makers, is in the midst of a shrinking market that impacts all camera makers. They have, however, continued to introduce new cameras and lenses and have moved manufacturing to a new factory in Vietnam.