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Peter Jackson on the set of "The Hobbitt"

Here’s something for “Lord of the Rings” fans eagerly anticipating the upcoming movie “The Hobbit.”

In a recent post on his Facebook page, director Peter Jackson gave fans a sneak peek at some of the innovative techniques used to shoot the film in 3D. The movie is being made with 48 RED Epic digital cameras, and since it’s shot in 3D, those cameras have to be paired and positioned a specific distance apart.

Sounds easy? It isn’t. While the RED cameras are a lot smaller than regular film cameras used in Hollywood, the lenses they use make it nearly impossible to place them close to each other. The filmmakers had to engage the help of 3ality Technica, a company that makes custom camera rigs, to create specialized mounts for the cameras used in “The Hobbit.”

The mounts, which allow one camera to be pointed straight at the subject while the other shoots the image reflected off a mirror, lets camera operators change the distance between the two camera lenses–called the interocular distance–easily. This keeps the lenses at a distance similar to our own eyes and should ensure that the 3D effect looks more believable and causes less fatigue.

The movie is also shot at 5K resolution–more than six times that of 1080p–at 48 frames per second, which means “The Hobbit” could be one of the best-looking 3D films we’ll ever see. Well, until Avatar 2 comes out, at least.

Watch the video below for a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of “The Hobbit” and see more on Jackson’s Facebook page.

Watch this to see artwork in 3D towards the end.

David Mitchell in 3D: (use Red/Green glasses):

Watch this spot as we begin our adventure in the amazing world of 3D! We live in a 3D world so might as well learn, explore and shoot in it. You got an interest or skill in 3D, let us know as we are building a sub-group with a focus on 3D work in the DC Metro area!

Listen to the interview on 1/5/12 at the Digital Production BuZZ for details:

3D Movie: Hugo, VFX Supervisor

Rob Legato, VFX Supervisor, “Hugo”

Oscar winner Rob Legato, whose numerous credits include Apollo 13, Titanic, Castaway, The Aviator, and The Departed, most recently was the visual effects supervisor, second-unit director, and second-unit director of photography for Hugo. For this project, Legato broke new ground, including Hugo’s application of genuine 3D, the use of the ARRI Alexa camera, re-creation of sets and techniques used in 1905, research of filmmaking history, as well as the film’s 800 highly stylized visual effects shots—each fine-tuned for discrete right and left eyes. In all his various capacities on the project, Legato relied on Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium software, including Adobe After Effects 5.5, Adobe Photoshop CS5, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, and Adobe Media Encoder CS5.5. We want to talk with him about what he did, how he did it, and what he thinks of the results.

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