Digital IMAX debuts in 2009

[Hunter Hampton]

Wow- Thats sad. However, This is a GREAT exapmle of total dumbass people in corporate who look at ways to make profit, yet forget their brand entirely AND assume their audience is dumb enough not to know the difference. Imax with out the "eye max" is going to end up in the trash- no hype can save that.

[Russell Scott]

Hi All.

 

there is a lot of bagging going on in this thread but I'm going to suggest that this was not a decision just thrown up for corporate greed.

The IMAX mainstay was education, most IMAX films have that flavour. I see a lot of indie films here that have budgets 1/3 of the cost to simply print an IMAX run. If you think it is tough to get funding for a typical film, imagine the difficulty of educational film funding. A lot of IMAX film making has relied of the philanthropy of the producers, i.e. no profit, no worries because we're doing something significant. Likewise, the IMAX theatres have had to hope that the 5 movies they get per year have been good ones. If they weren't its a pretty nasty risk for the operators. That is a poor business model to expect people to gravitate towards. making it more mainstream gives the theatre operators more stability and encourages more filmmakers into the arena

 

 

Antti, it sounds to me like you were in a stereo theatre (without the stereo movie), hence the 2 projectors...

[Antti Näyhä]

there is a lot of bagging going on in this thread but I'm going to suggest that this was not a decision just thrown up for corporate greed.

...

making it more mainstream gives the theatre operators more stability and encourages more filmmakers into the arena

With respect, I completely fail to see your point. We're talking about a system that currently offers worse quality than existing technologies. (Presumably, the quality could be raised to the same level with 2k DCI – but not significantly higher – by changing the mastering process). And the ticket prices are 33% higher. Surely you cannot regard that as a good, long-sighted business model?

 

And why exactly should filmmakers be "encouraged into the arena" when the facts of the case look like this? They seem to have been encouraged enough towards traditional IMAX as it is, due to The Dark Knight's success... but IMAX's recent actions could very well be discouraging them again for good.

 

Antti, it sounds to me like you were in a stereo theatre (without the stereo movie), hence the 2 projectors...

Well, yeah, obviously the digital "IMAX" cinemas are equipped to show 3D as well. But projecting 2D films on a dual-projector system like this was new to me – they're not doing that in other digital-based 3D cinemas, or are they..?

[Russell Scott]

With respect, I completely fail to see your point. We're talking about a system that currently offers worse quality than existing technologies. (Presumably, the quality could be raised to the same level with 2k DCI – but not significantly higher – by changing the mastering process). And the ticket prices are 33% higher. Surely you cannot regard that as a good, long-sighted business model?

And why exactly should filmmakers be "encouraged into the arena" when the facts of the case look like this? They seem to have been encouraged enough towards traditional IMAX as it is, due to The Dark Knight's success... but IMAX's recent actions could very well be discouraging them again for good.

 

the point is the Dark Night was filmed in 70mm IMAX because of Nolan's love of IMAX format. and even with that huge budget he could only afford 20 minutes worth. It isn't an affordable format, so the company is trying to make it relevant. You're talking as if this will send IMAX bankrupt, but it already was heading in that direction.

 

It also bodes well for the Imax Corporation, which two years ago saw its stock plummet after an SEC inquiry into its accounting practices. The company has since bounced back, signing deals with theater chains AMC and Regal to expand beyond its current network of 300 theaters in 40 countries.

<snip>

Add to that the fact that IMAX film is more than three times as expensive as 35-mm, that there's only one lab in the world able to process it, and that the cameras have to be reloaded after three minutes of shooting.

 

 

Well, yeah, obviously the digital "IMAX" cinemas are equipped to show 3D as well. But projecting 2D films on a dual-projector system like this was new to me – they're not doing that in other digital-based 3D cinemas, or are they..?

 

this I don't know, sounds like a mistake to me, you can never align projectors well enough (especially over time) to do this effectively. Even side by side projection needs edge blending to mask the projection differences. Its possible the poor quality of your viewing was driven by the overlapping projectors destroying the clarity of the picture. perhaps the one projector was supposed to be switched off for your screening but wasn't. if it is their plan to double project it won't last long....

[Antti Näyhä]

The dual projection is not a mistake, that's part of the new "IMAX Experience". The alignment seemed surprisingly good. I don't know how they do it, but the trailers looked fine. Even the pixel grid – though faint – seemed very even and well in focus. The main culprit was definitely the atrocious mastering of the main feature, not the dual-projector alignment.

 

I'm sure we all agree that it would be nice to have a cheaper, more mainstream format that would approach 15/70 mm (or even 5/70 mm) in quality. Unfortunately, IMAX's latest offering is most certainly not that format. Even if they improve the mastering.

[Antti Näyhä]

Found an article on the subject:

 

IMAX Digital currently uses two Christie-manufactured DLP Cinema projectors, although the company plans to remain technology- and vendor-agnostic to allow progressive improvements as new technologies and products become available. The two projectors are used in a unique configuration: The two images are pre-processed and projected superimposed on each other in a way that increases the image’s fidelity and quality. The light levels are set to 22FL, considerably brighter than the 14FL used in conventional auditoriums.

 

The projectors are fitted with special IMAX-developed lenses that are specifically designed to complement the IMAX MPX theatre’s geometry. IMAX has developed a proprietary closed-loop alignment system using a camera that will automatically keep the projectors precisely aligned and balanced.

[Tom Lowe]

The current board of directors at IMAX should be thrown out on their @sses for degrading the IMAX brand in this manner.

 

I highly recommend shorting IMAX stock right now.

[georg lamshöft]

"The point is the Dark Night was filmed in 70mm IMAX because of Nolan's love of IMAX format. and even with that huge budget he could only afford 20 minutes worth. It isn't an affordable format"

 

From what I've heard they weren't sure about the handling and for this kind producers everything is always too expensive...

 

From recent interviews with Wally Pfister it seems very likely that their next project will be filmed in IMAX entirely.