3D?

[Eanikran]

you must see it in 3-d

GO NAOW!

already have now,
twice actually. 2 days in a row 

[Swok Txon]

I NEVER SAID STOP!!!

DO IT AGAIN!

lol

this time with a million d!
!!!!!

[Eanikran]

planning on going as much as I can until the blu-ray comes out 

[Swok Txon]

Yeah i can't wait to get it on blu ray

getting that PS3 is just more valuable then i thought possible...

[Eanikran]

Agreed, little did I know when I got mine 2 years ago that I would be watching the worlds most kickass movie in full 1080 HD
*drool*

[Lora Taw]

i have to admit i was a bit wrong about the difference in the imax and realD 3D versions. they i couldnt really tell the differnce. where i am is only a dollar more to see it in IMAX and that big screen and surround sound make a world of a difference between simply watching the movie and actually feeling like im on pandora

[Uniltirea Txurtíngay]

the 3d stands for the 3 D's  there shall be seen in it: demolishing, dashing and Avatar XD

[Txaslan]

3D actually makes you feel you're IN the movie.
Much, much better than 2D IMHO.

[Eywal ngaru teing oeti]

IMax 3D is amazing. It's way better than the 2D and 3D. I would like to go see it in IMax 3D again, but it's so expensive. I can't wait till it comes out on blu-ray!

[Txur Txe’lan]

Avatar was made to be viewed in 3D. iv seen it twice now and lived every second of it. i would love to see it in IMAX 3D and not just in Real 3D, but i have exams this week. gonna go see it this weekend

[omängum fra'uti]

I've seen it twice in 3d, twice in Imax 3d, and once in 2d.

The 2d was because I don't really have depth perception...  Or at least thought I didn't, so I figured I'd save money on the 3d part of the ticket.

Apparently I have at least a little depth perception because it just wasn't the same experience.  It may have been that 2d was on regular film, so had the typical filmy projected appearance, but the 3d just drew me in more.

Then the Imax 3d experience just blows away the regular RealD, but I couldn't put my finger on why, since theoretically RealD should be a technically superior image.

There are a few "in your face" pop out 3d moments in the movie, but they don't really disrupt things.  Off the top of my head I can think of the atokarina', the putter, and ashes from hometree when Jake is wandering alone as an outcast.

[tìngay mungeyu]

I've seen it 3 times - twice in 3D (unfortunately not in Imax) and once in 2D.
I plan to go tomorrow for the 4th time, I need it after my psychology exam. 

[Will Txankamuse]

I've seen it in digital IMAX 3d (twice), analog (film) IMAX 3d (twice) and real-d 3d (twice)

I think the position you sit in makes quite a big difference.  The most recent time I saw it, I saw it in real-d 3d and sat right in the sweet spot, so further back than before, and I thought it was the most spectacular and clear 3d out of all the showings.

The first IMAX was amazing just because of the spectacle, but IMAX seems to give more ghosting than the real-d.  Also, the second time I saw it in IMAX (quite recently) you could tell that the film had been out for a few weeks because there were quite a few more artifacts (hairs, dust) on the film, this is only going to get worse until March 5th when Alice in Wonderland will replace it in IMAX.  Obviously digital IMAX and real-d doesn't have this problem since it's all digital.  But you're unlikely to find a digital IMAX that has a spectacularly big screen (digital IMAX is also known as fake-max).

As regards the depth perception, IMAX seemed to come out of the screen more, but have less of a depth into the screen than real-d.  Real-d seemed to pop out less and have a deeper picture.  E.g. at the start in the stasis chamber of the ship (probably the deepest field scene in the film) it looked better on real-d 3d, but the golf ball popped out of the screen more in IMAX.  James Cameron does a good effort in keeping quite a small depth of field of focus and moving the focus to the point of the screen he wants you to look at in order to see what he wants.

Because Avatar doesn't pander to the traditional 'we must poke them in the eye' 3d film stereotype, I would probably say that the extra depth provided by real-d along with the better picture quality and lack of ghosting would probably put it on top in my view.  However, I haven't seen it in a MASSIVE IMAX 3d screen so that might change my perception.

The best 3d bits for me are:
- the dust after hometree when Jake is wandering around after the destruction of hometree - if you let your eyes relax a bit it's like the dust is floating around the cinema: spectacular.
- the Atokirina and Vitraya Ramunong when Jake is asking Eywa for help.  The depth of field here is amazing.
- all the screens and tablet-PCs being 3d - I think that detail is just so cool.

Will

[Txur Txe’lan]

that is what i fear. IMAX 3D is expensive and i dont want to be looking at defects in the film the entire movie. im sure it will be just as amazing as it has been in the past but i dont want to pay more for a lower quality 3D effect.

[Txontaw]

that is what i fear. IMAX 3D is expensive and i dont want to be looking at defects in the film the entire movie. im sure it will be just as amazing as it has been in the past but i dont want to pay more for a lower quality 3D effect.

Surpisingly, you can find many places where it's the same price. For IMAX, you have to get in just the right spot, and then it's perfect. Usually it's somewhere around the top middle of the middle.

OOO OOO OOO
OOO OXO OOO
OOO OOO OOO
OOO OOO OOO

X = sweet spot

[Txur Txe’lan]

oh, great then. thats the spot i always sit in whenever i see a movie. if i don't get that spot, ill just wait 2 hours (3 hours for Avatar) so im first in line for the next showing. ill have to look up some prices to make sure im getting the best deal.

[TorukMakto!]

I'm sure the 2D is great, but this movie was made to be viewed in 3D , I've watched 3D and IMAX 3D , it's just spectacular! Going to watch it again on Saturday, hopefully on IMAX again.

[MaTe]

Now I'm positive Real3d has crispier picture, that's more tolerant to high movement scene. Allows to explore all those monitor and shuttle displays. Also, during Thanator chase you can actually focus on fast moving objects.
I've seen it in 2 different IMAX theaters. One old - 15/70, one new - digital. Both looked about the same. Was at the sweet spot all the time (center, just close enough for screen to fill field of view)
I like IMAX for better sound setup though... but they definitely need to change something to get real3d quality... not sure if it's polarization type, compression ratio, fps or something...

Also... why do they have a concept of "focus" in 3d? Would be nice to be able to explore background...

[Lora Taw]

im pretty sure the focusing you are talking about is just the camera focusing in which case you would want to ask JC why he decided to focus the camera on what he did

[omängum fra'uti]

Because creating a camera with an infinite depth of field (Referring to what can be in focus at once - what would be required for such a view for non-CG scenes) is difficult...  Plus it would probably give it something of a "plasticy" feel since in real life everything isn't in crisp focus.  I believe such a thing DOES exist, but it's nothing like a traditional camera, and it requires computer post-processing to make it into the crisp infinite depth of field view.

For the imax 3d cinema I went to see it in (Digital I believe) I saw right behind the isle between the front set of seats and the back set, and thought it was a great seat.  The Imax screen ratio actually fills all periphery vision (Including vertical) better than traditional 35mm cinema ratio IMO.  (I believe real-d uses the same or similar aspect ratio.)

The real-d polarization actually seems better, you don't have to sit and hold your head at exactly the right spot.  With imax, if you're not in the right place, you have to tilt your head differently to look at different parts of the screen.