A production choosing a format is choosing what it needs on the shoot and in post. This page says what each one is and what it asks for, in the terms we use on set and in the grade.
Two things decide a format: what the audience will look through, and how much of the world the camera has to hold. A cinema screen wants a rectilinear frame with depth designed across the cut. A headset wants a hemisphere or a sphere, sized to its own limits. A dome wants a master built for its geometry. The craft underneath is the same: interaxial set for the story, comfort protected, the depth graded before the colour.
Rectilinear stereo 3D
What it is
Two views of a conventional frame, for a cinema, headset or television screen. The depth is designed across the cut: a depth plan for the whole film, a depth script for every scene and shot.
On the shoot
A native stereo rig with the interaxial and convergence set for the story, or a 2D shoot planned for conversion with stereo reference where a face needs to be right. Stereo monitoring and dailies judged on the day.
In post
Conversion or native stereo finishing, then the depth grade after picture lock: roll-off, floating window placement and viewer comfort set and balanced across the film before the colour grade.
Delivered as
Stereo DCP for cinema, stereo broadcast masters, Blu-ray 3D
The half-sphere in front of the viewer, in two views, for a headset. The viewer looks around the front hemisphere and the image keeps its stereo depth across the whole field.
On the shoot
A 180 stereo camera or rig with the interaxial close to the viewer's own interocular so scale reads true. There is no frame edge to hide behind, so lighting and crew placement change.
In post
Stitching where the rig needs it, depth and comfort checks, shot recovery where subjects are too close, resolution and data weight sized to the headset it will play on.
Delivered as
Headset deliverables for the Meta and Apple formats
The full sphere. Mono 360 is one view in every direction; stereo 360 gives depth in every direction, with more data and stricter comfort limits.
On the shoot
A 360 rig or camera, and a bespoke rig for the shots the standard cameras cannot take. The crew leaves the frame; the sound is captured for the sphere.
In post
Stitch, seam and pole work, with every shot treated as a visual effect where the stitch shows. Stereo 360 finished to the platform's limits.
Delivered as
Platform deliverables for headsets; 360 film for venues
A hemispherical screen over an audience. The content is a dome master rendered for the dome's own geometry, often at 8K to 16K+, and the audience looks up, so the horizon sits low.
On the shoot
Capture or render planned for the dome's field of view from the start; a rectilinear shoot does not become a dome piece afterwards without loss.
In post
Dome mastering to the geometry and resolution of the venue, and a stereo dome adds the comfort constraints of any stereo format. Throughput and operation are part of the design, as they are for any room.
The delivery target for 180, 360 and interactive VR and AR. Each platform sets its own resolution, bit rate and comfort limits, and an interactive piece is an engine build rather than a film.
On the shoot
Stereo and 360 capture where the piece needs the real world; an engine build where it needs a world of its own; often both. Props instead of controllers where that removes the technology from the audience's hands.
In post
Finishing to the platform's limits, then the build and the testing on the headset it will run on.
Delivered as
Platform builds and files for Meta, Apple and HoloLens headsets
Cinema projection from a DCP, large-format prints, and projection in an installation. A stereo release carries the left and right eye in one package.
On the shoot
For cinema, a stereo feature or documentary planned as above. For an installation, the room, the throughput and months of operation designed in from the start.
In post
The depth grade finished before the colour grade, and the package made from the finished stereo master.
A 180 degree video in two views, one for each eye, for a headset: the front hemisphere in stereo. Shot on a 180 stereo camera or rig; finished to the headset's resolution and comfort limits.
Monoscopic or stereoscopic 360?
Mono 360 is one view of the full sphere and plays anywhere. Stereo 360 gives depth in every direction, carries roughly twice the data and needs the comfort of the stereo checked shot by shot.
What is Apple Immersive Video?
Apple's name for high-resolution 180 stereo video for its headset. As a format it is stereo 180 with the platform's own resolution, frame rate and delivery requirements.
What is a dome master?
The single image a dome projects: the scene mapped for the dome's geometry, usually a circular fisheye frame, rendered at the resolution of the venue.
What is a stereo DCP?
A digital cinema package carrying left and right eye. The depth grade is finished before the colour grade and the package is made from the finished stereo master.