Nick Cave at a microphone, head thrown back, in black and white, in One More Time With Feeling

What we do · 02

Immersive Post Production

Stereo and immersive finishing for cinema, broadcast and headset.

Stereo 3D and immersive post production: technical correction, depth grading and stereo finishing for cinema and broadcast, stereo 180 and 360 finishing for headsets, and delivery to each platform's limits.

Stereo and immersive finishing is where a production finds out whether its depth was designed or merely captured. We take the material from native rigs, conversion vendors or 360 cameras and finish it so that the depth serves the cut.

The work covers features, documentaries and series. One More Time With Feeling was finished in black and white for a one-night theatrical release worldwide and won the Lumiere for Best 3D Documentary. Conquest of the Skies and Natural History Museum Alive, both with David Attenborough, took consecutive Best 3D Documentary awards and BAFTA nominations for their visual effects. In the Heart of the Sea treated the shape of the ocean as a character in depth.

The same discipline applies in headset formats. My Africa was shot as stereo 360 in northern Kenya and finished in London with every shot treated as a visual effect. We finish stereo 180 and 360 for current headset platforms, including the Meta and Apple formats, where data weight and viewer comfort set hard limits and where the difference between a good and a poor finish is felt within seconds.

A depth grade is not a colour grade. It is a separate, sequential stage with its own decisions: how the background falls away, where the image sits with respect to the screen, how much theatre space a moment can carry before it becomes a gimmick. It is done in our 3D online suite, with the director in the room when they want to be.

If the stereo layer arrives late in your schedule, this is the thread to read first. The earlier we see the material, the more the finish can do.

What we do on a shoot, and in post

On a shoot

Stereo dailies you can judge on the day, so the stereo becomes part of the creative intent of the production.
The person who designs the 3D on set is the person in the depth grade later.
For 180 and 360, a capture plan sized to the platform, because data weight and viewer comfort set hard limits.

Stereo 3D and immersive production

In post

Conform and review against the cut as it changes, every shot in narrative context.
The depth grade on Mistika: floating windows, handovers and viewer comfort resolved here, then a finished stereo master ready for distribution.
Stereo 180 and 360 finished for the Meta and Apple formats, every shot treated as a visual effect where it needs to be.
Stereo DCP for cinema, stereo masters for broadcast, platform deliverables for headsets.

Stereo 3D and immersive post production

Formats and deliverables

Rectilinear stereo 3D: Features, documentaries and series; stereo DCP and broadcast masters
Stereo 180: Headset finishing and delivery for the Meta and Apple formats
Stereo 360: My Africa: shot in Kenya, finished in London with every shot treated as a visual effect
Black and white stereo 3D: One More Time With Feeling, finished for a one-night theatrical release worldwide

What each format needs, on the shoot and in post

How we work

01
Conform and review
Stereo material conformed against the cut as it changes, so every review is in narrative context rather than shot by shot in isolation.
02
Depth grade
The position in depth of every shot set and balanced across the film and refined alongside the colour grade. Handovers, window placement and viewer comfort planned and committed here.
03
Format and delivery
Stereo DCP for cinema, stereo masters for broadcast, stereo 180 and 360 for headsets. Each platform has its own constraints on interaxial, resolution and data, and we finish to them rather than around them.

In their words

In fact, throughout, it really feels as though the 3D, which is so often used as a gimmick to add a level that is not present in the storytelling, is vital: there is so much to say and so much oceanic feeling to try and encompass, Dominik needs that third dimension, just to be able to cram it all in.

The Playlist, Jessica Kiang · Read ↗ · One More Time With Feeling
Heart of the Sea's 3D presentation gives the cinematography a new face too, giving depth to what appear to be awkward or unusual POVs.

DoBlu, Matt Paprocki · Read ↗ · In The Heart of the Sea
We almost treated the shape of the ocean as another character. It gives the sense of the swell that underlies every movement at sea.

Chris Parks · In The Heart of the Sea
3D separates objects front to back, so a scene that looks cluttered in 2D suddenly reads clearly. That is what makes it perfect for natural history.

Chris Parks · Conquest Of The Skies with David Attenborough