It was in 1895 that for the first time the public saw a film — Arrival of a Train at La Cio tat — a silent film where a steam engine charged straight at the audience. In 1896, William Friese Greene filed a patent to view images in the Three Dimensional format. This surreal format seems to be arriving after 119 years since its invention.

The House of Wax was the first 3D colour film 70 years ago. In India, Jijo Punnose directed My Dear Kuttichathan ( the Malyalam original to Chhota Chetan ) in 1982. 3D imaging originated before photography. The pioneers are the optical scientist Chris Condon and academician Lenry Lipton.

The tricky part in 3D is the depth. The closer the object is, the sight perceives its entire depth. As the distance creeps in, the object becomes flat. 3D is akin to what happens to sound in mono and stereo versions.In mono, the sound comes from a single source, whereas in stereo it comes from many sources.The same logic applies to vision too.

On this very blog, kindly refer to the write up How 3D Works ?

So far 3D movies shown in India were sourced from Hollywood. India is rolling out 3D screens. India produces Haunted of Vikram Bhatt which is its first 3D stereophonic movie. The incremental cost of 3D is around 30-40 per cent higher than the cost of production of a normal movie. The 3D shooting equipment and manpower is currently sourced from abroad. The shooting schedule increases by 10-15 percent. The premium pricing is used to recover the additional costs. The 3D pioneers in India is Sanjay Gaikwar, UFO founder and MD. The quality of 3D will determine its success. Hindi film industry does not have many genres suitable for 3D. A robot comes once in a while.