'Avatar' director James Cameron believes that 3-D will soon replace 2-D as the preferred standard for film, television and even online content.
"Quite simply, where they had a choice, the audience was selecting for the best possible way to see the movie. And they saw 3-D as the premium viewing experience," Cameron said in a speech at a technology forum in Seoul.
"If you play all the 3-D movies in existence on your fancy new 3-D TV, it will keep you entertained for about 3 days," he said. "This content gap is the biggest hurdle for the rapid adoption of 3D TV."
"But we can't be afraid to shoot in 3D because tens of thousands of people all over the world are shooting in 3D every day. We're going to have 3D TVs all around us and we're going to need thousands of hours of sports, comedy and music and all kinds of entertainment."
"You've got the channel, you've got the sets," Cameron said. "The missing piece is content. You've got to get the content."
Asked why producers would shoot in 3-D, which is currently quite costly, instead of trying to upconvert as many films currently do, Cameron explained: "There's not going to be the time or the money to convert that. It's going to have to be shot live."
"We're going to learn how to do live shooting. The cost will come down on live 3D production," Cameron said.
As for seeing 3-D move to the internet, Cameron said he was optimistic: "3-D laptops are already here. I've already seen some very good ones."
Cameron's 'Avatar' has earned $2.7 billion worldwide in ticket sales to date and is the highest-grossing film of all time.
The director said that he expects 3-D to become the standard in "definitely less than the 25 years it took color movies" to take hold.
But 3-D isn't stopping there. It's also coming to some publications. 'Playboy' recently announced that its June issue would feature a nude 3-D centerfold.
'Avatar' director James Cameron believes that 3-D will soon replace 2-D as the preferred standard for film, television and even online content.
