Whether you’re betting the farm or just upgrading, 3D is here.

No one disputes the tsunami force with which this third wave of 3D has arrived or the multi-billions in hardware dependent upon its success.

Advocates like Toronto-based production shop Geneva Film Co. predict everything will go 3D in the next decade. Some, like Toronto post house DJ Woods Productions, are more conservative, betting that about 30% of all moving pictures will adopt the pricey format. And still others, like camera-rental shop Sim Video, are going with the flow, increasing inventory and shopping for the latest 3D innovations at NAB (see story, p. 16).

This 3D wave is so forceful that ‘the technology changes as we’re sitting here talking,’ says producer Dan Heffner, on the set of the Saw VII, the first outing in the successful horror franchise to be shot in 3D. And Heffner’s not kidding.

The lightning speed of this techno-revolution advanced at least half a dozen times during the research and writing of this article. For instance, on press day, Nintendo announced that its next portable game machine, Nintendo 3DS, will feature a 3D display that does not require the use of glasses. It will be unveiled at the E3 Expo in L.A. in June and will hit the market by March 2011.

That raises the prickly issue of glasses-free 3D technology (which has been around for a while in computer monitors, laptops and televisions), but can be tres cher, reportedly costing up to $100,000 for a 3D TV), and still brings up the old ‘sweet spot’ problem for viewing. (It’s also worth noting that most suppliers have a $3,000 to $10,000 price tag for a large-screen 3D TV that requires glasses at about $250 a pair.) So while there will be some glasses-free expos at NAB, this special report focuses on the immediate challenges (and increased costs) in 3D production to fill the theaters and the burgeoning 3D TV pipelines.

Those who have shot in 3D say the added costs – from preproduction through delivery – can increase an overall feature budget by 15% to 25% (depending on the picture), although that, too, is evolving rapidly.

Meanwhile, converting features from 2D to 3D (such as Alice in Wonderland) can run up to $100,000 per minute (which averages about $9 million to $10 million per feature). So issues of quality and cost abound.

Added costs for 3D are currently found in all stages of production. As 3D requires an additional camera, for instance, that doubles that particular rental cost. And up until mid-March, the two separate images had to be edited separately (effectively doubling that cost). Now, however, both Avid and Final Cut Pro have new machines on the market that edit simultaneously, offering a more cost-effective solution for digital 3D.

‘Avid now has 3D stereoscopic software which allows the editor to edit in 2D but switch to 3D to watch on a monitor,’ explains Heffner. But for now, he adds, ‘the biggest cost and time in post is visual effects, which sometimes more than doubles [the sked].’ He notes that the Saws have ‘never been highly special effects,’ so his production comes in on the low end of that 15% to 25% budget increase.

Some of Saw VII’s 3D cost came in preproduction, an addition the producer figures is inevitable, at least until crews have learned the new multidimensional ropes.

‘We did an extended preprod [six extra weeks] because of the learning curve,’ he says. But for the next one, he adds, ‘I don’t know that I would increase it at all.’

And to really shoot in 3D (as opposed to shooting 2D for conversion), Heffner says the production has to think in terms of three fields of vision – foreground, mid-ground and background – which requires additional lighting (including the background portion) and some extra set decoration ‘if you want your sets to get the most out of the format.’

Saw VII will also have its trademark ‘trap’ and will hopefully provide some extra 3D shivers, but the producer is adamant that the additional technology ‘is not just about stuff jumping out at you, but is equally effective at sucking the audience in. We don’t have to contrive [to be effective].’

Heffner’s biggest production concern was the weight of hand-held cameras (another Saw trademark) when fully loaded with two lenses and a special 3D mount.

‘Ninety percent of Saw 3D is hand-held,’ he notes proudly. ‘We’re doing something that’s never been done before,’ he adds, giving full credit to Bill White, topper at Toronto’s 3D Camera Company, which supplied the gear.

‘We couldn’t do this with any other camera system,’ says Heffner. ‘Nothing I have seen can be made as small; this P+S [Technik Mini Mirror Rigs] goes on a Steadicam. They’ve engineered from ground zero,’ he says, referring to the new Silicon Imaging, SI-2K/3D Cameras from White’s company.

The system is so new, says Heffner, that the production got ‘the first camera out of the factory, and then the second camera was delivered two weeks into principal photography.’ The system records on four hard drives (two for each eye), and they do a 3D check for alignment as they go.

‘Once everything is checked, it goes off to [post house] Deluxe,’ he says, which delivers 2D dailies for everyone’s viewing convenience.

At the end of the day, says Heffner, ‘we’re still at the beginning of 3D. Compare 3D today and 20 years ago and it’s night and day,’ never mind comparing it to the first 3D wave in the ’50s.

‘I’m not sure [if 3D will become the only format],’ he cautions, ‘but the upside now is that you are making your 2D movie at the same time. Saw will go out like Avatar and Alice, in both 3D and 2D.’

Heffner also aptly notes that ‘good 3D is extremely subjective,’ so audiences will undoubtedly expect a heightened experience from the format with time.