When I watch a natively shot 3D movie or view well produced 3D photos something magical, even mystical happens. As a viewer, you feel as though you are looking at solid, rounded objects within a real world....a feeling of almost being there in the same environment as the characters. It's as though you have experienced the privelege, through the stereo pairs, of having your own eyes on the movie set or within the real world environment. This feeling can be heightened further while viewing older material like Historical stereoscopic photos. While viewing older 3D pictures, you can often feel as though you have traveled back in time and are witness to a world from another era.
Through the History of 3D, there have always been problems with its presentation. Problems with how to display it, how to view it and problems with the consistency of the actual 3D content. Over the years, there has been some great 3D, some good and some bad, but I feel that through all of the 3D haze a tradition of stereoscopic 3D has evolved. A tradition in which 3D aficionados know what well produced true stereoscopic material should look like. A lot has to do with the parallax (or separation) of the content. Too wide a parallax and the result is a kind of HyperStereo, or Hyperreality which can create eye fatigue when viewed over a period of time. On the other hand if the parallax is set too low, a weak 3D (or 3D Lite) is witnessed. For most people, somewhere in between the two would be ideal although 3D aficionados like myself, tend to favour 3D that leans more towards the HyperStereo variety. The problem is we all have different tastes and view 3D movies differently (different sizes of eye separation may be a factor too) and we also all bring a different experience to a viewing. A child or person viewing a 3D movie for the first time, might be impressed by it, even if it has a shallow 3D depth. Of course, the 3D aficionado would be disappointed. It is a problematic area then. Personally, I would prefer to see a set of standards where all future 3D movies where shot with a decent 3D depth and some pop-out and leave it to the audience to decide whether they want true 3D or would prefer the 2D version. There needs to be a consistency. I also believe that converted movies are not true 3D movies and don't give you the same mystical feeling that a natively shot 3D movie can.
