Is it Real 3D or Fake 3D
Many film studios are trying to cash in on moviegoers' craving for 3D films. However, many studios are "faking it" by converting 2D films into 3D post-production. Worse, the studios are not being upfront in their advertising, with some people feeling ripped-off after paying extra fees for the "3D Experience." This is no discredit to the actual graphic artists working on these conversions, but there's only so much that can be done post-production. If you only have one-eye's worth of content, you can't just make up the content for the second eye. It's not as simple as the re-colorization that happened to classic movies. (To learn more about the upconversion process, read Brian Palmer's article on Slate.)

And so I present to you a handy list for separating the real 3D films that were shot/rendered natively in 3D from the fake ones that weren't. Happy watching!

- Phil Dhingra

PS. If you want to see my notes, click here or go to View > Source in your browser for hidden HTML comments.

PPS. Slate mentions RealOrFake3D in their article about the decline of 3-D.

Real 3D

2013
N/A

Fake 3D

2013
Untitled Star Trek Sequel

2012
47 Ronin
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The Amazing Spider-Man
Brave
Dorothy of Oz
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Dredd
Frankenweenie
The Great Gatsby
The Hobbit
Hotel Transylvania
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Jack the Giant Killer
Life of Pi
Mad Max: Fury Road
Madagascar 3
ParaNorman
Pirates! Band of Misfits
Prometheus
Resident Evil: Damnation
Resident Evil: Retribution
Rise of the Guardians
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D
Step Up 4
StreetDance 2
Stretch Armstrong
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D
Underworld Awakening
Wreck-It Ralph
2012
The Avengers
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence
Gravity
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
John Carter
Men in Black III
Star Wars Re-release
Titanic 4
Wrath of the Titans

2011
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Born to Be Wild 3D
Cars 2
Cave of Forgotton Dreams
The Darkest Hour
Dolphin Tale 3D
Drive Angry
Fields of Valor: The Civil War
Final Destination 5
Fright Night (in 3-D)
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
Gnomeo & Juliet
Happy Feet 2 in 3D
Horrid Henry
Hugo
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Kung Fu Panda 2
Mars Needs Moms!
Nova Zembla 3D
Piranha 3DD
Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Puss in Boots
Rio
Sanctum
Sex & Zen 3D
Shark Night 3D
The Three Musketeers
Torrente 4
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

2011
Beauty and the Beast 2
The Cabin in the Woods
Captain America
Conan the Barbarian
Don 2
Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society
The Green Hornet
Green Lantern 5
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
Immortals
Lion King 3D
Priest
Ra.One
The Smurfs
Spy Kids 4
Thor
Transformers: Dark of the Moon *
* actually "hybrid," see note 6
Turtle: The Incredible Journey
Valhalla Rising 3D

2010
Alpha and Omega
Animals United
The Child's Eye
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
Jackass 3D
The Last Reef
Legend of the Guardians
Megamind
The Mortician
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Sammy's Adventure: The Secret Passage
Saw 3D (Saw VII)
Shrek Forever After
Space Chimps 2
StreetDance 3D
Step Up 3D
Tangled
Toy Story 3
Tron Legacy
Yogi Bear

2010
Alice in Wonderland
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Clash of the Titans
Daybreakers
Dune
Gulliver's Travels
Hubble 3D 1
Hybrid
The Last Airbender
My Soul to Take
Nutcracker in 3D
Piranha 3-D
Running Man
Shrek 3D Starter Kit

2009
Astro Boy
Avatar
Coraline
A Christmas Carol
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The Final Destination
The Hole
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Jonas Brothers 3D
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Monsters vs. Aliens
My Bloody Valentine 3D
Shock Labyrinth
Toy Story (re-release)
Toy Story 2 (re-release)
Under the Sea 3D
Up

2009
Besouro
Dawn of the Dead
G-Force
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2008
Bolt
Dolphins and Whales
Fly Me To the Moon
Hannah Montana
Scar
Wild Ocean

2008
InAlienable

2007
Battle for Terra
Beowulf
Meet the Robinsons 3
U2 3D

2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2006
The Ant Bully Deep Sea 3-D
Monster House
Night of the Living Dead
Open Season

2006
Flirting with Flamenco
The Nightmare Before Christmas Superman Returns

2005
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
Aliens of the Deep
Chicken Little 7

2004
The Polar Express

2003
Ghosts of the Abyss
Spy Kids 3-D

1986
Captain EO

1983
Amityville 3-D
Jaws 3-D
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

1982
Friday the 13th Part III

1954
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Dial M for Murder

1953
Hondo
House of Wax

 
This has been brought to you by 3D Porch. If you have any additions or corrections, please email me with a link to your source. Right now, this list includes major releases in 2009 and after, notable releases in 2000-2008, and a handful of releases before 2000 for some historical context.

1. "The IMAX 3D camera contained a mile of film, though this allowed for only 8 minutes 30 seconds of footage to be recorded." (wikipedia)

2. Since new 3D models are being created to extrude the original 2D objects, this counts to me as new content, and so Beauty and the Beast will technically be "Fake 3D." However, Disney has all the original artwork saved in separate levels, so there may not be much "filling in the blanks" done by the new animators. Instead, the conversion may be more like the process used in Meet the Robinsons (see note 3) which I categorized as "Real 3D." Plus, unlike the other "Fake" films, Beast is neither live action nor 3D animation, and so moviegoers are not being sold an inauthentic experience.

3. According to this YouTube they appear to have original 3D models. I also talked to a friend of some of the crewmembers, and apparently they projected the original 2D image onto the 3D models because it was faster than re-rendering with a second camera. This is why it appears like a longer conversion process in this article. If you have the original 3D geometry, that's real enough.

4. James Cameron said, "It's never going to look as good as if you shot it in 3D. But think of it as a sort of 2.8D."

5. The stereoscopic supervisor mentioned to me that the CGI effects were done with real 3D (about a third of the film).

6. Transformers should really be classified "Hybrid," given how much people are raving about the 3D in the film. However, between one-third to one-half of is converted, with 78 minutes converted from Legend3D. All of the CGI was converted, which may not be a problem in most movies, but considering the transformers are the stars of the film, if they're not rendered natively in 3D (which should be the case with all 3D CGI), then viewers are kind of not getting the real deal.

7. Disney gave Chicken Little to a 3rd-party to convert the film into 3D. However, they provided original 3D models, so it's nearly a native rendering. This is similar to Meet the Robinsons. Ideally, they would've re-rendered with a second virtual camera.

This page was last updated January 24, 2012.

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