Converting Renderings To Imax

[berija]

Hi everybody,

I don't know if this is the right place for my question but I couldn't find any better place for it. Does anybody of you know about companies "burning" renderings (i.e. sequences of images) to IMAX film and what is the price of such services?

Thank you,

Berija

[michael]

it's what is refered to as 'film out' or transfer...etc

note : you'll have to render pretty big to get nice final images in IMAX format...I don't know specific numbers (google it) but I'd guess 4K(+)

[Mcronin]

It'll be very, very expensive. The Imax company can do it and as far as I know they are the only company you can go through to produce the final film for an Imax theater.

If all you have are images (single camera, no interocular) you will either need to rerender everything with an interocular camera setup, or you will have to pass the images off to the Imax folks so they can extract layers to fake a dual camera setup.

It's a ridiculously expensive process. The film they use is 70mm, I believe, they are the only ones who print it, I've heard it takes them a whole day just to create a single print, they can only make one print a day, and they are the only ones who distribute movies to Imax theaters (the theaters are scheduled years in advance). So, if you seriously have something that can play in an Imax theater, you are going to need to talk to the Imax company.

Edited August 14, 2007 by Mcronin

[michael]

I don't think berija is talkinf about IMAX 3D...just regular IMAX...

in which case I think technicolor, delux etc could do it...but yeah -> $$$$$$$$$$$$

[Mcronin]

When people say Imax I always think 3D.

Yeah, anyone can do stereo 3D, and you can get film printed at any number of places, but if we are speaking specifically about Imax theaters or Imax 3D, you are probably going to have to contact the Imax company. Imax owns the process and the theaters, they won't let anyone throw just anything in their theaters, they do all the scheduling themselves.

I can tell you this. Creating a single 35 mm film print is expensive. A friend of mine shot a student film at 35 mm. It was about 15 minutes long and it cost him almost 20,000 US to get a single print made. I once destroyed a 35mm print of Dracula by misthreading a projector, that print was over 110,000 dollars. 70mm is much much more expensive. Just guessing here, but I would not be at all shocked to hear a single 90 minute 70mm print cost a quarter of a million dollars US.

Edited August 14, 2007 by Mcronin

[thekenny]

Just guessing here, but I would not be at all shocked to hear a single 90 minute 70mm print cost a quarter of a million dollars US.

8 years ago it was 10x the cost of doing a 35mm print.

one can only guess that it has gone up. (that was without sound and finishing)

-k

[Jason]

You could contact a company like EFILM (http://www.efilm.com) for their rates and services, perhaps?

[berija]

Hi everybody,

yes I mean IMAX 3D. Thank you all for your responses. I'm going to contact Imax company and ask them for more details.

Berija

[Mcronin]

8 years ago it was 10x the cost of doing a 35mm print.

one can only guess that it has gone up. (that was without sound and finishing)

-k

So, potentially, we are talking well in excess of 1 million dollars for a single finished IMAX print of a 90 minute feature.

I'm still not at all suprised.