About
Hello, I’m Lenny Lipton, some have called me the father of the electronic stereoscopic display industry, probably because I did invent and perfect the current state-of-the-art 3D technologies that enable today’s leading filmmakers to finally realize the dream of bringing their feature films to the big screen in crisp, vivid, full cinematic-quality 3D.
With more than 30 patents granted in the field, another 40 pending, and a lifetime of passion for advancing the art, I’m fortunate to be in the middle of what’s going on with 3D, and this is the place where I share some of my personal thoughts and observations, and where I carry on an informal conversation with my readers.
Although I am affiliated with, or have been affiliated with, many organizations, from the IEEE association to the Real D company, all of the thoughts expressed by me in this blog are my strictly those of my own, and do not necessarily represent the opinions, thoughts or plans of any organization or other person whatsoever.
Please visit LennyLipton.com for more background.
(This blog is powered by WordPress with InfiniVision.)
March 26, 2008 at 7:27 pm |
Hello Mr. Lipton,
Can I call you Lenny?
My name’s Jeff Cools and I’m a independent digital film-maker. I live and work in Calgary Alberta Canada. I graduated in 1994 from Southern Alberta Inst. of Technology here in Calgary and I continue to learn each day more about the craft of story telling. I interviewed with a guy who worked for ABC sports to do some production work for them when Edmonton AB hosted the World Track and Fields Events many years ago. He asked me what I did..and I told him. I shoot, direct, sound record, edit, special effects make-up, produce, write, make lunch and answer the phones. He replied by calling me a “Preditor”. I said “What?” A “Preditor” he answered, that’s a new generation of digital film-maker that does everything from “Producer” to “Editor”…a “Preditor”. The reason I’m emailing you this note. Is that last year at NAB I met a man that changed my life; actually he shaped my adult life by inventing the Steadicam..Mr. Garrett Brown. That’s all I ever wanted to do was to operate a steadicam. I own one now. Also, last year at NAB, I visited the NHK display and they were showcasing HD in 3D. I’ve spent the last months researching 3D and trying to learn as much as I can about how it works and more importantly how a independent film-maker can make it work. I haven’t cracked into the business big time yet..probably because I live here and production work is limited, but I will one day. I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for all of your inventing and thank you for adding to my life. I’m enjoying shooting with my home-made rig 3D and my world has changed. I can’t wait to shoot more and learn more about the science behind it..and I can’t wait to see what’s next! Sincerely “Thank you” You’ve changed my life… 
Jeff
February 16, 2009 at 4:50 pm |
Reall nice to hear from you Jeff. You can download a copy of my book from somewhere on the site.
I met Ray Dolby once at a trade show and he was so kind to me I’ll never forget it.
November 11, 2009 at 2:48 am |
Hi Mr Lipton,
I’ve followed your career over the years, from my distant corner of the universe in South Africa. As a kid growing up in the coastal resort town of Durban, I read about your exploits in Super 8 3-D, but was unable to afford the necessary equipment, so had to content myself with 3-D stills photography.
I’m now a multimedia communicator and movie reviewer in Johannesburg, and have maintained a passion for the exciting medium of 3-D.
I recently set myself up with a simple HD 3-D video system, which I hope to put to some commercial use. I run a blog in which I “get my 3D rocks off”.
Seeing you grow from “3-D geek” to “3-D overlord” whose technology I see at work every time I attend a Real-D screening, has been a great source of inspiration!
I note with interest, your blog posts about a resurgence in “over-and-under” 35mm 3-D, which I remember fondly from the days of ‘Jaws 3-D’ and ‘Comin’ at Ya’, et al.
Although the country’s larger centres are installing Real D systems apace, this could be a boon for smaller, independent outfits in smaller towns, as it would allow them to enter the 3-D arena at a lower outlay – as you’ve pointed out. Could you perhaps put me in touch with the relevant Technicolor folk in that regard?
Thank you for magnificent contribution to 3-D!
Tat Wolfen
December 13, 2009 at 12:28 pm |
Thanks for your kind words.
There is room for a decent 35mm stereo 3D projection system becasue the digital proejctor diffusion is going more slowly than expected. And it is going to be too costly an approach for many cinema opertors. Sadly the Technicolor adoption of the over/under system is not helpful in this context. They have done nothing, as far as I know, about the major problems of the sytem: It’s not bright enough, it’s easy to proejct pseudoscopically, and there is asymmertical corner darkening becasue of the intrinsic nature of lens coverage. It’s a zombie foramt. Bringing back the dead to kill the living.