Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation selected Legend3D to convert approximately 70 percent of the film and a portion of trailer footage based on the company’s track record for delivering high-quality conversion work. Legend3D has completed conversion work on cornerstone franchises for several major Hollywood studios, including the first three titles of Shrek: The Complete Collection 3D on Blu-ray for Dreamworks Animation. The company also recently did 2D-to-3D conversion work for Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Company founder, chief technology officer and chief operating officer Dr. Barry Sandrew explained that the creative team was able to take what was learned, created and developed for Transformers in ingesting the intricate, complex, angled images of the robots, and apply that to the small, rounded, softer creatures of The Smurfs.
“It was an honor to be selected as the primary conversion partner for The Smurfs, and truly a testament to our amazing stereographic talent, high-quality conversion technology and process,” said Sandrew. “Our close collaboration with Sony Pictures Imageworks’ 3D visual effects supervisor and stereographer Rob Engle and stereographic supervisor Darren Lurie resulted in a superior 3D product that has delighted and wowed audiences worldwide, successfully bringing The Smurfs from their 2D comic book origins into very lifelike, brilliant and fully dimensional characters.”
Legend3D uses a proprietary 2D-to-3D conversion process that combines skilled artistry with technology to enhance filmmakers’ storytelling, deepening their connections with audiences. The company’s conversion process, pipeline and methodology allow Legend3D to deliver complex scenes in high-quality stereo 3D.
Directed by Raja Gosnell and produced by Jordan Kerner and executive producers Ezra Swerdlow, Ben Haber and Paul Neesan, The Smurfs opened in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D theaters throughout the U.S., July 29.
