Does anyone know if CS3/4 can edit 3D footage? With all the AVATAR love going around, my company is giving serious thought to going to 3D - but only if premiere can edit it - because I'm not learning another editing system.

I'm just not!

jdv

provided that all your clips are same length (exact same number of frames for left and right clips) you just edit one side first and render , then save the project, clear all the temporary files, replace the clips with the other side, reopen the project, launch a render again . that's all.

are you talking from the cyan/red glasses aspect, or the polarised glasses aspect?

- the first is gimmicky/naff and v.simple to do in ANY NLE. (red footage on top of the cyan footage on the timeline, change the opacity)
- the latter can be done coz i saw it being edited at a recent convention (with after effects i think), connected to a 3dTV, but i don't really think it's readily available just yet.

Polarized. An article about AVATAR on Yahoo had this amazing stat:

"New data show that 3-D is driving "Avatar's" strong staying power at the box office. Some 80 percent of the movie's receipts for this past weekend came from 3-D screens, The Los Angeles Times reports. On opening weekend, that figure was 71 percent."

That, plus the announcement of Disney, ESPN, Discovery, et al that they will launch all 3D channels, has convinced me that 3D isn't just a few year fad - it's here to stay.

I'm usually an early adapter of technology, and painful as it may be, I just think it will be worth it to figure out a 3D workflow.

jdv

Cineform Neo3D (http://www.cineform.com/neo3d/)

For serious 3D/Stereoscopic work, you need Nuke 5 by The Foundry. For more info, go to fxguide.com and ask there, and to learn, go to fxphd.com, which has several classes on stereoscopic production.

As you stated, Avatar has brought 3D to the forefront of people's minds. People are expecting professional results, which don't include red/cyan glasses.

Did you know, last year's box office revenue for 3D was $1.3 Billion.

3D editorial and 3D conform are two different things. Cineform is the only company with a reasonable 3D editing solution, while 3D conform can be done with almost any program and a little enginuity.
I edited a 3D project four years ago on PPro2.0 and AE7. You just edit the left eye, and then relink to the right eye for the second perspective. You have to keep everything extremely organized to make it all work automatically.