Director Tsui Hark (Picture 1: 3rd from left) leads cast members of "The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" in promoting the film in Beijing on Monday, January 24, 2011. [ CFP]

With his new film "The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" ("Long Men Fei Jia"), Chinese director Tsui Hark not only has made the world's first film combining 3-D and martial arts, but also has decided to offer a service that assists other 3-D filmmakers.

Tsui announced the formation of a company named D+ on Monday, January 24, 2011 in Beijing where he and his cast gathered to celebrate the wrap-up of shooting for "Dragon Gate".

D+, which Tsui co-founded with Shanghai Media Group and Bona Film Group, aims to provide service and assistance in 3-D filmmaking.

The company's staff consists of Tsui's 3-D crew which received training from Chuck Comisky, the visual-effects supervisor of James Cameron's "Avatar".

Tsui and his team shot "Dragon Gate" using 3-D cameras, unlike most films that claim to be in 3-D but in fact were converted from 2-D in post-production.

Tsui had searched for 3-D specialists for nearly a year before he started making "Dragon Gate". Prior to the shooting, he took another three months to make a short film to test the 3-D equipment.

Now that filming has wrapped up, Tsui said he would like to share his 3-D filmmaking experience with fellow directors.

"Dragon Gate" is loosely based on "Dragon Inn" ("Xin Long Men Ke Zhan"), a 1992 film classic which follows a Ming Dynasty general's confrontation with a power-hungry eunuch at a deserted inn.

The new film stars Jet Li, Zhou Xun, Kwai Lun-Mei, Chen Kun, Li Yuchun and Mavis Fan. Release is set for this year.