n a rare peek into the secretive world of The Hobbit, Sir Peter Jackson has revealed his apprehension about jumping into the director's chair.

"For a long time I thought going back to the amazing experience of Lord of the Rings wouldn't be a good idea," he said in his firstFacebook video diary entry from the set of the $630 million Hobbit movies, which have now finally begun filming.

Jackson said he had now come around to directing the movies because of the people he was working with on the film.

Within hours of the post being uploaded to Jackson's Facebook site, it had more than 3000 "likes" and hundreds of effusive comments from around the world.

But for those hoping for much new, the video might be disappointing. Drawings of costumes are blurred out and most of the sets he shows have already been seen in Lord of the Rings.

"It's strange walking around here ... it was 10 or 11 years ago and I'm used to looking at a set like this on film," Jackson says.

However, he does give a sneak peek of the goblin caves under Misty Mountain where Bilbo meets Gollum and comes into possession of the ring that goes on to form the crux of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The clip also shows Jackson joking with the dwarfs and Sir Ian McKellen, and the crew receiving a Maori welcome on day one of shooting.

Jackson also shows some of the nuts and bolts of film-making: stick-fighting exercises, horse riding, swords being made, and the costume and make-up department. "It's like a big wizard's workshop," he says.

Comments last night included: "i am just in tears with this", and "there really are no words that can describe my feelings that comes forth as I watch this video".

Jackson only stepped into the directing role of The Hobbit after original director Guillermo Del Toro quit in May last year.

The two movies have faced many hiccups. The studio that had the film rights faced bankruptcy, and last year there was a high-profile call for an actors' boycott of the movies.

More recently, Jackson was rushed in for emergency surgery at Wellington Hospital for a perforated ulcer.

- The Dominion Post