Category Archives: 3D Tech
Wim Wenders and the “Natural Depth Method” | 3d.simplecarnival.com
A method for achieving proper parallax when shooting 3D video: Wim Wenders and the “Natural Depth Method” | 3d.simplecarnival.com.
Do RealD’s Executive Departures Reflect 3D Fatigue?
Of concern for 3D enthusiasts: Do RealD’s Executive Departures Reflect 3D Fatigue? – Deadline.com.
Consumer surveys indicate a fair amount of interest in watching 3D motion pictures in theaters. But this could be foretelling that 3D interest is waning again.
World’s First 4K 3D Civil War Battle videos
I realized last night that the 4K 3D videos I posted on Youtube are the world’s first ever Civil War era battle re-enactments posted online in 4K 3D format. Kind of cool.
The videos were created using dual Lumix GH-2 cameras, each shooting a 1920×1080/30p video stream.
These were edited and mastered in Sony Vegas Pro and output as full width side by side videos – meaning 3840 pixels wide by 1080 high.
This is then uploaded to Youtube with several “tags” set to tell Youtube how to encode the video properly. When viewed on Youtube, two new viewing resolutions appear: 1440 HD and 2160 4K. Even if you only have a typical 2K monitor, either of the higher resolutions looks much, much cleaner in 3D!
Important – This remains experimental! I can only view the videos in correct format using Firefox. Chrome tells me I do not have HTML5 compliant hardware. I could play all but one video on an LG 3D TV using the LG Youtube app. However, when I played the videos on the same TV using a Sony BluRay player’s Youtube app, the videos have the wrong aspect ratio (3840×1080 instead of 1920×1080). A separate video I mastered as 3840×2160 side-by-side 3D did better, but means I have to double the file size (data rate) to get the same image quality.
We can argue about whether or not paired 2K streams are really 4K video. In one sense, they are half vertical resolution 4K. But when 4K is used to stream 3D, we end up with half size images on the left and right anyway. The effect is therefore the same in terms of what gets delivered.
Additionally, Digital IMAX theaters, as of now, are thought of as 4K theaters but they use dual 2K projectors (they will be upgrading the theaters eventually). Digital IMAX provides a more immersive and louder sound experience, but the Digital IMAX screens are just a little bigger than regular movie screens – and not like the 70 to 90 foot tall original IMAX screens.
In other words, dual paired 2K streams used for 4K 3D end up being roughly equivalent to having been shot in 4K on both cameras due to how the 3D left/right pair has to split the 4K image anyway.
Related articles
Once again: Magix Movie Edit Pro NOT RECOMMENDED for 3D video editing
This is a repeat to what I wrote last fall. I made the mistake of trying to use this crappy software again to edit a 3D video. WHOPPER mistake. Found more bugs in it again. Another night wasted with this terrible software.
MAGIX is software that one really wants to like – but I must again STRONGLY RECOMMEND AGAINST PURCHASING AND USING MAGIX MOVIE EDIT PRO FOR 3D EDITING.
Once again: Magix Movie Edit Pro 2013 NOT RECOMMENDED for 3D video editing | 3d.coldstreams.com.
I will be deleting Magix Movie Edit Pro from my computer after this – likely the first time I have ever deleted a large software package due to so many defects. It is astounding the company took a good product (version 17) and ruined it, and has failed to fix serious defects as we come up on 2 years since its release. I am not the only one who reported the defects to them.
I once lost 40 hours of work due to Magix Movie Edit Pro defects; at this point, Magix is history. I will never use it again.
