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Cameras, Technical, Techniques

A 3D Camera Rig

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Español: Cámara de TV en 3D con las cámara ind...
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Last night I built an aluminum 3D camera rig that holds two cameras for either still or video photography. My own interest is in shooting 3D video.

The rig is small, light weight, easy to transport and will hold any modest sized still or video camera. I stole the construction idea from someone else and will pass all that along “soon”.

I hope to “soon” start shooting 3D video with two cameras. With family events, business travel looming, starting to write my M.S. thesis in software engineering, and bad weather, having a chance to put it all to use and test it out may be a while yet!

But sometime in the future, I hope to share some cool 3D stereoscopic videos. Get your red-cyan glasses ready!

English: Strasser, Mike. Stanford University. ...
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Business, Cameras, Technical, Techniques

“Peter Jacksons Hobbit Wont Save 3D Movies”

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Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

I think this writer is off his rocker: Peter Jacksons Hobbit Wont Save 3D Movies and Thats a Good Thing – Forbes.

He argues 2D movies are better and will be better still when shot and projected at 48 fps instead of 24 fps. Okay. He then says that 3D adds nothing to the viewing experience. Hmmm.

Except that real life is, you know, in 3D.  And the author’s argument seems to be that life would be better if it were only in 2D.

Actually, his long winded argument boils down to ticket prices for bad 3D movies are too high so 3D will just be a short lived fad. Like talking pictures were once said to be a short lived fad, and then color movies were a short lived fad. Or not. Each time people said the new technology did not add much to the movie experience.

What I think he means to say is that most 3D movies so far – with some exceptions – have been made to exploit 3D as a gimmick and then charge way too much to see them.  The added costs for 3D are apparently about +10%, but they have charged far, far more than that to watch them.

A great tale, with great acting, and a great director, shot in 3D, will be more interesting than a 2D version of the same movie. But it comes down to how much they charge to see it.  The movie distributors and theaters have not yet figured out that the price to value ratio needs to be appropriate – and they are not there yet.

I think The Hobbit will be another amazing film from Peter Jackson and will inspire more interest in high quality 3D.

Heck, I plan to start building my two camera 3D rig this weekend (really).

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Cameras, Still photography, Technical, Techniques

China to launch 1st 3D TV channel in 2012

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Sony 3D TV on display at CES 2011. Taken with ...
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Television rules the nation: China goes 3D | 3D Media Revolution Blog | 3D Video Player & 3D Video Converter.

I decided this week that I will start shooting 3D video.

I have had an interest in 3D going back to the 1980s, when I visited an exhibit on holography. I read a couple of books on holography but alas, holography was not something I was in a position to pursue.

I recently came across one of those lenticular-based 3D images on the cover of a product and that got me reading about 3D technology once again. After some tests using a single camera to shoot some 3D video of static objects, I found myself hooked! I now plan to get a 2nd camera so I can shoot true stereographic video.  (But do not expect to see much here for as much as 1 to 2 months as I have too many other things to deal with before I can get to creating great 3D videos worthy of posting!)

3D, other than in video games, seems to still be stuck in the pre-fad stage of a few experimenters. But this will change, and soon. First, Youtube is providing very good support for 3D – once a properly formatted 3D video is uploaded, Youtube offers to present the video in all of the popular 3D formats – have it your way! Second, Peter Jackson’s movie version of The Hobbit will start to come out in about one year. The Hobbit is being filmed in 3D and I suspect will greatly propel interest in 3D forward.

3D TV will take a long time to arrive, though, because so many people have only just acquired an HDTV and are not in a hurry to rush out and purchase a new 3D HDTV. Over time, as more and more 3D TVs are in use, then 3D content will become more popular. May as well start shooting 3D now as the originals shot today and can be converted to any desired format in the future!

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