Alaskan 3D tape

[P3D Dave Worrell <dworrell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Marvin Jones > The tip-off is that "the video can be viewed
without the ... glasses." This can ONLY refer to a Pulfrich
video, and is often used to promote Pulfrich videos to those who
(believe it or not) don't give a damn about 3D. I believe also
that "NuOptix" is someone's trademark for Pulfrich glasses. Now
the only question is whether the tape was actually shot with the
Pulfrich effect in mind, or whether like the Roller Coaster
videos, the producers merely feel that 3D nuts are such
suggestible, ignorant yahoos that you can put absolutely
anything in front of them, put silly glasses on them, tell them
it's 3D, and they'll believe it. Incidentally, even a
well-planned Pulfrich tape costs not a penny more than a
standard video production, so if somebody paid 3 1/2 times more,
somebody else is pocketing 2 1/2 times their profit!<Marvin
Jones<

Call me a sucker for 3D - but the Alaska 3D tape was displayed
at the local store (on sale $16.99) so I bought one ... and a
spare pair of glasses.    Where to begin? How about the store
..

I saw the glasses at the store and knew right away it wasn't
anaglyph, the glasses have a very light (almost clear) left
filter and a much darker filter on the right. I said to myself:
"Self, these must be the pulfrich glasses I've heard about on
Photo-3D." "But, what the hey ... I can always pawn it off on a
relative as a present." So I bought it.

Plugging it into the VCR I kept my expectations low, and that's
probably a good thing, it was pretty cheesy, just a shade firmer
than cheese-wiz (perhaps Velveeta?) Typical tourist schlock ...
bears fishing for salmon, people fishing for salmon and trout,
riding the tram at Alyeska, Alaska Native dancers intercut with
caribou, and Flightseeing in the Alaska range. Exactly the tape
Aunt Tilly would take home to remember her Alaska vacation.

But after my eyes adjusted to the dark right filter (by the way,
the glasses suck over glasses) I was very impressed by the 3D -
right away I realized that this wasn't pulfrich effect - static
shots exhibited depth. Shots of bears had really good depth, one
charge looked like it was going to come right out of the set,
they also had underwater shots of salmon swimming up the river
and the TV set looked like a fish tank - excellent effect. The
tram segment was kinda lame, but the caribou and native dancers
were cool, once again good 3D. The flying segments were really,
really, really cool. One of our glacier pilots, Doug Geeting, is
an accomplished acrobatic flyer, and they had him flying his
Pitts Special over the glaciers and through the mountains of the
Alaska Range - Incredible scenery, with a guy doing loops, rolls
and the standard tricks. The 3D was fantastic! Cameras mounted
on the tail, wing and canopy, as well as helicopter overviews.
Really cool.

One problem with the video was that they overdid the "This is
3D" bit - everybody in the video is hamming it up with the
cardboard glasses. And they kept showing the German 3D
photographer "going for the shot." Nothing technical about how
they made it, just a lot of shots of them making it. The camera
they showed "looked like" a standard pro-level video camera (and
I know what they look like, I used to be a news videographer) I
didn't see two lenses, but perhaps they weren't showing the
"real" 3D camera (some of the footage was definitely flat). 

I tried a couple experiments - The 3D still worked in fast
forward and reverse, but not in still frame or slow motion. In
slo-mo there was some "flickering" where the subjects appeared
to move (shift) back and forth between frames.

All in all, I was impressed - the content, while cheesy (at
least in presentation), was typical tourist video; and, the 3D
was good overall, with some really excellent moments. Definitely
worth the $20 (with a spare set of glasses). I know what all my
relatives will be getting this Christmas.

But I am confused, this technology for 3D video works - without
shutters, and the video looks sharp without the glasses. Have
any of our European members heard of "NewOptix" or Telecast
International? Or perhaps (if the camera they showed was the
camera they used) our SL3D experts could discuss the potential
for SL3D video? And, if this was only pulfrich effect, how come
static shots exhibited depth? Can Ya'll help clear up these
questions, or at least share medications ;-) :-) ;-)

Dave Worrell (dworrell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Publications Technician
State of Alaska
Section of Epidemiology


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