3D experiences in NYC

[P3D Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Over the last couple of weeks I've had the opportunity to enjoy some
3D experiences in New York (some of which may be old hat for many on
this list) that I thought others might be interested in.

A couple of Saturdays ago I got to see both "Duck Dodgers in 3D" (at
the Fifth Avenue Warner Brothers store) and "Across the Sea of Time"
(at the Sony Lincoln Center IMAX theater).

DDi3D uses polarized glasses in cardboard frames that were of the
function follows form design.  They are styled to look like Marvin the
Martian's frowning eyebrows, and as such put so much cardboard between
my eyes that it was hard to ignore the cardboard frame.  The short
itself was good, but the 3D was of the "in your face" variety, and
overall the experience left me with a headache.  I'll have to go back
with a better pair of glasses (I have quite a few from various
SIGGRAPH conferences) and see if there is any improvement.  The
admission is $2, but you get a WB coin good for $2 off on many
purchases in that store (only).

AtSoT was a much better experience.  The plot itself was OK (if you
can suspend disbelief and ignore some plot holes and inaccuracies that
a non-New Yorker might not notice).  There is a collection of stereo
cards, viewers and cameras in an exhibit on the way into the theater.
A selection of stereo views from the movie are setup in Wheatstone
style viewers.  I was having some trouble seeing any of the stereo
views in 3D until I walked by the view of the subway construction
workers that popped right into 3D for me without even trying to
position myself in front of the viewer.  A few of the other views were
also easy to see, but several just didn't seem 3D to me.  The theater
uses rather heavy electronic goggles.  Viewing the movie didn't give
me a headache and the 3D was good, but if it had been a full length
feature the weight of the goggles would have been a problem by the
end.  On the way out I picked up the View Master reels and stereo card
copies based on the movie.  I passed on the stereo card viewer they
were selling for $70.

Last week I shot my first pinhole stereo pair using a normal pinhole
camera and a macro focusing rail.  (Construction on my dedicated
pinhole stereo camera is being put off until after my impending
wedding.)  I moved the camera approximately 2.5 inches between
exposures.  By placing the 4x5 Polaroids side by side (overlapping the
center 3/8 inch border) and using a Cosmic Print Viewer from Reel 3D I
can definitely see 3D, and the bottom edge of the window is plainly
there (the buildings go down behind the window).  The top edge sort of
fades into the sky (which on the originals is nearly the same tone as
the borders), and I'm assuming the side edges aren't there because I'm
reluctant to trim the originals and therefore the ediges of the prints
aren't in the same place in the final image.  There is a lot of
chromatic aberrations, but I can't complain about a $4 viewer.

You can see the results at
<URL:http://www.panix.com/~reynolds/photography/pinhole/stereo.html>.
The scans (done with an HP Scanjet 3c and manipulated with xv) don't
really do it justice, and I'd appreciate any comments on how to
improve them.  (I'm fully aware of the trade offs between JPEG and
GIF.)  I'll have to wait until I get the full size scans (a pair of
1.5MB TIFFs) home before I can do better cropping and positioning.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Humans explore the Universe with five
reynolds@xxxxxxxxx              |   senses and call the adventure science."
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds/ | - Edwin P. Hubble


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