3D Titles with Word for Windows

[P3D Dr. George A. Themelis <fj834@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

During the Stereo Lunch at PSA last month, I asked Bill Payne about making
title slides with the computer.  He told me that I could use any word
processing program for this task.  I use Word for Windows and at first I
could not see how I could give a color to the background.  It turns out
that you can do that by pulling out the drawing menu (View-Toolbars-check
Drawing), and defining a Text Box.  You can define the entire screen area
and give it a choice of colors.

When it comes to letters, you have a choice of fonts and colors.  You can
make different text lines (like bullets lists) appear at different depth
levels by indenting each line slightly.  By changing the compression or
expansion factors of fonts (Format-Font-Character
Spacing-Expanded/Compressed) you can make them come at an angle to the
screen (fixed spacing fonts are recommended for this.)  You can introduce
pictures and use text for titles and colored backgrounds.

I took all the title & image pictures by photographing the screen directly.
I used a 100 mm macro lens in an SLR camera.  Following Bill's advice I
used a simulation of a "gray card" to determine exposure (f11 @ 1 sec, I
bracketed most of them between f8 and f111) and used the maximum resolution
of the screen.  Because I did not change the intensity of the screen, I
used the same exposure settings making my gray exposure screen not very
useful.

I took some time to make sure that the lens is perpendicular to the screen.
For that I mounted a mirror on the screen (with pieces of rolled tape) and
made sure that the lens sees its reflection centered.  This is a trick I
have learned from copying flat papers & photos in a copying stand; there is
no sense in making sure that the camera is leveled using a bubble level if
the board is not leveled.  If you use a mirror then you can tell if the
camera is leveled with respect to the copy  board by looking at the
reflection of the lens in the mirror.  I had a little problem with rotation
and I don't know what is the best way to assure that the horizontals and
verticals of the screen are aligned with those of the film.

The font manipulations and choice of colors is rather limited in Word for
Windows but good enough for me.  The resolution is OK for projection.  When
mounting the pair you have the choice of which chip to use in right or
left.  For example, if you have a bullet list, you can make it ran so that
the top item is either the closest to or furthest from the observer.  I
prefer the top item to be the furthest and then have the list run top to
bottom towards the observer.  I spaced the chips so that the list crosses
the window about midway.

One perceptual problem is that the list line that is closest to the
observer *appears* to have the smallest size and the one furthest away
appears larger.  This is of course expected because the observer is
expecting linear perspective in a stereo image and these letters are all
the same size.  So the brain compensates by imagining the closest objects
to be the smallest.  It is an issue but it is no big deal.  I did not try
to alter the size of letters to compensate for this effect.

In slides with a framed 2-d photo, a colored background and a title, I
usually mounted the pair with the title slightly behind the window and the
photo slightly in front.

I also tried one example where a 3d object is shown in stereoscopic relief
in the computer monitor.  To take this picture I set my copy lights (I use
daylight balanced -4800K - floods; these are blue and are available from
Porter's, page 68 in their catalog, 1-800-221-5329) so that the ambient
exposure in the room is 1 f-stop less than the exposure of the monitor.  I
then back out (or switch to 50 mm lens) to include the monitor and a bit of
the surrounding room.  I put the left image in the monitor and take the
left picture.  I then translate the camera to the right, put the right
image and take the right picture.  The result is the computer monitor in 3D
and a 3D image sticking out of it.

Many thanks to Bill Payne who inspired me to try my word-processing program
and be able to make quick title slides.  I understand that there are
programs out there that will allow you to do fancier things, but, for the
time being, I am very satisfied with what I got.  One advantage of using
your own word processing program for this job is that you are already
familiar with it.

George Themelis


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