P3D Viewing Stereo

[Bruce Springsteen <bsspringsteen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I'm not quite the provocateur I intend to be, but that's ok. 
Larry Berlin made some interesting observations in response to my
fulmination that computers won't replace slides or negatives any time
soon, and that various anomalies can foul up stereo viewing and result
in unjust evaluation.  (Larry isn't hard to get started though! :-) ) 
Just a couple of clarifications on my views, probably lost in my
flakey rhetorical style:

I didn't mean computer fans are "young", just that computers
themselves and the attendant imaging options are new, compared with
film.  This technology is talking big, but I still think it has far to
go to rival lens and film. So rumors of the old technologies' imminent
death are implausible, in my myopic view.  I like computers.  If I
ever get my hands on a real one, I have a few hundred cool
stereo-ideas to try.  (BTW, someone recently mentioned ENIAC, but who
can identify John Vincent Atanasoff for extra credit?) 

My point about lighting and distortion etc was regarding *unintended*
or unplanned variations caused by careless viewing or thoughtless
planning of the viewing conditions that a view will be seen under -
this is just in reference to pairs with serious artistic intentions;
snapshooters may ignore these accidents if they like.   Deliberate
distortion of shape, color and lighting, etc as the artistic intention
are great - and appeal to my expressionistic tastes, as viewers of my
APEC self-portrait can attest. But you don't judge "The Last Supper"
from a dotty 4-inch litho in a picture book, or the "Mona Lisa" from a
vantage point three inches from her nose in a dark closet.  I know the
artist designed those works with a clear idea of how they would be
seen.  And stereo imaging for serious enjoyment deserves the same
consideration, within reasonable limits of course.

Related to this, I said that free-viewing often causes pronounced
"stretch" in a view.  This wasn't to condemn free-viewing - I do it
(both ways) and consider it an essential stereo skill that I use
constantly.  But it is not a fair way to judge stereocards, for
instance, that are made to be viewed at a particular magnification
(perspective) or *nearly* so.  Larry is right that there is pretty
good leeway before the brain won't accept a distortion.  But better to
know what the designed view of a thing is before deciding if one likes
it, and better to design views with a particular notion of how they
will be looked at, and what difference it makes.

There!  Had a few chips left. ;-)  Good night, friends.

Bruce


 
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