P3D 3D Shadows in Detroit

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Last Wednesday night we had a great time in the monthly Detroit 
meeting.  In the place of a program we went for a field tour
at a local mall where a club member owns and operates a 3D motion
simulator.  We got a couple of free rides and checked out 3d video
with liquid shutter glasses.  Very interesting!

After spending an hour at the mall, we returned to our meeting place
to continue with our regular slide competition.  The subject was
"SHADOWS" and the difficulty of the assignment reflected on the number
of entries (very low).

Following suggestions from members of this list I had a couple of
interesting slides.  When I mentioned that shadows are flat, one
person said that if the shadows are formed on a 3d object then they
are not flat.  So I took a picture of my shadow in the steps of
my workplace as I was desperately looking for pictures in the last 
minute (as always!).  I ended up reversing the image (R chip to L
and L to R).  That did not alter the shadow but it did change the
shape of the steps.  This sufficiently confused the judges to give
it second place!!!

The other picture was a result of a suggestion by Ron Labbe, pointing
to a book that had a picture of a flat chair with a 3d shadow coming
out of the window.  This is created by moving the light source instead
of the camera.  I tried this (again the last minute) using a small
Greek statue of a soldier riding a horse carriage.  I used a flash
behind the subject and translated the flash by 2.5 inches, leaving
the camera stationary.  Shifting the flash will shift the shadows.
Looking at the result, I had the great idea to turn the picture upside
down so that the shadow looked like the main object and came out of
the window.

While this picture looked fine in the viewer, it got confusing in 
projection.  Some people thought that the shadow was the object and
that the real object was the shadow.  I heard a comment that the
object (which they called "bicycle", having no clue of what it really
was) was out of focus.  In reality, the shadow was soft because the
object was small, compared to the size of the flash head.  The judges
were puzzled but gave it a third place anyway.  After the results
were announced, I asked to project the slide upside down to show it
as it was really recorded. At which point it made more visual sense,
even though the "through the window" effect was minimized.

If I had a chance, I would have tried these subjects again.  But this
time I procrastinated until the very end.  I shot the "3d shadowgrams"
(yes, I am inventing a term here!) on Tuesday morning, then dropped
my film at lunch, picked it up on Wednesday noon (day of the meeting!)
and mounted it in a harry at lunch break!  Some suggestions for
improvement:  Use a larger object or position the flash further back
to make the shadows sharper.  Use a color background.  Use color
filters to give colors to the shadows.

Dennis Hanser, once again topped the awards with two first places.
This guy walks on water.  He is untouchable.  He will set another record
for highest score ever recorded in Detroit.  I tell him to take it easy
but he is not listening.  My only hope is that he will eventually get 
tired and lonely at the top and quit trying.  Then I will have a chance 
again!

After the competition, our club member with the motion simulator
showed us 3d Video using a VREX projector.  I was very impressed by
what I saw.  I have decided that motion simulations do not move me :-)
I prefer the gentle 3D effects, where things move (instead of the 
camera) gently around space.  I liked the 3D orchestra (musical organs
playing by themselves while flying around) and other computer
generated subjects.

While there is plenty of 3d stimulation in these meetings, what I like
most is the friendly atmosphere.  It really feels like a family with
people showing genuine interest about others.  It is this personal
interaction that it is impossible to recreate in cyberspace.

Looking forward to next month's meeting... "Glass & Metal"... Better
get moving now!!!

George Themelis


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