P3D Re: Barriers to entry into 3D (was: Re: P3D Re: PHOTO-3D digest 3247)

["Gregory J. Wageman" <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Peter Davis writes:

>Of these, awareness is probably the most significant.  I doubt most people
>even know what stereo photography is, let alone that it's possible.

The way I stumbled into 3D photography was due to my experience with 3D
computer graphics.  My first industry job was with Computervision Corp.,
then the industry leader in 3D computer-aided design (CAD).  I later had
a 3D graphics solid-modeling program on my computer, and produced some
stereo pairs by shifting the renderer's "camera" position and taking screen
shots, which I was trying to project in stereo.  Not knowing about the
"secret" of silver non-depolarizing screens, I was frustrated in my
efforts, but I knew it was possible from having seen Disney's "Magic
Journeys" at Epcot.  So I did a Web search for "3D" and "stereo", and
discovered this list, Reel-3D, etc.

Your average person is unlikely to stumble onto 3D photography unless they
run into one of us carrying a stereo camera.  ViewMaster is all but out
of the public eye these days, and for some reason most people don't seem
to make the connection that it's possible to make them, or something like
them, yourself.  The connection between lenticulars and print- or slide-
pairs is even more nebulous.

>For the complete novice, I would recommend starting with the "cha-cha"
>method.  It requires no special equipment.

I agree with everything else Peter said, but this.  I find side-step
stereos to be very difficult to get right, and I'm not exactly a novice.
A little bit of rotational error makes fusion very difficult.  Taping
a pair of single-use cameras to a ruler is far easier and less error-prone,
and you can get the supplies, including the ruler, the tape and the
cameras, at any major drugstore.  You can even have the processing done
there too. :-)

	-Greg W. (gjw@xxxxxxxxxx)


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