P3D Re: re: lenticular query

[Paul Talbot <ptww@xxxxxxxxx>]

Michael Kaplan wrote:
> 
> Paul Talbot wrote:
> 
> >First a question: what do you mean by "lenticular transparency?"
> 
> I was referring to the kind of rear-lit lenticulars sold at NSA
> conventions a few years ago: those 50s-vintage color transparencies of
> movie stars. They were of very high quality and seem to have been made
> from Realist originals.

I was hoping one of the more lenticular-knowledgeable folks
would address this.  Not having seen anything come across,
I'll give it a try--and let someone come along to clean up
the mess later.  ;-)

Many lenticulars look better backlit.  I had an off-list
note recently from someone who shows his Image Tech lents
to friends by taping them to a sun-lit window to get a
back lighting effect.  The fact that the lents you saw
at the convention were backlit does not in itself tell
me that they are anything other than normal lenticular
prints.
 
> BTW I've seen similar lenticulars in 8" x 10" size produced by ImageTech
> on a custom basis from multi-image originals. They didn't seem as
> brilliant as the 50s version.

If they were a commercial product then chances are they are of
a much higher quality than the consumer grade lenticulars you
might be more familar with and to which you compare them.

So perhaps you are just looking for lenticular prints.

Me again:

> >What you are asking for may not be easy, affordable, or
> >effective.

Gabriel replied:

> Harry Richards was selling some last year in Richmond that
> were made from Realist 50s slides (i.e. made from 2 images).
> They were pretty good but the "sweet spots" were not very
> continuos. If you didn't hold it properly it would flip from left to
> right.

This pretty well qualifies as "not effective" in my book.
Others certainly may disagree.

I'm unsure of the reasons behind your impression that the ones
you saw were made from Realist originals.  If they were, I think
the flipping that Gabriel describes would be very noticeable.
Do you remember them having that "feature?"

I was also hoping that my buddy Bruce Springsteen would
chime in with a report regarding someone at NSA in Green
Bay who is making lenticulars from stereo pairs.  My best
recollection of the way it was explained to me, the gentleman
is doing digital (?) interpolations of the two images to create
the multiple images that are required for effective, pleasing
lents.  I could be wildly mistaken as to the actual process;
I did not have the pleasure of meeting the gentleman myself...
and I'm pretty good at getting the story mixed up someway.
In my estimation, this does not sound like something that
would be very "easy," thus leading me to conclude that it
may not be very affordable.  I could be wrong on both counts.

I'm sorry we haven't gotten a full answer to your question,
Michael.  I suspect Bruce Springsteen is swamped getting
ready to move and is unable to help us out here.  Perhaps
someone else can pinch hit for him and help clear up the
mysteries!

Paul Talbot


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