P3D Layers and Movement

[John Toeppen <toeppen@xxxxxxxx>]

Stereo imaging is a wonderful thing, but it is only one aspect of depth
perception.  A slight sideways movement of a normal monocular video
camera breaks the scene into "layers" that slide in front of one
another.  This effect is widely used in broadcast TV. Panning video with
the camera at arm's length works better than a simple piviot action. 
Walking around a subject is quite effective as well.  If you are
shooting stereo video the effect is far better than using a fixed base
camera.

Here's a simple experiment to compare views: sit still and view the
world with only one eye.  Open both eyes and view.  Use one eye and move
sideways.  Open both eyes and move sideways. See, it pays to have two
eyes and move around!

My parrots don't have much in the way of stereo vision (prey species
ususally don't).  A moment before they fly they bob up and down to range
find the distance to their target.  I found it interesting that these
birds learned this without training or observing this behavior in other
birds.  Apparently, creatures must learn to optimize the extraction of
important data via experience and optimization.  This might be what make
us pursue stereo as well.

John Toeppen
http://members.home.net/holographics