E2 3-D - how I did this

how I did this

first - why am I doing it this way?

Printing costs were too high.
All colour screens are stereo ready as they use the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) system to create the color of each pixel of the image.
Despite it suffering from tremendous restrictions, anaglyphs stays the easiest way to experience color stereoscopy on a computer.

Creating Anaglyphs by computer

my equipment:
A point and shoot camera (or ideally two identical cameras)

A color flatbed scanner

Adobe Photoshop 2.5 or more recent

A Macintosh computer with a colour monitor

overview:
Create the stereo pair: one image for the left eye an one for the right eye.

Remove the red channel from the right image.

Paste the red channel from the left image, into the red channel of the right image.

detailed instructions:

Using a normal 35mm camera, take a shot of a scene with some depth.

Take a second shot of the same scene but with the camera moved 2 1/2 inches to the right, keeping the focus line parallel to the original.

Get the images developed into prints.
(if your subject is moving it might be better to use two cameras with a dual shutter release)

Scan in both prints. Position them both in the same place on the scanner bed and use the same clipping rectangle for both so they will have the same pixel size.

Open both images in Photoshop. Position the left image on the left and the right image on the right. Zoom them in or out so that they are a reasonable size to work with on the screen.

I crank up the saturation on both images in an attempt to compensate for the washed-out appearance that the 3D glasses give.

Get rid of the Red channel of the right image:

Activate the right image (click its title bar)
Show "Channels"
Select the "red" channel.
delete it's contents

Copy the red channel of the left image into the red channel of the right image

Activate the left image
Show "Channels"
Select the "red" channel.
copy it into the clipboard.
Activate the right image,
select the "red" channel, copy the contents of the clipboard (ie. the red channel of the left image) into it

Align the 2 different views so that you can make sense of them as a 3-d image

Make the canvas size of the right image about 200 pixels bigger in both dimensions, so that the images can be moved around and maybe even rotated to correctly align them.

Select the red channel, rotate and move the floating Red (left) image around to try for the best effect (while viewing with your 3D glasses).

Crop the image, Save It.

Watch out! Not all images can be converted to 3-d anaglyphs. Images with strong contrast zones are definitively not adapted. They produce what stereo addicts call "ghosts". Strong contrast zones produce anaglyphs with too close and too strong red and cyan spots. This produce a very uncomfortable sensation through the red-cyan glasses. Images with large zones of saturated colors will produce "ghosts" too. All the left information comes from one color, red. If your image has large red zones, there will be no information (No green nor blue) for the right eye about those zones. No stereo effect will appear there. The same trouble happens with green and blue zones.



		how I did this first - why am I doing it this way? Printing costs were too high. All colour screens are stereo ready as they use the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) system to create the color of each pixel of the image. Despite it suffering from tremendous restrictions, anaglyphs stays the easiest way to experience color stereoscopy on a computer.


Creating Anaglyphs by computer
my equipment:		A point and shoot camera (or ideally two identical cameras) A color flatbed scanner Adobe Photoshop 2.5 or more recent A Macintosh computer with a colour monitor
overview:		Create the stereo pair: one image for the left eye an one for the right eye. Remove the red channel from the right image. Paste the red channel from the left image, into the red channel of the right image.
detailed instructions:		Using a normal 35mm camera, take a shot of a scene with some depth. Take a second shot of the same scene but with the camera moved 2 1/2 inches to the right, keeping the focus line parallel to the original. Get the images developed into prints. (if your subject is moving it might be better to use two cameras with a dual shutter release) Scan in both prints. Position them both in the same place on the scanner bed and use the same clipping rectangle for both so they will have the same pixel size. Open both images in Photoshop. Position the left image on the left and the right image on the right. Zoom them in or out so that they are a reasonable size to work with on the screen. I crank up the saturation on both images in an attempt to compensate for the washed-out appearance that the 3D glasses give. Get rid of the Red channel of the right image: Activate the right image (click its title bar) Show "Channels" Select the "red" channel. delete it's contents Copy the red channel of the left image into the red channel of the right image Activate the left image Show "Channels" Select the "red" channel. copy it into the clipboard. Activate the right image, select the "red" channel, copy the contents of the clipboard (ie. the red channel of the left image) into it Align the 2 different views so that you can make sense of them as a 3-d image Make the canvas size of the right image about 200 pixels bigger in both dimensions, so that the images can be moved around and maybe even rotated to correctly align them. Select the red channel, rotate and move the floating Red (left) image around to try for the best effect (while viewing with your 3D glasses). Crop the image, Save It.
Watch out!		Not all images can be converted to 3-d anaglyphs. Images with strong contrast zones are definitively not adapted. They produce what stereo addicts call "ghosts". Strong contrast zones produce anaglyphs with too close and too strong red and cyan spots. This produce a very uncomfortable sensation through the red-cyan glasses. Images with large zones of saturated colors will produce "ghosts" too. All the left information comes from one color, red. If your image has large red zones, there will be no information (No green nor blue) for the right eye about those zones. No stereo effect will appear there. The same trouble happens with green and blue zones.