3D Pictures Project

February 19th, 2009
Go to Comments Leave a comment

This is a weird, random, slightly impulsive post. You see, back when I was in college, I found out that you could make a 3-dimensional image with any camera at all. You simply take 2 images of the same spot spaced apart at about the distance between your eyes. (The easy way is to just take a picture using the viewfinder on one eye, then take the same picture using the other eye, moving the camera, not your head.) If you place the image for your right eye on the left, and the image for your left on the right, and cross your eyes, you get a 3D picture. It’s true. I surfed the web and even found plans for a box you could create to help people who can’t cross their eyes view the images. The other option is to make so-called “wiggle-images” that quickly flash back and forth between the frames, letting your brain do the make-up work stitching them together. Well, I’ve decided to do a series of 3D shots around my area.

***
My question to you, dear reader, is: any requests?
***

Click on any of these thumbnails to bring up a larger overlay of the image, as usual. Think of them like those old magic eye things. If you cross your eyes, instead of 2 frames demarcated by the white line down the middle, try to create 3 frames. The one in the center will be in 3D. It helps if you’re looking squarely at the picture. Once your eyes lock onto it, you can move them around without losing the 3D effect. Can you think of any sights around the Seto Inland Sea or rural Japan in general that you’d like to see in 3 dimensions? If so, leave a comment! :-)

  • Facebook
  • email
  • Technorati
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks

Deas Customary Drivel, Media, Photos

Hit JapanSoc.com today for the best social news about Japan!
Loading...
  • One of enekochan's comments got lost, but I found it - reposting:

    "The are some kind of especial "glasses" to see those images in 3D. They are used by geologist to see ortophotographs easily in 3D. Sorry but i don't remenber their name :( "
  • Tom
    Nope. Can't get this to work any way I try it. I can't cross my eyes, never been able to do those magic eye things. In fact, I'm convinced they were always a big conspiracy perpetrated by everyone else around me and never actually real. Kind of like The Truman Show.

    Anyway, I'll have to see about making one of those boxes.
  • They're crazy - mirrors and whatnot. Ha ha. I hope the pictures are worth it...

    And by the way, Magic Eyes suck compared to these. Bwa ha ha ha.
  • Hao
    Try this technique: Put your finger between your eyes and monitor, and then focus on your finger. The background should "double", then remove the finger and it works!

    Anyway, why do we "learn" to un-focus? It's near impossible for me NOT to unfocus on objects 99% of the time :S

    BTW, the larger images wouldn't work because the frames wouldn't overlap (unless real far away from the screen), but the landscape idea could be good :) try with buildings, maybe it works
  • Hao - good trick for helping folks to focus properly. I would like to say though, big pictures do work! Printing them out is better than looking at them on a screen, but as long as you can cross your eyes and focus, you can have some high resolution 3D shots. ;-)
  • Aileen
    dude. my head hurts like crazy now!

    here's what i dont get, how do you focus once you've crossed your eyes?!

    i can cross mine, but then all i get is two blurred images the other way around and if i try to focus, my eyes go back to normal....
  • Aileen - don't focus too hard. Back up a bit and gently cross your eyes. Remember what I said - try to cause the 2 frames to overlap into a third frame in the center. Then just let your eyes settle and they'll focus. It works, I'm not lying!
  • Chesu - thanks for the comment. Like I said, it has been awhile. Ha ha. But I think they're cool, and I like them for my own memory-making sake, too.
  • Chesu
    Oh wow, I haven't seen anyone make stereoscopic images in years.
  • Enekochan - thanks for the comment. The thing is, I like the side by side / cross your eyes kind because they are in true color! You can't make a 3D stereogram in true color without polarized glasses. Plus, it makes it visible to fewer people...only people who had the right glasses could view a stereogram from me, but anyone who can cross their eyes a bit can see these true color versions....see what I mean? :-)
  • May be you could create an anaglyph and use those red and blue glasses.
  • Hao - your exuberance makes me happy. Ha ha. These pictures are actually much larger - I just scaled them down for the website. If you're curious, I'll upload the full-size shots for you - but you'll have to open them in a new tab or window. ;-) Your idea about shooting in portrait is a great idea. I'll definitely try it. I'm trying to think of something cool to take a picture of, though. Ha ha.
  • Hao
    How was I NOT aware that you could make 3D pictures by taking eye-distant-apart pictures until now?? @.@

    Wow, I'm still speechless. BTW they look great, especially the last one ^^, it's unfortunate that they have to be a tad small. How about taking pictures in portrait mode so that they can be bigger? Try it out and let me know, I wanna see more!

    <abbr>Haos last blog post was: Ceviche: Latin American Raw Fish</abbr>
blog comments powered by Disqus