The Pocket Sized 3D Revolution

If the media blitz around Avatar is any clue, 3D filmmaking is not just a gimmick.  In years past novelties like 3D film projection follow times when the popularity of theatrical film viewing wanes.  In the fifties we saw television rival the film industries dominance in entertainment and we were first inundated with this technology, not to mention a whole host of other elements ranging from cinemascope to the horrible promise of smell-o-vision.  Normally 3D has been a passing fad, but in the new context it seems to be a defining feature of the new video image preparation.  If this is to have the longevity in the new market it has to have the ability to be replicated on the consumer level, and every digital video company is competing like it is a post-apocalyptic triathlon.  Video recorders on mobile phones are standard and in the next few years we expect to see camera functions that will be able to match many prosumer functions.  In an effort to show that '3D is here for everyone' Ron and Amy Jo Proctor at Weber State Universe 3D have put together a bare bones way that you can go through this 3D recording process with two Kodak Zx1 Digital Camcorders.

  

The basic functionality of 3D viewing is the pairing of two video images that are captured in close proximity to each other.  In simple terms this means putting two video cameras next to each other.  The Webert State Universe 3D method involves taking both of these Kodak Camcorders and placing them parallel to each other in a fixed stand that they provide instruction for.  The cameras are set to begin filming at the exact same time, one for the right channel of the stereoscopic video and one for the left.  Once inserted into your non-linear video editing post-production workflow you can combine these channels appropriately to create the 3D image.  Unfortunately you still have to pop on the sci-fi glasses to get the effect.

 

The iPhone, as the consistent leader amongst multimedia based smart phones, has only recently included a video function.  Against most standard mobile devices it is superior in a myriad of ways, but it still has a ways to go.  It is listed with the Kodak cameras but this 3D process can easily come to the iPhone's video function.  To do this it would require the development of either software or hardware that would link dual iPhones enough to initiate simultaneous recordings.  The main principle behind the Weber State Universe 3D method is the ability to get two miniature digital video cameras side by side and to have them initiate recording at the exact same moment.  The iPhone's size is directly in line with this, and with the framework set up by social networking software like Bump this could be a real possibility.  The real next step is for the App Store to release editing software so the process could be finished and ready for upload right from the touch screen.

$250 3D Camera Test (Anaglyph) from Ron Proctor on Vimeo.