• Blogs
• Forums
• Tradeshows
• Partners
• White Papers
• Podcast Show Notes
• Events

 

3D on the Cheap, Part 1

Jul 15, 2010 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer

Breaking out the two camera streams

When working with two different cameras, you acquire the files separately, import them into your editor and synchronize them on the timeline. However, though the AVI file captured by the FinePix contained two video streams, Premiere Pro saw only one of them. So I had to use StereoMovie Maker to separate the two streams.

As mentioned, StereoMovie Maker is a free program, which you download and run by clicking the EXE file. This means that there's no installation, which I like. If you don't have a Motion JPEG codec installed on your computer, you won't be able to play the FinePix files when you load them into the program, but StereoMovie Maker will direct you to a site where you can download demo versions of several Motion JPEG codecs.

For a free tool, StereoMovie Maker is actually quite competent, with the useful ability to synchronize and adjust the left and right streams captured by separate cameras, as you can see in Figure 8. However, all I needed it to do was create separate left and right streams, so I dragged the video file from the FinePix in and chose File > Save Left/Right Movies. The next prompt is for compression format, and I used the Motion JPEG codec that I had just downloaded and installed. StereoMovie Maker created the separate AVI files in just a few moments.

Working in Premiere Pro

These files loaded fine into Premiere Pro, so it was time to create my sequences and start editing. Mindful of the Google request that the combined video should be 16:9 resolution, even if I distorted my frames, I built one sequence at 1280x720, and distorted the videos using the Motion controls until they both fit side by side in the 720p frame as shown in Figure 9.

I also created a side-by-side sequence without distortion that turned out to be 1256x480, since StereoMovie Maker output two 628x480 files. I rendered both sequences into high quality H.264 format at the same resolution as the sequence, and uploaded them to YouTube, along with the video captured by the left camera to show what a 2D rendition would look like. Note that when you upload a 3D file, you have to include the string "yt3d:enable=true" in the Tags field, as shown in Figure 10.

I played the two 3D files and saw no significant difference from a 3D perspective. The 720p file looks clearer, probably because YouTube produced a720p HD version of the file, where the lower 1256x480 input maxed out at 480p. You can check out the three files on YouTube and draw your own conclusions.

• 720p source
• 1256x480 source
• 2D

As you can see in Figure 11, you have your choice of multiple 3D viewing formats, selectable via the list box on the bottom right. So get out your 3D glasses and have a look. That's Whatley, by the way, my eldest, just back from two weeks of ballet training at the Rock School in Philadelphia. Please excuse her camera shyness.

Related Links

3D on the Cheap, Part 2 Last time out, I detailed a consumer oriented workflow for 3D production, culminating with uploading a 3D file to YouTube. Since the YouTube video has only been viewed about 50 times so far, I'm getting the message that consumer isn't exactly the level that you care about...

The discerning viewer will note that I broke several of the 3D-related shooting rules that I stated above, including dressing Whatley in a reddish shirt that turned yellow in red/cyan anaglyph format, and by having the bulk of the 3D motion enter and exit the frame quickly. For this reason, Whatley's arms and legs never seem to hover outside the monitor the way the knife-wielding youth does in the first YouTube video we viewed, though the furniture in the room looks nicely set off from the background.

Come back in two weeks for a discussion of Nvidia's 3D Vision and better videos.

Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
© 2012 NewBay Media, LLC.