Retinal Rivalry The 3-DIY Blog

A Look Back

2012-01-16T04:18:00.000-08:00

I was recently having a conversation with an LA 3-D Club member, and we began discussing the many events and activities that the club has been participating in lately. It got me thinking about just how busy 2011 was for the club, and I decided to take a look back at everything we did last year.

Of course there were the monthly member meetings at the wonderful Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, featuring our photography competitions, mini-workshops on a number of topics, and a year’s worth of excellent projected programs from all over the world. Our projected images looked particularly fantastic in 2011, thanks to the generous donation of a new silver screen by member company Strong/MDI Screen Systems. The meetings continued to grow in attendance, with a lot of new faces joining the membership ranks.

But beyond the monthly meetings, the LA 3-D Club did quite a LOT of other activities:

We began the year with a 3-D photography presentation at the Museum of Neon Art, and we hosted a screening of 3-D films at the Graphation Film Festival in Los Angeles. January was also the first of our “3-DIY: Open Screen” shows at the Downtown Independent theater which give anyone with 3-D content an opportunity to see their work projected on the big screen.

In February, the club offered a public workshop on Shooting and Producing 3-D Images at the Armory Center for the Arts, and also welcomed the public to attend the judging selection for the 53rd Hollywood International Stereo Exhibition at the Downtown Independent.

March saw the club team up with the Echo Park Film Center for a class on shooting 16mm 3-D movies with vintage 1950s Bolex cameras and lenses. We also presented a special screening of “Orlok The Vampire,” the 3-D conversion of the silent film classic “Nosferatu”.

In April we held another Open Screen, followed by a very busy month of May, starting with a screening of 3-D short films for ProjectFresh, and highlighted by the LA 3-D Club’s 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival, which over two days presented an amazing program of international 3-D shorts, panels, and a special showing of the feature “Coraline”. The LA 3-D club once again curated the “3-D Village” and was a presenter at the annual Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA.

In June, we celebrated World Ocean Day with the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary “Ocean Voyagers 3D” at the Downtown Independent. We also hosted an outing to the California Science Center’s IMAX theater for a large screen 3-D double feature of “Arabia” and “Born to be Wild”.

We invited USC’s stereoscopic research unit S3D@USC, The Levis Film Workshop, and the Museum of Contemporary Art to present an exciting panel on “The Future of 3-D Filmmaking” in July, and we teamed up with the LA Film Forum to present a very rare afternoon with avant garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs in August. August also saw a club outing to the Santa Monica Museum of Art to experience the highly praised Marco Brambilla exhibit, “The Dark Lining”. We had fun joining up with the Echo Park Film Center’s Filmmobile to screen the 1950s classic turkey “Robot Monster” in the Hollywood Hills at Bronson Cave (the location where the picture was filmed). And we finished out the month by participating in the Topanga Film Festival’s 3-D Day.

In September, for the fifth year in a row, the LA 3-D Club was invited to the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, where we presented a block of films and exhibited a 3-D Art and Photography Showcase at the Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center. We also presented a screening of the Australian 3-D documentary “Cane Toads: The Conquest” here in LA. And our friends at Strong/MDI invited us to exhibit with them at the 3D Summit conference in Hollywood.

In October, the LA 3-D Club was at INDIECADE, the International Festival of Independent Games in Culver City, to present a History of Stereoscopic Video Games. We also went on an outing to the Nethercutt Museum to photograph their collection of vintage automobiles, train cars, and to enjoy some projected silent film comedies (sadly in 2-D). And we celebrated Halloween with the premiere screening and panel discussion of the indie feature “A Haunting in Salem”.

November brought another Open Screen to the Downtown Independent (along with “3-D Trailer Park” - an assortment of 3-D movie trailers) and an outing to see the 3-D conversion of the Korean blockbuster “The Host” at the CGV Cinema in LA’s Koreatown. And we closed out 2011 last month with the presentation of a selection of cinema legend Harold Lloyd’s stereo photos at the Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Hollywood, and with our Holiday Pizza Party featuring a show of works by Robert Bloomberg on the big screen at the Downtown Independent.

2011 Was quite a year for the LA 3-D Club!

Quality, Not Quantity

2011-12-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

I recently had a very unpleasant 3-D experience. While at the Los Angeles Auto Show, I spotted a 3-D exhibit at the Mazda booth. Mazda had several passive 3DTVs mounted at the center of their booth, with two pairs of headphones and polarized glasses each. On screen, you could select to view two different 3-D presentations showing Mazda’s new car features. I pressed the button for the first video, and watched one of the best examples of how NOT to shoot a 3-D video. Close ups shot with too wide an interaxial, shots with major divergence, serious window violations, and lots of wide shots that looked like cardboard cutouts of cars. Every cut was jarring as the depth jumped all over the screen. None of this was helped by the fact that the headphones were tethered to the display below each screen, and forced viewers to stand only 3 feet away from a 50-inch TV. I watch a lot of 3-D, and this still hurt. The first video ended, and I hesitantly clicked to select the second one. This one was clearly not shot in 3-D, and appeared to have been run through an “automatic” conversion process, as it exhibited depth, but not very realistically, and in all the wrong places. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with Mazda. How many thousands of people watched these painful videos over the ten days of the auto show?

Sadly, the weakest link in the 3-D chain seems to be quality control. Digital technology has made it very easy to create 3-D images, and digital technology has made it very easy to screw up 3-D when people get lazy. At LA 3-D Club meetings, we have seen a huge surge in the number of entries in our digital photo competitions - greatly thanks to the availability of the Fujifilm W1 and W3 cameras - and we have seen a great increase in the number of entries with window violations and other stereo problems. It has become too easy for club members to simply point, shoot, and upload, using the small autostereoscopic screen on their cameras as their only guide. Without people taking the time to plan the depth prior to shooting, or to examine and adjust images before uploading to competitions, we have seen an observable drop in the overall quality of our entries.

In the same way, the use of simple to operate 3-D video cameras, such as the Panasonic 3DA-1 and the Sony NX3D1, by people who haven’t taken the time to learn these camera’s strengths and weaknesses, have led to a lot of professional videos that have very poor 3-D. I have been consulting for a major distributor of 3-D content, providing QC on videos prior to release, and have been finding many problems like those in the Mazda videos. In fact, I’ve also had to flag a few very high profile projects as unwatchable due to problems in the ways they were shot. Another big error that I’m seeing is the accidental editing of pseudostereoscopic shots into projects. It seems that editors are having a hard time keeping track of which clips are left-eye and which are right-eye, and I can only assume that many editors never get to see their work in 3-D as they edit, so they don’t realize their mistakes.

Theatrical exhibiton also has it’s share of problems due to a lack of QC. Who hasn’t been to a screening where the projector lamp is too dim, or the screen masking is cutting into the picture, destroying the floating windows? Last month I went to one theater to see a 3-D movie, and the digital projector was set to the wrong aspect ratio, stretching the image, and increasing the parallax. I complained to the projectionist, and was told that the movie had been shown that way for weeks. At another theater, I was greeted by the ticket seller who said “Now the movie is 3-D, is that okay?” as if knowing that fact might deter me from wanting to buy a ticket. Once in the auditorium, as the trailers played, I could see that the RealD polarizer was out of position, and was cropping off the side of the picture. Again I complained, they were clueless and had been showing the movie this way for a week. Several minutes later I watched through the projection port window as a pair of hands grabbed the Z-Screen frame and tugged on it until it moved an inch to the right. This fixed the cropping, but must have misaligned the optics in the polarizer, as there was now a slightly doubled image on part of the screen. I should have also complained about that, but I know no one would have understood me.

It’s very disheartening to see so much sub-standard stereo due to lack of information and education, and in many cases due to laziness. We need to take a stand for quality in 3-D creation and for quality in 3-D presentation, whether it’s in amateur photography or professional filmmaking, otherwise the quantity of bad stereoscopic content will bring about 3-D’s demise again.

Stepping off my soapbox now.

WOW!

2011-12-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

OK Go's "All Is Not Lost" is a Grammy nominee for Best Music Video! I am so proud of my extremely talented friends, and so thrilled to have been the 3-D part of the team.

A Couple Of Reasons To Be Optimistic

2011-11-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

I recently attended two 3-D movie screenings on the same day. They were two very different movies, and two very different audiences, but they did share something in common - well known directors who have just made their first 3-D films, and are very enthusiastic about using stereo.

Martin Scorsese discusses Hugo

First, I went to a film industry screening of Hugo, the new narrative feature by Martin Scorsese. The movie itself is a stunningly beautiful love letter to early cinema, and in particular to the films of French silent film pioneer Georges Méliès. The production design by Scorsese's longtime collaborator Dante Ferretti is just gorgeous, combining the dreamlike period look of 1920's Paris with recurring themes of clockwork gears and steam powered machinery. And the film makes great use of stereoscopic depth to create atmosphere and bring the imagery to life in a way that totally supports the story. A highlight of the screening was the Q&A that followed with Scorsese and his principal crew. When an audience member asked Scorsese whether he thought 3-D had a future, or was just a fad, Scorsese answered with a brief lesson in film history. He reminded us that from the time pictures started to move, people wanted color, sound, big screens and depth. He explained that while Technicolor was perfected in 1935, it still took another 30 years for color to become the standard for use in more than just musicals and comedies (apparently, in the 40s and 50s, the studios felt that color wasn't appropriate for drama). He said that 3-D is regarded in a similar way now, but that filmmakers and people working in 3-D will get more inventive with it, and that ultimately he sees 3-D as another element he can use to tell a story. He pointed out that he was looking out at all of us in the theater in 3-D, that we all see the world in three dimensions, and that he looks forward to an eventual future where holographic actors can actually walk into the audience.

Wim Wenders introduces Pina

Right after the Hugo screening, I rushed over to the AFI Fest showing of Pina, director Wim Wenders 3-D documentary about the work of choreographer Pina Bausch. Bausch was a vanguard of modern dance, who died unexpectedly in 2009, and Wenders' film is a tribute to her vision and inspiration, as presented in dance by the members of her company. The film is truly amazing, and in my opinion is one of the finest examples of immersive stereoscopic filmmaking to date. Wenders' camera captures the dancers’ motion and puts us there with them, both on the stage and out in the world, allowing the audience to be more than simply observers. We share the dancers emotions, their yearning, and their love through their movements and through a brilliant use of space. Wenders was asked why he chose to make his film in 3-D, and he explained that he actually spent 20 years trying to make a film with Pina Bausch, but felt that he was never able to properly capture a true representation of her dancing, that it never looked the way he wanted it to on the screen. He said that he had given up until, in 2008, he saw U2 3D in a theater and realized that stereoscopic 3-D would give him the language he was missing. 3-D would allow a level of engagement that he couldn't get in 2-D. Pina could only be made in 3-D. And the audience at the screening seemed to agree. Even a self-proclaimed 3-D hater in the crowd stood up and told the director that this was the one film that should be 3-D. Personally, I was so moved by Pina, that I went to see it a second time two days later.

I came away from these two films with several thoughts. First, I have been suggesting for some time that while there has been a lot of discussions and industry workshops on 3-D technology, there needs to be more education on 3-D aesthetics. I strongly believe that good stereo is as much about the composition of objects in the frame and the volume of the empty space between them, as it is about setting proper interaxial and convergence. And these two films are great examples of that concept. Second, having shot several dance related music videos myself, I have been advocating that filmmakers wanting to work in 3-D should consult with choreographers to develop their blocking, because choreographers "get it" - they compose movement in space, they think in depth and volume, they understand the language of 3-D (architects also "get it", and would probably make good 3-D filmmakers). And third, I have a renewed hope that we will finally start to see 3-D films coming from Hollywood that are designed for stereo, where the depth is so integral to the storytelling that audiences will finally see stereo not as a gimmick, but as a necessity. It was great to hear Martin Scorsese embracing 3-D as another tool in his filmmaking palette. And after my second viewing of Pina, I approached Wim Wenders and thanked him for making a film with the potential to show a very wide audience that stereoscopic 3-D film is an artistic medium. He high-fived me.

From the Make: Blog

2011-11-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

I was featured on the Make: blog! This video is from the May 2011 Maker Faire.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/11/3-diy-eric-kurland-video.html

Back to the Future

2011-10-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

I’m writing this from the future. Really! I’m currently in Seoul, South Korea, where I am on the jury for the Seoul International Extreme Short Image and Film Festival’s 3-D category. The organizers of this festival, which celebrates all forms of short film, attended our 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival back in May (where their submission “27 Years Later” was awarded the Jury Grand Prize), and very graciously invited me to attend their festival as their guest. So I am in the future - sixteen hours ahead of Los Angeles. Of course I’m not really able to see events that are yet to come; no winning lottery numbers or horses, and only my best guess as to where 3-D is headed.

At the end of last month, quite a few people were very interested in discussing the future of 3-D. The 3-D Entertainment Summit, held in Hollywood from September 20-22, was an opportunity for the stereoscopic motion picture and television industry to gather to discuss the state of 3-D cinema, television, mobile and internet. Conference highlights included a “state-of-the-industry” presentation that showed 3-D cinema continued to grow over the past year, with some 30,000 digital 3-D screens now installed in theaters worldwide; panel discussions on 3-D storytelling, distribution, and creating content for personal mobile devices, such as phones, tablets and handheld games; and a keynote presentation by James Cameron, still very bullish about the future of 3-D. Cameron voiced concern that the studios may scale back their 3-D production due to recent box-office disappointments, but felt confident that 3-D televison broadcasts would create a growth market for 3-D content creation. He also talked about lessons learned from the making of Avatar and the upcoming conversion of Titanic, admitting that if he were making Avatar today, he would be less conservative with the depth. Cameron said that the 3-D experience will continue to improve as artists take the reins of stereo from the technicians.

The 3-D Entertainment Summit also included a 3-D trade show, featuring booths and demonstrations from a wide range of companies, from production and post solutions, to electronics manufacturers, to companies that make designer 3-D polarized sunglasses. Thanks to the generosity of our friends at Strong/MDI Screen Systems, the LA 3-D Club was able to have a presence at the event. Benoit Maillout, of Strong/MDI, was unable to attend, and offered me the opportunity to operate his company’s table in his absence, and promote the club. There was quite a lot of interest from attendees, many of whom were learning of the club for the first time, and were enthusiastic to hear about our organization and how we bring together stereoscopic still photographers, filmmakers, and CGI artists; welcoming both amateurs and professionals to come together to share their knowledge and their images. SCSC member Shannon Benna joined me at the table to promote the launch of her new group, Stereo Sisters, a community for women working in 3-D.

So here I am, one week after the summit, sitting at a computer on the other side of the international date line, preparing to attend several screenings of international 3-D short films. And I can see that the current trend toward 3-D is truly a global occurrence. Many of those 30,000 3-D screens are in Asia and Europe, and independent artists from around the world are creating volumes of new stereoscopic content in a wide variety of media. I may not be able to see exactly what the future holds, but I hope it’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. Polarized 3-D shades, of course.

One For The History Books

2011-09-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday, August 26th, the LA 3-D Club teamed up with the Echo Park Film Center to present a special 3-D screening of the 1953 movie Robot Monster. The EPFC is a media arts cooperative dedicated to providing equal and affordable access to film/video education and resources. Throughout the year they offer free filmmaking classes for teens and seniors, and affordable workshops for adults, on many subjects including narrative and documentary filmmaking, digital editing, and 8mm and 16mm film (in March I taught a class there on 16mm Bolex 3-D). They have a film and video lending library, and camera and projection equipment available for rental. They hold regular screenings of all kinds of independent films, and they own a veggie-powered school bus known as the Filmmobile, an eco-friendly cinema and film school on wheels. During the summer months, the Filmmobile presents showings of classic movies at the locations around LA where they were shot, and our joint screening of Robot Monster was held in the Hollywood hills at the gates to the famous Bronson Cave, used in the film as Ro-man’s headquarters. Everyone in attendance had a good laugh at director Phil Tucker’s seriously bad dialogue, and it was great to see this 50’s 3-D stinker with an appreciative audience. I even put in a special appearance as Ro-Man

In order to show this movie, I had to reformat an old field-sequential dvd recording of a 1990’s era 3-D broadcast, as Robot Monster isn’t available on Blu-ray, and it got me thinking about the fact that most of the stereoscopic movies from the 1950s are not currently available in any 3-D format. In fact, aside from the two 3-D Expos held in 2003 and 2006 at LA’s Egyptian Theater, most people who weren’t around in the 50’s have never had an opportunity to properly watch these pictures from 3-D’s “Golden Age”. I would think, and hope, that with the advent of D-cinema and 3DTV the studios would look at their back libraries and re-release this content. It would seem like a no-brainer to take such classic films as House of Wax, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Kiss Me Kate, and Dial M For Murder, and re-release them to a new generation. Unfortunately, the studios have not yet made these films available, nor have they announced any intentions to do so.

It really is a shame. Hollywood is trying very hard to produce good 3-D motion pictures, and everyone seems to be starting from scratch, trying to reinvent the wheel, and mostly disregarding the 3-D of the past as too primitive to be of any value. But I think there is a lot that could be learned from studying these films, and the methods used in their production. Yes, 60 years ago the camera rigs were big and cumbersome, their wide interaxials made it difficult to shoot close-ups, and the language of 3-D cinema was only in it’s infancy. Still, many of the films of that era demonstrate a brilliant use of the medium, their makers finding ingenious ways to work within the limitations of the technology to make beautiful images and tell amazing stories. I wish that it were mandatory that every filmmaker embarking on a 3-D project watch the 1953 movie Inferno, starring Robert Ryan and Rhonda Fleming, directed by Roy Ward Baker. This film demonstrates what well executed 3-D can bring to a serious drama - gorgeous stereoscopic expanses of desert, claustrophobic moments punctuated by a character’s inner monologue, and the great action of a climactic struggle during a raging fire. Today’s filmmakers need to be able to study and reference this and all of the other other classic 3-D films in order to see what worked, and what didn’t, and learn from those earlier efforts for 3-D cinema to have a viable future. After all, as philosopher George Santayana wrote in 1906, “when experience is not retained...infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Don't ask why, just enjoy...

2011-08-26T12:52:00.000-07:00

This Time It's Personal

2011-08-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

In July, I attended the National Stereoscopic Association annual convention, held this year in Loveland, Colorado. It was great to see so many familiar faces there, meet so many new people, and to get to see so many fantastic stereoscopic presentations. One thing that was very interesting to observe at this year's convention was that SO many attendees were using Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W3 cameras. At one point we were asked how many people in the room had W3s, and I lost count of how many hands shot up, W3s held tightly in their palms. They appear to have become the 3-D camera of choice for many, and Fujifilm has been very supportive of the 3-D community. In fact, Fujifilm recently donated several of these cameras to the LA 3-D Club for our members to use at club events and outings. I have also recently noticed while attending industry trade shows, and even on production sets, that a lot of Hollywood 3-D professionals are also carrying Fujifilm W3s as their personal 3-D cameras. Many users site the convenient size, ability to shoot high quality 3-D stills, HD video, and the glasses-free 3-D screen as reasons to keep one handy. I know that I've found that in addition to being a very good camera, it makes a great playback device as well - I have my own films loaded onto my W3's memory card so that I can show people my work at a moment's notice on the autostereoscopic display. Where just a few years ago there were no commercially available 3-D digital cameras, the Fujifilm W3 has definitely filled a niche market.

And now thanks to a flurry of new consumer devices, personal 3-D is going mainstream. This past March, Nintendo released its 3DS handheld game system, with a glasses-free screen, built in stereo camera (albeit low-res), and ability to play 3-D videos, as well as some incredibly cool augmented reality games that merge computer graphics with live stereo imagery. Last month HTC launched their EVO 3D phone on Sprint, also with an autostereoscopic screen, and built in HD 3-D camera, and this month AT&T enters the fray with the LG Thrill 4G, with similar specs, and the ability to upload and stream directly from Youtube's 3-D channel. Sony, JVC, and Panasonic all have consumer level stereoscopic camcorders on the market now. There have also been announcements of 3-D tablets hitting the shelves, 3-D portable media players and digital photo frames, and toymaker Hasbro has even come out with the My3D - an optical attachment that turns iPhones and iPods into digital stereo viewers.

And with personal portable 3-D viewers comes the need for 3-D content. Much will come from the Hollywood studios, and much will be user-generated via the cameras in these devices, and a great deal of truly innovative work will come from independent 3-D content creators. Two 3-D music videos that I shot for the band OK Go have already been licensed and distributed by Nintendo on their 3DS, and both the consumer electronics companies and the telcos are eager to launch their own 3-D streaming media channels. It excites me to see so many new possibilities for getting 3-D content into the hands of the masses, and so many opportunities for both experienced and aspiring 3-D photographers and filmmakers to create and share their work.

Tim and Dan perform Star Wars in 3D

2011-08-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Back in January, 2011, Tim and Dan from OK Go performed a scene from Star Wars for a vaudeville-style comedy show in Hollywood. They played Darth Vader and Princess Leia live on stage, and all of the other characters were rear-projected in 3-D. Glasses were provided to the audience, and there was much laughter.

Now, here for your viewing enjoyment, we re-create the experience.

Future of 3-D panel

2011-08-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

KCET posted some great coverage of a 3-D panel that I participated on.

Read it here: http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/arts-culture/the-future-of-3d-35027.html

New OK Go video on the Nintendo 3DS

2011-07-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

All Is Not Lost - the new mind-blowing video from OK Go is available now in 3-D on the Nintendo 3DS. Here's some behind-the-scenes footage featuring the guy who brought the 3-D version to the screen.

The 3-D Blame Game

2011-07-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Lately, there seems to be a lot of doom and gloom around 3-D, with the news media heralding it's impending death - again.

There appears to be a constant barrage now of newspaper, magazine and blog articles focused on the "public backlash" against 3-D movies. Most of these articles site the recent diminished percentage of 3-D ticket sales versus 2-D sales for the same motion picture releases. Typically, the blame is placed on the 3-D itself, assuming that audiences have tired of the 3-D "gimmick" that Hollywood has been foisting upon them. Stereo is being scapegoated as nothing but a money-making scheme by the studios, apparently with no artistic value.

The way I see it, there is an audience rebellion going on, but it's a backlash against mediocre cinema overall. 3-D doesn't make a bad movie better, and audiences are demonstrating that they no longer want to pay a premium price for a sub-par experience, and I don't blame them. The extra cost to attend a 3-D movie does make the stereo stand separate from the other technical and artistic aspects of the production, and makes it a target when the film doesn't live up to expectations. Mars Needs Moms was a bomb regardless of being 3-D, Pirates 4 was a poorly written sequel to an already tired series, and Green Lantern performed well below projected box office estimates in both 2-D and 3-D (while still coming in #1 at the box office during it's opening weekend, a full $20 million above the #2 picture, which to me says more about overall movie attendance than anything else). Saying that audiences no longer want to see 3-D based on poor performance of low quality movies, that happen to be in 3-D, is akin to shooting the messenger.

It would be just as easy to say that audiences no longer want to see movies with CGI effects, or with scored music. Or maybe the public just doesn't want to see any more movies with the word "Green" in the title, i.e. The Green Hornet and Green Lantern - Quick, Hollywood! Put The Green Mile 2; the prequel to Fried Green Tomatoes; and Soylent Green:The Musical into immediate turnaround!

Seriously, though, how about just being able to pay a reasonable price for an excellent movie.

In 3-D.

Digital Cinema For The People

2011-06-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last month’s 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival was a huge success! We screened over 35 films in competition, held a special exhibition of student works from USC, CalArts, and the Echo Park Film Center, and presented a sidebar show of movies by Korean filmmakers. There was a conversation with Stereo VFX Supervisor Chuck Comisky, equipment demonstrations from festival sponsors 3D Film Factory and Ron James Film, a great Q&A with stereographer Brian Gardner following the screening of Coraline, and a spectacular closing night awards screening and party. I want to thank all of the incredibly talented filmmakers who submitted their work to be screened, the many club volunteers who worked so hard to make the festival happen, and everyone who came out to enjoy two days of the best indie 3-D content in the world.

And of course, a huge thank you to Jim Kirst and the staff of the Downtown Independent Theater. The Downtown Indie has been our monthly home for 3-D movie nights for almost two years now, and we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with the theater to continue showing stereo content that you won’t see at any other venue. If anyone poked their head into the projection booth during the festival, you may have noticed the brand new Dolby digital cinema server and Barco 2K projector that was just installed a day before our show. This new equipment is brighter and has a higher resolution than the theater’s previous digital projection system, and allows the theater to show movies delivered as digital cinema packages, or DCPs - essentially a digital version of a film print - the digital format utilized by mainstream cinemas around the world. This gives the theater the ability to play more content from a wide variety of distributors.

A DCP is a specially mastered set of files - each frame of a movie is encoded into a jpeg2000 file, and the audio and video are saved as “essence” files within mxf wrappers, along with additional files that tell the server where to find each frame in those wrappers. DCP files can be encrypted by the distributor to require a special digital key in order to play on a specific server/projector. DCPs can support both 2-D and 3-D content, so I was very excited to hear that the theater had purchased this equipment.

Now, running d-cinema 3-D requires some additional bells and whistles to provide left and right polarized images from a single projector configuration, and unfortunately, this extra equipment wasn’t part of the theater’s package, so we weren’t able to use it to show 3-D content during the festival. The theater asked me for advice on adding 3-D capabilities to the new system, so I introduced them to Chris Ward of Lightspeed Design, the company behind the DepthQ electronic polarization modulator - an LCD panel placed in from of the projection lens, which polarizes the light, rapidly switching 144 times a second between opposing circular polarizations in synch to the left and right frames being projected. One week later, the DepthQ modulator was installed and ready to use. This device, in conjunction with the theaters new server and projector, and the LA 3-D Club’s silver screen, provide all of the pieces for true 3-D digital cinema at the theater, and at our future screening events.

I can’t wait for next year’s 9th Annual LA 3-D Movie Fest!

In The Merry Month of May

2011-05-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

May is a very busy month for the LA 3-D Club. On May 14th and 15th we will be presenting the 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival. This year’s festival promises to be an amazing event. We’ve received some fantastic 3-D films from all over the world, which will be shown in two blocks on Saturday afternoon. These films will be competing for some great prizes, including copies of Sony Vegas Pro 10 editing software, a camera rig and training course from 3-D FIlm Factory, and, of course, the coveted LA 3-D Club Ro-Man trophy. We are very pleased to have Chuck Comisky, 3-D Stereo VFX Supervisor of Avatar, as our special guest speaker. Mr. Comisky will also be sitting on our competition jury, along with our other esteemed judges, Buzz Hays, senior vice president of the 3D Technology Center at Sony, and David Wilson, founder of the Museum of Jurassic Technology. The program will also include a 3-D feature film on Saturday night, a free showcase of student produced 3-D films and free equipment demonstrations on Sunday afternoon, and an awards ceremony screening and reception on Sunday evening. Passes to the festival are $30, and SCSC members can get a $10 discount by using the password “Holmes” when purchasing. For more up to the minute information about the festival, and to purchase passes and merchandise, visit the website LA3DFest.com

At our general meeting on May 19th, we’ll be holding the final photography competition of the 2010-11 member year, we will also be hosting the last International Stereo Club Competition (ISCC) of the season. The ISCC is a competiton open to an international roster of Photographic Society of America stereo division member clubs, and includes the best images from each organization. The images at the May meeting should look fantastic thanks to a brand new screen, which was generously donated to the club by Mr. Benoit Mailloux, President of Strong/MDI, a leading manufacturer of cinema screens. We’re thrilled to have such a high quality silver screen to use at our meetings.

May 20 and 21st, the club will be in San Mateo, CA, for the Bay Area Maker Faire - the world’s largest festival of DIY. Art, craft, science and technology are all represented at Maker Faire - there’s everything from flame-throwing robots and cupcake cars, to musical tesla coils. Once again, the club will be curating a 3-D Village area, which will feature an LA 3-D Club booth where members will be demonstrating stereo photography and video techniques, and showing their work. Other exhibits will include Barry Rothstein’s phantograms, my own 3-DIY camera rigs and displays, and a bunch of other participating exhibitors with interesting 3-D related inventions. It’s an incredible event, and my words don’t really do it justice. I would encourage everyone to make the pilgrimage to San Francisco that weekend to attend - you won’t regret it. Information is online at makerfaire.com

A very busy month indeed. And, as always, you can get the latest information on 3-D events and the club’s activities at our website LA3DClub.com

My Secret Project With Ok Go - Part II

2011-03-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I wrote about the secret 3-D video that I shot for the band OK Go. Well there is some exciting news to report. In February, I received an email from the band's management, asking if I could format the 3-D video files to some specifications provided by videogame maker Nintendo. I prepared the files as requested and sent them off, curious as to what Nintendo was going to do with them. I soon found out that Nintendo had signed a deal with OK Go to include the video with the launch of the new autostereoscopic 3-D hand-held game system, the 3DS.

In mid-March, the band and I were invited to a private pre-release demonstration of the 3DS in Hollywood. I arrived at the demo location and met the Nintendo representative, who introduced to me the 3DS handheld electronic game and its human bodyguard (seriously, it had a bodyguard. My plan to "grab and run" was thwarted!). The 3DS itself is a small handheld game system that opens like a clamshell to reveal two screens. The lower screen is a touchscreen for controlling the device, and the upper screen is a 4-inch diagonal autostereoscopic screen for displaying 3-D games and content to a single user. According to reports, the screen uses a parallax barrier technology developed by Sharp Electronics to deliver a 400x240 left and right image to each respective eye. I was handed the 3DS, and found the screen's "sweet spot", centered about 18 inches away from my face. The Nintendo people wanted to show me some games first. They activated the 3DS' stereo cameras - yes that's right, the 3DS has a pair of cameras built into it for shooting 3-D. At only 640x480 pixels it's no replacement for a Fujifilm W3, and right now you can shoot stills with this, but not video. Once activated I could see the live view in stereo on the 3DS screen. They placed a card on the table and asked me to point the game at the card. The 3DS prompted me to position myself to where it could read a tracking mark printed on the card, and once it locked in the game began creating a world of augmented reality on my screen. I played a game where I shot at a dragon that was virtually coming out of a hole in the tabletop. My goal was to find the dragons weak spot by circling around the tabletop. This was very cool. In another game demo, the 3DS wrapped a photo of my face onto "beachballs" that attacked me head-on in the 3-D room-space onscreen. This was a new gaming experience for me, and the 3-D really enhanced it. A "depth slider" to the side of the screen allowed me to dial in the amount of depth displayed by the CG elements on the screen, and I could turn it off completely if I desired. I was given several other demos of the screen's rendering capabilities, and was so far impressed.

But, of course, what I really wanted to see was the video. A tap on the touchscreen to launch, and White Knuckles 3-D began playing in all of it's "dogs and buckets" glory. The image on the glasses-free screen looked bright, and the depth worked perfectly. I was very happy. I watched it again - there was something rather addictive about holding a 3-D video player in your hands and watching it without glasses. I gave the Nintendo rep my approval. By this time Dan Konopka, OK Go's drummer, had also arrived at the demo, and was also enjoying the video. Special props to Dan for what happened next - he told the Nintendo people that they needed to include credits at the end of the video to recognized the people who made it, and they agreed to add that for the release. the demonstration was over, and the 3DS was sealed into it's protective briefcase, and handcuffed to the bodyguard, who was racing off to the airport to fly it to another demo (okay, there weren't really handcuffs, but it was locked into a briefcase).

Fast forward nearly two weeks, and Nintendo put out a press release announcing that when the 3DS is released on March 27th, the OK Go video will be part of the first system update. It was confirmed, so now I needed to own a 3DS. I found myself standing in line at the Best Buy in West Hollywood, at midnight on a Saturday night, to be one of the first to get my hands on one I got the device home, charged the battery, and powered it up. The screen looked just as I remembered from the demo - so far so good. A simple wifi connection to the internet, and I was downloading the system firmware update that would add White Knuckles to the menu. Several minutes later, and there it was.

For those of you who don't have a 3DS, here is what the experience is like as shot with my stereo camera rig:

Nintendo states that the video is only available for a limited time, and will be deleted when they release a future system update. I'm going to permanently turn off the wifi, so I'll always have it saved, and ready to watch at a moments' notice.

Click Here to read Part I from November, 2010

It's Official: White Knuckles 3-D on 3DS

2011-03-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

The 3-D music video that I shot for OK Go will be the first music video available for the new Nintendo 3DS when it launches this coming Sunday, March 27th. The video was shot in true 3-DIY style (see my previous post), and will be viewed by millions of people this weekend!

From Nintendo's press release:

OK Go's 'White Knuckles' Music Video Jumps onto 3DS - in 3D

March 24, 2011
The new nintendogs™ + cats game won't contain the only furry animals running around the Nintendo 3DS™ system when it launches on March 27. Users who perform a system update will get access to a 3D version of the "White Knuckles" music video by OK Go. The single-take video, which features a bevy of adorable rescue dogs (and one goat), has been viewed more than 9.3 million times on YouTube. OK Go is known for its creative, one-of-a-kind videos, and the glasses-free 3D technology of Nintendo 3DS creates an entirely new experience by introducing a new dimension to the dogs and band members.

"We shot the 'White Knuckles' video in 2D and 3D at the same time, but until now, there hasn't been much opportunity for people to see the 3D version," said Trish Sie, the video's Grammy-winning director. "I'm fired up for people to watch the video again with Nintendo 3DS and experience it in a whole new way. This opens up all kinds of creative opportunities."

The recommended system update, which is now available, also enhances the communication features of the Nintendo 3DS system. To perform the update, users simply start the "System Settings" from the Home Menu, select "Other Settings" and scroll the page right to select "System Update."

Nintendo 3DS launches in the United States on March 27 at a suggested retail price of $249.99. For more information about Nintendo 3DS, visit http://www.nintendo3ds.com/.

2011-02-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Announcing the 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival

I'm excited to announce that the 2011 edition of the SCSC's Los Angeles 3-D Movie Festival will take place at the Downtown Independent Theater in May. This will mark the eighth time that the LA 3-D Club has presented an international competition of independent 3-D films, in what has now become an annual event.

A little history - Back in March, 1997, the club held its "First Ever 3-D Movie Competition" followed in June, 1998 by the "2nd Ever". The following year saw the "3rd Ever" in August of 1999, and then the club took a break from the movie competitions for a few years. While these competitions all took place several years before I attended my first SCSC meeting, I have had the pleasure of viewing many of the entries from those events on the SCSC DVD, where they are presented in field-sequential 3-D (It would be great to someday soon get new HD transfers of these films).

I first participated in the "4th Ever" competition, held in May, 2005, with the first 3-D video that I ever made, a piece called "Shooting Star" that was shot using a NuView lens attachment. The event was held at the Longley Way School in Arcadia, California, which served as the meeting place for the SCSC Movie Division. By the time of the "5th Ever" in May, 2007, I had begun doing digital projection for the Movie Division meetings, and the competition saw a great selection of digitally produced videos, including Ray Zone's "Slow Glass" and Tom Koester's "Towers of Simon Rodia".

2007 also saw the introduction of the much coveted Ro-Man Award trophies, which are presented to the winning filmmakers. Over the years, the panel of judges who bestow these awards has included such luminaries as Lenny Lipton, Phil McNally, Chris Condon, Dan Symmes, Bob Burns, John Rupkalvis, and Thomas Jane, to name just a few.

The "6th Ever" competition was held at the Longley Way School in May, 2009, and featured an international selection of entries from around the world, including movies from Japan, Germany, France, Colombia, and The Netherlands. It also saw the premiere of Sean Isroelit and Jeff Amaral's award winning short film "The Caretaker" starring Dick Van Dyke.

By the time of the "6th Ever", we had started taking our show on the road to present at film festivals. Selections from LA 3-D Club move competitions were presented at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, and at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival's 3-D Indie Film Expo. Shortly after our event, in August, 2009, we were invited to present a screening of 3-D movies at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, and we were introduced to Jim Kirst and the Downtown Independent Theater, which quickly became the new home of the Movie Division.

By the end of 2009, we had equipped the theater with a pair of dual polarized projectors and a silver screen courtesy of USC, and were planning to begin our monthly curated 3-D nights. The rapid growth of independent 3-D production, and our partnership with such a great new venue made it the right time to rename our competition and make it an annual event. The 7th Annual Los Angeles 3-D Movie Festival was presented on May 15th, 2010 to a record turnout, and featured two blocks of independent 3-D films in competition and a special screening of the feature film "Dark Country", complete with a Q&A with director/actor Thomas Jane and actor Ron Perlman. The festival was a resounding success, and proved to be both a great time and a positive fund-raiser for the club.

Which brings us to the present, and the 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Fest. The call for entries is now open, and the festival is scheduled to be held over two days, May 14-15, 2011. I invite everyone who is shooting 3-D films to submit their work, and I encourage members of the club to volunteer to help make this year's festival the best one yet! Details are available online at both www.LA3DClub.com and www.LA3DFest.com

Special thanks to John Hart, SCSC Movie Chairman Emeritus and Lifetime SCSC Member for his assistance with the history of the movie competitions.

2011-01-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

3DTV Abandonment Issues (Don't Try This At Home!)

In February of 2008 the power supply in my eleven-year-old TV died, and I found myself in the market for a new set. At that time, both Samsung and Mitsubishi were quietly selling 3-D ready rear-projection TVs based on Texas Instruments' DLP chip, which worked by projecting alternating left and right frames at 120Hz. These TVs required that content be formatted into a checkerboard pattern of L-R-L-R pixels which would be separated inside the TV for the DLP's wobulating micro-mirror array to display. At the time, the only way to play this format of 3-D was via a computer connected to the TV's HDMI port, and using specialized 3-D playback software such as Peter Wimmer's Stereoscopic Player or DDD's TriDef player. The level of technical knowledge necessary to make this all work together put it out of the realm of the casual consumer. But I needed a new TV, I had the tech savvy to make it work, and I already had 25 pairs of active LCD shutterglasses that I scored on Ebay for $1 each (They were listed as “3-D glasses that don't work with Spy Kids”) So I bit the bullet and puchased a 56” Samsung.

Fast forward almost three years to the present, and nearly every major consumer electronics company is aggressively marketing a 3DTV. Most are LCD based, a few are plasma, and only Mitsubishi is still using the DLP technology. 3-D content is now available through satellite and cable TV, Blu-ray disc, streaming internet sites, and even game systems like the Sony Playstation3. This is great for those buying new TVs, as they can now easily waitch 3-D at home, but not so great for us early adopters as most, if not all of the new hardware offers no support for the checkerboard pattern required by the first generation "3-D ready” sets. (Panasonic actually does make one Blu-ray3D player with checkerboard output). In the current 3-D standard, broadcast content is delivered in either a side-by-side or over/under squeezed format (to be "frame-compatible" with current broadcast bandwidth limitations), and full HD Blu-ray3D is in a multi-view encoded file format. Neither of these formats are directly playable in 3-D on the older TVs.

So what is a DLP owner to do?

Fortunately, Mitsubishi decided to support their existing base of 3DTV users by releasing a converter box that translates the current 3-D formats into the older checkboard (Mitsubishi's new DLP TVs will have this function built in). Unfortunately, Samsung did not follow the same path. They no longer produce DLP-based TVs, and chose to abandon their existing customers by not offering any support to make their older sets work with today's devices. In addition, because the Mitsubishi converter reads the EDID identification code of the TV to which it's connected, and will only activate when connected to their own company's products, the Mitsubishi converter will not work on Samsung televisions. At least, it's not supposed to.

Some intensive internet searching turned up a potential solution. A discussion on the AV Science Forum website described a method to hack a Samsung TV so that it will work with the Mitsubishi converter box. It required jumping through some very technical hoops, and potentially turning the TV into a giant paperweight, so I proceeded with caution. I followed the online instructions – setting my TV into service mode, connecting my laptop PC to the HDMI port, and using a program called Powerstrip to write a new EDID code into the TVs memory. And it worked! Now, when I connect the converter box, the TV identifies itself as a Mitsubishi 3DTV, and the box goes into 3-D mode. For video playback, I'm using a device made by Western Digital, called the WDTV Live Media Player. This small box connects to my home network and also allows me to play files directly from flash drives, hard drives, and the internet. I am now able to watch my collected archive of 3-D video files and also stream 3-D video from Youtube, and everything looks fantastic - on my nearly-three-year-old, unsupported TV.

Of course, neither Samsung nor Mitsubishi endorse hacking your TV in this way. The consumer electronics companies would much rather sell you a brand-spanking new TV...and blu-ray player, and AV receiver, and proprietary glasses. Don't even get me started on the glasses...

My Secret 3-D Project With OK Go

2010-11-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, July 13th, 2010, I received a most interesting voice mail. “Hey, Eric, this is Damian Kulash, from the rock band OK Go,” it started. Now I should preface this by saying that Damian is a very talented artist, musician and political activist, and is the frontman for OK Go, the band most famous for their innovative and viral music videos. Thanks to the internet, even if people don't know the band's name, they are usually familiar with OK Go's videos. The band's dance number performed on eight moving treadmills, and their interaction with a warehouse spanning Rube Goldberg device have been viewed millions of times on Youtube and other websites. In fact, the band made national news earlier this year when they fired their record label, Capitol/EMI, over the company's attempts to limit the availability of the band's videos online. In true do-it-yourself fashion, OK Go formed their own label, Paracadute (Italian for parachute), to self-distribute their music and videos. They are also very vocal on the subject of net neutrality – Damian has written several op-eds, and has testified before Congress on the importance of keeping the internet available to everyone without corporate road-blocks. I've been a fan for a long time. I should also mention that Damian is a friend of mine.

The message continued, “We are working on a video, possibly our finest to date, and I think we should shoot it in 3-D.” I first met Damian in November 2009, at a monthly technology lecture series called Mindshare. We chatted about our respective creative work, and I suggested that they should do a 3-D video sometime. I guess he was interested in the idea, as he and the band soon came to visit me in my Secret Underground Lair to see my 3-D shorts, talk about their video concepts for their upcoming album, and brainstorm some ideas. While we made no definite plans, I was invited to help on the set of their Rube Goldberg machine video, and filmed some stereoscopic behind-the-scenes footage of the production. Last March, when I was in Austin, Texas to moderate a panel on 3-DIY at the SXSW Film Festival, I serendipitously ran into Damian while crossing a street. That chance meeting led to an introduction to some people from Youtube, and a great lunch discussion about 3-D's potential on the internet. In the months that followed, I found myself crossing paths with Damian and his bandmates, bassist Tim Nordwind, drummer Dan Konopka, and guitar/keyboard player Andy Ross, at a number of other events – video presentations at LACMA and the Hammer Museum, in a lounge at the LA Film Fest, at the Hollywood Bowl, and at the Bay Area Maker Faire, where the LA 3-D Club hosted the “3-D Village” and OK Go gave a live acoustic performance – under water! I even randomly ran into the band in the cafeteria at Youtube's corporate office last May, when I went up there to meet with the programmer behind the Youtube 3-D player. Ok Go had also scheduled a meeting at Youtube on the same day, at the same time. For a while, we joked that we were stalking each other, and all the while kept saying that we wanted to work together on a 3-D project. So it came as no surprise to hear Damian say that they wanted to shoot their next video in 3-D.

What was surprising was what Damian said next, “However, we are shooting it this week. I should've gotten in touch with you earlier, but... Are you busy this week? We are in Portland, Oregon, we would like to bring you to us.” I returned Damian's call and he gave me the details. They were to start shooting on Wednesday, and would work through the following Monday. It was currently Tuesday afternoon. Damian apologized for, as he put it, “stupidly expecting me to be available on such short notice,” and asked if there was any chance I could fly up to meet them in the morning, and at lease see a rehearsal to advise them on whether a 3-D shoot was even possible. I asked him what video they were shooting, and he said “The dog video.”

“I'm coming.” I replied.

I had seen an early concept reel for the video to the song "White Knuckles" – using stuffed animals in place of real dogs – and I was eager to be involved in the real thing. I told Damian that I wouldn't have much time to gather equipment together, and would be limited to what I could bring on the flight, but that I could at least come up for the day to consult. The booked my flight, and I scrambled to pack my cameras and monitors. The next day, I caught an early flight to Portland, and a car drove me to their shooting location in Corvallis. I found myself on a set with fourteen dogs and a goat, all trained to perform with the band in a continuous, four-minute dance number. I watched a rehearsal. The director and choreographer, Trish Sie, who also happens to be Damian's sister, had worked out the performance in a way that perfectly utilized the z-space from a fixed camera position. I told them it should look great in stereo, and that I was eager to stay for the duration of the shoot. I made a few phone calls to find someone to cover for me at the July SCSC meeting (thanks, Ray!), and to get extra clothes sent up to Oregon (thanks, Jodi!)

The 2-D video was being shot on a Sony EX-3 camera, which was mounted inside a wooden box that the dogs could jump up onto. I had to position my cameras inside the same box and match the shot as closely as possible. The Canon TX-1 cameras on my homemade side-by-side rig were small enough to position directly under the Sony lens, and I was able to match the focal length, so the difference between the two shots was marginal. I ran the video feed from the two cameras to my portable 3-D monitor – a pair of LCD panels positioned at 90 degrees to each other, with a half-mirror beamsplitter between them, to allow polarized 3-D viewing. Using this monitor, I could check the alignment and sync before each take. With my gear in place, we began shooting the performance.

The goal was to get the entire routine in one take, with no edits – not an easy task when you consider that trained animals are usually only expected to do one “trick” on set before the camera cuts. But Lauren Henry, Roland Sonnenberg and their team of trainers from Talented Animals were convinced that they could pull off the unheard of task of getting the dogs to do the full routine in time to the music. Over the next five days, we shot 124 takes, and managed to get through the whole routine only about thirty times. Sometimes the dogs missed a cue, sometimes the band missed their marks, and for a while, the dogs were having so much fun that they started going faster than the music. In the end, we were all in pretty strong agreement that there was something very magical about take number 72, and that became the one we used for the final video. We wrapped production in Oregon on Monday, and I promised to keep the 3-D video a secret for the next few months.

Post production on the 3-D video was done back in Los Angeles in my Secret Underground Lair. I utilized the Stereo Movie Maker application to do alignment and parallax adjustments, and did color correction, titling, and final output from Adobe After Effects. The band decided that they wanted to show the 3-D video during their fall tour, so the mastering included the creation of both a side-by-side version for polarized projection, 3DTV, and internet viewing, and also a color-optimized red/cyan anaglyph version that could be projected on the road with a single LCD projector and white screen. The 2-D version was released on Youtube on September 20th, 2010, and in just one month, had already received over 7 million views. The 3-D version is currently being shown at OK Go's live shows around the country, and if internet reviews are any indication, it is being very well received.

I've always been a strong believer in making the most out of whatever resources are available to me, and finding ways to work within whatever limitations those resources impose. I'm thrilled to have had this opportunity to work with a band that so embodies the do-it-yourself ethos. And I think that the video itself proves that it's not so much what camera or rig you use that's important - it's what you do with it.

UPDATED - Read PART II of this post here

I'm featured in USA Today

2010-10-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

I'm featured in a great article on 3-DIY in both the print and online editions of USA TODAY's Wed. Oct 27th issue!

By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY

The Wild Wild West

2010-10-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

I often describe the current landscape of stereographic cinema production to be like the wild west - both a new frontier of boundless possibilities, and a place of conflict, rivalries and lawlessness. Much like North America of the early 1800s, the world of 3-D was first explored and settled by early pioneers. Wheatstone, Brewster, and Holmes made discoveries that launched the 3-D photographic art form, and Lumiere, Friese-Greene, and Land invented new methods to apply stereography to motion pictures. As in the old west, there have been booms and busts - the 3-D successes of the early 1950s and mid 1980s, each followed by a long period of practically no stereo content at all - sort of a 3-D ghost town. And today,we are seeing the mad scramble of the 3-D "gold rush" as every major movie studio, and a lot of minor production companies are staking their claims and seeking to make a fortune in the wake of the success of James Cameron's Avatar.

I recently attended two events that directly addressed this new frontier from completely opposite ends of the spectrum. The first was the 3-D Entertainment Summit, held in Los Angeles, and the second was the World Maker Faire in New York City.

The 3-D Summit was all about the business of 3-D. Presenters gave talks about theatrical box office numbers, acquired versus converted 3-D movies, advertising in stereo, and the future of 3-D in the home market. Keynotes from Dreamworks' Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sony President Chris Cookson stressed that for 3-D to continue to be a premium experience, it must be done right, and support a strong artistic vision. Katzenberg railed against rushed and poorly done 2-D to 3-D conversions, and Cookson noted the importance of education and knowledge in the new technology and language of digital 3-D. (Someone should have pointed this out to guest speaker M. Knight Shyamalan, who repeatedly demonstrated his ignorance of stereography during his session on The Last Airbender)

The thing that struck me about the 3-D Summit was that for all the talk of education and artistic storytelling, the majority of attendees, for the most part, were really only concerned with the bottom line. This was, after all, a business conference, and at over $1,000 a head to attend, an expensive one at that (thankfully I was given my pass by a producer friend who couldn't attend). For the most part people wanted to know what 3-D would cost them, and how much they would profit from it.

A week later, I found myself in New York for the World Maker Faire, put on by the same people who do the Bay Area Maker Faire every year. For the past several years, The LA 3-D Club has been represented at the Bay Area Maker Faire by an ever growing number of members who make the trip up to San Mateo to show their projects at the world's largest Do-It-Yourself science and art festival. This was the first time the event was held in New York, and I was excited to have the opportunity to go to the east coast and participate, particularly when I found out that the Faire was being held at the NY Hall of Science on the grounds of Flushing Meadows - the site of the 1939 World's Fair where the public was first introduced to both polarized 3-D projection and the View Master. I contacted Greg Dinkins, of the New York Stereoscopic Society, and asked him if he would like to join me in the "3-D village". Greg agreed, and enlisted many other talented NYSS members to exhibit their 3-D photos and movies, homemade camera rigs, and other stereoscopic inventions. The thousands of attendees who stopped at our booth seemed genuinely interested in learning about how 3-D works, and specifically about how we each create our art. There was no talk of profit margins or ticket markups - this was 3-D solely for the creative vision.

I always find it very interesting moving back and forth between the worlds of the motion picture industry and the independent artists, and getting their varied perspectives on the state of 3-D. I just hope that in this new frontier, there's room for both the cattle barons and the cowboys.

2010-10-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

On September 25 and 26, 2010, I exhibited my 3-DIY cameras and displays at the World Maker Faire in New York. It was a fantastic event, and I had a great time. Special thanks to Greg Dinkins and the New York Stereoscopic Society, for joining me in the "3-D Village" to share their amazing 3-D videos and inventions.

One of the coolest things I saw there was this volumetric display called Lumarca. It's able to represent 3-D shapes by projecting objects onto a matrix made of yarn. Check out the 3-D video:

My Inauguration

2010-09-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

I was recently sworn in as the new President of the LA 3-D Club(SCSC). The following is the text of my comments from August 19th, at the club banquet, on accepting the SCSC Presidency:

I want to thank all of you for entrusting me with the leadership of the LA 3-D Club for the next year. I’m very honored to be in this position. When I walked into my first SCSC meeting in 2002, I found myself standing in the back of a dark room, full of people that I didn’t know, watching a bunch of stereo slides being projected, and listening to the repeated announcing of numbers. 6-6-6-18! I had no idea what was going on. Then Sean Isroelit, the club’s Vice President at the time, came over to me, handed me a pair of polarized glasses, and told me I was welcome to come in and sit down with the rest of the group. And I’ve been here ever since. I’ve been a member of the LA 3-D Club through the presidencies of Philip Steinman, Sean Isroelit, Jeff Amaral, and Barry Rothstein, and have watched the evolution of the club under their leadership, as we have moved from analog to digital projection, from meeting in a church basement to being part of an Arts Center, and from mainly showing 3-D slideshows to producing full-blown film festivals.

We are now one of, if not the most active stereoscopic organization in the world, and we are continuing to grow, both in scope and membership. And the world of 3-D is also expanding by leaps and bounds. Hollywood has embraced 3-D and consumer electronics companies have bet on 3-D, which makes the LA 3-D Club all the more relevant today. At one end of the spectrum we find expensive cameras, high-end rigs, theatrical projection systems and multi-million dollar content created by professional stereographers. At the other end we find new 3DTVs, point-and-shoot stereo cameras, youtube 3-D over the internet, and a general public that doesn‘t understand the difference between anaglyph and polarized glasses, let alone why they need to wear them. I’ve always found it interesting that whenever people would come up to me and ask “why does your camera have two lenses?”, and I would explain that I‘m shooting in 3-D, the next question was always “Why do you do 3-D?“. What excites me today, is that now, when I explain my cameras to people, the question has become “HOW do you do 3-D!“ And I gladly tell them how I make 3-D, and how they can make 3-D.

Now, recently, a prominent stereography professional went on the record proclaiming that there is no place for 3-D “hobbyists”, as he put it, in the new 3-D landscape. I say he’s 100% wrong. Our membership includes people who have made stereo their career and make a living at it, people who enjoy shooting 3-D as an amateur, and people who know nothing about 3-D, but are enthusiastic about learning more. And I think that is why the club is so important today - we bridge the gaps by bringing all kinds of 3-D enthusiasts together so that they can share knowledge and experiences. It’s a great responsibility that I find myself elected into.

For the last couple of months, I’ve jokingly said that my first official act as President would be to abolish the presidency, and declare myself Emperor of All Things 3-D. After all, if Phil McNally can name himself Captain 3-D, and Ray Zone can be crowned the King of 3-D Comic Books, then I can certainly anoint myself 3-D Emperor. I figured that as long as I rule as a benevolent dictator, everyone would be happy. But then I started thinking about the SCSC and it’s members, and it occurred to me that the club only exists because you all want to be a part of it. I realized that the LA 3-D Club is less like an empire, and more like a Jumbo Jet. My job is to be the pilot, steering the plane, the board are the flight crew, making sure things run properly, and providing services for the passengers, you the members, who have bought your tickets and are on board for the trip. I’m going to do my best to make this a smooth flight, and I want to continue to increase the incentives and benefits of being a club member, but I do need your help to do it. I encourage everyone to visit the new club website at LA3DClub.com, join the yahoo email list and the SCSC Facebook group, and participate in the LA 3-D Club community and activities. As the club continues to evolve, I plan to introduce more 3-D events, screenings, workshops and opportunities for the members, and I want to appeal to all of you to step up and take active roles in making these things happen for the club, your club. This is your President speaking, you are all free to move about the cabin.

Youtube 3-D

2010-06-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

In the past I've mentioned the Youtube 3-D player, which was quietly implemented in 2009. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the programmer at Youtube who has been working on the 3-D functionality, and he showed me that the player is now embeddable in websites. This is an amazing breakthrough for the 3-DIY community, as we now have the capability to create video enabled 3-D websites. In addition, Youtube supports the "frame-compatible" side-by-side squeezed 1080p format supported in most of the new 3-D televisions coming on the market. This means that Youtube is now capable of providing a distribution platform for independent 3-D content to reach consumers in their homes. I'm very excited!

To this end, I have created a Youtube Group dedicated to providing a forum for the growth and exhibition of Do-It-Yourself 3-D content. I encourage anyone interested in creating their own 3-DIY movies to sign up with Youtube, and join the group which can be found at www.3-DIY.tv

Here is an example of the Youtube 3-D player embedded in a blog page - you can select a viewing method from the menu that pops up when you float your mouse over the 3-D icon.

It's still a beta release, so it will continue to evolve, and it has its quirks - for instance, the 3-D menu cuts off when displayed on a small playback window, and you must click "fullscreen" to see all of the options - but my new friend, "Youtube Pete" is working to make it more user friendly, and I'm sure he'll do a great job.

3-D Village at Maker Faire

2010-05-22T01:02:00.000-07:00

Once again I'm at the Bay Area Maker Faire, and this time, I'm curating an entire room - the "3-D Village"

And check it out, Wired.com did a feature on 3-DIY at Maker Faire.

If you are planning to attend, stop by and check out the exhibits which include:

The LA 3-D Club (SCSC) - 50+ year old organization dedicated to stereographic imagery in all its forms.

DIY 3D with me, Eric Kurland, Vice President of the LA 3-D Club - Homebrew stereoscopic cameras and displays, including live 3-D video, moving phantograms, homemade view master reels, and DIY 3-D photography workshops.

Stefano Corazza's [ I am a Bird ] - A time-of-flight camera tracks the motion of the spectator (real-time single camera motion capture) and that input drives the motion of a 3D Bird viewed with polarized glasses. The audience can in real-time animate the Bird by flapping their arms and hands, they can soar, turn, go at higher altitude and chase other birds in the sky.

Hologlyphics, Walter Funk - Real-time autostereoscopic video art integrated with live music & spatial sound. Musical keyboards, acoustic instruments and human interfaces controlling multiview autostereoscopic animations and multi-channel sound. Infinite perspectives of the imagery are seen as the audience moves, without any sweet spots in the viewing range.

3D Phantogram Imagery by Barry Rothstein, President of the LA 3-D Club.He will be demonstrating how they're produced and selling books and cards of them.

Heads-up display, Kate Compton, Technical Artist at Maxis - Wouldn't it be cool if there was an easy-to-assemble kit that would allow you to make your own fully interactive 3D Heads-up display with only a
smart-phone, a couple of lenses and a bit of plastic? It would be cool, and it is! Come try out this easy-to-make VR helmet, and the new apps available for it.

MAKER FAIRE runs
Saturday - 10am to 8pm - Sunday 10am to 6pm

San Mateo County Event Center, California

1346 Saratoga Dr., San Mateo, CA 94403

Maker Faire is the World's Biggest DIY Festival, Robots, Fire, Antique Computers, 3D Technology, Light Sculptures, Art Cars, Camera Obscura, Musical Instruments, R2-D2 Builder's Club and more

The 3D Village will be located inside the Fiesta Hall of the Event Center.

Be prepared for interactive stereoscopic art, 3D workshops, live autostereoscopic video art, phantogram display & demonstration, heads-up displays and 3D dome projections.

http://www.makerfaire.com

Apparently, I'm Buzzworthy!

2010-05-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

While attending NAB last month, I was interviewed for Larry Jordan's "Digital Production Buzz", the leading online source for streaming discussions on digital production, post-production and distribution, and the official NAB podcast. You can hear it at the link below:

http://www.digitalproductionbuzz.com/Archives/NAB2010-Day4-1100.mp3

3-D at NAB: The Digital Cinema Summit

2010-04-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

I've spent the weekend at the Digital Cinema Summit at the NAB conference in Las Vegas. This year's summit was focused on all things 3-D, from cameras and acquisition, to digital 3-D theater statistics, to home 3-D broadcasting, to 2-D to 3-D conversion. Rob Engle, 3-D Visual Effects Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks, invited me to speak on a panel about 3-D storytelling, and I was honored to share the stage with a distinguished group of 3-D experts - Rob; Bernard Mendiburu, author of the book 3-D Movie Making; 3-D Producer Phil Streather, and Chuck Comisky, whose many credits include Visual Effects Stereographer on Avatar.

The panel went very well, and I've received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback.

Details to follow soon....

Whatever Happened to Ro-Man?

2010-04-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

Just a note to say that the 3-D movie "Whatever Happened to Ro-Man?" has now been posted to YouTube in HD.

This short 3-D video, written and directed by Ray Zone features a revealing interview with Ro-Man, star of the 1950s "Golden Turkey" 3D movie Robot Monster who was located recently living in North Hollywood, California (in a house that looks suspiciously like mine.)

Behind the scenes pictures and info about this stereoscopic production
can also be found at Ray's website. Click the image below to go there.

3-D Movie Night - Ray Zone presents “The 3D Train from Nowhere”

2010-03-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

The LA3DClub has teamed up with the Downtown Independent Theater to present screenings of independent 3-D movies in Los Angeles.

Our next scheduled show of independent 3-D will be Tuesday, March 30th, at 8:30pm. We will present an illustrated 3D lecture by Ray Zone along with two nWave Pictures films about the history of 3D titled “Encounter in the Third Dimension” and “Misadventures in 3D.

Zone’s lecture addresses the 3D filming of the historic Lumiere brother’s ‘actuality’ titled “L’Arrivee du Train” and both the 2D (1895) and 3D version (1935) will be screened. As one of cinema’s founding myths, the screening of the Lumiere film in 1895 at the Café Grand in Paris evoked panic in the audience. Zone reveals some hitherto unknown historic facts that shed new light on this founding myth of cinema and he also explains the 3D camera system the Lumiere’s constructed to make this seminal work of cinema.

“Encounter in the Third Dimension” (1998)and “Misadventures in 3D” (2003) feature Stuart Pankin in groundbreaking stereoscopic visuals addressing the history of 3D and how stereoscopic perception works. Elvira-Mistress of the Dark is also featured in “Encounter in the Third Dimension.” Both films have presented in IMAX Theaters worldwide to great acclaim since their original release dates.

The nWave 3D movies feature highly sophisticated applications of computer generated (CG) and live-action stereoscopic filming, composited together in a sinuous visual blend that is intriguing, often humorous and features highly spectacular “ride film” sequences.

Come check out LA's only Indie-Friendly 3-D cinema. We hope to see you there!

LA3D Movie Division 3-D Movie Night - Ray Zone presents “The 3D Train from Nowhere”

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010, 8:30-11:30pm
Downtown Independent Theater
251 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Admission to the event is:
$5 for current LA3DClub members
$10 for non-members (admission is waived with USC Student ID)

Note: Paid parking is available at many parking lots in the adjacent area. The theater is also only several blocks from the MTA Red Line.

http://www.LA3-DClub.com
http://www.DowntownIndependent.com

SXSW

2010-03-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

For the last week, I have been attending the SXSW Film and Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas. Yesterday, I moderated a panel on 3-DIY, with fellow stereographic filmmakers Noel Paul, Gray Miller, and Ryan Suits. The panel went very well, and included some great information for indie filmmakers looking to get started in 3-D. My presentation included this version of my 3-DIY powerpoint:

I'll have more links, info, audio and video from the panel soon. In the meantime click through to enjoy this 3-D video clip from Saturday's panel on "Viral Video"

L.A.'s Only Indie 3-D Cinema

2010-03-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

The LA3DClub (of which I am Vice President) has entered into a partnership with the Downtown Independent Theater to provide a venue for independent 3-D movies to screen in Los Angeles. Thanks to Perry Hoberman at USC, who arranged for the donation of a theatrical silver screen, we now have a permanently installed screen in the theater. The club also recently acquired two ProjectionDesign F3 large venue projectors, which provide dual-digital polarized projection from the Downtown Indie's projection booth and project a sharp, bright, keystone-free image over 22 feet wide.

This has been my pet project for a while. Last July, when I shot my short 3-D project, Elevation, my co-producer, Roger Mayer, mentioned that he was programming the Downtown Film Festival of Los Angeles, and that it was "too bad we couldn't show 3-D at the fest." I assured him that the LA 3-D Club could show 3-D, and we put together a 2-hour program of independent 3-D shorts. Roger booked us into the Downtown Independent Theater, where we brought in a 12-foot silver screen, and a pair of projectors for the night. The show went great, and the theater invited us back to do a Halloween 3-D show. I mentioned to Jim Kirst, the Artistic Director of the Downtown Indie, that it would be great to eventually have a permanent silver screen, and projectors in their booth - but we figured the expense made that impossible. Lo and behold, I got a call a week later from Perry Hoberman, a friend and professor at USC. Apparently USC had a 40' silver screen that was being stored behind a set on a soundstage. The screen had been inaccessible, but the set had just been torn down, and for about a week, he had access to the screen. His question - "If we donate this to the club, could you find a use for it?" YES! We loaded up a truck and moved the screen to the theater. Shortly after that, the club was offerred a pair of large venue projectors, sans lenses, at a fraction of their original cost. We dipped into the club treasury, and made the purchase. On a whim, I checked Ebay for the VERY expensive long-throw lenses we would need to project from the theater's booth, and amazingly there was one available in New York - I "buyed it now." On Ebay, exactly one week later, a matching lens showed up in Kansas City, and I got that, too. Oddly, there hasn't been another matching lens on Ebay since, and apparently there hadn't been one for months before, either. Serendipity. On December 12th, 2009, the white screen came down, the silver screen went up, the lenses were married to their projectors in the booth, and the Downtown Independent Theater became the only place in Los Angeles to see regular screenings of independent 3-D content.

The LA3D Movie Division is offering monthly 3-D screenings to the public through this new venue. In January, we held an "open screen" night, inviting independent stereoscopic filmmakers to bring their work to the theater and have it shown on the big screen. That was followed in February by a screening of the indie horror feature SCAR 3-D, and featured a Q&A with Director Jed Weintrob and Producer Norman Twain. We also did a "William Castle" style promotion for SCAR, and had a (sexy) nurse standing by in the lobby with smelling salts during the screening to come to the aid of any unfortunates who were unable to handle the graphic subject matter. The next screening will be on March 30th, 2010. The program will be announced soon.

Come check out LA's only Indie-Friendly 3-D cinema. We hope to see you there!

CES is all about the 3-D!

2010-01-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

Just got back to LA from the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and the buzz this year was definitely 3-D. I've attended the CES for about ten years now, and every year there is usually some company showing a 3-D monitor, or claiming to have invented a new head-mounted display, but this year, there was 3-D at almost every major manufacturer's booth. Sony, JVC, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung, Mitsubishi, Sharp, LG, practically every TV maker had their version of 3DTV. Some use active shutterglasses, some use circular polarized, some are embracing multiple technologies, and all are pushing it heavily. Projector manufacturers are releasing 3-D ready projectors for home theater, classroom, and business use. Players from the theatrical end of 3-D were present, as RealD and XpanD are both moving into the consumer glasses market.

In fact only one industry seemed to fall flat off the 3-D bandwagon - the camera companies. Panasonic was the only major player to show a 3-D video camera, and they are pricing it at $21,000! Fuji, of course, has their 1st gen 3-D still camera, but nobody else is joining that game - Canon's comment is "we're still investigating consumer needs." Even Sony, with their massive 3-D pavilion and live 3-D broadcasts in partnership with 3ality, had no answer regarding a consumer 3-D camera.

3-D Bluray was all over the place, despite my strong belief that optical media is a dead-in-the-water format due to VOD and digital downloads. (A friend of mine calls 3-D the "defibrillator of Bluray") And DVD is dead - not a single 3-D DVD solution to be found anywhere. In fact, almost no support for existing home 3-D solutions. This all fuels my fear of a consumer backlash against 3-D at being told by the big corporations that they need to buy completely new hardware, both HDTVs and players to enjoy the coming 3-D age, especially after being forced to buy new HDTVs or digital tuners only a year ago.

The hope is that 3-D broadcasting will drive the market, and DirecTV has already announced both a Discovery 3-D Channel and ESPN 3-D. ESPN will launch their channel with worldwide 3-D coverage of the FIFA Soccer World Cup Championships in June - the largest single undertaking of live 3-D in history. The problem is that there will be a shortage of content in the immediate future to keep these 3-D channels "live". Hopefully, indie content producers like myself will be able to fill some of that void.

Which leads me to my observation that the Big Boys are missing a very important point. I attended a number of panels, and the "3D@Home Consortium" breakfast, where industry experts spoke of the future of home 3-D, both with rosy glasses (pun intended) and with a complete ignorance of the fact that independent content exists. Apparently, in the corporate vision of the future, only the major studios have the ability to produce viable 3-D movies and television programs, and they are missing the boat here. I stood up at the consortium breakfast, and asked why nobody was addressing what I see as the three 800-pound Gorillas in the room:

- first, that consumers will not be as eager to buy into a new technology if they can't create their own 3-D movies to view on that technology,

- Second, that there needs to be a distribution pathway for independent stereographic 3-D content to enter the game,

- and third, Youtube already delivers 3-D to the home via the beta player that has been active since last summer. Eventually, that player will finish it's beta stage, and any website will become a 3-D delivery platform via a simple embed. Most of the 3-D TVs on the show floor included direct Youtube streaming via WiFi as well. Now, Google owns Youtube, and Google has an OS that will be on millions of cellphones this year, also Youtube enabled. So, follow me here, Google is poised to become the LARGEST SINGLE AGGREGATOR AND DISTRIBUTOR of 3-D content in the world - both studio, indie and consumer produced content - and no one is talking about it.

I asked why Google was not invited to the table.

I left the consortium speechless.

My Latest Article

2009-11-30T00:03:00.000-08:00

Check out this article I wrote for MaximumPC magazine. It's in both the current print issue and on the website (although the print edition is edited slightly differently than the web version).

Elevation

2009-10-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest 3-D short film, Elevation. This little micro-budget short won a 1st Place Blue Ribbon at the National Stereoscopic Association convention in July, and was invited to screen at the Directors Guild Digital Day in August.

Here on the blog, the video is posted as an anamorphically squeezed crossview. Click through the video below to get to the youtube 3-D player, with a pulldown menu to allow you to select from a number of stereoscopic viewing methods including red-cyan anaglyph and parallel. And bug youtube to add the player to video embeds!

Elevation was produced as a sketchbook assignment through Filmmakers Alliance, a cinema collective based in Los Angeles, and had to follow the following rules: Make a film that is 3 minutes long, has only one line of dialog, uses primary colors, and includes a gun, a religious symbol, and underwear.

It was shot on a twinned pair of Canon TX-1 point-and-shoot consumer cameras, using a firmware hack to provide stereoscopic synchronization tools. The post production pipeline consisted of the freeware program Stereo Movie Maker, which was used for alignment and parallax convergence adjustments, and Adobe Premiere which was used for picture and sound editing.

The entire project was completed in less than 48 hours - the 3 hour shoot took place on the evening of Wednesday, July 1, 2009, and post production was finished by Friday afternoon, July 3.

The SCSC fall 3-D Movie/Video Division meeting

2009-10-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

The SCSC fall 3-D Movie/Video Division meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 7:30 P.M. in the Downtown Independent Theater 251 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 - (213) 617-1033

Click through video for Youtube 3-D player

We fell in love with the Downtown Independent Theater when the Movie Division presented more than two hours of 3-D content at the Downtown Film Festival - Los Angeles this past summer. This little gem is ultra modern, has 200 stadium-style seats, accommodates our silver screen and has a nice space just the right distance from the screen for our club projectors. Other amenities include a snack bar which includes the sale of beer and wine, convenient (paid) parking next door, and a lovely rooftop patio area ideal for socializing and sharing the latest 3-D toys. The Downtown Independent is a comfortable walk from the Pershing Square Metro station. Come into town early. There are plenty of inexpensive eateries in the area, including a nearby Yoshinoya.

There will be a $5.00 theater entrance fee. Grab a coke, beer or a glass of wine and come upstairs before the meeting. We'll try to start our meeting promptly at 7:30 in order to accommodate Metro riders.

The meeting will have a Halloween theme. You are encouraged to bring anything in 3-D you'd like to see projected on the big screen, and we will have a program of content with a "scary" theme for our enjoyment. Wear makeup and/or a costume if you can. Prizes will be awarded.

Speaking of prizes, we will be announcing plans for our next international competition ("The Seventh Ever") at the meeting, as well as sharing recent Movie Division activities (participation in the Big Bear Lake Film Festival and projection of Thomas Jane's directorial debut in his first 3-D feature, Dark Country, at the Long Beach Comic Con.

You need not be an SCSC member to attend Movie Division meetings. All are welcome. However, it is helpful if you RSVP your intention to attend so we can plan such things as the number of 3-D glasses we need and how much popcorn and drinks to have ready. (RSVP to movies3d@aol.com.)

I'm putting on an event this Tuesday!

2009-08-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

3-DIY: Do It Yourself 3-D Movies
Short Films of the Desktop 3-D Revolution

A program of short digital 3-D movies Shown as part of the Downtown Film Festival of Los Angeles (DFFLA) Curated by John E. Hart, Chairman of the LA 3-D Club Movie Division
(Stereo Club of Southern California)

Emerging digital toolsets are driving a wave of independent production of stereoscopic motion pictures. New 3-D movies in every conceivable genre, from documentaries and avant-garde experiments, to dramatic and humorous narratives, are being made by fiercely individual filmmakers all around the world. In their hands, the 3-D film is evolving a new visual grammar for the motion picture screen.

This program, a stereoscopic showcase of short films curated by John Hart of the Stereo Club of Southern California, presents award-winning entries from the 6 international 3-D movie contests held by the LA 3-D Club Movie Division. Dedicated to independent production and the exhibition of stereoscopic movies, the LA 3-D Club unites both amateur and professional filmmakers by providing a platform for desktop 3-D movies. Learn how to make your own 3-D movies without the backing of a Hollywood studio as a panel of the filmmakers convene after the screening to discuss the new stereoscopic toolsets and their availability.

Tuesday, August 18
7:30 – 11 pm
Downtown Independent Theater
251 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

for tickets: http://downtownla.bside.com/2009/films

Screenings followed by panel discussion

The Program: (listed alphabetically by director’s last name)

Moving Still (2008) Colombia, 3 min. Dir: Santiago Caicedo
Come Coco (2009) Colombia, 7 min. Dir: Santiago Caicedo

Skydiving (2008) USA, 3 min. Dir: Eric Deren

Ztring Theory (2008) Norway, 5 min. Dir: Jo Eldoen

Ghost Car (2008), USA, 5 min. Dir: John E. Hart
Doggone (2009), USA, 11 min. Dir: John E. Hart

Wanderlust (Bjork video) (2008) USA, 7 min. Dir: Sean Helfritch
& Isaiah Saxon

Family Guy: Blue Harvest (2008), USA, 3 min. Dir: Sean Isroelit

Towers of Rodia (2007) USA, 14 min. Dir: Tom Koester
Ennis House (2008) USA, 6 min. Dir: Tom Koester

Elevation (2009), USA, 3 min. Dir: Eric Kurland

A Better Mousetrap (2005) USA, 2 min. Dir: Ron Labbe

Pump Action (2006) USA, 3 min. Dir: Phil McNally

Fireworks Symphony (2008) Japan, 5 min. Dir: Takashi Sekitani

Reminiscence (2007) France, 5 min. Dir: Celine Tricart

Slow Glass (2007), USA, 14 min. Dir: Ray Zone

Panel: Making Your Own 3D Movies
Moderated by Ray Zone
Panelists: Eric Kurland, Sean Isroelit, Tom Koester and John Hart

The moderator and all of the panelists have directed or produced award-winning short 3-D movies that have been shown in a variety of exhibition venues.

Rooftop wine and cheese reception to follow

for tickets: http://downtownla.bside.com/2009/films

DGA Digital Day

2009-08-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

Today I'm giving a presentation at the Director's Guild as part of their Digital Day 2009. My talk covers the topic "3-D on a Dime" and I'll be outlining my hardware and software solutions for creating microbudget 3-D content, including a screening of my short Elevation.

My friend Ray Zone calls what I do "3-DIY" or Do-It-Yourself 3-D, and I like that so much that I'll be starting a website soon full of resources for the indie 3-D filmmaker. It'll be located at, appropriately enough,
www.3-DIY.net

Here is my powerpoint presentation from the event:

San Diego Comic-Con 2009

2009-07-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've made the annual pilgimage to San Diego for Comic-Con. Some amazing 3-D content in Hall H from the studios this year. Avatar looks amazing, and I'm really looking forward to Tron:Legacy, too.

Here's some images from around the con:

NSA 2009

2009-07-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

I'm posting from the National Stereoscopic Association 2009 Convention, in Mesa, Arizona, where I am co-chairing the Stereo Theater. In just a few hours, we open the doors to 3 full Days of 3-D content, from vintage stereocard images to the latest in independent 3-D cinema, all digitally projected in HD.

Oh, and did I mention, my short 3-D film "Elevation" will be screening this Saturday, at 11am!

If you're anywhere near Phoenix this weekend, stop in and check it out!

Frak Yes!

2009-06-17T00:55:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, June 13, 2009, I attended the Los Angeles Grand Performances season opener concert - Bear McCreary and the Music of Battlestar Galactica. The evening kicked off with a performance by "Brendan's Band", featuring Brendan McCreary, Raya Yarbrough, and Steve Bartek. Then Bear and the BSG orchestra took the stage and performed an amazing evening of music from the TV series. At one point Bear was even joined on stage by Katee "Starbuck" Sackhoff for a piano duet. I somehow managed to avoid the camera ban enforced by some overly zealous security guards and took many 3-D photos.

Click for a slideshow

Maker Faire 2009

2009-06-01T01:21:00.000-07:00

This year at Maker Faire, I spent two days at my booth showing a bunch of my 3-D contraptions, including the video phantogram tabletop, live camera projection and the stereoscope PSP. I had all of the gear featured in my Make: article from last year. The newest additions to my exhibit were my homemade View Master reels made from digital 3-D photos I took at last year's Maker Faire, and my latest camera rig - the twinned Canon TX1s that I use to shoot HD video.

Overall the faire was a success - everyone who came by the booth seemed very interested and engaged, and they loved seeing themselves in 3-D on the big 6-foot screen.

We were kept so busy, that I didn't get to visit the rest of the faire and take pictures like last year. But I did manage to sneak away on Sunday to shoot video of the Diet Coke and Mentos Fountain performance done by the crazy mad scientists at Eepybird.

It's been a while...

2009-05-31T00:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I haven't updated the blog since last summer - but I've been busy! I've setup a 3-D media lab in my Secret Underground Lair, and I'm working on all kinds of cool stereoscopic projects. I'm planning to go through the last 10 months of 3-D and start posting back-dated content to fill in the HUGE hole left by my neglect. Stay tuned...

...in the meantime, enjoy this short video from the setup day at Maker Faire 2009:

2008-07-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I participated in this event at Machine Project:

“A Practical Demonstration”
Part One: On Sunday July 6th at 6pm a stuntman will leap from Machine Project’s 2nd story window. We would like to invite folks to attend the leap, with a miniDV video camera (everyone’s got one nowadays, we can probably even supply you with one if you don’t). The videographers will be arranged in a large circle on the ground around the spot where the body will fall. They will document the leap and then turn over their video footage (tapes to be provided, unless you want to donate one). This footage will then be edited to create a very clumsy “Matrix” effect that suspends the stuntperson in mid-air with a 360 degree pan. We would like to get at least 40 people to film, so tell a friend.

This Friday is part two:

All day at the gallery we’ll be projecting continuous live broadcasts tracking the sun as it travels around the Earth, with help from camera-ready friends and volunteers worldwide. (We still need a volunteer cameraperson in Cape Verde if you know anyone.)
We’ll also be screening the final edited footage of our stunt jumper.

I cut together some of my own 3-D footage of the stunt jumping.

Stunts at Machine Project 3-D from Eric Kurland on Vimeo.

Siggraph meets Make:

2008-06-10T05:21:00.000-07:00

I'll be exhibiting some of my 3-D video gear at tonight's Los Angeles Siggraph meeting. For details, click the image.

I'm Published!

2008-05-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

Make: issue 14 has just hit the newstands, and I'm in it! I wrote an article all about my Homebrew 3-D video production tools.

You can check out the article HERE

Maker Faire wrap-up: Part 3 - My Photos

2008-05-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten all of my photos from Maker Faire aligned and uploaded. Here is a link to the collection of 3-D images from both days:

Maker Faire wrap-up: Part 2 - Workshop Photos

2008-05-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

During Maker Faire, I did a few workshops at my booth, teaching attendees with digital cameras how to shoot stereoscopic still images with a single camera via the "cha-cha" method of taking one photo with your weight on your left foot, and one photo with your weight shifted to your right foot. This essentially gives you a matched stereo pair, as long as the subject isn't moving during the two shots. A more detailed tutorial can be found on the SCSC website.

What was really cool was that I challenged people at the booth to go out with their digital cameras and take a 3-D picture during Maker Faire, and if they brought their memory card back to my table, I would align their photo and make an anaglyph print for them to take home. Over the course of the event, I had 5 people come back with photos - one woman, who came by on Saturday with only a camera-phone, was so excited to try this that she returned on Sunday with a better camera.

So here are the efforts of some first time stereo photographers:

I'd like to add photo credits to these, so if you took one of these, please email me with your full name, and let me know which one is yours.

Maker Faire wrap-up: Part 1

2008-05-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the Maker Faire is over now, and I'm back at home. I'm calling it a great success! Atendees seemed genuinely excited to see all of my and Perry's stereoscopic displays. My video phantogram worked perfectly!!! And I only completed it three days before the expo.

I'd like to thank everyone who came by the booth for all of the positive comments. We had a great time showing you our 3-D contraptions. I'll have a large album of 3-D photos uploaded soon. I'll also be adding links to the information and software downloads that I spoke about during the show.

And, to toot my own horn a little, Make: magazine's editor-in-chief Mark Frauenfelder awarded us an Editor's Choice Blue Ribbon!

Maker Faire Day Two

2008-05-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a blast! My video phantogram table consistently got people to react with a "Whoa!" - that's what I was going for - and I received many positive comments about the 3-D booth in general. I'm on my way over to day two now, and hope to post a wrap up with 3-D images later this week.

Maker Faire Day One

2008-05-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

Maker Faire begins in a few hours - come by and check out the 3-D shenanigans at booth Expo Green 218. Live 3-D video projection, video Phantograms, stereo photography workshops, and some cool 3-D projects from my friend and fellow stereographer, Perry Hoberman.

Maker Day 2008

2008-05-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

First report from San Mateo:

As a precursor to this year's Maker Faire, yesterday was Maker Day - a day of presentations and performances by some of the Makers at this years show. Today was also a day of set-up for many of the larger displays. A good time was had by all. Enjoy the photoset.

I'm an eccentric geek - Xeni Jardin said so!

2008-04-08T04:48:00.000-07:00

Last October, Dorkbot Socal arranged a tour of Mister Jalopy's Garage, and I brought along my 3-D camera rig to shoot some stills and video there. boing boing TV shot some footage of me and my cameras, and included it in their 10/24/07 webcast. You can visit the original bbTV post here, or just watch the video below (I'm the second segment, after the interview with Mister Jalopy).

Wanderlust 3-D

2008-03-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended the Culver City screening of the 3-D music video for Björk's Wanderlust.

It was BRILLIANT! Filmmakers Sean Hellfritsch, Isaiah Saxon and Mark De Pace were present and hosted a Q&A session featuring behind-the-scenes 3-D photos taken by stereographer Greg Dinkins. All I can say is - if you have an opportunity to see this short film projected on a large screen, GO! It will be released eventually online and on DVD in anaglyph, but the full color, large screen version is not to be missed. For more on the filmmakers, visit their website Encyclopedia Pictura and for more info on the making of the video, click here.

The video is viewable online at wired.com!

V For Vintage Stereo Card

2008-03-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last week, I found an auction on Ebay that I just had to bid on. It's a vintage stereocard of a group of British children holding up an effigy of Guy Fawkes. Yes, Guy Fawkes - England's 17th century terrorist who attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, was caught and executed, and went on to inspire the titular character in the graphic novel and movie "V For Vendetta".

“Remember, remember
the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”

November 5th, the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, marked the traditional British celebration of "Guy Fawkes Night". The evening typically included festive bonfires, fireworks, and children going door-to-door with an effigy of Fawkes.

I thought the card was really cool, and now I own it. Here it is in anaglyph for your viewing pleasure.

Boba Fett - Rocketman

2008-03-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Boba Fett - Rocketman from Eric Kurland on Vimeo.

At last May's 30th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration in Los Angeles, I captured this 3-D video of Boba Fett flying with a real live jetpack!

The sound from the rockets was unbearably loud, but the crowd didn't seem to mind because - hey, Boba Fett with a jetpack!

red on the left/cyan on the right...enjoy.

2008-02-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

Last year, while touring the Heritage Square museum in Los Angeles, I learned that the stereoscope was the TV of the Victorian era. In the 1890s, it was common for people to retire to the parlor after dinner and pull out the stereocards in order to watch an African safari or a trip to Moscow.

I have a large collection of devices for viewing 3-D images and videos, both high-tech and low-tech, but until recently, I didn't have a vintage "Holmes-style" stereoscope card viewer. That changed in 2006 when I purchased a nice century-old viewer at the annual Stereo Club of Southern California auction. Only problem now is that stereocards are large and bulky, and lugging around a collection of images requires a large box. I figured that there had to be a digital solution.

I had already been playing around with transferring 3-D movies to my Sony PSP in side-by-side format for freeviewing, and had picked up the "Metal Gear Acid" game that comes with a cardboard 3-D attachment for the PSP, so it seemed that the PSP would be the answer. After all, the PSP has a nice wide screen with pretty good resolution, and can hold hundreds of JPEGs on it's internal memory stick. It even has a built-in slideshow function. And also, I thought it would be cool, and somewhat "steampunk" to mount a PSP on a vintage stereoscope.

As luck would have it, the PSP fits almost perfectly between the two wire card-holders on either end of the slidebar. Now, I didn't want to do anything to alter the viewer, as it is an antique, and I wanted the PSP to be removable, so i turned to my old friend Velcro to attach the PSP. I cut two loops of thin Velcro strapping, just long enough to go around the PSP, and slidebar, and fasten to itself. That's really all it takes to hold the PSP firmly in place.

The whole setup works perfectly. I'm currently carrying around some 400 jpegs of stereocards and a bunch of 3-D movies on a 2G memory stick. Converting movies to parallel side-by-side format for the PSP is pretty easy, and gives me a portable method to show my work to people. And I've discovered that the PSPscope is a great way to view digital stereo photos shot with my Loreo Lens-in-a-cap attachment, as I can just eject the memstick from my DSLR and insert it into the PSP. I'll write up some tutorials on this stuff in the future.

So now I can carry my whole stereocard collection around at once, instantly access any image, watch a slideshow, 3-D movie, or play a 3-D videogame on this marriage of 19th century and 21st century tech.

MakerFaire 3-D Video

2008-02-19T03:31:00.000-08:00

MakerFaire 3-D from Eric Kurland on Vimeo.

One hour of stereoscopic 3-D footage from the 2007 Bay Area MakerFaire, compressed into two minutes.

I had a stereoscopic camera rig at my booth, running live 3D projection onto a silver screen. Watch as people reach out to touch themselves.

Grab your Red-Cyan Anaglyph glasses and enjoy!

I have two eyes!

2008-02-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the blog! I'll be posting all kinds of cool 3D things made possible through binocular vision...and despite the blog's title, I'll try not to hurt your eyes.