Archive for the ‘3D Products’ Category

Sources from the 3D World Magazine & Sony 3D competition have noted via their forum that around 50 entries were received for the 3d short film competition. Entries came from all over the globe, including  Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and the UK. The good news is, as there are over 50 prizes up for grabs, everyone should get some prize to reward their efforts.

The original plan was to announce the winner at this week’s SIGGRAPH and to showcase the winners there, however the sheer volume of entries has delayed this. Steve from 3D World via the forum said that he expected the winners to be announced once they get back from LA. With SIGGRAPH closing at the end of this week hopefully that means everyone who entered should be hearing in early August.

Find out more about the Sony 3D World Competition.

During my recent “Low Budget Stereoscopic 3D” discussion panel apperance at Leith FIlm Festival, we took a break to run a DVD of my short film “FourPlay” to the audience to demonstrate the type of things you can do on no, or very little budget. I was apprehensive as I’d had to convert the full hd streams down to a low resolution, then convert them to an anaglyph MPEG 2 for burning to DVD to playback on a projection system I’d never seen before and really had no time to test.

The film started, I popped on my glasses and was mortified. The projector effectively blew away the red/cyan edges leaving an overly bright 2d image that had everyone staring through anaglyph glasses to no effect. As it was a small crowd I announced that the 3d had not worked for me and that if anyone wanted to see the film properly we could play it back on my 3D Acer laptop following the discussion. Fortunately a few members of the audience did come forward and have a look afterwards but this didn’t make up for the disaster that had occured.

With that in mind I propose starting an anti-anaglyph association – with the aim of stopping filmmakers from falling into the same trap as I did – never assume the projector will be okay, never reduce the quality of your work to have it shown and most importantly steer clear of horrible anaglyph projections!

Share your anaglyph horror stories – join the AAA now!

The PlayStation Network is now offering a Stereoscopic 3D Game Pack online for £23.99 that will surely usher in a new era of enhanced stereo 3D gaming on PS3.

Gamers who have a suitable 3D TV can now purchase the 3D starter pack from PSN Europe. The game pack includes full 3D versions of WipEout 3D and Super Stardust HD, plus bonus S3d add ons for Pain and a demo of MotorStorm Pacific Rift 3D.

“We’re extremely excited to be at the helm of a whole new gaming experience unlike anything offered before,” SCEA’s hardware marketing director John Koller stated.

“Starting today, games and demos will be available in stereoscopic 3D for anyone who owns a PS3 system and 3D television. With new gaming experiences coming this year in the form of stereoscopic 3D gaming and PlayStation Move, as well as an expansive software line-up, the PS3 system truly does everything and continues to be at the forefront of innovation.”

“In addition, Stereoscopic 3D Blu-ray movie playback is coming to the PS3 this year via firmware update. Stay tuned for even more 3D news and announcements coming in the near future.”

UPDATE: It appears as of 13th June that although the pack is listed in PSN it errors when attempts are made to purchase. It is possible this shouldn’t have been made available in Europe yet. More news will follow.

Amazon US has started taking pre-orders for the cool little 3D HD Camcorder from Aiptek that we reported on earlier this year.

The Aiptek 3D camcorder looks like a good budget choice for shooting  S3D photos and videos for a very reasonable $200, no doubt this will equate to a UK price of around the same but in pounds. This 5 megapixel camera comes with dual CMOS sensors for shooting photographs up to 5 megapixels and videos in 720p… in glorious 3D. The camcorder uses a 2.4″ auto-stereoscopic 3D screen to allow glasses free 3D viewing in a similar manner to the Fuji W1 camera.

The question I have without seeing any results from the camera is will this be a budget contender to replace the over priced Fujifilm W1?

Here’s some more detail on the Aiptek 3d camcorder from Amazon US.

The latest version of Reallusion’s facial animation tool Crazy Talk offers stereoscopic 3d animated output for anaglyph or side by side purposes.

Another nice little feature on their site is a simple clear explanation of how S3D works

Find out more here.

Sony’s first salvo in the 3D TV market seems to be kicking off today with pre-ordering of the range of Sony Bravia 3D Models launching in Comet.

There’s 4 models to choose from ranging from a teensy 40″ to a mamoth 60″ room dominator!

Check out more at Comet.co.uk