How To Take 3D Pictures: For Anaglyph, Stereoscopic, or Wiggle

Many people are amazed by stereoscopic 3d pictures, but do not understand how it works. 3d pictures and movies are not as complicated as you might think. Simply put, the goal of 3d pictures is to allow you to see two separate images with each eye. 3d pictures are created when both eyes' different views converge into one.

Those of us with two eyes see the world around us in stereoscopic 3d. Close one eye to see what monoscopic looks like. It much more difficult to judge distance and 3d shapes. Usually we go to movies and stare at a flat single image for two hours, but now we have the option to see 3d movies with use of polarized glasses. What you probably don't know is that you can take your own 3d pictures with your own digital camera. Just keep in mind that you need two pictures just as you would see in real life. Read more to find out how to take your own 3d pictures.

With today’s easy to use digital cameras, there is no excuse for not taking 3D pictures. Most people are familiar with three dimensional viewing. If you have two eyes with decent vision, you are seeing the world in three dimensions.

Our two eyes give us sense of depth that we use constantly in everyday activities including driving, catching objects, etc. If you don’t believe me, try catching a ball with one eye closed.

Many people enjoy the IMAX 3D movies or Viewmasters as a novelty; 3D feature films and Viewmasters were popular in the 1950’s. The recent advances in viewing technology are paving the way for gaining popularity in 3D media. 3D movies, TV, and internet are becoming more main stream.

Everyone should get in on the action now. You may thank yourself in the near future for taking a few 3D pictures as future technology may allow easier viewing. Why not throw a few 3D pictures in your scrapbooks. If you have a camera you are ready to get started.

Directions:

1. Take two pictures of the same scene, one from each eye. In other words, take a picture from your right eye’s perspective, and then take a picture from your left eye’s perspective.

2. Put your pictures into a format that allows you to view the two images in 3D. Some examples include anaglygh (red/blue), side by side (parallel/cross-eyed technique), or wiggle pictures.

Explanation:

Our 3D vision is created by our two eyes’ distinct perspectives of the same objects in space. Our brain perceives these two images as one by converging the two images. Each format you can use to view the 3D pictures works in a different way, but allows you to view the two images as one.

Anaglyphs take two pictures, one from each eye’s perspective, and place one on top of the other in different hues. Each image is presented in a red or blue hue, allowing the red and blue glasses to filter the light causing the red side to see the red image only and the blue side to see the blue image only. When you look at the image without glasses it just looks like a blurry red and blue tinted mess. You can download software for anaglyph pictures for free.

This is the easiest way to display your 3D images. Much like the popular Magic Eye books, this technique involves focusing on each picture with the corresponding eye. For example, you can place the picture you took from the left eye’s perspective on the left and the right eye’s perspective on the right. Now you gaze beyond your monitor to get each eye to focus on the corresponding image. This is an example of the parallel technique.

In the cross-eyed technique you simply switch the right and left images so that when you “cross your eyes” your left eye looks to the right and your right eye looks to the left. Since you switched the images, your mind actually sees it the right way. The above wedding example is a cross-eyed technique. Just begin crossing your eyes until the images lay on top of each other.

Wiggle pictures are the most fun. They require no special hardware or technique for viewing. These are animated GIF images that quickly alternate between the right and left perspectives of the scene. These are not true 3D, because you are not looking at both perspectives simultaneously. However, they do give a sense of depth anyway. These are fairly easily created in Adobe Image Ready.

1. Take pictures roughly two inches apart. This will give you the best 3D effect without overdoing it, any less and the effect will be too flat. You may notice things that are closer in your scene pop out more. This is how things appear in reality.
2. Look for an object in one of the corners to appear in the same corner for both pictures. This gives you a reference point for both pictures.
3. Be careful not to rotate the camera between taking pictures. Just as your two eye balls do not rotate, your pictures should be stable. Imagine having a ruler across the bridge of your nose and sliding the camera back and forth between eyes. Or you can actually build a slider for your digital camera tripod mount fairly inexpensively.
4. Don’t attempt action shots without two synchronized cameras. If you build a two camera tripod mount you can get great action 3D shots, otherwise you will be too slow to take two pictures simultaneously.
5. Make sure lighting is stable. If the flash is on for one shot and not the other, then it will be like having sunglasses on with one lens missing when you go to view your pictures.

Even if you are not going to do anything with your 3D pictures now, you would be smart to provide yourself the option for the future if you ever wanted to see your special memories in 3D again. Your wedding, party, trip to an amazing place, and even child's birth won't come again. If you do not have two perspectives, you will not be able to create real 3D.

After you take some pictures and get tired of crossing your eyes, check out some of the inexpensive viewers available online to display your pictures in amazing 3D.

It's probably easiest to start out taking 3d pictures, but in the near future, you will likely be viewing videos on youtube in 3d. You can find more information about 3d videos on YouTube.com in another hub.