New York Stereoscopic Society

Artist Dan Iglesia is developing a live audio and video performance system that maps sound information to 3D space. He gave a presentation in March to Jerry Marks's Stereoscopic 3D class at the School of Visual Arts. It was amazing to see 3D imagery synchronized with rhythms created on the fly.

Dan has several more performance events in the next few weeks:

May 5th
"Contrapositive Antidote", for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, live electronics, and live 3D video, performed by the Talea Ensemble. (another, longer, musical act with non-3D video is on the bill as well: Bradford Reed and Adam Kendall)
Kathy Supové's "Music With a View" series, The Flea Theater (41 White Street), 7PM, $FREE

May 8th
Live 3D video and audio performance, with several other acts from Columbia and Princeton's electronic music+performance scene.
The Tank, 279 Church Street 9:30 PM, $5

May 16th
Dan is performing 3D video along with music by electronic whiz Joshua Fried, at "Rake" an A/V performance series, along with two other acts.
Monkeytown, 58 N 3rd St., Williamsburg (reservations recommended)

The New York Times published a nice piece about the collaboration between Dr. David Bassett and William Gruber to create the legendary View-Master Stereoscopic Atlas of Human Anatomy. The article establishes the intense labor of love that both men invested in the 25 volume set with its 1500 stereo pairs. The illustrations in the newspaper and the online slide shows are all 2D, (half of the 3-D image).

An antecedent of this project was the 1908 Edinburgh Atlas of Human Anatomy set of stereo view cards. Dr. Bassett would likely have used the Edinburgh set in medical school. New York Stereo Society member Dr. Chun Siang Chen continues the work of creating stereoscopic views for use in medical training. He reported at our June 2007 meeting that medical students learn more from their dissections when they have studied stereoscopic pictures. His images are sometimes gruesome but always amazing.

3-D COMIC CAROUSEL
Sunday, April 20
3 PM - 4 PM

At the New York Comic Con
Jacob K. Javits Center (655 West 34th Street)
Location: Kids Room 1E09

A series of cartoon slide shows of comics from Nickelodeon Magazine, presented by an array of artists and other characters.

Engadget is reporting that the world's first 46-inch stereoscopic 3D TV is now on sale in Japan from Hyundai. The resolution of this LCD display is 1,920 x 1,080. It's designed to receive BS11 3D broadcasts by Nippon BS in Japan. The price is ¥498,000 (about $4,857).

For the complete article, go here.

Preservation Dialog – From Stewart Wetlands to the Ocean
Saturday, April 12, 2:00 pm

Kaufmann Auditorium,
American Museum of Natural History

NYSS members Lynn Butler and Ed Jameson have put together two shows that resonate with the Museum's current exhibition, Water = Life.

Click on image for larger view

Lynn's atmospheric images were inspired by her walks in the Stewart wetlands near Newburgh, New York. Water filtered through those wetlands ends up in the ocean, where Ed has been making 3D images for many years.

Click on image for larger view

Stereoscopic photographer Ed Jameson will show images created on his many dives, where he has become familiar with numerous individual animals in the underwater environment. Like Chester, seen here above. An exceptional underwater photographer, Ed will discuss the unique technological challenges inherent to his media.

Our special guests will be members of SPARC, Stewart Park and Reserve Coalition, the group that lobbied successfully to save the wetlands, which are now a part of Stewart State Forest.

Reuters news service carries the announcement that Provision Interactive Technologies has signed a three-year agreement with several independent Hispanic grocery store chains to install 3DEO Reward Centers in 47 locations in Southern California.

The 3DEO Reward Centers are kiosk style displays that project 3D holographic images and give customers promotions, sweepstakes and coupons for products and services. The logic behind starting this program in Hispanic markets is that in-store coupons are well accepted by this demographic with redemption rates close to 30%, as compared to 9% the industry average for other shoppers.

OK, I'll admit this isn't the future of advertising as depicted in Bladerunner or Minority Report, but we are getting there, slowly.

It's easy to imagine other applications for this technology such as having displays outside stores to entice shoppers inside with 3D displays of their merchandise (and just wait until the California-based adult entertainment industry gets its hands on this technology. . .).

For the complete article, go here.

Thomas Jane is best known to audiences for his performances in films like The Mist (2007), The Punisher (2004), Deep Blue Sea (1999) or his turn as Mickey Mantle in the TV film 61* (2001) directed by Billy Crystal. Now he's stepping into the director's chair for the noir thriller Dark Country (2008).

What makes this worth noting here is that the picture has been shot with a new highly mobile 3D Steadicam-based rig made possible by the Silicon Imaging SI-2K stereo camera system, reports Market Wire.

"The physical size of the Silicon Imaging 3D rigs completely redefine the scope and potential of 3D cinematography," says Director of Photography Geoff Boyle.

"'Dark Country' is a film that I wanted to express in a manner that remains true to the stylistic choices of film noir, while delivering an immersive reality and visceral experience that only the next generation of 3D cinematography could provide," says "Dark Country" director/actor Thomas Jane.

For the complete article, go here.

Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour will be released August 19th on blu-ray high def and have both 3D and 2D viewing modes — the first time this has been done for the home video market.

Shot during her 69-city, standing-room-only concert tour, the film has generated $65 million in theaters early this year. And the 'tween market will surely absorb many units of the home DVD.

As always, our interest remains with the 3D viewing experience. I don't know much about Miley Cyrus except that she is hugely popular and is affectionately called the Anti-Britney.

But which stereoscopic format will be on the disk? This information I cannot find online. If any in our audience has details on this, please spill the beans! Confirm this as a blu-ray 3D DVD. Explain which method is being used, and why?

If Disney does this right, this release could give a strong boost to 3D at home. Closer to release date I'm sure more details will be forthcoming.

“Looking into the eye of a whale is like looking into a human soul,” says Daryl Hannah in this new 3D IMAX documentary filmed by Jean-Jacques and Francois Mantell and presented by Jean-Michel Cousteau.

Please click on the thumbnail above for larger image.

Here's some fascinating info about this production: it took 3 years, 12 expeditions and 600 hours of diving to obtain the 42 minutes of finished footage. It was filmed completely underwater, most of which was done by free diving since the subjects being filmed can be spooked by the bubbles created when scuba diving.

And you think your job is tough.

For the official film site, go here.

The Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry, have Speed Racer, the follow-up project to their massively successful Matrix Trilogy opening on May 9th.

Filmed in filmed in high-definition video the Wachowskis used a layering approach that would put both the foreground and the background in focus to give it the appearance of real-life anime.

In support of the film's opening there's a lenticular teaser poster on display at selected theaters. You can can a feel for the look of this online at the following link, here. Click and drag with your mouse to see an approximation of the 3D effect (wait for file to completely load on slower connections).

Melena Ryzik of the New York Times talks to Björk and Isaiah Saxon and Sean Hellfritsch, the directing team 'Encyclopedia Pictura' about the making of their new 3-D music video 'Wanderlust.'

To see the video interview and the complete video in 2D, as well, go here.

A selection of glass plate three dimensional slides will be presented utilizing polarized projection by R. Munn and Sara Cook.

Over 90 years old, many of these stereo photographs were taken during battle and display a stark, uncompromising, rarely seen view of trench warfare in WW1.

With electronic Theremin accompaniment.

NOTE: Not for the squeamish!

8:00 pm Tuesday, April 1st
Gershwin Hotel
7 East 27th Street
(Between 5th and Madison Ave.)

$10 admission (this includes 3d glasses)

The website ComingSoon.net has a nice feature on the resurgence of 3D filmmaking in the 21st Century. Especially informative are the two interviews with Walden Media CEO Cary Granat and Real D CEO and Chairman Michael Lewis.

Walden Media CEO, Cary Granat

I loved Granat's comment, "If this were a comic book, [this] would be called the 'origin story' period of time." Michael Lewis also makes an excellent point when he said, ". . . it's been driven at the end of the day by filmmakers. We spend a lot of time with filmmakers. We bring them in and show it, and they get excited. They go, 'Wow, this is a new way to tell my stories, this is cool. I want to play.' "

Real D CEO and Chairman, Michael Lewis

For the complete article, go here.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology and The New York Stereoscopic Society invite you to a private screening of the new Ghost Robot production "Björk's Wanderlust in 3D" directed by Encyclopedia Pictura.

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Filmmakers Sean Hellfritsch, Isaiah Saxon and Mark De Pace will be on hand for questions. The evening includes a slide show by Greg Dinkins offering behind-the-scenes views of the production.

Thursday, March 27, 8:00 pm
Foshay Masonic Lodge
9635 Venice Blvd, Culver City, 90232

Followed by a reception at
The Museum of Jurassic Technology
9341 Venice Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232

Donations to support the programming of the Museum and the Society will be gratefully accepted.

e-Gear.com has a story about the first regular season NBA game to be shown in 3D HD.

"The March 25 National Basketball Association contest between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers will be produced from Dallas by Fox Sports Net Southwest with the help of technology from PACE, a cutting-edge 3D production firm that has worked with director James Cameron on several documentary films."

"The game will be shown in the format at a Magnolia Theatre in Dallas that is owned by Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who also owns the Mavericks. It will be attended by VIP guests, as well as 100 Mavericks fans who will have the chance to win tickets."

For the complete article, go here.

Meet the Filmmakers
Friday, March 14, 7:00 pm
Kaufmann Auditorium, American Museum of Natural History

Björk's new 3D music video will soon premiere in New York and Los Angeles. The New York Stereoscopic Society presents an opportunity to meet the creative team behind this remarkable piece. Live action and rendered graphics are combined in an 8 minute visual and musical narrative.

Directors Sean Hellfritsch and Isaiah Saxon of Encyclopedia Pictura and Producer Mark De Pace of Ghost Robot will show the video and a 3D slide show documenting the production of the props, sets and costumes as well as live shooting.

Our venue is particularly appropriate, as the 3D space created in the video is inspired by the forced perspective of the Museum's dioramas.

It can be a long way from a patent application to the shrink-wrapped package in your hand (or shopping cart) while you wait in a check-out line, but it's always news when Apple, Inc. is revealed to be exploring the next new, new thing in display technology.

Of course, the best part of this kind of news is the wild speculation it will generate among interested parties.

Now get this: no eyeglasses or head sets required. It's going to employ a holographic-like display. Possible uses of this technology include video conferencing, scientific modeling, forensics, and entertainment (porn first, then everything else).

For more details, here's how several tech sites have covered this news: MacRumor, Gizmodo and the Macintosh News Network.

Thought you'd love an affordable twin lens digital camera from a major camera company? Wondering when such a product will hit the market? But why settle for just twin lenses. How about a digital camera with over 12 thousand lenses?

An electronics research team at Stanford is working on a new camera design with what they call a "multi-aperture image sensor." And it may eventually cost less than a standard mid-range digital camera because the quality of main lens will no longer be of critical importance.

"We believe that you can reduce the complexity of the main lens by shifting the complexity to the semiconductor," explained Keith Fife, one of the trio of scientists working on the project.

Seeing the world through thousands of tiny lenses would give you a 2D image with everything, near and far, in focus. But most importantly it would also generate a "depth map" recording the precise distances to each object captured in the frame.

In addition to processing a great stereoscopic image from this data other applications could include security using facial recognition, medical imaging, 3D printing, 3D models of buildings, creation of 3D avatars for virtual world gaming or interaction.

For the complete article, click here.

MarketWire carries the announcement that Empire Film Group's upcoming Shadow Vision will change from a 2D production to 3D, using the 'Real D' format. The film stars Vivian Schilling as a blind woman who develops the ability to remotely sense and visualize crimes.

"Movie goers want to be dazzled," said Empire Film Group CEO Dean Hamilton-Bornstein. "As big screens and home projection systems become more common, consumers are demanding a bigger, better movie experience from theatres. The 'Real D' 3D format meets this challenge as it delivers a stunning, perfectly sharp 3D image, free of frame jitter or left eye-right eye issues that plagued previous attempts at 3D exhibition."

For the complete article, go here.

The sequel Crank 2: High Voltage is already in production with returning star Jason Statham and the same writer-director duo of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. And they are already planning the third film for 3D.

In Crank 2 the filmmakers are planning to update and enhance the classic 'bullet time' effect that begin with The Matrix and now is used in car commercials. This is a pseudo-3D looking camera move that uses many still cameras, green screen and lots of computer rendering time.

Mark Neveldine explained, "We're pushing the limits. . .We're going to be creating a moving bullet[-time] camera that has never been done before. We're putting about 15 cameras onto a piece of speed rail, all these super lightweight cameras that I'll be holding on rollerblades flying around people. So you'll have that image that you've seen in The Matrix, where they stop motion and the cameras spin around, except for the fact that our cameras can spin around and move while the actor moves."

For the complete article, go here.

OK, I know this is only slightly connected to 3D, but we happen to be huge Jason Statham fans.