Like it or not, 3D is coming. The BBC has succumbed to the latest trend, announcing its first 3D broadcast: this year’s Wimbledon finals.
The broadcast will include both men’s and women’s singles finals, which are taking place over the first weekend in July, and will only be shown on the BBC HD channel — free to cable or satellite subscribers, as well as customers with Freeview HD boxes.
Of course, users will need a 3D-enabled TV, as well as 3D glasses to be able to watch the finals in their full glory.
This is just a trial for the BBC, but the company has high hopes for 3D. “This is a hugely important experiment for us and I’m pleased that we have the opportunity to show some of our stunning sports coverage to our audiences, in 3D for free,” said BBC’s George Entwistle in a statement.
It’s becoming more common to air 3D TV broadcasts in the UK; Sky 3D has been showing live sporting events as well as movies and entertainment in 3D for some time now.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Marc Di Luzio
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3D is no longer exclusive to movie studios. If you can scrape together two camcorders, some sticky tape and access to a hooked-up computer, you’re just a few steps away from making your own three-dimensional cinematic works of art.
This is largely thanks to YouTube‘s free online 3D Editor suite. Mashable spoke to Samuel Kvaalen, YouTube software engineer who helped develop the product. Kvaalen told us why the video-sharing company created the tool in the first place: “The idea was trying to make creating 3D videos accessible to as many users as possible in a simple, easy manner.”
So is it really easy to make your own 3D YouTube video? After a quick walk-through of the software with Kvaalen, we tested it out. Here’s our super-simple, step-by-step look at how to shoot and edit a three-dimensional video.
As far as hardware goes, you’ll need two cameras, ideally the same model, although you can use any two that can record at the same resolution. You’ll also need some way of holding them together and some 3D glasses so you can edit and view the final result.
We used two Cisco Flip MinoHD pocket video cameras. We separated them slightly with Blu-Tack in order to reach the power button on the side of the camera. Be sure to use a ruler or other straight surface to ensure the camera’s lenses are at exactly the same height.
Once you’ve got your cameras lined up, you need to attach them together. We simply wound masking tape around the bottom of the cameras to hold them in place. Think of it as recording separate footage for your left and right eyes. This is the basic principle behind how 3D technology actually works.
With that set-up complete, you’re ready to go. What to shoot is, of course, up to you, although Kvaalen has some pointers to share. “You don’t want to film objects that are too close — you want to try and keep it at a decent distance — a few feet away is ideal,” says Kvaalen. In addition he suggests keeping the camera as stable as possible. This will yield the best results. Finally, try and press record at exactly the same time on each camera.
Once you’ve shot your footage, signed into your YouTube account and uploaded your two videos, head over to YouTube’s 3D Editor. It looks similar to the ordinary YouTube Editor, but you’ll see tabs on the bottom right that relate specifically to 3D editing. You can now drag and drop the two clips that you want to use to the “left” and “right” boxes.
The first thing to do is get the time sync right. Whereas this used to be done manually with editing software, the 3D Editor does it for you. Kvaalen explains: “You want to start filming with both cameras at the same time but that’s pretty much impossible, you’ll always have at least a few milliseconds off, so this uses the audio to sync them automatically.”
By “listening” to the audio from the videos — even just ambient sound — the Editor will be able to accurately time sync the two videos.
Next up is vertical alignment. Kvaalen offers some more advice: “Users should bolt the cameras together so they don’t move relative to each other, or “vertically shift,” but there is usually a small vertical difference in height. This tool lets a user manually suggest a vertical shift percentage.” As far as our attempt at guestimating the shift, we just kept tweaking until it looked right. Start at plus or minus 10% and keep going until you get the best result.
Finally, once you are happy with your video in the preview window, you can add a title in the top right hand box and publish it. After the video processes (usually a couple of minutes) you’ll have a shareable 3D video to impress your friends!
To view one of our test videos in 3D, you’ll have to grab your 3D glasses, but even if you can’t find a pair, we can report we were happy with the results.
With relatively little hardware and a pain-free editing process, YouTube’s aim of making 3D video creation simple, easy and “accessible to as many users as possible” has been achieved with the 3D Editor. We think there will be a lot of YouTube users having lots of fun with this 3D tool.
Have you used YouTube’s 3D Editor? How did you find it? Let us know and link us to your creations in the comments below.
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Lacking some 3D in your online life? You’re in luck, as Mozilla Firefox, YouTube and Nvidia have teamed up to bring HTML5-based stereoscopic 3D video to owners of Nvidia’s 3D Vision-enabled hardware.
Although 3D videos aren’t new to YouTube, the service will now transcode these videos into the open WebM format, meaning that Firefox 4 users with Nvidia’s 3D Vision hardware and glasses will be able to watch them in 3D.
For the new format to work, you need to select HTML5 Stereo View in YouTube’s 3D section. You’ll also need Nvidia’s 3D Vision kit, which includes active shutter glasses and a receiver. The kit costs $149.
The new feature obviously won’t benefit users of non-Nvidia hardware and browsers other than Firefox. But as the company continues to try and expand the reach of its 3D Vision technology, having YouTube support it is quite a big win for Nvidia.
Check out an example of a 3D Vision-enabled video below, and see other 3D videos and photos at 3DVisionLive.com.
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Now you can feel like you’re back in high school — like literally in — this summer, as Glee Live! 3D! will be coming to a theater near you.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Glee Live! 3D! — a movie of a concert tour featuring popular Fox show Glee cast members — will hit theaters on August 12.
“We knew that not every fan who wanted to attend a concert would get that opportunity,” show creator Ryan Murphy told EW. “Now, thanks to our friends at Twentieth Century Fox Film, we’ll be able to bring the concert experience to movie theaters across the country in full three dimensional glory.”
The film will include “Don’t Stop Believin’,” so we’re picturing a lot of 3D fist pumps. And tears.
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The epic finale of the Harry Potter film series is coming to theaters on July 15, and its trailer just hit iTunes and YouTube.
Update: Finding an embeddable version has been a moving target for us, so if you have trouble viewing this clip we’ve embedded here, you can go to iTunes or YouTube to see it.
Part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the eighth and final movie in the Harry Potter film series; Part 1 of Deathly Hallows premiered in November 2010.
Will Part 2 be in 3D? Part 1 of Deathly Hallows was not released in 3D because of difficulty converting the film from 2D to 3D, according to IMDb. But the film still broke the record for the Potter franchise’s biggest opening weekend, grossing $125 million and going on to earn $954 million worldwide, the third-highest grossing film of 2010.
The upcoming Part 2 will be released in 2D, 3D and IMAX formats.
What do you think, Harry Potter fans? Will you be watching this final installment in 3D, or will 2D be good enough?
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Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 and a 3D version of the popular game appear to be on the way.
A report from Pocket-lint‘s cites an interview with Peter Vesterbacka, the self-styled “Mighty Eagle” at Angy Birds creator Rovio. In the interview, Vesterbacka confirms that the company is working on a Windows Phone 7 version of the game, but that Microsoft has been holding up the release. “Let’s just say Microsoft has a lot of lawyers,” Vesterbacka says in the interview.
Vesterbacka also confirmed in the interview that a 3D version of the game is forthcoming. However, he offered no further details.
The introduction of a Windows Phone version of Angry Birds comes after Rovio launched the game for the Android platform last October. The game, however, is best known for its iPhone iteration. In December, Rovio CEO Mikael Hed said that Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 42 million times and 25% of those downloads were paid. He also said the company makes $1 million a month in advertising alone.
Since then, Rovio has continued to grow the brand with a tie-in with the upcoming movie 20th Century Fox animated feature Rio and a free Western-themed update earlier this month, as well as holiday-specific versions.
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Never Say Never, AKA the Justin Bieber movie, hits theaters on February 11. Today, February 10, starting at 4:00 p.m. ET, Mashable will be chatting with the film’s director, Jon Chu (@jonmchu) about what it’s like to make a 3D concert film, Bieber-mania and how social media has influenced the marketing efforts for the project.
Concert films have been a cinematic staple since the early 1960s. From The Beatles to the Jonas Brothers, it’s not uncommon to see the pop or rock sensations of the moment on the big screen. The fact that this film is in 3D is part of a growing trend, not just for fictional narratives and action films, but for concert documentaries.
We will be asking Chu about his past experiences with films like Step Up 3D and what influence that had on his latest project.
We’ll be using Tinychat for this conversation, which means Mashable readers can join in the fun. Users can log in, watch our conversation and ask questions in the chat.
var tinychat = { room: "mashlive", colorbk: "0x0042bc", join: "auto", api: "list"};video chat provided by Tinychat
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The Innovative Entertainment Series is supported by Dolby. “Like” Dolby for a chance to have Adam West read your Facebook status update, live, on camera, February 18th.
In 1838, Sir Charles Wheatstone first described the process of stereopsis: the process by which humans perceive three dimensions from two highly similar, overlaid images. Or, the process by which Avatar looks like a mind-blowingly immersive alien landscape instead of a bunch of brightly colored fuzz.
3D technology has come a long way since Wheatstone developed his stereoscope, then used to view static images and eventually pictures. Now we get to wear Wayfarer knock-offs and enjoy 3D films, television shows and video games.
For some people, seeing cool images might be enough. But others might be curious how Pandora was brought to life, or how TRON: Legacy zapped them into its glowing world. The answer is both reassuringly simple and inordinately complex, depending on who you ask and how you look at it.
How do 3D films work? What’s the difference between polarity and anaglyph (we’ll get there), and what are the next steps for 3D gadgets and imagery? Have a look below for a breakdown of how today’s “it” technology functions. Plus, we put in some sweet looking pictures. What’s not to love?
A tremendous thank you to David Leitner, Rob Willox and Professor Ian Howard for their collective insight and help in describing the various forms of 3D technology below.
Stereoscopy 101
Big words! Academic nomenclature! Relax, this is actually the easy part. 3D, or “stereoscopy,” refers to how your eyes and brain create the impression of a third dimension. Human eyes are approximately 50 mm to 75 mm apart — accordingly, each eye sees a slightly different part of the world. Don’t believe me? Hold up a pen, pencil or any other thin object. Close one eye. Now switch.
The image on either side should be pretty similar but slightly offset, like that line behind the woman’s head in the picture above. These two slightly different images enter the brain, at which point it does some high-powered geometry to make up for the disparity between the two images. This disparity is “3D” — essentially, your brain making up for the fact that you’re getting two different perspectives of the same thing.
This is also, essentially, what modern 3D technology is trying to replicate. All those silly sunglasses and silver-coated projectors are all designed to feed your individual eyes different perspectives of the same image. Easy, right?
Well, yes. It is pretty easy for your brain to figure out the disparity between the two images. Your brain can automatically figure out all the angles and math and geometry to sync the images. The hard part is getting a camera to do the same thing, and to get those individual images to your individual eyes without butchering the whole effect.
What We WatchFilm has been one of the pioneers of 3D, thanks to its hefty budgets and some technological daring. There are largely two ways 3D has been achieved in motion pictures: anaglyph and polarized glasses.
Anaglyph is a fancy way of referring to the red-and-blue glasses we used to wear. By projecting a film in those colors — one in red, one in blue — each eye would get an individual perspective and your brain would put the 3D effect together. Other colors could be used, providing they were distinct enough to be separated on screen. This technique, however, didn’t allow for a full range of color and had a tendency to “ghost,” or have the once-distinct images bleed into one another. Not cool.
Much more common is the use of polarized glasses, which take advantage of the fact that light can be polarized, or given different orientations. For example, one image can be projected in a horizontal direction while the second can be projected in a vertical direction. The corresponding glasses would allow horizontal polarization in one eye and vertical polarization in the other. The problem is that this kind of 3D requires you to keep your head still, à la A Clockwork Orange. Tilting your head can distort how the waves get to your eyes, messing with the color and 3D effect. Also not cool.
This is the tricky part. To counteract this, 3D now uses rotational polarity, meaning the film being projected actually has two different spins to it. The glasses then pick up those opposite rotations — clockwise in one eye, counterclockwise in another eye — to separate the image. Now you can tilt your head or place it on your boy/girlfriend’s shoulder and still be able to watch the movie.
TelevisionIt’s possible to use the same techniques in film projectors for home theaters, but you would need some serious cash. Films use special silver-coated screens that are much better at reflecting light back to the viewing audience. Your television, unfortunately, is not silver-coated. There are, however, two ways to get 3D at home: active and passive.
The most common, active 3D, involves wearing those electronic RoboCop glasses. The glasses are synced up to your television and actively open and close shutters in front of your eyes, allowing only one eye to see the screen at a time. This sounds like a recipe for a stroke, but the shutters move so quickly that they’re hardly noticeable. These shutter lenses are made possible because of the refresh rate on televisions. 3D-enabled televisions have high image refresh rates, meaning the actual image on screen is quickly loaded and reloaded. Through the glasses, you receive one constant image instead of a flicker.
Passive systems are less common but run much like your 3D film. These televisions have a thin, lenticular screen over the standard display. A lenticular screen is made up of a series of incredibly thin magnifying strips that show a slightly different perspective of the screen to each eye, as illustrated above. While this technology doesn’t require bulky, expensive glasses, it can limit the image quality. Essentially, each eye only sees one half of the screen at any given time. For example, if a screen had 100 pixels, 50 pixels would be magnified and sent to the left eye and the other 50 pixels would be magnified and sent to the right eye. In practice, your brain is actually able to put the two images together and retain the entire 100 pixel fidelity.
How It’s Made
There is a lot of fancy footwork that goes into creating 3D. The real heavy lifting, however, is all just a matter of geometry and precision. To get a 3D image, you essentially need two versions of the same scene filmed from the precisely correct angle as if your eyes were seeing the same scene. Filmmakers need to triangulate the distance between the two cameras and make sure they are focused on the same object. They also need to zoom and track, or move, at the same speed, otherwise the images won’t sync up. In modern film rigs, these two cameras are bolted into place preventing any unwanted jostling or disparity.
Close-ups, a staple of modern film, are hard to capture in 3D because the cameras need to be extraordinarily close together to mimic the angle of your eyes. To solve this, filmmakers sometimes use mirror rigs. Mirror rigs film through one lens, and that image is then bounced by a tiny internal mirror to another camera where a second image can be recorded. Providing there are no imperfections on the mirror (including scratches, dirt or warping), the close-up will be filmed in 3D.
Computer Graphics
There is a difference between creating three-dimensional graphics and images that appear to be 3D in the theater. Again, it’s all just a matter of some high-tech geometry. To get a movie like Toy Story 3 into 3D, animators create two versions of each frame, one from the perspective of each eye. Because computer-generated movies don’t need cameras, it’s much easier to get perfectly synced images and to fine-tune any mistakes in post-production. The downside is that this technique requires a lot of time and elbow grease to get perfect.
It’s possible to create a 3D video game using the same technique; however, games add their own complications. Films and shows are largely pre-recorded and all have a fixed perspective — you can’t move the camera’s focus or orientation when you’re watching a film. Video games allow you to change the perspective by moving your on-screen character. This creates a labor-intensive problem since animators need to create objects that can be seen in 3D from a variety of angles depending on where the user is looking and moving.
The Future
One of the toughest problems to solve with 3D technology is the fundamental halving of any image. Lenticular screens send half the image to each eye, shutter lens glasses physically block one eye from seeing the image, and polarized glasses only send half the displayed light to each eye.
The human eye needs approximately 50 frames per second in order to see film as one continuous image. 3D effectively halves that so each eye would only see 25 frames per second and get some nauseating flicker. Modern technology has been able to significantly up that frame rate (or refresh rate in televisions) so that we can achieve the illusion of 3D.
Advances in computing and memory have also made 3D possible in a number of handheld and consumer products. There are already prototypes for 3D laptops, cameras, camcorders, and a variety of other tech.
In the coming years, keep a look out for technology that uses autostereoscopy, or 3D that doesn’t require glasses in any way. The Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo’s newest portable 3D gaming device, is one such device. One of its tricks is syncing a lenticular display with its forward-facing camera. By using eye recognition, it can track where the user’s face is and shift the display to accurately display 3D no matter how the user views the screens. Look for autostereoscopy to test the waters on handheld devices before it heads to large format screens.
We’re just at the start of what 3D can offer, with a lot more successes and failures to occur in the meantime. Let us know in the comments what you hope to see for the future of 3D, or what 3D-enabled tech you’re looking to scoop up.
Series Supported by Dolby
The Innovative Entertainment Series is supported by Dolby. On February 18th, Adam West could read your Facebook status. “Like” the Dolby page to watch it live, on camera.
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Images courtesy of iStockphoto, dave9296, Flickr, Surimage, iSchmuts, spike55151, dpape, Videotechnology, scottslone, tonx
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LG has announced it will unveil its glasses-free 3D smartphone, the LG Optimus 3D, at the Mobile World Congress held February 14-17 in Barcelona.
We’ve seen a lot of rumors and even an image of the device (see below), but now LG has gone on the record with some of the specifications. It will be LG’s most advanced smartphone, with a glasses-free LCD panel, a dual-lens camera for 3D recording, and HDMI as well as DLNA on the connectivity front.
We’ll have to wait until February 14 to find out more about the device, which, by the look of things, will definitely cause some ripples in the smartphone world.
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Photographs purporting to be the upcoming LG Optimus 3D smartphone have hit the web.
At CES 2011, LG showed off some glasses-free 3D screens that could be used in smartphones. A pair of leaks last week indicated that a new 3D smartphone, dubbed the Optimus 3D, could make its debut at February’s Mobile World Congress.
Phandroid received Monday a photo of the alleged device from an anonymous tipster. The phone, which doesn’t look like either the Optimus 2X or the Optimus Black, could be the first glasses-free 3D mobile handset to hit the market.
These are the specs, according to the Phandroid tipster:
Large screen — Phandroid estimates that it is 4.3 inches. The screen offers glasses-free 3D visuals. Dual-core processor with multi-channel RAM. Front-facing camera.The phone is running on an unspecific version of Android. The large, 3D screen and dual-core processor certainly situate it in the high-end category.
We expect to see lots of Android handsets at MWC, including Motorola’s Atrix 4G. Mashable will be at the LG event at MWC February 14 and we’ll update you with news as we hear it.
Are you interested in a 3D smartphone?
Photo courtesy of Phandroid
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