We look into and experiment with 3D photography and 3D video effects.
Poor Man's 3D Video
Over the years you may have seen 3D effects on TV where you had to wear glasses. Most recently there was a show on 3D sharks. About 10 years ago a section of a Rolling Stones show was shown in this 3D. Now the fun part is that anyone with a video camera can create the same effects. The effect in question is called the Pulfrich Effect discovered in 1922 by the German physicist Carl Pulfrich. By the way he could not see it because he was blind in one eye. You'll need special glasses to view the effect. The glasses can be made using an old pair of sunglasses. The left lens is dark and the right clear. The effect only works when there is horizontal motion occurring from left to right. The effect works because your brain perceives the darker image (viewed by the eye with the dark filter) with a delay of several hundredths of a second relative to the image seen through the clear filter. This causes the perceived position of the darker image to lag behind that of the brighter image. The amount of lag varies with the speed of motion. When your brain integrates the two images, which are perceived to be at two different horizontal positions, the result is a stereoscopic 3D effect. With two eyes, each eye sees a slightly different image. The movement described above provides the different images. Now for the brain to sync these images we need the delay. The combined effect is that the brain sees a 3D image.
Get yourself the glasses and experiment. Impress your friends. The commercial releases always warn the audience that the 3D sequence is upcoming and advise the audience to put on their glasses. Sit back and watch the audience react with awe.
Easy Anaglyph
If you own a digital camera or a Camcorder you can create your own anaglyph photos and movies. You will of course need the glasses (not the same as above) that have one blue and one red lens. There is a little shareware software named stereomaker that will do the work for you. You can use Photoshop etc but this involves a lot more work. You basically take two pictures of the same scene but with the cameras shifted apart on the same linear plane. I made myself a wooden guide using a piece of boad with a quarter round. I take a photo then move my camera about 2.75" left & take a second photo.
Another method is using two cheap disposable cameras. You could rig them up besides each other and press on both shutters at the same time.
Here are a few 3D links.