3D

How 3D works?

We might all have had watched a 3D movie by the date and if not then I suggest you get a ticket very soon. Transformers was my best experience of a 3D movie till date. Besides, watching those movies has anyone ever wondered how it is possible to view 3D just by putting on some old fashioned funky glasses??

Let us see for ourselves,  how 3D works.
The answer is pretty simple and pretty amazing as well. The reason of us being able to see 3D is because of our two eyes. 3D might not be possible with a single eye. The main reason is the gap between our two eyes, that small distance helps us to calculate the exact position of an object that we see around us, the calculated output is termed as 3D image. The separation of our eyes makes us take in two different images at a time. The two different images that we see from our two eyes are processed by our mind to make it look like one 3D-image.

Anaglyph 3D is the name given to the stereoscopic 3D effect achieved by means of encoding each eye's image using filters of different (usually chromatically opposite) colors, typically red and cyan. Anaglyph 3D images contain two differently filtered colored images, one for each eye. When viewed through the "color coded" "anaglyph glasses", each of the two images reaches one eye, revealing an integrated stereoscopic image. The visual cortex of the brain fuses this into perception of a three dimensional scene or composition.

SEE FOR YOURSELF!!

First close one of your eyes. Try holding index finger of your one hand out(parallel to the ground) and tip of your another index finger opposite to the first one at some distance. Now try touching two tips of your index finger without opening your eyes. It doesn’t seem to be done at your will or is it????

The simple reason for that is, we are not able to see 3D with our one eye open. The above mentioned experiment can easily be done with both eyes open.

We, already know that whatever we see is in 3D, at least!!

Many of us might have wondered how this might work using a 3D glass. The magic is not within the glasses, it is the image and the glasses together which enables us to visualize 3D image. The concept of making a 3D image is same as real life 3D viewing experience.

First, two images are captured, one in perspective of one eye and other from a little distance as an image for another eye. First the image colors are manipulated and then they are combined together using a photo editing software such that the images overlapping gives us a sensation of 3D-image.

But, how 3D works in case of the red and blue cyan glasses?

 

The logic is same. But, the difference arises when two of the images are edited and compiled. One of the image is made focusing the red color of the image and another focusing the blue. Those two images are combined together using a photo editing software as our brain does for us. Hence, a 3D image is created.

Now, if we think about the glasses. One of the lens is made of red material and another from blue. The logic of using the red and blue colored lenses is that it filters one of either blue or red image from the combined image. When we put the glass on, the blue colored lens filters the blue image and the red filters the red image. Hence, two seperate images are delivered to our eyes. Now, our brain does the compiling and we are able to see a 3D image.

As we have understood the logic behind a 3D image, I’ll try and teach how a simple 3D image for a red and blue cyan glass can be made in my next post. I hope you will enjoy making some of your own 3D images then.