On 3D
Jack was always fascinated with 3D photographs and films, and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject.
May 2003
| Good evening, Peter.
After sending you the latest Strip Of The Week, a thought came to me. I seemed to recall drawing a goons/grappelypods/silicones/sillicones picture in 3D. I dug deep into my archives and finally found it, in issue No.162 (No.2, Vol.14) of my home-made magazine, "Modern Male, Teenage Male and Puxim, incorporating Shock and Crazy" (yes, really!), dated December, 1960. I enclose a copy of the relevant pages. I think the system should work on your monitor screen, providing (i) you can find a mirror of the appropriate size and (ii) you don't die from radiation poisoning. Or you could always print it out. Shame I used to draw on lined exercise-book paper! In case you can't make out the writing on the instructions panel, it says: VIEWING INSTRUCTIONS All you need to view is one mirror - preferably unframed - about 3" x 4". Open out the next page, holding the book sideways. Hold it up in your left hand about 1 ft 6 ins away from your face. Holding the mirror by its longest edges, place one narrow end against your face, reflecting surface to the right, just to the right of your nose and to the left of your right eye. Hold the mirror at 90 degrees to the page, so that with your left eye you see the actual left-hand picture, whilst with your right eye you see the reflection of the right-hand picture. Keeping the near end still, move the far end of the mirror gradually to the left until the picture you see on the far left appears to stand out in full 3D. Make sure mirror is clean for good results. End of quote. You were quite right, Peter, when you said that having double-vision might help me draw in 3D. It certainly made it easy for me to see the 3D photo of Eccles on the Telegoons site. Frustratingly, it also means that I am completely unable to view Viewmaster stereo reels. 3D has been one of my greatest passions ever since I was at primary school and, over the years, I've devised such technical marvels as ComicScope, Comicorama, Superama, Pixo... and even one process I called 2D! One of my greatest triumphs, however, was StereoGraphic 3D, which you can see within this very e-mail. I came up with the idea completely by chance when messing about with a mirror. I was very proud of the result, and used it in Disc (DiscScope) and, with photographs, in Buster (BusterVision). Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I found the technique used in an American monster magazine... and subsequently read about the principle in a scientific text book! Since then, I've acquired the entire range of Dorling Kindersley "Eyewitness" 3D books (a free mirror with every copy!). Maybe the publisher of D K went to my school and read my comics. Mick Jagger certainly did. Which might account for a lot. |
July 2003
| After 18 years of
experimenting, I did finally come up with a workable system for drawing in
red/blue 3D. I did a picture with which I was very pleased. They would have
liked to have used my system in Buster. The problem wasn't the printing, it was
the cost of inserting the glasses into every copy. Ex-DISC writer, Beverley (or
possibly Beverly) Legge, almost featured it in his magazine for deaf people but
didn't. If only I could find it, I'd send you a copy. Bound to come across it
one of these days. What I'd like is a computer program for making 3D conversions but Steve and I haven't managed to track one down. With the 3D DVD, they advertise a program for converting any video material to 3D but this comes on DVD-ROM, the facility for which I don't have. I'm pleased to see you get plenty of plugs in the Toonhound's forthcoming Fresco feature. I would happily have revealed to you the original contents of the Middle-Aged Frankenstein strip, even before the demise of Mr. Most. Sadly, however, I seem to recall that I had to cut out the word balloons so that I could letter the replacement jokes on a sheet of paper glued to the back, and I fear that I can't remember the original content. Did I tell you the story behind that censorship? If I didn't and if you're interested, let me know. Must go as it's 1 a.m. |
Jack found the original text for the M Most strip, and it is available on our site.
| Hallo, Peter.
I've now visited the 3D sites you listed. Very interesting but, as you say, not for the UK. Which is just as well, as I might be tempted. From my local cheap CD and video shop, I did manage to buy the DVD of Emmanuelle Queen of the Galaxy (6.99) which claims to contain Sex in 3D. It also claims to contain free 3D glasses, which it didn't. However, this isn't a problem as it uses the same system that the BBC featured a while back for Children In Need: one dark lens and the subject continually in motion. The site that listed all the 3D movies and videos claimed that The Four Dimensions of Greta was not available for home use in 3D. They're wrong, though - I have it! Having bought a very cheap program from Serif a while back, they phone me from time to time. They recently tried to sell me software - I think it was the latest edition of Draw Plus - which they claimed included 2D to 3D conversion capabilities. I checked it out on their web site and this did, indeed, seem to be the case. However, although the salesperson claimed that the program would run on Windows 95, the web site said it wouldn't. I'd forgotten all about this... and now I have Windows 98 as well as 95. Really, I wanted Windows 97 and six months. If you, too, are seeking such software, it might be worth taking a look. While you're online, could you please use whatever method you use to see if there's any trace of Malcolm Shuttleworth? Don't worry if it's a bother, it's just that he sent me a friendly fan letter at Buster in 1993. I put it somewhere safe until I could reply and, to my shame, that's where I've just found it. I'd like to try and make amends. Talking of cold calling, this week I received a phone call from Joanne Ball at Yellow Pages. She was trying to persuade me to take out a display ad. I didn't... but I did sign her up as a Fresco subscriber! What did you think of Hitchcock Blonde? Psycho is one of my favourite films (even the recent remake!) and I understand that the play features the shower scene? Must go, as it's two thirty eight. FAB, Jack. |
| I am in your debt.
Thank you so much for tracking down the mysterious missing Malcolm. The e-mail address was indeed correct and I am currently corresponding. Mind you, he may well be feeling fed up as I am sending him a serial letter at the rate of one word a day. When I speed up, I'll certainly ask him if he'd like to contribute to the forum. He has now discovered your web site. Gracias for forwarding yet another subscriber - another country to add to the list! Haven't had a chance yet to search for 3D DVDs up the Amazon. My Philips DVD player is set for Region 2 only, but I think it might be possible to amend it using the remote control. It doesn't seem worthwhile attempting this at the moment, though, as I'm trying to find the time to take it back. The first DVD player I bought was Pacific. The sound was so quiet I could hardly hear it and the picture kept sticking for a second - and not when the disc changed levels. And not because of dirty discs. I exchanged it. The new one didn't stick but VCDs played only in black & white. I exchanged it. Unbeknownst to me, they'd changed the specifications. This one wouldn't play VCDs at all... and the picture kept sticking. I exchanged it, paying a bit more for my current Philips model. The picture keeps sticking. It's driving me mad. I plan to take it back yet again. Luckily, my transactions have been with Asda, who give a three-year guarantee, renewed each time I exchange. I can't understand it. Maybe it's something in the room affecting the playback? Have you ever come across this fault? I didn't know about the Home Alone in 3D but I have watched Christopher Lee's 'I, Monster' using the glasses - I expect you know it was filmed using the Pulfrich effect but they chickened out of promoting it as 3D. I have several videos utilising the system, including Kama Sutra in 3D, Female Wrestling in 3D (no mud) and Football Superstars in 3D. The latter was a real con: I don't think they took any special footage at all. The only one I didn't buy was The London Knights in 3D. I'm not so keen on male strippers. I quite like the effect, although the 3D results are often spasmodic. During its best moments - and if some thought has been put into it (such as with the Seal music video) - I think it works pretty well. Years and years ago, I bought a pair of "3D glasses" that claimed to turn any film or TV into 3D. They had purple and yellow lenses and used the Pulfrich principle, though this was long before I'd heard of it. Depending on the movement in the picture, they seemed to work satisfactorily. Made me look a bit of a wally at the cinema, though. I also have a few of the Magic Eye 'Moving Eye' videos. I can't make them work at all. And I may be suffering from radiation poisoning from having to keep touching the TV screen with my nose. But I digress. Must walk the dog. |
August 2003
| "Using 3-D and holographic techniques usually only affordable in Hollywood blockbusters"..."The pen is dead, say hello to the holographic imagery of the future" - Excerpts from the Daily Star's plug for their "great new 3D cartoon strip, Big Shot", which starts tomorrow (Monday). I don't believe a word of it. Looks like just a copy of The Sun's aforementioned "Striker". |
November 2003
| Hello there, Peter.
I'm back - and tired out. I don't think holidays are good for you. Thank you for your intervening messages. I've never come across the Harold Lloyd book: from where did you get it? The French item was interesting but in French. I've had a new idea myself for potentially using the printer to print 3D. My preliminary tests seem positive but I still haven't got my new printer. In Exeter, I managed to buy another Imax 3D DVD, "Encounter in the 3rd Dimension", which I did once see at the Imax cinema. Their screen is bigger than mine. |
The book referred to is 3-D Hollywood by Suzanne Lloyd Hayes and Harold Lloyd and is a book of 3D photographs taken by Harold Lloyd.
April 2004
| Believe it or not,
Peter, there IS a forthcoming color episode of The Invisible... But to say more
would give away the game. Suffice it to say, you'll have to wait a year or more
for the strip I tried when nobody would buy 'The Invisible Man'. A 3-D episode, though? I must admit I hadn't thought of that and like the sound of it. Since the IM has already made his non-debut in Fresco, maybe I could try it there. In the meantime, however, next weekend's Fresco should be of particular interest to you. Back to 3-D, I was flushed with excitement to find that there's a "3DCombine" CD-Rom with the current Digital Camera Magazine, which claims to convert stereo pairs into red/blue anaglyphs. As you know, I've been searching for a way of doing this for years (approx. 51) and hoped to use it for drawings as well as photos. I've just loaded the program and can't find any mention of converting to, or printing as, anaglyphs. I've e-mailed the author and hope for help. His web site is www.3dcombine.com What I CAN do is to convert a stereo pair taken on my Loreo camera to... a stereo pair. Although it will swap the pictures round and make them into a single jpeg, so it can be viewed by crossing your eyes. Not at all what the magazine had led me to believe, though. It said, "To view your 3D image, you simply print it out and acquire or make a pair of 3D viewing glasses, or you could just hold colour acetate in front of each of your eyes." I'm hoping the upgrade might do it. |
| Here is
my first attempt - without using all the refinements! Should be able to supply
you with Color 3D photos of Fresco, when time permits. This is Jenny, the dog
that preceded Flossie, Lord Sidcup (though don't tell her).
|