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As you know, for the
past fifty-four years or so, I've been trying to devise a way of drawing
cartoon strips in 3D (in the style of the old 3D comics of the fifties, such as
'Mighty Mouse' and 'Adventures in 3D' - the first 3D comics I ever saw), with
varying degrees of success. More recently, I've been trying to track down
software that would enable me to convert artwork to 3D, but with no luck.
And then it came to me.
I didn't see why it wouldn't be possible to use
Elements 2 to perform 3D conversions. Thus inspired, I tested my theory by
trying out a 3D conversion of the historic 'Invisible Man' centenary edition.
Although very simple and basic, I think it's enough to show that the principle
works. I know it's not very impressive but A.G.Bell's first phone call was less
than earth-shattering, as was J.L.Baird's original TV broadcast. To me, finally
seeing the episode in 3D was one of the most satisfying moments of my life (so
far).
The next step is for me to draw a strip especially designed for 3D.
May be a while as, as ever, I'm extremely busy, but I'll be sure to keep you
informed.
The final breakthroughs (or possibly breaksthrough) do not
involve you directly, but are also concerned with 3D.
I don't know if I
told you, but I was recently able to buy a second Pentax digital camera. I
wanted one with a swivel screen, to make it easier to take self-portraits (see
Frescos yet to come).
I found such a camera in my local Asda's. It had been
hanging around there for a few years, and they agreed to sell it to me for
£80.
Imagine my delight when I found it had the capability of taking
stereo pairs, but using a much better system than that on my more recent Pentax
camera. After taking the first frame, it shows you a ghost image to help you
line up the second. Only static subjects, of course, and only in portrait
format.
The camera came with a 3D viewer, but I prefer to convert the
pictures to anaglyph.
I hoped that I might be able to use this camera
(which cost, I now discover, over £280 when it came out in 2003) in
tandem with my other one, to produce better, clearer images than my cheap
Vivitar cameras.
My first experiment was a limited success, as the two
cameras were not precisely the same and not in complete alignment.
Then
came the breakthrough. Again using Elements 2 (which only cost me £20
and, anyway, my poor old PCs won't take the newer versions of Elements), I
found that I could manipulate the images to give spectacular and
depth-enhancing results. I saved the photos as bitmap files, which are far too
big to e-mail. I've adapted a couple of examples - Flossie The Dog and
Daffodils In Bud - to the attached lower-res jpegs. I have some A4 prints of
the originals framed on the wall and they're extremely impressive!
Remember, a few moments ago, I said that the snag with the camera's 3D
system was that I could only use it in portrait format - see the test pictures
of Books and Trevor Bear, also attached?
Well, yesterday, I made my final
breakthrough to date. If I hold the camera sideways, I can then achieve the
desired separation by shifting it up and down rather than side to side. I
enclose the result of my first test (the rose). Not wonderful but not bad for a
pioneer attempt. Macro, too! 
That just about brings
me up to date. Sorry to ramble on so, but these are subjects dear to my heart.
In the eighties, I was known to a comics dealer purely as 'The 3D
Man'. |
