Stereoscopic event coverage & onboard 3D

Back a little while ago I was having a conversation about one of my presentation videos for a new model of mine (Ballistic Approach 354) and someone noticed that the YouTube 3D feature was enabled for the specific video. The forum users went on to figure out if it was in fact stereoscopic...

Just to make sure: Yes. I own four stereoscopic camcorders, one that's great at photos, one that's awesome at video and two others that plain suck. I've also made several onboard rocket stereoscopic camera rigs in the last few years.

Now, it will be quite a while before I get the onboard stereo rigs ready again - in fact I'm looking at late 2013 or early 2014, given I've taken on a set of prototype projects that both take up my time and make mounting an expensive custom stereo rig way too risky and tricky.

Noticing that just my 3D presentation video seems to have generated some intrigue, I offer you all to watch our club's best stereoscopic production so far; a recap of our 2012 season, which features my four on-board flights in 3D-HD glory. The "night" flight (lifted at 8:49pm) is powered by an insane K1440 6 grain White Thunder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wTFh6oYgq0

Keep in mind this year's coverage is still going on, and it's still 3D, just there's no onboard video in the official event coverage. In my other videos this year onboard video is marked as 2D, which is played back within my ground 3D footage. Also, another cool thing I will continue to do this year to make up for the lack of onboard: 3D closeup lift-off slow mo's. They're really good when the source is 60fps

I'll be back later to post instructions on how to get a YT3D video playing on a real 3DTV set as opposed to using horrible red/blue glasses

See the attached PDF for instructions on how to play YouTube 3D back on your TV from a computer.

This might just be very useful for everyone wondering how they could use their 3D TV more in 3D.
There's tons of content on YouTube including our club's channel and my channel, which are all 3D.

View attachment Stereo3DProductions_Howto_YouTube3DTV.pdf

Thanks for the info. I had no problem watching your video in 3D.

I've been taking 3D stills and recording some 3D video at recent rocket launches. I have a toy AIPTek 3D camera and a Fuji W3. I've also experimented with two Flip cameras mounted side-by-side. The AIPTek camera will probably take a ride on one of my rockets sometime soon.

I haven't done much with the photos or video yet. Editing 3D stills and videos is more time-consuming than editing in 2D and I'm new at it. So, so far, I haven't produced anything worth sharing.

My laptop has a 3D display, so I can view and edit in 3D on it. I don't like how I have to switch back and forth between 3D and 2D while editing, but it works. On my desktop, I use those wonderful red/blue glasses.

I have a number of free tools I've downloaded for working with 3D. And, I bought a copy of Sony Vegas for it's 3D support.

For my own viewing, I'm converting the photos and videos to SBS format and viewing them on our TV. I guess I'll use YouTube 3D when I get around to sharing my creations.

-- Roger

Here's some onboard video using a couple of cheap sort of HD keychain cameras. The two images were combined using YouTube software. If you watch it at the highest resolution using the smaller player you can tell it's 3D but it isn't very impressive. The ground footage at the end is horrible because the cameras got out of alignment. I've only watched it with red/blue glasses.

[video=youtube;MNoTFO0lLjI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNoTFO0lLjI[/video]

I gave up after this because it was obvious that I needed more expensive cameras to get respectable results.

billspad...
Yeah there's a horizontal offset, but the main problem you have is the separation appears intense, plus it's converging.
I use the 720p #808 type keychain cam. I bolt two to a board with sticky tack (the blue sticky paste) under them, visually align them, record video simultaneously (normally I'll give myself a start cue like clapping in front of both cams while they start recording, then I normally film in the start of an 80ft long hallway where I try to converge on the end wall), take it back to the computer, use Premiere to overlay each video (and synchronize them using said cues). If there are offsets, I correct them by moving them a bit accordingly and repeat another recording. I repeat this until the misalignments can be corrected with software (20 pixels or less, 1 degree or less) and then I put epoxy fillets around the cams. It's the huge downside of not having a monitor on the cams Anyway this board with the two cams is then bolted onto the rocket.

Now, your main problem lies in first aligning, but then the tool you're using is way too limited. 3D is a sensitive type of video that will simply hurt the viewer physically if there's too many imperfections bound up in the same clip. You should use either Premiere or Sony Vegas or something of the likes to make alignment corrections.

You, by the way, are as close to my first few attempts in 2011 and you shouldn't be discouraged. I'd have at the very most 2.5 inches between the cams. If you can pack them with 1.5in apart, even better - the field will seem artificially shallower but you'll really feel more comfortable watching. The other strange thing is it makes the viewer feel like the smoke is exiting his brain. Put the cams both on the same side of the rocket on a flat plane (ex.: the little board I use for instance which is a small composite board shaped like a fin), but not on either side. Feels like your rocket is my nose and that the upper end is lodged in my sinus cavity.

I watched your clip on my interlaced 3D monitors (they use theater glasses, I have a 23in and a 47in) and if there's one thing... put aside the slight rotation issue and the large horizontal offset (i tilt my head to the right to weaken it while watching) the depth is incredibly efficient and I truly do see the floor getting the hell out of under my feet. I'm surprised that with a YouTube tool you even got this far! Not bad at all for a start. Give it another shot but be picky about your alignment. The damn cams all have their lens port hot-glued in and not one points the same direction exactly, so physical alignment ain't enough... you have to watch and adjust and take the time.

PS: Hallways are great to help align... when you overlay the views together you almost immediately see all your offsets and rotation.

A photo might help
The alignment on this was pretty good even w/o software mods, but despite that notice how the cams visibly don't seem quite aligned. That's the lens port imperfections during manufacture that make a perfectly parallel alignment look like this.

jadebox...
if that Aiptek i2 dies, no one will cry, so go for it (and the SD card usually lives on to tell the tale hehehe)
I have two of those. The internal capture uses this massive interlacing and removes it terribly, filming everything with totally jagged edges. Even the pics suffer from it a bit, but at least those are really high res. The Fuji's a nice machine... I might get a used one. I use my DXG 5F9V for the pics, she's pretty neat. For the video I reach for my superstar... the Sony TD20V. best one on the market (it's the TD30 now).

When I saw the DXG performing, I was like "Ohhhh... the Aiptek's just a bad camera"... but then... then I saw the Sony TD20 and I thought... Is this superior alien technology? It simply rips other video cams... but then again it has the price label to go with that fact. At this point my i2's are expendable too Just need time to build something that can fit em comfortably! Hahahaha

By the way, slap those 16:9 SBS images in a video and upload your first YT3D! A slide show with music. If it's rocketry I'll definitely be watching! (Good odds if it's not rocketry too!)

budwheizzah said:

billspad...
Yeah there's a horizontal offset, but the main problem you have is the separation appears intense, plus it's converging.
I use the 720p #808 type keychain cam. I bolt two to a board with sticky tack (the blue sticky paste) under them, visually align them, record video simultaneously (normally I'll give myself a start cue like clapping in front of both cams while they start recording, then I normally film in the start of an 80ft long hallway where I try to converge on the end wall), take it back to the computer, use Premiere to overlay each video (and synchronize them using said cues). If there are offsets, I correct them by moving them a bit accordingly and repeat another recording. I repeat this until the misalignments can be corrected with software (20 pixels or less, 1 degree or less) and then I put epoxy fillets around the cams. It's the huge downside of not having a monitor on the cams Anyway this board with the two cams is then bolted onto the rocket.

Click to expand...

Here's how I mounted the cameras:



I was a little strong on the separation. I've taken 3D stills by taking two shots with the same camera and I noticed that, for things far away, a wider separation enhanced the 3D effect. So I measured the distance between my eyes and moved the cameras a little further art. I think they're almost 4". I have the same or similar cameras. That photo isn't of the final version of the camera mount. I mixed up some thick epoxy, put waxed paper under the camera and pressed it in. The cameras are held in place by a nut and bolt. My alignment consisted of making sure the holders were mounted on the body tube straight. I clearly did put enough effort into that.

I looked around for software that could process 3D but didn't find anything cheap enough. Yeah, I know, you get what you pay for. For free the YouTube software is pretty good. It actually tries to sync up the two cameras. I think it uses the audio which works out well for rocket flights. And it does let you adjust for some of the misalignment.

I guess I'll have to try it again. The way the resolution is going up and the price is coming down, by the time I get around to it I should have something better to work with.

Wide separation is good for still photos, but 3D is always a balance of depth and motion. If your content movies quick you'll want to separate narrow to keep viewing comfortable.
If you're slowly panning glorious landscapes then separation can be cranked up. This is pretty much the reason why 3D content is still scarce and some of it - even professional content - can be bad. It's always a lot of work finding that balance. I last used 2.5in (average human eye sep) but I'm going to lower it to 1 or 1.5in at the next build. That should minimize foreground and background over-separation and pardon imperfections more easily. Of course, the slight downside is a flatter depth.