Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Good 3D Book From SMPTE

This is topic Good 3D Book From SMPTE in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 04-10-2013, 10:11 AM:

I recently bought a book from SMPTE titled:
3D CINEMA & TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY, THE FIRST 100 YEARS

To put it bluntly, this book has "everythiing you ever wanted to know about 3D, and more"

It's mostly a re-printing of almost every SME & SMPTE technical paper on 3D going back
to the early 1900's.

It's also got a smattering of patent drawings and 3D related press releases & articles
from trade publications such as VARIETY and BOX OFFICE.

List price is $89 (or the cost of a decent lunch here in San Francisco) but I've
seen used copies occasionally show up on AMAZON for around $75.

It's a BIG book- well over 500pgs, and it's HEAVY, so shipping will set you back
aboout another $15 or so here in the U.S.

But if you're interested in the topic and/or enjoy reading technical tomes,
I can highly recommend it, despite the price which may seem high to some.

More Info Here

Actual Pictures (WoW!)
It's a BIG book: 8 1/2 x 11" - 550 pgs - 7lbs!

Interesting 3D camera set-up using a pair of B&H 2709's
(one mounted upside-down) AND color wheels to produce 3D
and RGB sequential color separation frames on B&W film.

The "Polaroid Process"

The ultimate 3D rig ~ A pair of synchronized Technicolor 3-Strip cameras!
(This thing must have weighed a ton & used up a sh_tload of film!_

So, if you've got an extra 100bux or so laying around, I highly
recommend this book.

(Or, you could just send the extra $100 to me!) [Big Grin]

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 04-10-2013, 02:08 PM:

Two of the camera rigs shown in those photographs were ones which were used to shoot the Festival of Britain 3-D films. The one on the cover with a pair of Newman & Sinclair cameras was used for several of the black and white films, while the twin Technicolor rig was used on 'Royal River', and I think one other film. I don't think any feature films were shot with either of these rigs. The festival films were mainly demonstrations of the process. I don't know what the strange rig with the magazine underneath is.

The six-strip Technicolor rig could not be used for close-ups because its inter-occular distance was too great; a significant problem for a 3-D camera.

The original 1951 prints of most of these films still exist in the BFI's vaults, and used to be show at the National Film Theatre from time to time, but I haven't heard of any screenings for a few years now. Unfortunately, the stereo magnetic tracks are 'lost', and the films have to be shown with the mono optical track on one of the prints.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 04-10-2013, 07:35 PM:

Yes, Stephen- You're absoloutely correct. There's a couple of lengthy
papers in the book covering 3D at the Festival of Britain, and I beleive
that's where I grabbed those images from.

Also, a bit off tobic but somewhat related- - about a month ago I got to
watch a beautiful 16mm print of "The Magic Box" held by a private collector.

For a long time, you couldn't get that movie here in the US. I'm still not
sure if it's available. The only copy I had was a meidocre quality DVD I'd
made from an old PAL format VHS tape release of it a long time ago.