As expected Sony has just released a new firmware update that brings some 3D shooting capabilities to the company’s NEX-3 and NEX-5 interchangeable lens digital cameras. The new firmware update adds several performance enhancements plus the so called 3D Sweep Panorama mode that will allow you to take stereoscopic 3D panorama photos by just sweeping your camera around the scenery you want to capture. The 3D Panorama Sweep mode works just like the already available mode for taking panoramic photos inside these cameras and the new mode just extends this functionality further, so it is just a software improvement not requiring any additional hardware. Have in mind that the Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5 digital cameras are not true stereoscopic 3D cameras like the Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W1 for example and they do have just one lens and sensor and not two. So the only 3D photo mode that you have available in the one for taking photos in stereo 3D of panoramas, however you can still manually take two pictures with a little offset of the camera to produce a stereoscopic 3D photo after some editing with a free software like the StereoPhoto Maker. Then again this manual 3D shooting can be done with just about any normal camera, the problem is that it is not so easy and requires some experience and knowledge in order to produce good stereo 3D photos. But the 3D Sweep Panorama mode does everything automatically, you just need to move the camera and it will do the taking of pictures and sticking them into a nice stereo 3D panorama. The NEX-5 and NEX-3 shoot a high-speed burst of frames that are automatically combined inside the camera to create a seamless panoramic still image containing depth information.
Bear in mind that the firmware update version 02 for the Sony NEX-3/5 that is already available for download is intended only for NEX-5/NEX-3 cameras with Version 01 firmware currently installed as newer cameras may ship with the new firmware pre-installed, so there will be no need to update it if you are yet to purchase one of these cameras. You can check the current version of the firmware installed on the camera by selecting MENU / SETUP / VERSION. And if you do have one of these camera and update the firmware you are more than welcome to share some 3D panorama images here, as I personally do not have any of the two models to try it.
The professional photographer Cesar Sommer has just made available a new stereo 3D video giving us a nice slideshow with more stereo 3D photographs that he took during the last few months. The new 3D video is in Full HD quality and Side by Side format, so you should be able to watch it with the 3D Vision Video Player or the Stereoscopic Player without issues. If you still haven’t seen his first 3D portfolio, then you can get the video here featured on the blog or from the newly opened download section that is now also available on his official website. Some more things that you can check out about him for example is the short interview that I did with Cesar earlier this year if you’ve missed it to learn more Cesar and his 3D photography. And then there is also the report on his Stereoscopic 3D Photography Vernissage Event, where he presented some of his 3D work on different 3D solutions in front of live audience.
A few months ago I’ve introduced you the just launched adult oriented stereoscopic 3D website called Adult4D that is offering high-quality stereo 3D videos and pictures for adult audiences (18+). It has been quite some time since then, so I decided to see how things were going with this interesting new project and to get some more details about it that you might find interesting to read. So here is a short interview with the founder of the website, I hope you like it and maybe even find some useful information, you can also ask some questions that you might have in the comments below…
Can you briefly introduce yourself to the readers of the blog, who you are and what you do?
Let me introduce myself as Sir Thomas Graf de Porneau, but you may call me Tom :-)
I am founder and producer of Adult4D.com – serving the worlds first XXX in FullHD-3D (that means 1920×1080 pixels for each eye).
I also work in audio-visual event and entertainment business. This background greatly helped doing my pioneer work in 3D HD porn.
When and how did you decide to start up the Adult4D stereoscopic adult entertainment website?
I have seen some great S3D films in theme parks and even produced a stereoscopic 3D live show for a client more than 10 years ago. Then in 2006 I saw an IMAX3D documentary and while still impressed by the visual 3D effects, I was disappointed with the overall content offered. I suddenly thought about a hot babe coming out of the screen while showing off her beauty (I must have been very horny then!-)
Although I did a lot of research I could not find anything satisfying. Mostly anaglyph photos which reproduce horrible skin colors – not acceptable for nudes, if you ask me. Due to the available systems and difficulties involved only a small group of gamers played S3D computer games in 2006 and just some enthusiastic experts and hobbyists made or watched s3D photos. 3D is all about technology (nobody likes flicker or headaches) and content (who buys expensive gear when there is almost nothing to watch?). So I was hoping for success of the then new 3D-ready TVs and decided to produce stereoscopic 3D erotica myself.
Your adult website has been operating for a few months already, do you see constant growth of interest and user base and are your first expectations fulfilled or not yet?
After a lot of learning, trial-and-error and experiments Adult4D.com went public in summer 2009 and it has been OK for the beginning. Luckily my first expectations were quite low as I always thought about it as a niche. That turned out to be realistic. But the Stereoscopic 3D community is growing very fast nowadays, we see a constant growth of interest in our website and receive great feedback from our members worldwide.
There is still not a lot of competition in the S3D adult content online, do you think that this year there will be a lot of new websites similar to Adult4D or not?
The only ones I know about producing full color s3D videos in good quality is 3D-eros.com – we have a friendly and positive contact. Apart from this Asian site I only found some adult sites, who just started offering anaglyph 3D nudes – like if we were in the 80s… Good 3D is quite expensive and difficult to produce – even Avatar, IMHO the greatest 3D movie ever made, has some minor errors in it. So, I just hope for competitors who produce quality content, because otherwise interested people might stay away again quickly from watching S3D. I really look forward to seeing lots and lots of good 3D content without eye-straining alignment errors and excessive sync issues!
What do you currently use for taking Stereoscopic 3D pictures and videos, and then edit and view them?
Custom rigs! We have built and experimented with 5 video rigs so far. Always trying to improve the final results. In December 2009 we got a pair of new video cameras, which enable zooms and are in sync to each other. This is important for capturing exactly the same picture on both cameras. Only progressive cameras are used as they capture full pictures instead of half-resolution, interlaced frames. We had 24p and the new cams do 30p now, which is better for fast movements. The whole workflow in post is in 1080p using a professional DI codec.
Also the photo equipment was improved. First shots were taken with a Loreo 3D lens on a Sony A700. Putting this crap plastic lens on such a good camera was not a very good idea. The output was mediocre. We changed this for shoots “x05″ to “x09″ but already took the next step forward – to one of the best photo cameras syncable with SDM. Workflow in progress – everyday!
At the end of time consuming post production (about 5 hours rendering on a high-end computer for a minute of 1080p video!) I view everything on 3Dvision with a 50″ Samsung PS50B450, which is not advertised as but 3D-ready (!?). But also on two 24″ FullHD monitors DIYed together in Planar-style with a half-mirror (TARDIS setup: you can find the link to make one yourself in our FAQ). Planar/Tardis gives the best 3D quality available IMHO. Even though this is more of a 3D Vision oriented blog and I like the stylish 3D Vision glasses, I have to say that I do prefer passive 3D with polarized glasses over shutters. No flicker, no batteries, cheap, light-weight, … (I am really looking forward to the upcoming new ZALMAN bundles).
What made you choose the dual-stream WMV video format for publishing your videos online, do you consider it to be the best 2D/3D viewing compatible solution for PC at the moment?
We offer 2 different formats for download to our members:
- CROSSVIEW (side-by-side w/ Right picture on Left side) in qHD resolution (1920×540 = 960×540 per eye), which is the most compatible version and even plays on quite old computers. This can be used for crossviewing on many players on PC and MAC or converted to many other 3D formats in freeware s3D players.
- 1080p DUAL-STREAM in FullHD resolution (1920×1080 full pictures per eye) which is 2D backward compatible, but currently plays 3D only in Stereoscopic Player.
The second one is the format you mention. I like it, because it also plays in FullHD-2D and does not require any special settings or codecs in Stereoscopic Player. You just choose your preferred 3D viewing method. Peter Wimmer from 3dtv.at has done an excellent job. Also this player is bundled with popular new 3D solutions like ZALMAN and 3D Vision. It is more convenient for our members than any other format I know of.
Can you share your opinion about the Blu-ray 3D standard, did you consider releasing your adult videos on it in the near future?
We follow the development for a while now and had interesting talks with some of the key players. I am happy we got a standard now and that it is backward compatible. We are ready for using it and will definitely release 3D-BDs in the near future, but we will probably not be the first ones in the industry. The quality difference between our 1080p downloads and a 3D-BD is not that big anyway. But it will definitely be a better media than 3D-DVD to help s3D succeed. Especially with the PS3 and XBOX firmware upgrades for playing 3D-Blurays in 3D, which should be available this year. Otherwise it would take years until enough people own a 3D-BD player. Then they also need a 3D-ready TV and glasses. A few million already have a 3D-ready TV, but most got no glasses to use the 3D feature. Well, I really hope for more CUSTOMER-FRIENDLY 3D BUNDLES.
A lot of people believe that 2010 will be the year of S3D, do you agree and what are your expectations?
2010: The Year We Make Contact (with Real 3D – as I like to call it).
Yes, I think it will be the kick-off year. With the huge success of Avatar and most major manufacturers like Sony, LG, JVC, Panasonic, Hyundai, … selling 3D@home equipment it will start to go mainstream. SKY UK will launch a dedicated 3D-TV satellite channel this year and the first 3D-BDs (3D blu-rays) will go on sale. But things take time: LG estimates to sell 400,000 3D-TVs in 2010 but 3.4 million in 2011. People might wait a while until they upgrade their TVs and monitors, but once they see lots of good HD-3D content available, they will be sold. Gamers will make the move forward much faster as they are used to being fast ;-) They upgrade their gear more regularly than TV users and there are already hundreds of cool games to play in S3D!
