Okay - so I set my mind on learning how to shoot stereo 3d. You can Google 3d stereography and find loads of sites that tell you all about it, seems to be a very popular pastime! There's a very interesting and indepth Wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscopy that pretty much nails it. So the next thing is actually shooting some footage and having a go at editing and then viewing the results in 3d. Sounds simple enough, but massive problems are presented with no stereo 3d post production and no 3d rigs outside of London... (Unless you have serious dosh!)
The first big leap forward was when Jon at Procam North http://www.procamtvnorth.com/ offered to help me by getting a basic 'Side-By-Side' plate engineered that we/I could experiment on. Then with the help of technical genius Simon Stappleton also from Procam North, we did our very first stereo 3d test shoot!
The plan was to work our way through some different cameras, comparing and contrasting results, and hoepfully learning something about the techniques required and of course the nature of filming stereo 3d. We started at the lowest level, 2 x Z1's!
We bolted them onto the Procam North Side-by-Side camera plate (Mk1) and set up some basic lighting in their camera test room. I double checked the manual 3D MOVIE MAKING by Bernard Mendiburu: http://www.amazon.co.uk/3D-Movie-Making-Stereoscopic-Digital/dp/0240811372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274113031&sr=1-1
and we spent a pleasant couple of hours filming a bunch of plastic and silk flowers gaffer taped to a lighting stand, at an eye popping interaxial alignment of 150mm! I took the rushes home and loaded onto my mac with the Noise Industries Dashwood Stereo 3d Toolbox http://www.noiseindustries.com/dashwood/stereo3dtoolbox/index.html
Then I spent a perplexing week with splitting eyestrain and banging headaches, editing in red/cyan anaglyph mode, trying to get my head around what happens when the cameras are further apart, and what the difference is between shooting parallel and converging. As I look back now I think that probably, it was what I needed to understand how critical it is to get the alignment right on the shoot - not use that old 2d production maxim of "It'll be alright, we can fix it in post!"
Lesson One. The most important rule in 3d - make sure you have the right Interaxial Alignment for the job! (Or I-O as some Stereographers call it).
