Stereoscopic 3D Conversion

 Stereoscopic 3D Conversion

Our studio offers a cutting edge stereoscopic 3D content conversion service for both 2D to stereoscopic 3D and stereoscopic 3D to auto-stereoscopic 3D. Our proprietary hardware and software solution uses a mixture of pixel tracking, rotoscoping, disparity mapping, depth mapping and 3D geometry recreation to track or recreate realistic spacial information.

Basic Conversion

This conversion solution uses complex tracking and analysing algorithms to convert 2D footage to 3D automatically. We split the footage in to scenes and the hardware first tracks all the pixels in each frame and decides which pixels belong to which objects. While doing this it works out which occluded areas of the footage can be filled in with pixels from other points in the timelines due to new pixels being revealed by the camera, props or actors moving. The system then works out the depth that objects are in relation to each other and creates a sequence showing what the other eye should see to get a 3D effect.

High Quality Conversion

This solution is 50% automated and 50% manually completed. We analyse and track the footage as described in the "Basic Conversion" but then one of our stereoscopic 3D depth artists will manually assign levels of depth to each object and paint any missing information in manually by hand.

Extreme Conversion

This solution uses the "High Quality" process but additional spacial information is modelled manually by our stereoscopic 3D depth artists. Each actor and prop in each frame of the footage is given geometric lines and curves that follow their shape. On higher budget conversions we can laser scan actors to produce footage that could easily be mistaken for true stereoscopic 3D content.

Issues with Conversion

At best 2D-3D conversion is a guess of what the other eye should see, 3D proxy creation is very expensive and as such most converted footage has little geometrically accurate depth data. In some cases it is very difficult and labour intensive to create accurate and smooth occlusion data to fill in the holes left by the conversion process, in turn, this limits the amount of depth that can be extracted from a particular scene. Fast movement, transparent and semi-transparent objects are very difficult to convert no matter which method you use.

Effective stereoscopic 3d content contains many visual cues at different depths to increase the overall effect. It is vital to take this in to account in the very early stages of any Stereoscopic project as it affects the planning of every shot and scene. Parameters like framing, choice of lens, object positioning, motion and camera movement all need to be optimised for stereoscopic display.

Why Choose Stereografix To Convert Your Footage?

We will be as open and honest about 2D-3D conversion as we have been on our website. We will work with you to break down your footage out the depth budget for every scene just as we would in a true stereoscopic project. We will help you use 3D as a story telling tool, not just a gimmick like some conversions have been this year. Most importantly we will turn down any project if we feel the timescale is not feasible and the end result would jeopardise our hard earned reputation.

We also have developed some of the most powerful hardware and software solutions to make the conversion process easier and less labour intensive. Most studios will say they do everything frame by frame, but we believe a computer can analyse, track and mask a section of footage more accurately then any artist. We have developed our process with the aim of reducing cost without sacrificing any quality.

Our converted footage speaks for itself, to arrange a demonstration of it or any of our solutions or technology please email, phone or fill in an enquiry form and one of our consulting team will be in touch. If you would like to find out about our consultancy service please click on the link in the footer or on the home page.