2d to 3d conversion

[Gae43]

OK, so I tried the softwares StPaint and bas-relief which both use the depth map to convert a 2d image to a 3d one. The results were very impressive so I had the idea that if you can convert one image to 3d successfully, then you should be able to put 25 images (PAL) together to create a one second long 3D video clip. How exciting is that? Just think of seeing some of "Star Wars" or other classic movie in 3D. Well, I've tried the method on scenes from the old Harryhausen films "Clash of the Titans" and "7th Voyage of Sinbad") and OMG, it looks amazing for a conversion. The only drawback? Unless the scenes involves no movement whatsoever (and how often does that happen?) you have to create a depth map for each frame of film and create a kind of travelling mask for the moving characters. Now while I don't mind doing this at the moment, as it's exciting seeing the initial results, the process just takes too darn long. So far, after hours and hours of labour I have just a few seconds of converted 3D footage. Great as it looks, the process is just too laborious.
My question is this then. Is there any software out there (preferably freeware) that would help in this process? Any animation software or 2d to 3d software that does a batch convert of sequential masks i.e. it can follow what you have just "outlined" or picked up with a magic pen? Now, unfortunately as I am on a budget (or no budget to be more precise) I'm really hoping to use freeware (or at least inexpensive) software. Also, I'm not really interested in a an "on the fly" 3D approach like 3D-fier etc as I'd like to actually spend some time converting 2d stuff.
I feel I am so close to discovering a good method for 2D to 3D video conversion that actually works and looks good but have come up against this bit of a brick wall.

Thanks for any help

Gae43

[cybereality]

Yes, I am very interested in this too. Unfortunately there is not really much software in this area. For images it seems StPaint is one of the best programs (unfortunately NOT free, though). For video there is nothing I know of. Because of this I have decided to create my own 3D conversion applications (freeware). I have just started on the image converter which works by painting depth maps. I am probably only 20% done with this program. After that is completed I plan to make a version that converts video. The method I am planning on using is to have the user 3D model the scene and then match it to the video. This would allow for fast motion and rotating camera angles. It also makes the program much more complex so it may take me a year or two even to have anything working. But I think this is a very exciting field and think it will be very popular in the future.

[Gae43]

Wow, that sounds great Cybereality. Keep us posted.

The StereoPaint demo is very good but it's depth map system uses colours instead of black and white for it's mapping. For this reason, it's not compatible with other software like bas-relief which is a great software as it does batch convert. The demo is only anaglyph but you can always convert to side by side later.
The beauty about SPaint is that you can view it in left and right, interlaced etc even in the demo and the results look very nice. You have to take time making the depth map to avoid the cardboard cut-out effect though.
If I can just find a software that creates a depth map automatically then it would just be a simple case of assembling the frames in Virtualdub and adding audio. That wouldn't take too long at all. The laborious element is having to create the depth map to follow the movements of each image.
I'm tending to come from the old school animation frame by frame side of this rather than using scripts and codes etc...it's a bit over my head.

Gae43

[Freke1]

I'm surprised anyone will put any time into these conversion projects. It will never be like original 3D footage so why bother. The only thing that works are video with horizontal panning on static objects. That will give You 2 videos similar to the ones You get from a 3D camera setup. At least that's what I figured.

[Gae43]

Of course 2d to 3d conversions will never replace true stereoscopic content but being able to create 3D clips of your favourite movies gets me as excited as looking ahead to future 3D releases.

Here are some examples of what good 2d to 3d conversions can look like. If I could watch some of my favourite movie scenes in that quality of converted 3D, I'd be pretty happy.

Gallery

Anyway, we have to keep ourselves occupied some how don't we with all this waiting around for 3D to happen? I don't know about anyone else, but all this "anticipation" of what's coming and at what cost is starting to get a bit tiresome now.

Gae43

[cybereality]

I'm surprised anyone will put any time into these conversion projects. It will never be like original 3D footage so why bother.

I agree that there is no replacement for true stereoscopic footage. However I disagree that a conversion can't look good. For example, the movie G-Force had all the live action converted from 2D and it looked really good. Even better than some real 3D footage I have seen. There is also Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans coming out soon (both conversions) so I suggest you go to one of those movies and see for yourself.

[Freke1]

I would certainly like to see pod racing in 3D but 3D cameras can see around things which a 2D camera can't. So You have to invent objects, cut objects out, move all objects in the scene for every frame to avoid it looking bad and still it is not correct because the 2 views of a certain object in the scene are identical not different like with 2 cameras.
So after a gigantic amount of work it is still not correct. It might be good enough to watch no doubt though.

Anyway I'm sure You know these things, the only way to learn new stuff is to try. The new HD cameras are getting cheaper like the Full HD 60fps Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1:
http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-VPC-FH1-Mem ... B001Q3M9PY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and others. I can't wait

I'm surprised if You can't tell G-Force is a conversion. Guess they really did it well then. Usually there are objects in wrong depth or comprimated borders around objects like in the WoW trailer: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2I912DND" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gae43]

Freke1, with regards to new content, of course, it is best to film it in 3D first, but we are talking 2d to 3d conversion of already existing 2d movies. They are already in 2D, that is an indisputable fact, so the only way to see them in 3D, ipso facto, is via a conversion. Agreed?
Now that we have that sorted I still personally get more excited at the thought of seeing my favourite movies coming at me in 3d, real or not, than anything new that Hollywood can churn out. For me, the added depth in the conversion makes me feel like I am looking into the real world of that scene, rather than just seeing a flat image. It makes all the effort worthwile.
One of the scenes that I have converted is the Cyclops at the beginning of "7th Voyage of Sinbad". To see the cyclops coming from behind the rocks of a beach that has perspective and a distant horizon, for me personally, is very exciting. Seeing it in 3D, even converted, makes the whole scene come to life in as exciting a way as when I first saw the film at age eight. The 3D element can re-invigorate old classics in a way that almost makes them seem fresh and new again.

Gae43

[Freke1]

Nice, 3D certainly makes movies come alive, I agree