Introduction

Photo courtesy of Pinsky/Starkman Collection

Stereoscopic 3D photography has been around since about 1840. Originally, it referred to the optical illusion of depth in still photographs. Early stereoscopes, like the one pictured above from 1859, displayed two nearly identical photographs, one seen only by the left eye and one seen only by the right eye. The observer would look through the two lenses and their brain would combine the two photos into a single image that appeared to have three-dimensional depth.

The first stereoscopic feature length film, The Power of Love, was shown in 1922. But stereoscopic movies remained nothing more than a novelty. In the 1950s, stereoscopic 3D features like House of Wax and Bwana Devil created a 3D movie fad that only lasted about three years. Another revival attempt was made in the early 1980s but 3D remained on the fringes of major film production.

The digital age has made reliable stereoscopic 3D photography and display possible on large theatre screens, consumer televisions, and computers. This technical revolution has led to a renaissance in stereoscopic 3D production.

The term “3D” was originally coined in the early 1950s. Audiences learned that 3D movies meant putting on special glasses and watching a stereoscopic movie on the big screen.

In the late 1970s, Hollywood began using computers in feature film production. CGI (Computer Generated Imaging) or CG (Computer Graphics) were used to create visual effects and as an alternative to hand-drawn animation. These computer-based images were, unfortunately, called “3D” because they were created in a computer’s virtual three-dimensional environment. Suddenly, the term 3D had two completely different meanings.

Today, the term 3D still refers to computer-generated visual effects, CG animation, and stereoscopic pictures. In this book, 3D refers only to stereoscopic 3D.