The WPIX Yule Log

Though some might argue that stereoscopic presentations are their own special kind of cheese, this truly takes home 3D to another . . . dimension entirely.  Comcast has announced that it will broadcast the annual Yule Log in 3D as a video on demand service.   Folks who grew up in the New York City metropolitan area might be more familiar with the Yule Log broadcast than most.  Started in 1966 on independent New York television station, WPIX, the Yule Log was simply a video loop of a log in a fireplace (the original film was shot at Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City) with a rotating soundtrack of Christmas carols.  According to Wikipedia, this was ” a televised Christmas gift to those residents of The Big Apple who lived in apartments and homes without fireplaces. This also provided time for employees of the TV station to stay home with their families, instead of working for the usual morning news program.”  The Yule Log was generally aired on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day without commercial interruption (and this was back in the era of less-than-24-hour-television broadcasts and no infomercials).  The broadcast was canceled in 1990, but brought back through write-in campaigns (and fan sites like TheYuleLog.com).

So what’s the draw?  Certainly there is the nostalgia factor (especially for those of us from the New York area) as well as a huge kitsch factor.  There’s also the promise of a more immersive experience with the Yule Log.  But the presentation in stereo brings something both old and new into the mix.  When the Log premiered in 1966, 3D movies were already passé, a gimmicky trick from the previous decade, by most accounts designed to counter the influence of television in the American entertainment arena by giving consumers something that they simply could not get at home.  And yet today, with the far superior technology of digital stereoscopic presentations, 3D is coming home (some estimatesproject that total worldwide sales in 2010 will be around 4 million sets).   Marketers have tried many different tacks to lure home consumers to the 3DTV party — 3D sporting events, 3D movies on Blu-Ray, and of course, 3D games.  But now, by reimagining images from the past which were, even in their original form, low-tech at best, are content companies playing on consumers’ nostalgic heartstrings from the past to help sell a technology of the future?

Thursdays 3:00PM-5:50PM

RZC 201

Stereoscopic 3D is transforming cinema, and it’s poised to do the same for television, games, the internet and mobile media. It’s opening up brand new possibilities for media design, structure and narrative. Learn all about Stereo 3D – the fundamental principles, current technologies and techniques for content creation and presentation, hardware, software, aesthetics – in this hands-on course, as you create your own S3D projects, animations and interactive experiences.

Syllabus

National Stereoscopic Association

Stereo Club of Southern California

3D Zone Ray Zone is one of the leading champions of 3-D in the world. He has been called the King of 3-D Comics.

Stereoscopy.comStereoscopic 3D Products, 3D Services & 3D Imaging

Stereographics Corporation

Foundations of the Stereoscopic Cinema by Lenny Lipton

Real D Corp

3D by DrT

20th Century 3D

The 3D Center of Art and Photography

3D by Dan Shelley Stereo 3D Info, 3D Images, 3D Glasses, Clip Art, 3D Links, 3D Book List

Berezin Stereo Photography Products

Cybertronics Stereo3D Gaming, Stereo3D DVD Movies, Virtual FX 2D to 3DConverter,

Classic papers on stereoscopy

Stereo3d.com The independent 3D and Virtual Reality resource!

3Dstereo.com New & Vintage 3D Stereo Equipment, 3D Supplies & View-Master

Razor3D Stereo 3D entertainment, 3D DVDs, 3D software & 3D glasses

Anachrome Advanced Plastic Anaglyph 3D glasses and Anachrome 3D Technology

American Paper Optics Paper 3D Glasses, 3-D Glasses Manufacturer

anaglyph.pdf

How to distort two-dimensional shapes to create 3D planes that recede in depth.

anaglyphLayers.pdf

How to set up a workspace for anaglyph 3D images.

anaglyphCorrection.pdf

How to correct mismatched stereoscopic image pairs.

Foundations of the Stereoscopic Cinema by Lenny Lipton.

An indispensable and seminal text on the principles and practices of stereo imaging.

Three Dimensional Photography by Herbert C. McKay.

Stereoscopic photographic techniques and equipment.

The World of 3D Movies by Eddie Sammons.

A history & filmography of 3D cinema.

Sorry for the confusion.

Friday May 12 from 2pm to 6pm – INITLab G152B

(in the Lucas building basement; enter from the CNTV courtyard)

You’ll be there anyway for the CNTV Graduation Reception (from 4:15 on) – drop by for a STRANGELY COMPELLING VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE.

B. Immersant’s POV 3D video handheld of lab

C. Fantasy worlds immersant’s POV – 3D models, stereo images, etc – rendered 3D

D. 3D video of immersant looking around

E. c/f to empty room

F c/f live camera matched shot 3D of room behind participant – surveillance

G. POV 3D shot of virtual room model – head tracked – realtime 3D

H. matched live 3D surveillance shot of you in room

I c/f to empty room – video

A,D,E,F,H,I – all same overhead shot

F,H – live camera

A,D,E,I – video

physical interface to lighting control

model virtual room – Perry

model & render fantasy worlds Issac

shoot of immersant & immersant’s POV everyone

set up live cameras

immersant = perry

class 12: shoot 1,2,3,5,9 – all the live stuff – testing of 3D fantasy world

class 13: physical setup – lighting, cameras – render everything

class 14: integrating everything

class 15: testing + troubleshooting – imax

Aalborg University VR Media Lab: History

Absolute Animation and Immersive VR

The AquaThought Foundation Briefing: Immersive Media

Bill Sherman Fall 2003 Virtual reality course

Chiesa degli Angioli

Coding from Scratch: Conversation with Jaron Lanier

Colonizing Virtual Reality

Communication Studies: Digital Media: Virtual Realities

Creating and Using Virtual Reality

Critical History Section 17: Virtual Reality

Digital Historiography: Virtual Reality

Directory Computers: Virtual Reality

Funding a Revolution Ch 10: Virtual Reality Comes of Age

Frauenhofer IAO: Virtual Reality Lab History

Haifa VR Summer Course 2003 Skip Rizzo

GIST Multimodal Interaction Group

HCI-Presentations of Matthias Rauterberg

Helsinki University of Technology Virtual Environment

Herriot-Watt CS: F29IG2 Multimedia Technology VR

Immersion Corporation

Immersive Media Center at Metavision

Immersive Media Company

Immersive Media Research LLC

Immersive Media Systems Princeton

Introduction to Virtual Reality by Michael Louka

Mathworks Virtual Reality Toolbox

McGill: Consciousness Virtual Reality & Cyberspace (EDPE-650)

Morton Heileg

Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality

NASA: Whatever happened to Virtual Reality?

NCSA Science Theater: Total Immersion

NCSA VR Lab Home Page

PDC: A Short introduction to VR

Report on VR in theatre history research

Sexuality.org: Virtual Reality Sex

USC Digital Connections: Pervasive/Immersive Media

Virtually Present: Rob Kooper Thesis

Virtual Reality by Daniel Harper

Virtual Reality Links

Virtual Reality by Pieternel Kuiper

Virtual Reality

VRMAG: Bourbaki Panorama

Web3D Consortium: X3D Open Standar

Yeditepe U: CSE484L Introduction to Virtual Reality

The Velaslavasay Panorama

Holodeck – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

REC.ARTS.STARTREK.TECH FAQ: Holodeck and Computers

Creating Digital Archives of 3D Artworks

We will be following the same schedule as IMAG(E), meeting every 1 and 1/2 weeks (Friday, skip a week, Tuesday, etc).