Photicious All Photography

This looked pretty damn impressive when I saw it today. A set of wedding photographer David Beckstead’s killer images had been transformed by a video company into a “3D Ken-Burns” effect. You know the panning effect which made Show-It Web so popular.

At first I was dumbfounded and said “damn, how is that done?”.

I read a bit about the making of these shows and it seems they are painstakingly made by hand, one image at a time.

OK.

Looking a little closer, the following seems to be happening:

* the original image is separated into separate 2D layers, the fireground, some mid area, background, etc.

* an intelligent “Ken Burns” is then applied which pans the image but each layer is panned at a different speed simulating their distance from the viewpoint, thus creating the stunning 3D effect.

* Some goodies are put into a few of the images, like a real cloud movie instead of a static sky and dynamic flare effects for some of the backlighted images.

Now I just have to find the software which allows this and it should be possible to roll my own

Any ideas?

Ok, if you’re a bride or groom, this is not for you. Go away. NOW!

For all others, listen in how six women wedding photographers discuss their business while pulling everything in the dirt. All the while they’re having loads of fun.

(more…)