What is 3D photography and 3D video. How does it work? Can You create 3D photos and 3D videos at home? The answers are yes. Here are some easy and inexpensive methods.
Poor Man’s 3D Video, The Pulfrich method.
3D Photography and 3D video see how it’s done
The Pulfrich Effect discovered in 1922 by the German physicist Carl Pulfrich. 
By the way, he could not see this effect because he was blind in one eye.
The effect will only work when there is horizontal motion occurring from left to right. Your brain perceives the darker image (viewed by the eye with the dark filter) with a delay of several hundredths of a second compared to the image seen through the clear filter. This causes the perceived position of the darker image to lag behind that of the brighter image. The amount of lag varies with the speed of motion. When your brain integrates the two images, the result is a stereoscopic 3D effect. With two eyes, each eye sees a slightly different image. The movement described above provides different images. The combined effect is that the brain sees a 3D image.
How to view the Pulfrich effect.
You’ll need special glasses to view the effect. The glasses can be made using an old pair of sunglasses. The left lens is dark and the right clear. The fun part is that anyone with a video camera can create the same effects. Get yourself the glasses and experiment. Impress your friends. Sit back and watch the audience react with awe.
Here is a short video demonstrating the effect.
This can be viewed with regular sun glasses. You could always pop out one of the lenses.
Easy Anaglyph
If you own a digital camera or a Camcorder you can create your own anaglyph photos and movies. You will of course need the glasses (not the same as above) that have one blue (cyan) and one red lens.
There is a shareware software named Stereo Photo maker that will do the work for you. You can use Photoshop etc but this
involves a lot more work.
Take two pictures of the same scene but with the cameras shifted apart on the same linear plane. This is an easily made wooden guide using a piece of board with a quarter round nailed in place.
How to create the photo
Take one photo then move the camera about 2.75″ left & take a second photo. Depending on your camera, you may have to experiment with the distance between the left and right shots. The average distance between human eyes is 62mm ( 2.44″) for women and 65mm ( 2.5″) for men.
Another method is used to two cheap cameras. You could rig them up beside each other and press on both shutters at the same time.
Here are some sample shots that were taken using the one camera method.
You can also create a 3D video with two identical video cameras or other video capture devices. Using Stereoscopic Multiplexer and Stereoscopic Player results in surprising results. I used two similar HD webcams.
The main drawback with anaglyph is that it darkens the resulting image.
If you need Anaglyph glasses check these guys out. Click here
The method used in commercial theatrical films involves a completely different approach. The projector projects superimposed left and right images that are polarized. The light waves in each frame are alternately filtered at a rate of 144 frames per sec. The brain sees both left and right images simultaneously. The polarized glasses filter each eye so that the left sees the left frames and the right, the right frames. The brain combines these images to produce a 3D image. This method results in a clearer and brighter image.
You want more info and more ideas, check out the new page on DIY 3D stereoscopic photography
