World's Largest - Lemay Auto Collection In 3d Video

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

I visited the LeMay Automobile Collection yesterday and did some 3D movies which are posted at Youtube. Youtube now has a 3D video viewer that allows for a variety of viewing methods. Give it a try!

 

As you know the Lemay Collection is the worlds largest and is in Tacaoma, Washington. These shots were taken in the shed, so imagine what the really good stuff looks like. If there is interest, I'll post the video of the good stuff later.

 

Just click on the link below. I suggest you use the medium or large view. And try 720p. The cars really shine!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road.

 

[mobilene 2]

Thank goodness for the option to see only left or right image -- I can't see in 3D! But I enjoyed seeing the cars. jim

[Alex Burr - hester_nec 4]

I visited the Lemay collection back in 2001 in conjunction with the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club's national meet in Seattle. We toured out in an H-E-T caravan from the hotel to the collection at Lemay's home, I think it was.

 

I was rather shocked at what we found - all those beautiful cars stored in rickety, wooden sheds, open wiring, no fire protection. The sheds were jammed - and the house (which some of us got a chance to tour) was full of odds and ends and parts.

 

It's a wonder there was never a fire there to destroy some beautiful examples of Americas cars.

 

One story I heard about Lemay was that he had an old English double-decker bus and was driven around neighborhoods - from the top deck he could see into peoples back yards and that's how he accumulated some of his collection. I'd like to go back and see the new museum that was built not to long ago.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

I visited the Lemay collection back in 2001 in conjunction with the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club's national meet in Seattle. We toured out in an H-E-T caravan from the hotel to the collection at Lemay's home, I think it was.

 

I was rather shocked at what we found - all those beautiful cars stored in rickety, wooden sheds, open wiring, no fire protection. The sheds were jammed - and the house (which some of us got a chance to tour) was full of odds and ends and parts.

 

It's a wonder there was never a fire there to destroy some beautiful examples of Americas cars.

 

One story I heard about Lemay was that he had an old English double-decker bus and was driven around neighborhoods - from the top deck he could see into peoples back yards and that's how he accumulated some of his collection. I'd like to go back and see the new museum that was built not to long ago.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

 

Alex,

 

According to our tour guide, the LeMay collection is now the largest in the world. The 300+ cars I saw were adequately housed, but very crowded as is evident in the video. The site currently open to the public is a former private school or academy and the gym and adjacent facilities store the most significant cars we saw.

 

The movie shows the cars in a warehouse built on the grounds. The guide said it would take 16 times more space than you see in that movie to house the entire collection!

 

The new museum being planned in downtown Tacoma will give walk around access to cars, but housing all the cars in the collection will still present a challenge.

 

Odds are you will see most of the cars you or your family ever owned, and many you have only heard or read about. Going on a rainy Sunday afternoon in January meant I practically had the whole collection to myself. The guide, a father and son, and I made up the tour.

 

I would urge anyone interested in these cars to visit soon. The staff is small and welcoming, and operates with a degree of informality. You can’t touch the cars, but you can get as close as you like. But that may change as the collection gets more visitors. I sadly noted some savage had deliberately scratched the fender of one of the cars, and I mentioned it to the guide. And I noted a seat back cut with a knife. Eventually the brain dead among the public may ruin it for the rest of us.

 

I am experimenting with 3D movies. Youtube has provided a nice viewer that allows for standard 2D viewing, or for any of several 3D formats. I’m hoping that interest in 3D at the theater will interest the general public and more people will be interested in viewing 3D.

 

I think the beautiful details of vintage cars are a natural for 3D. As more people produce 3D, more will seek them out. I toy with documenting the National Parks Highway in 3D this summer….but who knows.

 

Thanks for the comments!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[Chris Rowland 0]

I am experimenting with 3D movies. Youtube has provided a nice viewer that allows for standard 2D viewing, or for any of several 3D formats. I’m hoping that interest in 3D at the theater will interest the general public and more people will be interested in viewing 3D.

Dave, what type of camera setup are you using to film your 3D movies? I just got a Fujifilm Real3D W1 this month and I know it has movie capability, though I haven't had time to use it for more than snapshots yet. Does YouTube accept the 3D-AVI format that it produces, or do you use a different format?

 

Chris

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

Dave, what type of camera setup are you using to film your 3D movies? I just got a Fujifilm Real3D W1 this month and I know it has movie capability, though I haven't had time to use it for more than snapshots yet. Does YouTube accept the 3D-AVI format that it produces, or do you use a different format?

 

Chris

 

YOU LUCKY SON OF A GUN! I have my eye on the Fujifilm W1, so I am really interested in your experience with it. I think it is a terrific investment for a fellow with a young family. 3D videos of the family will be treasures, so take lots of family shots…as I know you do.

 

Before anything else, download a free copy of STEREO MOVIE MAKER. It is available at several download sites. I use CNET but there are lots of other good, safe sites. And if you need help, I can send you a copy.

 

The 3D-AVI format is terrific and SMM will read it directly. To work with Youtube you will want to output (from SMM) to something other than 3D-AVI. I produce side by side cross eyed stereo (using SMM) which is what you are seeing on Youtube. The Youtube viewer takes care of producing the other viewing formats. (Thanks Youtube!!)

 

SMM only outputs in AVI which produces huge files, so you will probably want to compress before uploading to Youtube. I get excellent results using FORMAT FACTORY (also free) and converting to MP4 using the H.264 codec. Very simple, but remember to output 1280 X 480 (two 640 X 480 side by side).;

 

There are a few other tweeks you will learn, and you will need a stereo viewer tag in Youtube (I’ll get it for you). I don't think Fujifilm did a good job explaining how to produce 3D movies, because they want to sell their viewer...but I know the workflow by heart, and its simple (otherwise I couldn't do it )

 

I use side by side cameras, which complicates things, but then the whole lash up cost me less than $75, which I know is a “bit less” than the Fujifilm!!

 

I really look forward to seeing your photos and videos. I'm jealous!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road

[Dave Reese 0]

Looks like another collection to add to my list of future places to visit. I really enjoyed seeing the Sharknose Graham among others in the collection. I had recently posted a photo of Facebook of my mom on a vacation in the 1930s the the family's Graham with bumper stickers like "Luray Caverns" clearly wired to the front bumper...

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

Looks like another collection to add to my list of future places to visit. I really enjoyed seeing the Sharknose Graham among others in the collection. I had recently posted a photo of Facebook of my mom on a vacation in the 1930s the the family's Graham with bumper stickers like "Luray Caverns" clearly wired to the front bumper...

 

 

Dave,

 

Thanks for the comeback! Your posts inspired me to get out of the easy chair and visit the LeMay collection.

 

Dave

 

keep the Show on the Road!

[DennyG 5]

This response is in two parts. The first concerns the cars, the museum, and the movie contents. It is overflowing with flattery and praise. The second concerns the 3D aspects of the movie. It could accept more flattery without overflowing.

 

I've heard of this collection but did not have a very positive impression of it. That impression has definitely improved. I think what I've heard is something like what Alex described and it sounded like more of a jumble of cars than a viewable collection. The movie shows this is no longer the case and the promise of a museum really makes this sound like a must see. I'll probably be in the area in a couple of years when my son returns to Bremerton (he's currently in San Diego) and will definitely have this on the to do list. The range of cars in the movie is pretty wide and I'd guess that the range of the whole collection is even greater. An incredible collection and a very good movie.

 

As for the 3D presentation, I am, like Jim, thankful for the 2D options. Eye-crossing and similar techniques don't work reliably or comfortably for me. For this movie, I went to the junk drawer and found an old pair of 3D glasses from some advertising campaign. They work and do indeed give an impressive 3D appearance to the cars. But they really darken the world. They are super-cheapo paper things. Maybe higher quality versions wouldn't be so dark. I have no idea. I do suspect that a sun lit beach would yield a brighter movie than a closed warehouse. As it is, much appeared pretty dim and some, like a car interior, were down right dark. Perhaps a brighter display would help this but mine is a fairly new unit and was cranked to the max. My last bit of negativity has to do with parallax or depth of field or something like that. I think it's a problem that's been part of 3D since House of Wax days. Cars a few feet from the camera look really good but items closer than X appear as the 2 2D images they actually are instead of a blended 3D image. Maybe better glasses or eyes would help this.

 

Love the cars and really liked (half of) the movie. I'm really looking forward to (half of) the video of the "good stuff". While all you people with normal vision enjoy the cars in 3D, Jim and I will be arguing over whether the left or right image is superior.

 

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

This response is in two parts. The first concerns the cars, the museum, and the movie contents. It is overflowing with flattery and praise. The second concerns the 3D aspects of the movie. It could accept more flattery without overflowing.

 

I've heard of this collection but did not have a very positive impression of it. That impression has definitely improved. I think what I've heard is something like what Alex described and it sounded like more of a jumble of cars than a viewable collection. The movie shows this is no longer the case and the promise of a museum really makes this sound like a must see. I'll probably be in the area in a couple of years when my son returns to Bremerton (he's currently in San Diego) and will definitely have this on the to do list. The range of cars in the movie is pretty wide and I'd guess that the range of the whole collection is even greater. An incredible collection and a very good movie.

 

As for the 3D presentation, I am, like Jim, thankful for the 2D options. Eye-crossing and similar techniques don't work reliably or comfortably for me. For this movie, I went to the junk drawer and found an old pair of 3D glasses from some advertising campaign. They work and do indeed give an impressive 3D appearance to the cars. But they really darken the world. They are super-cheapo paper things. Maybe higher quality versions wouldn't be so dark. I have no idea. I do suspect that a sun lit beach would yield a brighter movie than a closed warehouse. As it is, much appeared pretty dim and some, like a car interior, were down right dark. Perhaps a brighter display would help this but mine is a fairly new unit and was cranked to the max. My last bit of negativity has to do with parallax or depth of field or something like that. I think it's a problem that's been part of 3D since House of Wax days. Cars a few feet from the camera look really good but items closer than X appear as the 2 2D images they actually are instead of a blended 3D image. Maybe better glasses or eyes would help this.

 

Love the cars and really liked (half of) the movie. I'm really looking forward to (half of) the video of the "good stuff". While all you people with normal vision enjoy the cars in 3D, Jim and I will be arguing over whether the left or right image is superior.

 

 

Denny,

 

Thanks for the encouragement to do the second half of the tour, whether in 3D or not.

 

I suspect your observations on the 3D effects are shared by many, perhaps most. The first problem is the viewing method. Those of us who had a younger sister and made faces at her with our eyes crossed have no problem using that glasses-free method to great effect.

 

It is my view that if you can focus on your finger as close as 6 inches from your nose, you can easily learn to view crossed eyed, because you cross your eyes to do it.But it may tire your "older" eyes quickly . Cross eyed avoids the darkening of anaglyph glasses and the red or blue fringe. You can also buy for about $3 a clear glass parallel viewing gismo made by Loreo for your computer sized screen. It works great and doesn’t darken the image or distort the colors.

 

Parallax is another issue, and I didn’t correct it for technical reasons I won‘t go into here. I was da** happy to get the frames aligned, let alone adjust for parallax. One of the reasons I am so interested in Chris’s new Fujifilm camera is because it apparently adjusts for parallax, and there is no need to synchronize left and right frames, as the camera trips both lenses shutters at the same time. And while my stuff was shot at 15fps, the Fujifilm will shoot at 30fps, which reduces jumpiness.

 

The LeMay auto collection was my first effort at a multi scene 3D video, and it came out amazingly well, considering that I was using a home made jury rigged system that, even counting the second camera, came in under $75. And I had to develop the workflow by guess and by golly.

 

The interest in 3D at theaters, the availability of the Fujifilm 3D camera, and the nice Youtube viewer will generate more interest, and more people who learn to view without glasses. And the availability of 3D HDTV with shuttered glasses will add to the interest.

 

I have counted the pass throughs who looked at the post, then clicked on the video. It is among the highest proportion I have ever seen. I expect things to improve with better equipment and more experience with 3D video….but you can say you were among the first to “see it here.”

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

Chris & Denny,

 

Good and bad news.

 

I told Sheila that my good buddy Denny was not happy with my 3D movies and that I needed a new Fujifilm Real 3D camera to make him happy. She said “Go ahead…I know you need it!” So I ordered one.

 

Not ten minutes later, she walked in and said “I need a new sewing machine. Should I get one with all the bells and whistles?” Gees, I think I may have started something!

 

Chris, does your wife need a new sewing machine too?

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

[DennyG 5]

Chris & Denny,

 

Good and bad news.

 

I told Sheila that my good buddy Denny was not happy with my 3D movies and that I needed a new Fujifilm Real 3D camera to make him happy. She said “Go ahead…I know you need it!” So I ordered one.

 

Not ten minutes later, she walked in and said “I need a new sewing machine. Should I get one with all the bells and whistles?” Gees, I think I may have started something!

 

Chris, does your wife need a new sewing machine too?

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

This thread seems to really be pumping money into the economy. I injected $2.20 myself. I'm hoping that the LOREO Lite 3D Viewer is the gizmo you spoke of. They're $1.70 + 0.50 shipping. Dead line for ordering before the five day shutdown for Chinese New Year is noon on Feb 11. If Sheila wants to blame me for your new camera, I'll deny everything. Though she may want to thank me for her new sewing machine.

[mobilene 2]

In my case, an eye issue at birth and a couple subsequent surgeries before I was 3 permanently robbed me of 3-D vision. I live in a flat world!

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

This thread seems to really be pumping money into the economy. I injected $2.20 myself. I'm hoping that the LOREO Lite 3D Viewer is the gizmo you spoke of. They're $1.70 + 0.50 shipping. Dead line for ordering before the five day shutdown for Chinese New Year is noon on Feb 11. If Sheila wants to blame me for your new camera, I'll deny everything. Though she may want to thank me for her new sewing machine.

 

Denny and Jim,

 

Denny:

 

It hadn't occurred to me that Sheila owes you a “Thank you“....but you are definitely right! You would think after almost 30 years married to her, I would have seen it coming.

 

I don’t know about the 3D lite. I should have been more specific, but I didn’t recognize your thirst for 3D, nor your impulsive nature. The one I have is their PIXI 3D Viewer which is designed to view 10 to 15 inch wide 3D images on a computer. I got mine on Ebay. I hope you didn’t squander $3.00......but I don’t feel sorry for you.

 

I bought a couple extra for just this kind of “emergency” so if yours doesn’t enhance the viewing experience, I’ll give you one of mine. Sheila would demand it.

 

Jim,

 

You told me a while back about your 3D impediment, and I wish I could provide a format that works for you. I think I recall that the wiggle method for still shots was useful, but that isn’t available in video.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

 

[mobilene 2]

Dave, don't worry about it. I'm used to it by now. jim

[Dave Reese 0]

I had gone to see "Avatar" in 3-D over the holidays, and was disappointed in the 3-D effects as well as the story, although the other special effects were very well done. But now I have heard that if your vision is less than 20/20, the 3-D movie effects are lessened. I guess corrected vision was not enough and I missed most of the 3-D. I remember the effects having been much better in "The Stewardesses" back around 1970 or so, but then my vision was fine 40 years ago.

[Keep the Show on the Road! 34]

I had gone to see "Avatar" in 3-D over the holidays, and was disappointed in the 3-D effects as well as the story, although the other special effects were very well done. But now I have heard that if your vision is less than 20/20, the 3-D movie effects are lessened. I guess corrected vision was not enough and I missed most of the 3-D. I remember the effects having been much better in "The Stewardesses" back around 1970 or so, but then my vision was fine 40 years ago.

 

Dave,

 

I don't suppose the subject matter of The Stewardesses" had anything to do with it!

 

I think the movie industry is doing tricks with 3D....which is fine, but not my interest. I just want to do travel and family. 8mm was silent, video added sound and inexpensive media. 3D video adds dimension.

 

I don’t expect 3D to ever be mainstream, but it is on an up cycle now. I’m considering some longer road trips this spring and summer, perhaps the Monumental Highway, and reblazing the National Parks Highway. And we may do a bit of Florida yet this winter (Might run into you!) 3D beckons.

 

It is sort of hard to see a downside to using 3D on You tube (Thanks again to Youtube!!). If you prefer 2D, it is available in the viewer. If you want to stop the video and view a still image 3D (or 2D) you can, and if you want to watch the whole thing in 3D, that’s fine too. I’m posting the movies in HD (720p), so they will be sharp and give maximum 3D effect.

 

Free, totally off topic advice for ???: I have “discovered” that travel scenes look best if the camera is not panned, but the scene has some action (as with people or vehicles near the camera). If you must pan do it very slowly or you will make your audience queasy. The tendency of amateur video makers to pan a lot will make viewers dizzy. Hold the camera level and steady and let the action tell the story. You can pan if the object you are following fills the screen, but don’t try to “paint a picture” with the camera.

 

Finally, if anyone here wants to make an inexpensive 3D rig for still or videos, let me know and I will put together directions and send them by e-mail (since this is not a video site). Basically all you need is a second digital camera, and even that is not necessary. You can take good video stills with just one camera.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Dhow on the Road!

[Chris Rowland 0]

Not ten minutes later, she walked in and said “I need a new sewing machine. Should I get one with all the bells and whistles?” Gees, I think I may have started something!

 

Chris, does your wife need a new sewing machine too?

Don't need a sewing machine, but my wife did get a sudden need for a $200 ring that she saw in a catalog. Now we're both happy.

 

My dad got the Fujifilm W1 first, so I had to get one. He says he may have taken his last roll of film with his Stereo Realist... I know his Nimslo went on the shelf a few years back. I have a Kodak Stereo Camera, but it's been five years since I shot anything with it. The film cameras were such a pain to get the strange sized frames developed and then you had to mount them yourself... The W1 camera is simplicity and instant results, which is what I wanted. And small enough to carry in my pocket so that I can still bring my Nikon D70s along without looking like a pack mule.

 

Chris