Analog lenticular Printing

[Stephen Frizza]

Has anyone here done analog lenticular printing? is there anyone still making the products to do this process using analog? or is it purely a digital process now?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Stephen, this isn't going to help much, but a friend of mine used to do 3D printing with lenticular lenses, but gave it up for the inkjet before I got to know him.

Finding the lenses are no problem, so it's just a matter of getting the picture underneath to fit. I doubt the materials are still available, but that's just a guess. I seem to remember that he quit the analog route due to availability of materials, but I am digging really deep into foggy memory here.

I'd be interested in finding out what you find.

 

[Bev Pack]

Has anyone here done analog lenticular printing? is there anyone still making the products to do this process using analog? or is it purely a digital process now?

By analog you mean offset right? If you have volume all the lenticular printers are using offset printing either directly on the back of lenticular sheet or on paper and then lamination. We are in beverage packaging business and we have done a few lenticular printing orders. Try this company, www.vicgi.com. They are pretty reliable vendor.

 

[holmburgers]

The old way of printing them is very straightforward and totally analog. I recommend reading Takanori Okoshi's 'Three-Dimensional Imaging Techniques'. Or in my case, read as much of it as you can understand.

I'm way interested in lenticular prints & integral photography. Fresnel Tech in Ft. Worth, TX has lenses available, but with a $100 minimum order.

Anyways, I'll try to outline the process....

First, you take multiple pictures of a subject from however many angles you desire. Let's say 3. You've recorded 3 images with different parallax. Now take 3 projectors and put them in the same relative position as the 3 cameras were, place a lenticular-screen in front of your film or paper and place this in the same relative position as the subject. Since the screen is directionally selective, the projected images are discrete from one another and laid down upon the film in thin strips. It "encodes" the image upon the film/paper and then "decodes" it for viewing.

As I try to explain it, it becomes evident that there are gaps in my own knowledge, but I believe this should give you an idea of how it works. The book has many different techniques, but this one seems the most "doable".

I'd gladly be a parnter in crime for any of these auto-stereoscopic analog methods. I'm always just a PM away

 

[holmburgers]

So I've been told that I know how to clear a room, but not a forum! I was pretty psyched to see some interest in lenticular photographs, but now nada.



Making one at home, in a darkroom or simliar shouldn't be too difficult. I'd love to get to the bottom of this medium, which despite being used in 99% cheesy and disagreeable situations, has the potential for artistic merit.

For instance, I was at an antique mall in Chicago a couple months ago and came across a *startlingly* good lenticular print of a dog. Now.... had this picture been of say A HUMAN, like your close friend, girlfriend, mom or dad, etc!, it would have been amazing. Instead, it was of a frickin' poodle! Sigh....

But when you see a good one, with good color, good parallax and good registration, it's a thing of beauty. Ilfochrome lenticulars anyone..?..?..?..?

The coals were going cold, and I just had to throw a little fuel on this fire.

 

[Stephen Frizza]

im up for ilfochrome lenticular experimentation... oh the possibilities!

 

[holmburgers]

If one had an enlarger w/ perspective control, you could devise some sort of tilting table/easle to position the paper & LS (lenticular sheet) sandwich for the multiple exposures necessary. You could do this in pretty quick succession by exposing, switching the frame, tilting the table/lens board, exposing, switching the frame, tilting, etc....

I might have to re-check out this book and get a better grasp on the whole issue. As simple as it is in theory, thinking about actually doing it raises a lot of "what if"s.

 

[alexhill]

The old way of printing them is very straightforward and totally analog. I recommend reading Takanori Okoshi's 'Three-Dimensional Imaging Techniques'. Or in my case, read as much of it as you can understand.

I'm way interested in lenticular prints & integral photography. Fresnel Tech in Ft. Worth, TX has lenses available, but with a $100 minimum order.

Anyways, I'll try to outline the process....

First, you take multiple pictures of a subject from however many angles you desire. Let's say 3. You've recorded 3 images with different parallax. Now take 3 projectors and put them in the same relative position as the 3 cameras were, place a lenticular-screen in front of your film or paper and place this in the same relative position as the subject. Since the screen is directionally selective, the projected images are discrete from one another and laid down upon the film in thin strips. It "encodes" the image upon the film/paper and then "decodes" it for viewing.

As I try to explain it, it becomes evident that there are gaps in my own knowledge, but I believe this should give you an idea of how it works. The book has many different techniques, but this one seems the most "doable".

I'd gladly be a parnter in crime for any of these auto-stereoscopic analog methods. I'm always just a PM away

that. is. AWSOME! If I ever have a month to kill I'm going to try that. Seriously.

The real issue to me seems getting everything registered properly. For easy-ness sake, I'd start off using a kodak 3d camera (because it will maintain the same offset) and trying to make a glassesless 3d image (like this http://dvice.com/archives/2010/03/glassless-3d-hd.php)

It's such a pity the lenticular are so expensive. I've been waiting for the digital lenticular printers to become mainstream-ish so i can buy the packs of lens for cheap(ish).

Now that I'm thinking about it, this shouldn't be too difficult to do, you only 'need' one lens to experiment...

 

[panchro-press]

Was this the printing method used by Nimslo?

Dave

 

[Marc Akemann]

I shot a couple of rolls of Fuji Superia 400 with a Nimslo 3D camera and had lenticular prints made by Snap 3D in Toronto. It took months to get the prints but they did a good job. Here is Snap 3D's website: http://www.snap3d.com/index.html . I actually had a client who seriously wanted a portrait made into a 16 x 20 in. lenticular print but when I told him what the turnaround time was, he balked. We may still do it and I would switch to 100 speed film for that portrait session. With the Nimslo you use either ISO 100 or 400 films. Anyway, that is the extent of my 3D photographic experience.

Marc

 

[holmburgers]

that. is. AWSOME! If I ever have a month to kill I'm going to try that. Seriously...

...Now that I'm thinking about it, this shouldn't be too difficult to do, you only 'need' one lens to experiment...

I share your enthusiasm and exactly! One lens could go a long way. And if you were to get proficient at quick registration, you could use the same lens to view multiple pictures; all made with that lens! It would also work great w/ transparencies, i.e. 8x10" slide film and backlighting.

:w00t:

I'm not too familiar with the Nimslo but this printing sounds very interesting. I've seen those cameras go for dirt cheap IIRC.

I'd be interested to discuss a joint purchase of lenticular screens through PM.

 

[holmburgers]

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)