If you have been puzzled by the posters on some advertising hoardings that show a multicoloured blur of computer-generated patterns that your friends insist have a hidden picture in them if you stare at them for long enough, then the latest idea – a video of such images that actually move might just be a bit much for you to comprehend. Magic Eye – The Video is based on the Magic Eye books that are already available and is a 32-minute video in three sections. It works in the same way as as the paper copies in that you have to try to focus behind the picture in order to see the image. This is supposed to be easier with the video version because you can use the reflections on the television screen to get the correct focus. The visual effects firm Cascom International Inc in Nashville, Tennessee is responsible for the video version. The first two chapters feature still images like those that appear in the books, but they also scan the still images and merge them into one another to give the illusion that the pictures are actually moving. The majority of the video is made up of still images that have been panned creatively, but the third chapter consists of full moving sets of pictures such as clouds floating through the sky. The images are computer generated and use the Salitsky Dot image rendering system. It breaks down the image into the part the left eye sees and the part the right eye sees, and the brain acts to put the two together, which creates the three-dimensional image you see. A picture can be scanned into the computer, and then the computer program developed to create the images breaks down the images into the specified patterns for the left and right eyes. A soundtrack in Dolby Surround acompanies the images. The video will be available in the UK from July 4 costing #10. A fully animated version is currently being put together and will be out by Christmas.
