# US 2010/0164952 A1 · Stereoscopic image production method and system

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- Number: US 2010/0164952 A1
- Document ID: US20100164952A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 12/718,978
- Filed: 2010-03-07
- Published: 2010-07-01
- Earliest claimed: 2010-01-25
- Inventors: Michael Roderick
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100164952A1

## CPC

- G06T 15/205: {Image-based rendering}
- H04N 13/261: with monoscopic-to-stereoscopic image conversion
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

A stereoscopic image production method and system produces left and right eye images from a two dimensional image.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for producing stereoscopic images comprising the steps of:
receiving digital information representing a plurality of frames and objects within the frames, the frames intended to be presented to viewers as a sequence of frames;
selecting a sequence of frames having at least a portion of a particular object in common;
selecting a frame from the sequence of frames;
in a layer corresponding to the frame, identifying selected objects within the layer;
in the layer corresponding to the frame, indicating a relative depth for each of the identified objects;
creating a multi-layer composite image for each frame, the composite image having a top layer;
adjusting the opacity of the top layer to a value greater than about five percent;
blurring the composite image;
creating a left eye image and a right eye image derived from the composite image;
rendering out left and right eye images to create left and right eye frames intended for viewing during a stereoscopic presentation of the selected sequence of frames.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the layer corresponding to the frame is a gray scale layer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the layer corresponding to the frame is a gray scale portion.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein objects are identified by directly or indirectly tracing an outline around each object.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein the identified objects substantially fill the layer.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5 wherein relative depth is indicated by assigning to each object a shade of gray corresponding to the object's depth.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 wherein the composite image is created by adding the selected frame on top of the layer corresponding to the frame.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 wherein the left eye image is created by displacing the entire composite image to the left as indicated by the composite image.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8 wherein the right eye image is created by displacing the entire composite image to the right as indicated by the composite image.

### Claim 10

A method for producing stereoscopic images comprising:
receiving digital information representing a plurality of frames and objects within the frames, the frames intended to be presented to viewers as a sequence of frames;
selecting a sequence of frames having at least a portion of a particular object in common;
selecting a frame from the sequence of frames;
in a layer corresponding to the frame, identifying selected objects within the layer;
indicating the relative depth of the objects in the layer corresponding to the frame by assigning to each identified object a shade of gray corresponding to the object's depth;
creating a composite image for each frame by adding the selected frame on top of the layer corresponding to the frame;
adjusting the opacity of the top layer to a value in a range of about ten to twenty percent;
adding detail with a soft-light transform;
blurring the composite image;
creating a left eye image by displacing the entire composite image to the left as indicated by the gray scale layer;
creating a right eye image corresponding to the left eye image by displacing the entire composite image to the right as indicated by the gray scale layer; and,
rendering out the left and right eye images to create left and right eye frames capable of being viewed as a stereoscopic presentation of the selected sequence of frames.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10 wherein objects are identified by chroma keying.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10 wherein objects are identified by luminance keying.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10 wherein objects are identified by a tracking tool.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10 wherein depth assignments are automated using a pseudo-random function to automatically assign depths within a selected range of depths.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10 further including the steps of:
separating an object from the selected frame;
in a layer containing the separated object, assigning depths to features of the object; and, adding the separated object layer beneath the selected frame to create a composite image having three layers.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15 wherein depth assignments are automated using a pseudo-random function to automatically assign depths within a selected range of depths.