These are samples that have QuickTimeVR 3D and JavaScript stereoscopic rotatable images associated with one or more samples. You can download the latest version of QuickTime for Macintosh or Windows from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download. To make these files I first used a "VR Micro Studio", which consisted of an up-side-down panorama head, a three-axis adjustable tripod mount, and a 1000W halogen light. The camera was covered with tinfoil to keep it from burning up under the hot light. After making about 130 3D images (almost 10,000 individual photographs) I got a fiber optic illumination system and my studio looked like this. It was much more flexible, and doesn't get hot at all. Light really is the key to photographing small things: You need a lot of it close in. Then after another 50 or so I finally got an automatic turntable. Commercial stepper-motor systems are available, but they are very expensive and I've found they all vibrate, which disturbs delicate arrangements. I instead use a cheap surplus turntable with a 5 revolution per hour timing motor, combined with a time lapse control set to take a picture every 10 seconds. That works out to 72 images in one 12-minute revolution. If you do the math, the motion blur is less than one pixel even at a 1/15 second exposure, so a stepper motor that starts and stops is really not necessary. That was good, but in preparing for a Discovery Channel film project, I needed to upgrade to 360 steps instead of 72, and I wanted to be able to handle all sizes from nearly microscopic to a couple hundred pounds. The solution was a pair of custom-machined (by me, of course) turntables, cast iron mounts and a slate base for everything (because of vibrations, which are a big problem for samples less than about 5mm across). In late 2004 the studio looks like this.
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Text and images Copyright (c) 2010 by Theodore W. Gray.
