Mars in 3D: Images from The Viking Mission (1979/2012) Blu-ray 3D [Region Free]

[Blu Tiger]

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mars-...Blu-ray/46735/

This came out yesterday and I want it because I LOVE astronomy. Has anyone seen it, and is the 3D any good?

And does anyone know if it is native 3D or is converted? I am thinking it must be a conversion because it seems like nobody is talking about this release.

[vertigo12314]

I was just about to post the same question.



I wonder if it's going to be reviewed.

[Jsmith82]

I'm interested in it as well. Searching around the internet it I'm getting a feeling (though I could be very wrong) that this will be a series of images backed by a music score and nothing more for the actual film, which looks to be about 45 minutes long.

There is a 15 minute extra with interviews from John Chowing, William Schottstaedt, and Michael McNabb. Chowing seems to be the one who oversaw the score creation - whether this is presented in 3D or not is not said. Here's a bit of info I found:

Mars in 3D Images from the Viking Mission video A historical production by Stanford University and the History Office of the NASA Ames Research Center presented in Blu-ray 3D video featuring footage from the 1980s NASA Viking 1 & 2 Missions to Mars. Mars in 3D Images from the Viking Mission film The soundtrack was created at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford under the direction of John Chowning. This disc contains bonus features including a 15 minute interview with John Chowing, William Schottstaedt, and Michael McNabb..

Studio: Naxos
Orig Year: 2012
Discs: 1
Running Time: 45 Minutes
Movie Details: 3D

Searching further, Naxos (Nashville based) is the company that AIX Records (actually behind the disc from what I can tell) signed with to distribute their products to North America. Researching what AIX has done in the past, they have put out a few 3d bluray discs to music scores, native 3d from what I can tell, like this one here

http://aixrecords.com/catalog/bd_3d/...ler_bd_3d.html

Both 3D presentations I've found from them were in 720p/60 3D MVC. Because of this, reviews say lots of cross talk, however the 3D has also been described as "non gimmicky". This looks like it is full 1080.

In conclusion! I can't tell you for sure but I'm putting my chips down that this is a disc of converted (possibly very cool looking) images from Mars, show casing an artists soundtrack.

Meh, I'm probably all wrong. I'll wait and see...

[BleedOrange11]

My guess is that it's a slideshow of native 3D photographs. NASA seems to do a lot of 3D space imaging.

[Blu Tiger]

Really? All the 3D fanatics on this site and nobody has picked this up yet? I can't find any reviews anywhere. I might have to pick this up this weekend...

Originally Posted by BleedOrange11

My guess is that it's a slideshow of native 3D photographs. NASA seems to do a lot of 3D space imaging.

Yeah, you are probably right since it says "images" from the Viking mission. I still think it would be cool though.

[WJWS Channel 13:Amity]

Originally Posted by Blu Tiger

Really? All the 3D fanatics on this site and nobody has picked this up yet? I can't find any reviews anywhere. I might have to pick this up this weekend...



Yeah, you are probably right since it says "images" from the Viking mission. I still think it would be cool though.

I had this pre orderd, and the day of release got the dread, we are sorry this is out stock email. then yesterday I got email saying it shipped, it arrived today, I haven't watched it yet as I am about to head to work.
However there is a pamphlet inside (or as TT would call it, a super cool booklet lol) and it has some more info

Bringing Life to the Red Planet,
Following the completion of the mission, 3D imagery from the orbital landers was transformed into a stereoscopic 16mm film by Dr Elliot Levinthal of Stanford University ,a member of the Viking Imaging team, the innovative musical soundtrack was created at the center for computer research in music.

here are some highlights from the pamphlet

Each Lander had two cameras separated by 0.8 meteres which when used togeather can be used to produce left/right stereoscopic images, ome of the purposes of this was to determine precise distances to nearby features for programing the soil scoop arm.

For the orbital views two images taken by the moving spacecraft at slightly different locations were used to produce the stereo images, to reveal topography of the large scale surface features

for this release the original 16mm film was scanned to 1080p video and processed and edited in Final Cut Pro 7, there were severe 3D issues due to the wide seperation of the orbital cameras, left and right images taken at different time of day varying shadows and lighting and jitter due to the 16mm film and the digital conversion process, color fading and left and right mis mastches. Sequences of scenes like this were overlapped with crossfades. It was critical to target all these problems, in an efficient automatable fashion.

For the restoration, each reel, (left and right eyes) was first processed according to the following steps
* Original 4x3 aspect 16mm film scanned to uncompressed 10 bit 4:2:2 HD (1440x 1080) by Deluxemedia
*Converted to Apple ProRes 422 HQ codec and imported into Final Cut pro.
*Final Cut Pros smoothcam filter applied to reduce jitter cause by both the original 16mm capture and the scanning process.
*Neat video noise reduction and CHV repair collection plugins applied to reduce innumerable scratches, tears, and dust
*Final geometic 3D alignment and color matching

[koover]

Originally Posted by Blu Tiger

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mars-...Blu-ray/46735/

This came out yesterday and I want it because I LOVE astronomy. Has anyone seen it, and is the 3D any good?

And does anyone know if it is native 3D or is converted? I am thinking it must be a conversion because it seems like nobody is talking about this release.

I, like you, am an astronomy nut. I'd like to pick this up myself but it almost seems this would be best served as a 2D presentation. As soon as I can see some more reviews from people who've seen it, I'll make a decision. WJWS, that was a pretty good review though so im thinking you hit the nail on the head. Thanx for the info. Either way, for me, if it has anything to do with astronomy/space/science, I'm usually all over it. And if it's 3D, that's a bonus.

[WJWS Channel 13:Amity]

Originally Posted by koover

I, like you, am an astronomy nut. I'd like to pick this up myself but it almost seems this would be best served as a 2D presentation. As soon as I can see some more reviews from people who've seen it, I'll make a decision. WJWS, that was a pretty good review though so im thinking you hit the nail on the head. Thanx for the info. Either way, for me, if it has anything to do with astronomy/space/science, I'm usually all over it. And if it's 3D, that's a bonus.

Your welcome.

[jgabany]

I watched this disc on my 47-inch passive LG and was amazed at the 3D quality of the presentation. The film was originally produced at the end of the 70s for exhibition at astronomical gatherings and museums.

It consists of a series of still stereo photos taken by the Viking landers and orbiting spacecraft. The image's third dimensionality is exaggerated due to the large distance between the stereo cameras on the spacecraft. Therefore, the sense of depth is immediately obvious and striking.

Each of the photos were high resolution in nature therefore the presentation spends a lot of time zooming and panning while the narrator, a notable pioneering Viking imaging specialist from Stanford, explains what you are seeing and why it is scientifically, and now historically, significant.

Of course, these are over 30 year old images so they are not as clear as those produced by the recent Mars Rovers. But, they are jaw-dropping none-the-less.

If you have an interest in the space program and Mars exploration in particular, acquiring this 3D blu-ray will be a revelation.

[Jsmith82]

Thanks for the reviews fellas. Got to say, I'm proud to be wrong

We'll give this a go soon.

[Dr. AIX]

I just got back from a trip to the east coast and a side trip to Naxos, our distributor now. I'm back in production mode and moving ahead with two new 3D titles and some additional BD productions for the fall.

We do use 1280x720p MVC as our video format because I believe it works best with music and because the 3D spec doesn't allow for 1080 at 29.97...only 23.98 fps.

A rather distressing review this morning was passed my way and then I went out to search for other information about this disc and found this thread.

Here's the deal. John Chowning is a close friend of mine and an emeritus faculty member at Stanford where he used to head the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA was/is one of the foremost centers for computer music). He was originally involved in the production of the film with Elliott Levintal (also of Stanford). Elliott wrote and directed the film and John organized the music compositions that are the score.

The actual Viking footage was used to create the 3D film. The cameras on the landers were .8 meters apart and therefore the 3D is very challenging to converge. If you look at the horizon, then it's tolerable but I understand the critical evaluation some have expressed.

The orbiting footage was taken from different orbits and is also challenging due to differences in shadows etc. I went forward with the project because I'm a space nut, a composer of electro-acoustic music and a friend of Dr. Chowning. The world deserves to have this available in a digital format. This is not a typical Blu-ray 3D production...it is for dedicated fans of the space program and those intrigued by computer music. It is not meant as entertainment as we expect from Hollywood...or even from other AIX Records titles.

It does function in 2D mode so that you can avoid the headaches if you prefer and the interview of the participants (which is actually 40 minutes long) is very interesting. I know Michael McNabb spent a lot of long hours preparing the video and audio materials for this project but had only the original films (left and right) to use as sources.

This is an historically important project. Please keep that in mind in considering whether to purchase a copy.