Pretty as a picture:
After you've done a few depth maps, you start to acquire an eye for the sort of image that would make an ideal subject for a 2D-to-3D conversion. This photograph of a woman in a white skirt and gloves (a stock photo by Lev Dolgachov) was such an image. A beautiful model, and an interesting composition, that would become even more interesting as a 3-D anaglyph.
The background and gloves were originally red. Before doing the conversion, I changed those to gold, in Photoshop. I've learned that strong red shades do not benefit from the anaglyph process, and it's best to avoid problems like that before starting.
I am told that there is anaglyph-making software that will automatically turn reds into yellows, but I would not trust this beauty to some global color adjustment; I would worry that the rosy hues of her hair and skin would become jaundiced. So I re-colored the gloves and floor by hand.
I do usually get my stock photos from iStockphoto, but this month I'm using Crestock, just because they give a killer introductory discount for signing up there. Their selection isn't as good as iStockphoto's, but they do have many good images, and at fifty percent off, well, they're worth the money. Oh, and Crestock has a free stock photo every day, whereas iStockphoto only has a free one every week. I always download the free images from both sites, even if I have no present use for them.
Wonderful site! This image is stunning!
When you say “after you’ve done a few depth maps…” does this mean you have made many such 2D to 3D conversions? My own experience is that it is very hard, laborious work to “paint” a depth map from scratch. What is your secret? Are there tools to help?