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Stereoscopic 3D shooting and review tools in Dragonframe
Dragonframe
Definition
Dragonframe's built-in software toolset for shooting and checking stereoscopic (3D) stop motion: an automated "stereoscopic slider" that captures the paired left/right-eye exposures as part of the normal frame-advance workflow, plus in-app anaglyph/transparency review, convergence and edge-float controls, and interocular-distance adjustment -- the software layer underneath the physical dual-camera production technique described on stereoscopic-stop-motion-capture.
Overview
Stereoscopic (3D) stop motion is a production technique -- shooting a frame twice from two known, offset camera positions so the finished film carries real in-camera depth (see stereoscopic-stop-motion-capture). Dragonframe's stereo toolset is the separate, narrower thing that makes that technique practical on a modern set: a set of software controls, built into the same capture timeline used for ordinary 2D shooting, for driving and checking the second "eye" without a second, hand-operated rig.
The core control is what Dragonframe's own product page calls a "stereoscopic slider": rather than an animator manually sliding a second camera into position and re-triggering capture for every frame, the software automates the offset move and the second exposure as part of the normal frame-advance workflow, the same way it already automates focus-pulls or exposure ramps on a single-eye shot. Automating the slider matters specifically because stereo depth is only convincing if the eye-to-eye offset holds constant, frame to frame, for the length of a take -- a hand-operated repeat is exactly the kind of small drift that shows up as an uncomfortable, swimming depth cue on screen.
Review happens in the same application rather than in a separate viewer: Dragonframe can display anaglyphs (the red/cyan composite image used with anaglyph glasses) or side-by-side transparencies, in colour or black and white, and lets the operator set convergence -- where the two eyes' images line up to put the "zero parallax" plane -- or edge float, and adjust the interocular distance (the simulated eye separation) directly against a live or captured test shot rather than waiting for an offline conform. Finished sequences play back as 3D anaglyphs or transparencies inside Dragonframe itself, and export to standard movie containers (QuickTime, AVI) for delivery downstream.
This toolset is the software layer underneath the stereo production discipline covered on stereoscopic-stop-motion-capture; it does not by itself confirm which productions have used it, since major stereo stop-motion features such as Coraline (2009) and ParaNorman (2012) were shot with custom-built dual-camera rigs predating this specific Dragonframe implementation. Treat the two pages as complementary: this one documents what the current software can automate and check; the other documents how a stereo stop-motion production is actually planned and shot.
Workflow
- Set up the rig so the "stereoscopic slider" can move a second camera position (or the same camera on a slide) by a known, repeatable offset between the two eye exposures for a frame.
- Shoot a 3D test shot and use Dragonframe's 3D review tools -- anaglyph or transparency view -- to check the result before committing to the full take.
- Set convergence (or edge float) to place the zero-parallax plane where the shot needs it, and adjust interocular distance to set how strong the depth effect reads.
- Continue the normal single-eye animation workflow -- pose, advance, capture -- with Dragonframe driving the paired offset capture automatically on each frame rather than requiring a second manual setup.
- Play back the sequence in 3D (anaglyph or transparency, colour or black and white) to check continuity of the depth effect across the take, then export the finished 3D sequence to a standard movie format for delivery or further post-production.