Wigglegrams. DIY 3D without the 3D Glasses.

Here’s a quick guide to making your very own ‘3D’ Wigglegrams or Lenticular photographs. We used three GoPro Hero’s, some elastic bands, a couple of rulers and some chopped up erasers. It will take about an hour to create your first Wigglegram.

Firstly, what is a Wigglegram? Basically it’s an animated gif which moves quickly between a number of frames taken from slightly different angels to create a 3D effect. In reality it’s a bit like a poor mans bullettime. You can learn more about the science here:

OK, here’s some Wigglegrams we made around the office today:

That’s Brady. He makes creative technology stuff happen.

Johnny, our ever so awesome Barista. He might be hip. We’re not sure.

Ben trying hard to stand still. Apparently that is hard  thing for strategists to do.

How to make your own Wigglegram:

We were lucky enough to have 3 GoPro’s in the Office but you could use any matching cameras. You will need a minimum of two, but the more the merrier. In general you want the lenses closer together. The effect may have been slightly better if we had put the GoPros vertically (but then we couldn’t have pressed the buttons!). Note: We pushed the GoPro’s tight as possible against each other to keep everything sturdy.

Step 1 – Construction:
1. We mounted the GoPros on two stiff rulers using elastic bands.
2. We taped 3 small pieces of eraser chopped up just big enough to press the camera buttons simultaneously.
3. We stuck the chopped up eraser onto a stiff flat object (we used a random bit of scrap metal we found lying around). lining up the erasers exactly with the GoPro buttons. This was loosly attched to the rig using elastic bands again (not so tight that it pressed the buttons)
4. We attached the rig onto a Tripod.

Step 2 – Taking shots:
1. Make sure you have a “centre subject” (see the flowers below in our reception area as an example). Having nothing in the middle of your shot makes it hard to align things, and also lessens the 3D effect. Tip: Don’t have too many objects close up or in front of your ‘centre object’.

2. Keep your rig nice and steady.
3. Avoid anything moving (unless you have a better way of getting each of the cameras to trigger at exactly the same time).
4. Click away… making sure all three buttons are clicked at the same time (although a little bit out is ok if your subjects are still.

Step 3- Making the Wigglegram  Gif
-We put out photos into three folders named LEFT, MIDDLE, RIGHT

Next we imported Left, Middle, Right frames into a layer in Photoshop (Fig 1) – one shot at a time.

– Next step is alignment. The easiest way to do this is to make the bottom layer (eg: left) 100% opacity, then make the next layer (eg middle) 50% opacity. When you do this the two images will look blurred and the trick is to get the ‘centre subject’ of the images in focus.
– Now move the 50% layer so your centre subject matches up with the bottom layer. Repeat this for each layer then turn them all back to 100% opacity.
– Crop your image to dispose of missing or overlapping areas.
– Test your Wigglegram by flicking the layers on and off.
– If you’ve done everything right you can now animate. Turn the Animate menu on under ‘Window’. Make sure you have frame animation on. It’s easier than using the timeline).

– You’ll need four frames (if you took three shots). Start with left, then middle, then right, then middle. Set the interval between 0 and 0.2 seconds and you are ready to export.
-Set the loop to ‘forever’
– Go to File/ Save for web and devices and export as a gif using a selective pallete.

-Done! Enjoy
Posted by @eunmac