I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT THE FOLLOWING POSTING. READ IT, THEN READ: Troubled by the New Shroud of Turin 3D Web Site
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Join me in applauding Petrus Soons.
I have long thought that the 3D quality of the Shroud of Turin image was a big deal. It is perhaps the most important thing to understand about the Shroud. But the 3D quality is also difficult for many people to understand and it is fraught with misinformation.
The 3D quality (elevation, height field data), to my way of thinking, shows us that:
- It cannot be a painting, bas relief rubbing, dry pigment daubing, negative sun bleaching (“Shadow Shroud”), etc.
- It cannot be a photograph made with reflected light using a camera and lens. Leonardo da Vinci can turn back over in his grave and rest in peace.
In fact, when we understand the 3D quality we realize that there are no known artistic or hand-craft methods by which the image could have been produced prior to the modern era (and perhaps even still today, as no one has been able to do it).
The 3D quality offers new possibilities for confirming or denying the existence of possible objects and even lettering on the image. This subject has always been controversial and it will remain so.
Better understanding of the 3D quality of the image opens up new possibilities for hypothesizing how the images might have been formed.
Recently, the History Channel (now called HISTORY) produced a spectacular documentary that focused attention on the 3D quality. To quote from the HISTORY website:
In The Real Face of Jesus?, HISTORY unveils the fruit of many months of labor [by Ray Downing and his team at Studio Macbeth], made possible by sophisticated computer tools in very capable hands: an accurate depiction of the man many believe to be Jesus Christ. For the devout and curious alike, this is a compelling story of transformation—a fascinating journey from the realm of creativity and imagination into the domain of science and technology.
BTW: This HISTORY documentary has remained a best seller and one of the best all-time rated shows from this network (4.9 out of 5 from 103 reviews – top that).
Now, Petrus Soons has produced what may well be one of the most significant websites on the Shroud of Turin. Certainly this is so for understanding the 3D quality of the images. Spend time exploring it. From what I’ve seen so far, it is extraordinarily well explained.
But first, before visiting the site, click on the above image (or click here) to watch a 53 second video of what Petrus has accomplished. (Unfortunately it is on Vimeo and thus locked up so it won’t get the attention is deserves on YouTube – undoubtedly it will be hacked shortly and get wider distribution).
Then visit the new site. Enjoy and learn. It is called Shroud of Turin in 3D. Easy to remember, too: http://shroud3d.com/
Okay, I decided to buy a copy of the History Channel’s Real Face of Jesus DVD. There it was listed as a hot topic in History’s online shop. When I clicked on the link I discovered that I can only pre-order it for delivery more than a month from now. What gives?
Would be nice if I had some of those red/blue 3d glasses they use for some 3d movies. Maybe the site could give instructions on where to get them. I do have a pair of polarized glasses from a recent movie but they don’t work.
Everything else looks good so far.
Francis, you can order 3D glasses from Amazon.com. You want to be sure you order the red and cyan ones. You want good ones such as Pro-Ana PRO-X style glasses for viewing anaglyphs on LCD monitors. They’ll run you about $4.70 plus shipping. Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Pro-AnaTM-Prescription-Glasses-Movies-Screens/
You might want to caution your readers.
There is something troubling about the 3D imagery generated by Petrus Soons. Look at the blood stains on the forehead and in the hair. They are close to full white ranging mostly from 211 to 240 on a 255 grayscale. Yet it is in the extreme that the stains are seemingly on the same elevation as surrounding 88 gray. I think impossible! How was this accomplished?
Did Soons find some brilliantly intelligent software that imitates non-algorithmic human swizzling? There are other instances where the plotted terrain cliffs or flies dramatically up or down because it seems human judgment says it should in places where ordinary algorithms would certainly fail to accomplish this. This is particularly so where Soons applies the Barrie Schwortz adjustment on the left cheek but not the right cheek, yet the hill and valley pattern is the same. Check it out with the stereoscopic images and densitometer in Photoshop. How is this so?
I can find nowhere on his cite where Soons explains his methods or what computer programs he used except for the prepping of anaglyphs, lenticulars and stereos. What did he use?
The VP8 work was honest and true. It may have been primitive but it worked. Let’s just say I have a hard time understanding how the Soons images are algorithmically done. Reproduce this work in the public eye, I say. Explain how software does such magical things. Provide some large hidef images for examination.
Al