“Certainly every film I’m planning to do will be in 3-D.” –James Cameron
3D movies are better than 2D movies. And you can watch television with 3D glasses and improve your tv-watching experience too.
3D glasses work because the differently colored lenses enhance our depth perception. To see in 3D, each eye needs to see a different picture. The red and blue lenses on a pair of 3D glasses creates two distinct images. These trick the eyes into seeing a single 3D image.
How to Make 3D Glasses
Few places sell 3D glasses. Everyone rushed to find 3D glasses when the Hannah Montana 3D concert film came out, and most stores that did offer 3D glasses sold out of them. But making your own 3D glasses is cheap and easy. Kids enjoy the process of making their own 3D glasses too.
To make 3D glasses, you’ll need the following materials:
- poster board, heavy construction paper, or cardstock
- scissors
- red cellophane wrap
- blue cellophane wrap
- glue or tape
If you have trouble finding the red and/or blue cellophane wrap, try your local craft store. Failing that, online craft stores sell colored cellophane wrap too. (You could always use clear cellophane and color the lenses later with markers, too.)
Print out a 3D glasses template, which you can find at http://paperproject.org/PDF_files/3dglasses.pdf.
After you have printed out the glasses pattern, find a pencil and trace out the pattern on your poster board or cardstock. Then, use your scissors to cut out the traced pattern. Finally, cut out holes in the middle of the glasses frames. The holes should be comparable in size to those in a regular pair of glasses.
Now that the frames are ready to go, use the cellophane to make the lenses. If you were unable to find red and blue cellophane, use a colored marker to shade the clear cellophane red and blue. Cut out one square from the red cellophane and another square from the blue cellophane. The squares should be larger than the holes you cut in the frames. Next, glue or tape the cellophane pieces over the holes in the frames. The blue cellophane should be taped on the left side and the red cellophane on the right.
Now your 3D glasses are ready to go.
There is an alternative method for creating 3D glasses. This method requires an old pair of glasses. Some people prefer using a real pair of glasses for the frames, because they are sturdier than the poster board frames. Others like to use old glasses frames because it involves much less work than the previously described method. All you need to do is pop the lenses out of the glasses and glue or tape the red and blue cellophane to the hole where the lenses belong.
If you wish, you may decorate the frames once you’re finished making the glasses. If your frames are made from poster board or cardstock, you can draw on them with markers or crayons, put stickers on them, or decorate them any other way you see fit. If you used an old pair of frames to make the glasses, you can glue rhinestones on the frames to add a little pizzazz.
Whether you trace out a pattern on poster board or pop the lenses out of old frames, your glasses will help you see amazing 3D images when you watch movies or television. Not only is making your own pair of 3D glasses a lot cheaper and less of a hassle than buying a pair in a store, it makes for an enjoyable craft.
Related posts:
