I hate 3D videos. Chances are, you hate 3D videos too. And yet, the electronics makers of the world insist on shoving 3D display technology into everything from TVs to smartphones, regardless of the fact that there’s still next to no worthwhile 3D content out there. Besides Avatar — but seriously, I could barely make it through that movie without nodding off the first time.
But wherever video trends go, Youtube will follow. YouTube has been playing around with 3D video support for some time now, with the biggest holdback being that only a very, very small chunk of the population owns a camera capable of capturing that extra dimension. Looking to get more 3D content onto their site, YouTube is today rolling out a Beta of a 2D to 3D conversion system. They also removed the 15 minute video limit for all verified users.
As opposed to traditional 3D video capturing setups which requires two simultaneously captured videos to be merged with fancy software trickery, Youtube’s new conversion tool measures the motion and color of a single video to simulate depth and hobble together a hacky, 3D-ish video. Youtube admits that it’s not on par with shooting 3D video the proper way — but hey, it’s a Beta. You’ll still need 3D glasses (or at least a glasses-free 3D display) to watch the videos properly.
YouTube also made another rather notable announcement, though they more so just mentioned it in passing: they’re removing the 15 minute video length limit for anyone who is in good standing (read: anyone who hasn’t uploaded porn or bootlegs) and has been “verified” (read: anyone willing to cough up their phone number). Finally, the hour-long Director’s Cut of your Chip & Dales Rescue Ranger fan music video can have a home online!
They also confirmed their new video editing partnership with Magistro (which we broke here), as well as a partnership with effects/title editing tool Vlix.