Introducing FILM3D

5 min readSep 27, 2018

November 29th, 2017. Mo Alissa and I (Abdou Sarr), were huddled at a small table at our campus Starbucks to discuss the future of mobile photography. For months beforehand we both (20 year olds at the time) had been racking our brains on how to use the power of the iPhone camera to revolutionize our now boring social media feeds.

We had both been witnessing a specific photo effect take over every aspect of modern media from apps like Instagram to music videos with Lil Yatchy.

The effect (originally popularized in the 80s) is called “Stereoscopic 3D” and allows you to experience a ridiculous level of immersion from a regular 2D image. You might be asking how this works and it’s actually pretty simple. 3D photos work the exact same way that our eyes do by combining multiple images (taken in a specific way) into one aligned image. Over the past year the usage of this effect has gone through the roof:

Just one example of a 3D photo taken by Kendall Jenner

Naturally with any app story there had to be some big overwhelming problem with the way things were currently being done, to cause me and Mo to meetup that day.

3D photos were expensive, difficult, and time consuming to make.

To make a 3D photo, you needed to:

Get a special 3D camera (most likely from eBay because production stopped over 20 years ago) for $300 USD+
Find the right film for the camera and pray that it works
Take your snapped pictures and get them developed
Take those developed photos and align them manually in Photoshop
Export them to your social media feed
Repeat from step 2 for every single 3D photo you want to take

Anyone’s reaction to hearing about this process

Mo and I knew we had the ability to make that change. Mo being a talented photographer working with starts such as Jaden Smith, ASAP Rocky, Travis Scott and Post Malone and myself being an app developer who has taken apps to top ten ranking on the Apple App Store and has developed software for companies like Shopify, Canopy Growth, and more.

We got to work instantly and 9 months later with the help of some really talented engineers, UX researchers and designers from around the world, we were able to create a product that can perform the same functionality of a 3D camera and more, all from the palm of your hand.

We had the opportunity to go on Global News to talk more about the app and our vision, check it out here!

FILM3D’s Release Video

What is FILM3D?

FILM3D is an iOS app that provides a new way of bringing your photos to life by allowing any user to capture immersive 3D photos from your phone, no additional hardware necessary. We’ve taken the best of modern photo technology and combined it with new waves in the space of creative photography to place the full power of a 3D camera right in your pocket at a fraction of the cost.

The user simply presses a button, moves their phone to the right and within seconds you’re able to generate the most amazing-ly retro 3D pictures.

Thanks to the app being on the iPhone we’re able to give users features that would have never been possible on the real hardware camera. These features include:

A range of retro and modern filters curated by professional photographers
Automatic focal point detection (powered by Vision and CoreML)
Saving as GIF or MP4
Direct export to Instagram and thousands of other platforms
Having the most lit account on social media (less of a feature, more of a guarantee)

FILM3D is totally free to use and has filters for sale at 2.99 CAD each. Our goal with this is to give as many people as possible access to our platform as we introduce new ways to make your memories even more immersive.