One of the biggest uphill climbs in 3D is the lack (quality and quantity) of content.  YouTube took big steps this week to address that by releasing a new tool that will in their words “convert 2D videos into 3D with a single click”. The announcement cheerfully adds “(beta!)”

YouTube has been supporting a variety of 3D formats quietly since 2009 and 3D cameras are just starting to gain some momentum in the consumer market. With this step YouTube fast forwards past the need to have special camera or third party conversion software. It will be interesting to see what creative application the new tool can have.

On the down side, this has the potential of reinforcing negative impressions of 3D based on inferior conversions.  Even though bad wedding videos don’t keep people from watching television, Clash of the Titans is held up as an example of why 3D will “never” work.

Other updates YouTube announced at the same time—the ability for accounts in good standing to upload long form content and the availability of two new online video editing tools—mean that more and better tools will be available to produce (we all hope) more and better content.  That’s good news.

Read the details on the YouTube blog, click here.