Eric's Online Stereoscopic Playback
"Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ)
- I'm seeing two videos playing simultaneously, one over the other.
- Can I watch this in 3D without special glasses?
- Oh, I don't want to spend that kind of money to watch this video. Can I at least watch this in full color?
- Ok, can I watch this in stereo AND in color?
- What is anaglyph?
- Since I don't want to buy any hardware, I guess I can only watch this in anaglyph. What is the difference between the separated WMV and the pre-processed anaglyph? Why is the separated WMV better?
- I have a Mac, can I play the separated WMV in stereo?
- I'm using Stereoscopic Player and I've got your red-cyan glasses. Which viewing method do I use?
- I'm using some other stereoscopic playback software. What are the specs of the WMV?
- Which color goes over which eye?
- Wearing anaglyph glasses gives me a headache. How do I fix this?
- I've got red-blue glasses or red-green glasses. Can I watch the anaglyph videos on this site with those?
- How far away should I be from the screen to view your videos?
Stereoscopic media is amazing to watch in full color, but it requires reasonably expensive hardware that most people surfing the web don't have readily available. Regardless, in an attempt to be able to show this media to potential clients and other interested parties, the media on this web page has been made available in several different formats. Some of them are more difficult to execute than others. This page was written to help demystify the process of viewing stereoscopic media online.
I'm seeing two videos playing simultaneously, one over the other.
You need to download the WMV file to your computer, and then open it using Peter Wimmer's Stereoscopic player, which takes the two videos and puts them together so you can watch it in stereoscopic 3D. If you can't install Stereoscopic Player, you will have to watch the pre-processed anaglyph version.
Can I watch this in 3D without special glasses?
Yes. It can be watched in stereoscopic 3D on an auto-stereoscopic display, which is based on lenticular stereogram technology. These displays can be purchased from companies like Spatial View or Dimension Technologies. The line of Sharp RD3D laptops has auto-stereoscopic capabilities, also. Auto-stereoscopic displays will allow you to view the video in full color without having to wear special glasses.
Oh, I don't want to spend that kind of money to watch this video. Can I at least watch this in full color?
Yes. Use the WMV and Peter Wimmer's Stereoscopic Player and press F4. This only shows you the left eye and allows you to watch the video in full color. Don't wear 3D glasses, though, because this isn't in stereo. Press F5 to put it back to stereo viewing mode.
Ok, can I watch this in stereo AND in color?
Ah, but of course. You will need either a polarized-glasses display system, a shutter-glasses display system, or a head-mounted stereoscopic display. These systems are outlined as the first three "Common Stereoscopic Display Methods" listed in the table near the bottom of this page. The WMV file will work with all of these systems, but if you are asking this question it means that you will probably still have to purchase some hardware.
What is anaglyph?
It's a method of using basic color filters to deliver discrete left and right images to each eye, to allow your brain to create the stereo effect.
All of my pre-processed anaglyph Quicktimes are made for red-cyan glasses, with the red lens over the left eye.
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaglyph_image
Since I don't want to buy any hardware, I guess I can only watch this in anaglyph. What is the difference between the separated WMV and the pre-processed anaglyph Quicktime? Why is the separated WMV better?
Quicktime does a fantastic job of compressing video for
playback, but it does it at the cost of modifying details in the image
to better suit the compression. These details are usually not noticed
by the average viewer, so the developers of Quicktime (and any
good compression algorithm, like YouTube or Google video) have taken advantage of
this to help make the files smaller.
The problem is that, to create anaglyph, you are encoding depth
information as color information into the image. That's a little
outside of what the developers of video compression algorithms planned
for, and it usually results in unsatisfactory results, because the depth
information gets mangled by the compression format.
Compared to a pre-processed anaglyph Quicktime, the separated WMV is actually two separate video streams, one for each eye. These separate, full-color video streams allow the compression algorithms to do what they do best and no depth information is lost or mangled during compression. On playback, Wimmer's Stereoscopic Player decompresses the streams, calculates the
anaglyph color shift conversion, and blends the left and right streams without compression, so you can see the best possible image with minimal mangling and ghosting.
I have a Mac, can I play the separated WMV in stereo?
Unless something has changed recently, no. You are relegated to either the pre-processed quicktime or Boot Camp. :-(
Email me if you've discovered an OS-X native stereoscopic player.
I'm using Peter Wimmer's player and I've got your red-cyan glasses. Which viewing method do I use?
Use "Optimized Anaglyph Red - Cyan". Make sure that "view"->"swap left-right" is NOT checked.
I'm using some other stereoscopic playback software. What are the specs of the WMV?
All of the videos on this site are 16:9, and the left image is top, the right image is bottom. We use the "over-under" method instead of the "side-by-side" method so that a dual stream 720p WMV is only 1440 pixels high rather than 2560 pixels wide.
Which color goes over which eye?
Red over the left eye and cyan over the right eye.
Wearing anaglyph glasses gives me a headache. How do I fix this?
Only wear the glasses in a darkened room... wearing the glasses in regular light sets up too many "retinal rivalries" where each of your eyes sees something completely different, and this hurts your brain. If you actually like this effect, you can maximize it by looking at something bright red with the glasses (like this!)
There is talk that people with a dominant left eye have more trouble seeing anaglyph with the red lens on the left eye. My suggestion would be to use Stereoscopic Player, press F7 (which effectively swaps the left & right colors) and watch the video with the glasses folded backwards so the red filter is over the right eye.
I've got red-blue glasses or red-green glasses. Can I watch the anaglyph videos on this site with those?
If you are watching a pre-processed quicktime, not really. It was made for red-cyan viewing so all of the depth information is encoded for red and cyan. Your experience will be greatly diminished using the wrong colored glasses.
However, if you are using Stereoscopic Player, just use a different viewing method. There are a bunch under "view"->"viewing method".
How far away should I be from the screen to view your videos?
Estimate the width of your playback area. If you are viewing the videos in a window, use the width of the window. View the videos from a distance of about 3-5 times that width.
Viewing the videos from a position too close to the screen, while it fills your field of view better, will minimize the volume of the 3D effect.
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