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How do you make 3D images for parallax displays? I really want to make content for the Evo 3D.

I will be converting 2D images in post production. I already know the basic principles behind this (black and white displacement map with whites in the foreground, blacks in the background) but I still am not sure how this would work on parallax displays. I have seen the red/blue pixel shifted images for the old red/blue glasses.

I also do not have 3D technology available for me to test this with, so I would like to know the basic idea of the workflow before I do anything.

Also: file format. Does the Evo simply do its own displacement with the two camera lenses and store files as .jpg or is it using a special format

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I believe the question is maybe a bit off-topic, I'll leave that here anyway, maybe it helps!

Evo 3D

It uses the JPS (JPEG Stereoscopic) standard.1
JPS is basically just two images side-by-side.2

So you would just take two images, compose them next to each other, save them a JPS, and done.

3DS

The 3DS is a bit different, but not that much. The 3DS stores two files for a stereoscopic image:

  • a normal .jpg file to be sent in mails, etc.
  • a .mpo file, which is the actual stereoscopic file.3

The only problem will be creating the stereoscopic file itself, as I couldn't find out the binary format for it. You will have to get one from a real 3DS and see what it looks like. I found a tutorial that explains how to create your own .mpo files for the 3DS, but it doesn't read very well. Here's a tutorial about converting .mpo to .jps.

That means you won't have to create a depth map like you said, but rather generate two disparate images, as the devices only use two images to render a 3D view. It would of course be nice to have one image and a depth map, but that's not how they work.

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interesting! thank you. that means I'll probably just duplicate an image layer and pixel shift it and maybe some slight lens distortion on the canvas for each version of the image. In the JPS format, I'm not sure how this will allow for depth – cqm Jul 23 '11 at 17:54
It's a tad more difficult than just pixel shifting it. You can of course try to apply some distortions to one of the images and see how the result looks like. Stereoscopic reproduction isn't that easy though. Obviously, the best would be to create 3D content from a rendered scene using Blender or something -- or recording it using 3D equipment (like a 3D video camera). It really depends on what content you have and what you want to achieve. I have to admit, it's not easy to do without some effort (I'm currently doing 3D video research..) – slhck♦ Jul 23 '11 at 18:43
slhck, in the future I'll link two DSLRs together in tandem. In the meantime I'll convert 2D images (photographs) into 3D – cqm Jul 23 '11 at 19:09
I see! Maybe you want to look on Photography if there are some people who know more about stereoscopic photography/reproduction! – slhck♦ Jul 23 '11 at 20:04
woah! did not know that existed! and I've browsed the stackexchange – cqm Jul 23 '11 at 21:08

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