What's your 3D preference?, Curious about how UMSF readers prefer to see 3D content Options

[elakdawalla]

Hi folks, markril's comment in the recent MSL thread made me wonder what 3D formats really are preferred by UMSF members. Although we are more likely than average to own a pair of red-blue glasses, that doesn't mean that red-blue anaglyphs should necessarily be the go-to choice. What format(s) do you prefer for 3D content?

[djellison]

X-Eye/Parallel doesn't usually work for me, and when it does I get awful headaches. MPO requires downloading the file and then loading it in a viewing app. Anaglyph all the way.

[Explorer1]

Cross-eyed and stereo are just irritating to get the effect, and I don't own any red/blue glasses. Flicker gifs are the really convenient method but I've only seen them a handful of times in many years on UMSF, so I'm not surprised they aren't up for vote.

There's some way to make them oneself, right?

[brianc]

Flicker - GIF for Colour, Red Blue Anyglif for B&W

[bigdipper]

...Flicker gifs are the really convenient method...

FWIW, I second the flicker gifs. I find them particularly useful for short subject posts . They are very effective when you just want to make a point and move on.

For small images which can be studied without panning, I like cross-eyed or parallel stereograms. While I admit that they are an acquired taste, if they came with "training wheel" dots I think more people would enjoy them.

Nowadays, I often find myself with a laptop or other mobile device in a setting where pulling out red-blue glasses draws unwanted attention, but for panoramas or images that require deep thought, I still prefer the anaglyphs.

I was really surprised that flicker gifs didn't appear among the survey choices. Perhaps they could be added to the list.

[Stu]

Although the "Flicker" 3D pics are useful, I'm definitely a die-hard anaglyph user and maker. Cross-eyed viewing makes me want to be sick. No, anaglyphs are clearer, sharper, better depth of field; you're really "in" the picture.

Personally, I find them fantastic for Outreach - give out a load of glasses to a group, put an anaglyph of martian rocks on the screen, and wait for the communal "Wow!!!"

BTW: re glasses: there's really no excuse for anyone not to have a pair of red/blue glasses handy now, they're easy to get hold of. People in the UK (most countries, I'm sure) can just go down to their local discount bookstore, where I can almost *guarantee* that they'll find at least one book in the children's section -usually about "creepy crawlies" or "dinosaurs" - with 3D content and a free pair of glasses. ( And if you go to a newsagent's there'll be at least one kids magazine with the same.) And, as Doug has pointed out many times, US members can simply write to their nearerst NASA centre and they'll probably be sent some glasses for free.

[Leither]

X-eye doesn't work for me at all - maybe it's my +60yrs old eyes, maybe it the reading glasses! Anaglyphs are great for B&W (I use red/blue clip-ons); flicker.gifs best for colour or if I want to share with others.

[belleraphon1]

Anaglyphs please.

I have pairs of red-blue glasses at home, at work, and now that I have a smartphone, in my car.
(I do not view while driving)

Craig

[Ian R]

I'm going to buck the trend by placing a vigorous vote for CROSS-EYE.

[charborob]

Count me in also for cross-eye, but I also like anaglyphs.

[Bjorn Jonsson]

I voted for anaglyphs and cross-eye stereo for color and grayscale since both of these work for me but I strongly prefer anaglyphs, expecially for big images.

I don't like flicker GIFs - I see no 'depth' in these as in anaglyphs although the 'movement' reveals some of the depth/distance. And a major problem with GIFs is that they are limited to 256 colors.

[Greenish]

I would strongly encourage more cross-eyed stereo pairs to be posted, especially where color is available. The major advantage is that they can be viewed on any device and they retain color. They do appear smaller than the actual size though, so it's harder to see fine detail, and don't work as well when panning of the image is needed or anything else where mouse interaction is needed because it breaks my focus. Compared to cross-eyed I have a lot of trouble with parallel images; don't know if that's just me or they're more difficult in general.

That said, I finally stuck a pair of cheap red-blue glasses in my drawer at the office, and now I see why folks like anagyphs! The advantage for me is that they images appear full scale. However, I've only seen a few color ones that work so the anaglyphs in my opinion are really best for grayscale. Also minor variations in the colors used vs the glasses lens colors can really make it difficult to see sometimes.

[algorimancer]

I strongly prefer cross-eyed, and since I've been doing it for upwards of 30 years I find it nearly effortless. I don't have a a pair of the colored glasses for anaglyphs, so I always save them and open as cross-eyed with stereo-photo-maker. I understand that something like 20% of people are unable to work with cross-eyed image pairs, so when I post them I assume that those who can't are either going to ignore them or do what I do with anaglyphs. I think posting either format is going to mildly inconvenience some subset of the population, so I don't see any point in getting worked-up about it either way.

[dvandorn]

Even though I have my pair of red-blue glasses sitting within inches of my monitor, I actually prefer the cross-eyed technique, especially for color images. Flicker-gifs are good for scenes with relatively shallow overall depth of field, like a close-up of a rock on the ground, but not so good in my experience for deep images, like those that run from foreground to horizon.

I'm thinking people have enough differing tastes in how they like to view 3D images that, at least with current technology, we ought not be looking for one best technique, but instead ought to try to use a variety of techniques so as to give everyone a shot at being able to view these images using their own favorite technique.

-the other Doug

[lyford]

I'll just add another vote for flicker gifs, especially for smaller features and close ups. But anaglyphs are the easiest on my eyes, I get headaches with anything cross eyed.

Plus putting on the glasses are like a ritual - gettin' serious time!