Stereoscopy unintentionally

[denarced]

Hei,

I've been reading about S3D a bit and the following question keeps haunting me:

Is the S3D actually programmed intentionally? Can it be and if yes, are there benefits?

All the chatter would seem to indicate that for the most part, we old-school 3D and the drivers convert it to S3D. How well do they perform, I don't know.

Thanks for all responses.

[cybereality]

Yes, of course this is possible. There are a very small number of games that support stereo 3d directly in the game engine, Avatar being one of the best examples. There are now a number of PS3 games that support stereo 3D natively (GT5, COD:BO, etc.). However, the vast majority of games are not made specifically for 3D. So for PC gamers with 3D hardware, using 3rd party 3D drivers is the only ticket. I think the 3D drivers do a pretty good job, but sometimes there are strange anomalies that can't be avoided. However, 3D drivers do have the advantage in that they are customizable (you can edit the settings or add your own profiles). Some native 3D games only give you limited or no options for adjusting the settings. In this case the 3D drivers could actually be superior.

[denarced]

Very nice. Personally I'm interested in S3D user interfaces (and how to build 'em). I think there's a lot of possibilities there.
I suppose one day I'll have to check Assassin's Creed II in S3D as well.

As I understand, non-game software doesn't really get you the real 3D even with the drivers?

[cybereality]

Yeah, it is really only games that turn 3D when using 3D drivers. AFAIK you can't make the Windows desktop 3D, or use browse the web in 3D or anything like that. Although that work be pretty cool if you could. There are a few non-game applications that work in full-screen 3D, like Coolaris, but they are the exception to the rule.

[denarced]

AFAIK you can't make the Windows desktop 3D, or use browse the web in 3D or anything like that. Although that work be pretty cool if you could. There are a few non-game applications that work in full-screen 3D, like Coolaris, but they are the exception to the rule.

Yes, current software is what it is. We have a sort of research project going on. We'll take a look at current possibilities in S3D and then submit our findings. My school intends to start teaching stuff about S3D and user interfaces. By the time they get the hardware (possibly an autostereoscopic display + other stuff) I have graduated but the topic is interesting none the less.

[skrubol]

The big restriction for the most part with S3d drivers is that they must be used in DirectX fullscreen mode. (this is true for 3dvision, I don't think it's entirely true for TriDef and iz3d.) Most 3d modeling programs use OpenGL and are windowed.
I would definitely take a look at cooliris if you haven't. It's the closest thing I've seen to a stereoscopic compatible UI.

[cybereality]

Yes, Nvidia 3D Vision is only for full-screen applications. However the iz3d and DDD drivers can work in windowed mode using formats like interlaced (probably others too, I haven't tried).