android78 wrote:Nice work there. How did you work out the scale? did you use the printer scaling, or application?
I assume that you are using a laser printer for printing? I think I'll have to get some proper transparency sheets and make one myself.
I am not using any scaling at all in the application. I'm letting the printer do it and it seems to work. Even though the old inkjet printer I have (hp deskjet 722c) is only 600dpi, I can get better results when printing at 2400dpi. Don't ask me how it works. I just kept printing different sheets and eyeballing the difference. You have to send it to the printer at the best quality, even if it doesn't support it. This may have to do with how Photoshop handles the printing, I'm not sure how that will work in other programs.
Anyway, here is the script I am using for the 2 pixel test barrier as shown in the above post (right-click, save-link-as):
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EDIT: I am no longer using a script, now I am using a Photoshop pattern. Keep reading...]
That is a script for PhotoshopCS3 (may work in CS2, not prior) and it generates the parallax barrier pattern. To load it up go in PS and click "File"->"Scripts"->"Browse...". The image is 6" x 6", but you can change this by altering the resolution. For the 2 pixel barrier I am using 79 horizontal dots per barrier at 2400dpi. This is on a 22" widescreen LCD monitor, depending on your printer and monitor that value may be slightly different. If you want to change the size of the printout, change the resolution in the source code listed below:
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// Create a new document to draw the barrier lines
var parallaxDoc = app.documents.add(14400, 14400, 2400, "Parallax Barrier 3D", NewDocumentMode.RGB, DocumentFill.TRANSPARENT, 1);
The first number is the 6" width times 2400dpi and ends up at 14400 dots. Second number is the height. Third refers to dpi, I am using 2400dpi.
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// set barrier globals (edit these 2 values if it doesn't match your screen)
var barrierWidth = 79;
var barrierSpacing = 79;
For 2 pixel barrier I used 79 dots. For one pixel I imagine it would be around 40 dots. You can just edit the file in Notepad (or any text editor) and then reload the script in PhotoshopCS3. The lines will not match up if you place the film on the screen. It is made to be about 1cm off the screen for the proper parallax when viewed at ~2 feet away. Please note, you will need a lot of RAM to run that script. At the very least 2GB RAM with a good 4GB of scratch-disk for PS. If you are low on memory then your HDD may crash, so be warned. I had the scratch-disks set up the wrong at first and I saw the popup "You have 7MB left on drive C:", LOL! Be careful. I plan on fixing the script up, this is just the first version, but maybe it can be of some help.