When is Separation & Convergence Too Much?

Post by **Neil** » Thu May 08, 2008 9:30 am

Hi Guys!

I have a question. If you go through the images in the game reviews section, what are your thoughts on the images?

Everyone's eyes are different, and for me, I look for a strong sense of depth and pop-out. Even if it is over emphasized in the images, are you able to see the 3D in the gallery photos? Are MTBS members secretly throwing up and not telling me because of the way the images are taken?

Regards,
Neil

Post by **yuriythebest** » Thu May 08, 2008 9:47 am

there's too little 3d in my opinion. I like high separation so everything appears toy-like and pops out.

Post by **Likay** » Thu May 08, 2008 1:58 pm

Let me add something: When i game on a 100" screen i use way less separation then when i play on the iz3d. It simply depends on screen size and distance to it (actually a combination between screen size and field view angle). When gaming with the big screen i sit quite near it: 3 meters which gives an incredible "ingame" feeling. Since i also made some vids i find it very difficult to make some with decent stereo settings since they need to be exagerated if i record at the same time i play. When recording i have to use the beamer rig and with slight exagerated 3d-settings to show better in the vids.

Personally i use quite strong 3d-settings. I notice that because when having others watching they get a slight headache/nausea. Turning down the settings fixes that. Now for something nice: When we played for an evening it always ends up increasing the stereoeffect until we play with the same settings i use to have. With these experiences i would say: Use less stereoeffect if you're a newbie and increase it as you like when experienced. The experience shows very quickly though (a few hours max is enough). This may cause some trouble for 3d-moviemakers since they must decide which seperation/convergence the movie should be recorded with. Having settings too near real world experience might be experienced a little boring and on the other hand it's not fun when people leaves because of nausea. This is no problem when gaming in stereo and the parameters are adjustable. But of course: A 3D-movie can be made using a 3D-engine which should give the same advantages! That would be something!

When separation and/or convergence is too high? In my meaning the 3d-experience should be a comfortable one. Use the settings that fits you best, not recommendations (well, it doesn't hurt following some good recommendations in the beginning,

).

cheers

Post by **LukePC1** » Thu May 08, 2008 2:59 pm

yuriythebest1 wrote:there's too little 3d in my opinion. I like high separation so everything appears toy-like and pops out.

I wasn't realy able to get your self made 3D pic. I'm not even shure, if it was the 'right direction'. I tried to view it crosseyed, because it's easy and fast.
Apart from that I can view all posted images.

Most of the other images have too less '3D', because the image appears REALY small.

I think there's a difference between images and playing. You could look at a still image and concentrate for some time to get it correctly. But if you try this on fast changing content, it's realy hard (for the brain?).

Post by **yuriythebest** » Thu May 08, 2008 3:06 pm

LukePC1 wrote:
yuriythebest1 wrote:there's too little 3d in my opinion. I like high separation so everything appears toy-like and pops out.
I wasn't realy able to get your self made 3D pic. I'm not even shure, if it was the 'right direction'. I tried to view it crosseyed, because it's easy and fast.
Apart from that I can view all posted images.

Most of the other images have too less '3D', because the image appears REALY small.

I think there's a difference between images and playing. You could look at a still image and concentrate for some time to get it correctly. But if you try this on fast changing content, it's realy hard (for the brain?).

yeah you might wanna swap them

Post by **cybereality** » Sun May 25, 2008 3:37 pm

I've looked at some of the gallery images (just cross-eyed) and they seemed like they had decent 3d effects, but everyone is different. If you wear glasses, then that alters the focal point and thus the perceived depth. For example, when wearing contact lenses (which I assume would be the same as if I had normal 20/20 vision) then stereo3d effects look more impressive in general. Its also dependent on the monitor setup or viewing method used as Likay brought up. So its hard to say. But I did notice some pictures with very little noticeable 3d, while others could give me a headache.

In terms of in-game use, I try to minimize the separation as much as possible, especially with shutter-glasses or any solution which causes ghosting. If I crank the convergence up high enough I'll usually leave the separation at the bare minimum value. This gives a decent 3d effect while keeping a clean image. Higher separation may produce "out-of-screen" effects, but usually they just muddy the picture and distract from the game (not to mention major headaches if done incorrectly). However, when using an HMD (VR920) I've had success with very high separation (maybe 50-60%) without the distractions like with shutter-glasses. So its very much dependent on the hardware you have too.

I'd probably stay on the safe side and be conservative with the separation values with gallery images. You don't want to have newcomers throwing up do you?