3D Vision Blog

DDD Has Released a New Version 5.1 of the TriDef 3D Software

Bloody — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:05:45 +0000

DDD has released a new version of their universal stereoscopic 3D software packages for viewing 3D photos, videos and for playing games in stereoscopic 3D mode. The new TriDef 5.1 package includes a better detection of more AMD HD3D-capable configuration including the new Radeon HD 7000 Series of GPUs such as the 7970 and 7950 video cards. The new version also brings the number of supported games by the software to over 600 games (572 DDD game profiles and 35+ user submitted profiles). There are also support being added for nw games such as Star Wars: The Old Republic, LA Noire, Sonic Generations, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Anno 2070 and various other games; improved support for games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Skrim and other games; as well as some game specific issues being resolved. Unfortunately nothing much yet about stereo 3D support for upcoming titles that already have generated a lot of user interest such as Alan Wake, DotA 2, Microsoft Flight, Prototype 2, Mass Effect 3 etc. Still much better as compared to iZ3D that have been keeping “radio silence” for more than half a year since the release of their latest beta driver…

- To download the latest version of TriDef 5.1 stereo 3D software package…

Phereoshop, a Free 3D Photo Organizer, Viewer, Uploader

Bloody — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:26:44 +0000

If you have a lot of 3D photos you’ve probably discovered it can be a pain to organize them properly, even previewing and doing some simple editing could be a job you are not willing to start doing as it is not very convenient. The free StereoPhoto Maker application is a useful tool, but in the hands of more experienced users for doing some adjustments on 3D photos, but it is not intended for organizing your photos or even not very convenient for previewing 3D photo galleries. And here comes another interesting free tool called Phereoshop, it is a simplified 3d photo organizer, viewer and uploaded by the guys behind the 3D photo website www.phereo.com (the software platform that the photo section of 3DVisionLive is based on).

While Phereoshop is essentially for organizing and viewing your 3D photos it also comes with some simple and easy to use adjustments for editing 3D photos, offering features such as color correction, stereo alignment and cropping of images. The uploading part is there just to help you get the photos you want to share online easier on the Phereo’s website, for that you would need to have a registration at the website of course. The software is compatible with 3D Vision, you just need to disable the green Nvidia warning the first time you preview a 3D photo and you should be Ok, and you can of course also preview in other formats if you don’t have 3D Vision. The software can sure take some more improvements and get more features, but even now it is something that might be quite useful for novice users in 3D photography. So it is something worth trying out…

- Visit the Phereo website to download the free Phereoshop application…

Oil Rush, an Interesting New Game with Stereoscopic 3D Support

Bloody — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:31:25 +0000

Oil Rush is pretty much the first real commercially available game based on the impressive Unigine engine that has up until recently been used mostly for benchmarking video cards using the very popular Heaven benchmark. The game has been developed by the makers of the Unigine engine itself, and since the more recent versions of the engine have official stereoscopic 3D support, the game also supports it. Oil Rush is a real-time naval strategy game based on group control that combines the strategic challenge of a classical RTS title with the fun of Tower Defence type of games provide in a vast water world with very nice and detailed graphics. The game is multiplatform, so it is not available only for Windows, but the most stereoscopic 3D features are supported in the Windows version, including support for 3D Vision. Oil Rush is a game that you may want to try playing in stereo 3D mode as it does work very well.

Oil Rush Supports DX9, DX10, DX11 and OpenGL rendering modes in the Windows version that I’ve tried. With the OpenGL support for stereo 3D being limited to only anaglyph mode, while in all DirectX modes you get full support for anaglyph, Side by Side, iZ3D monitors as well as 3D Vision. Have in mind that you will need to activate Vsync in order to be able to use the game in stereo 3D mode with 3D Vision. There is no official 3D Vision profile for the game available in the latest video drivers, even in the latest beta released just a few days ago, but activating the 3D Vision mode from the game launcher does produce very good results in stereo 3D mode. You can also run the game with disabled stereo 3D mode and then activate 3D Vision when the game loads, but then you may experience some issues with setting up the best parameters for playing the game comfortably and also have some visual artifacts.

Activating the 3D Vision mode from the game’s launcher apparently loads different settings and also disables the convergence adjustment, but there is also a stereo 3D effect slider in the game’s options menu. With the 3D Vision mode active and all the depth pushed to the maximum the game still looks a bit flat, especially for people that are used to play with a lot of depth. But as I’ve said not activating the 3D Vision mode from the game menu and forcing it directly inside the game, although leaves convergence adjustment unlocked and allows higher depth adjustment, may lead to having some visual issues and thus resulting in not so good experience, so you may be better off with the official 3D Vision mode activated and a bit flatter image. With the official 3D Vision mode activated from the launcher you will notice that the cursor is rendered in 2D at the screen depth, but that isn’t that much of a bother actually, and most of the HUD is also rendered at screen depth, although there are some elements that may slightly pop-out and that can create unpleasant feeling when moving the cursor over them. Other than that there aren’t any visual issues with the game running in stereo 3D mode with the 3D Vision option activated from the game launcher, so it is something that you may wish to try yourself and if you do you are welcome to share your feedback about the game below. The good thing is that the game developer is quite actively working on improving the stereo 3D support in the game and getting rid of the issues…

Update: Apparently the game runs directly without going trough the launcher pictured above for the Steam version, so if you’ve got the Steam and not the standalone version of the game, then try running it trough the “launcher_x86.bat” file located in “C:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\oil rush\”, instead of directly trough Steam. Also the game developer has announced in their official forum that they plan to address the stereo 3D issues in the next 1.03 update that should be available next week.

- You can visit the official Oil Rush game website for more information about it…

Stereoscopic 3D Trailer for the Upcoming Movie Men in Black 3

Bloody — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:52:58 +0000

If you still haven’t seen the stereo 3D trailer for the upcoming movie Men in Black 3, then you should take a look at it, although the stereoscopic 3D trailer still hasn’t made it on the official website of the movie, it has been available for a while already on 3net’s YouTube channel. Have in mind that the movie was not shot in 3D, and was instead converted to 3D in post-production, but the end results judging from the trailer are not bad. So do take a look at the YouTube 3D video embedded above, or download the 3D movie trailer in MP4 format (Side by Side with half horizontal resolution) from the link below, and as usual feel free to share your feedback about the video should you watch it. The release date of the movie is set for May 25th, 2012.

- To download the stereoscopic 3D trailer of the upcoming movie Men in Black 3…

The Latest GoPro HD HERO2 Firmware Brings Proper 3D Support

Bloody — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:33:57 +0000

The GoPro HD HERO2 action cameras now finally should have proper support for the 3D HERO system for shooting in stereoscopic 3D format with the just released new firmware v.70. In order to update the firmware of your HD HERO2 cameras you will need to use the latest version of the GoPro CineForm Studio. When you have the camera connected and you run CineForm Studio you should be prompted if an update is available, offering you to update the one on your camera, that is if you don’t yet have the latest firmware installed. If you are using GoPro HD HERO2 cameras and already have the 3D HERO adapter you are welcome to share your feedback on how well the setup works after installing the latest firmware…

- For more information about the HD HERO2 and to download CineForm Studio…

3Dfury is a Very Powerful and Flexible 2D/3D Video Converter Box

Bloody — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:18:33 +0000

An interesting new device is going to be soon available called 3Dfury from the same people that make the popular HDfury products… actually 3Dfury is the new fourth generation of HDfury. This device should be able to convert your 2D only display into a 3D-capable one, or add support for HDMI input to a display that support HDMI or even digital input for that matter, and you can also add HDMI 1.4 input capabilities to a 2D or 3D display that does not have the interface available. There is not much information about the conversion of 2D displays into 3D-capable ones, but this would mean your 60Hz capable product will be able to output with 30Hz per eye for example, so still good for 3D movies, although not that great for gaming in stereo 3D mode. 3Dfury should be able to work with either Digital (DVI-D/HDMI) or Analog (RGBHV/component) displays as well as with Dual Projectors setups for displaying 2D or 3D content. The device features a single HDMI 1.4 input (DVI compatible) and can output in either digital HDMI/DVI or analogue VGA output, or even both at the same time, but since it is HDMI-based no support for Dual-Link DVI. The 3Dfury has built in support for all the standard 720p and 1080i/p 3D input resolutions in frame packaging, Top/Bottom and Side by Side formats and the device can output in 720p60, 720p72, 720p96, 720p120, 720p144 Frame Sequential; 720p and/or 1080p for 60Hz displays; 1080p60, 1080p72 (currently in development). You can also use two 3Dfury devices to build a dual projector 3D setup with up to 720p 240Hz for use with passive 3D glasses, for all other 3D setups active 3D shutter glasses are required. There are also some extra features for when using the device with 2D content such as the double and triple framerate from 24Hz 1080p material resulting in 1080p48 or 1080p72 output as well as the 720p120 – double framerate from 720p60 source that is currently in development. There is also full support for HDCP, so there should be no trouble watching protected content such as Blu-ray or Blu-ray 3D movies with this device, and you can create custom EDID parameters for your display device.

The 3Dfury has a standard VESA Stereo Connector in the form of a 3-pin mini-DIN Sync Out port to allow the connection of an external emitter and use of active 3D glasses with the device when playing back stereo 3D content. If you are using DLP-based device you should be Ok without an emitter with the help of DLP Link active shutter glasses, but for all other (besides dual projector passive 3D setups) you would need to connect an IR or RF-based emitter and use a compatible glasses with it. There are 3D glasses and an RF emitter that are going to be sold by the makers of 3Dfury specially for use together with the device and while there is not much information about them it is possible that these glasses will be made by BitCauldron. As the specs for the glasses kind of remind what the ones being branded by Monster Cable and Optoma RF glasses and being produced by BitCauldron offer, so if my guess is right and if you already have some pairs of these they will be the perfect match for the 3Dfury. But even if I’m not right the active shutter glasses made by BitCauldron should also work just fine as their RF emitter has support for use with devices using VESA Stereo connector. An interesting thing about the glasses being offered for use with 3Dfury is the fact that the user has control over the Duty cycle and Delay and can also invert the left/right image, some features that may help a lot at times.

According to the information available the device has less than one frame of latency per second added to the signal which should be barely noticeable in the form of input lag and that is very important for gamers. Of course, although the time it takes for the device to process the signal isn’t much, if you already use a display with a lot of input lag, then you may still have a problem as there is no way to reduce the lag of the display by using 3Dfury. With that said the 3Dfury is more targeted at multimedia use and not that much at gamers as gamers would usually prefer to go for display solutions that can offer 1080p with 120Hz refresh rate or 1080p 60Hz 3D mode and since the 3Dfury is based around HDMI 1.4 it is somewhat more limited. The device has a USB port and the firmware can be upgraded, meaning it can get extra features added over time, so new resolutions and formats for example could be introduced as well in the future.

The price of the 3Dfury is $399 USD and it is currently available only for pre-order with the first pre-orders expected to start shipping on 15th February, so in about two weeks time, and after that it should be available for normal orders. The RF emitter offered by the company making 3Dfury will cost you $49 USD and a single pair of active shutter glasses for it another $99 USD. You can say the price is a bit high, but the device definitely offers some interesting and useful features that might be able to save you from buying much more expensive hardware. But let us see how things will turn out when 3Dfury gets released and if it will indeed offer all that is being promised and work as good as it should. The HDfury already has a very good track record, so the expectations from 3Dfury are also quite high already and it is to be expected…

- You can visit the official 3Dfury website for more information…

Stereoscopic 3D Video Interview With Sensics at CES 2012

Bloody — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:22:15 +0000

Another interesting video interview from CES 2012 done my MTBS is up, this time it is Kris Roberts who interviews Jason Kaplan, VP of Business Development for Sensics. They talk about about a new prototype HMD device being developed by the company, a standalone 3D-capable HMD device with augmented reality features. Sensics’ 3D HMD has a built-in Android OS-based hardware as powerful as what you get on a recent Android smartphone or tablet and capable of running all these apps intended for smartphones and tablets. The 3D HMD uses 1280×1024 resolution panels and multiple video cameras for motion tracking and for augmented reality applications, furthermore the device can be used as a standalone product for Android-based applications or can be connected to a PC for example over HDMI interface. Certainly an interesting product that we may be able to see by the end of this year actually appearing on the market, meanwhile you can watch two more interviews from MTBS3D made at CES 2012 following the links below.

- Interview with Panasonic about their latest 3D cameras an 3D HDTVs…
- Interview With Zalman about their upcoming stereo 3D-capable monitors…

New GeForce 295.51 Beta Video Drivers Are Now Available

Bloody — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:37:10 +0000

Nvidia has just made available a new beta video driver in the form of 295.51 with some interesting new features and improvements regarding stereoscopic 3D support and not only. It is interesting to note that Nvidia has not released a WHQL driver for a while now, and the last such one is 285.58 back from October last year, but there have been multiple beta versions released in the meantime. Not everyone however installs and users beta drivers due to the fact that they may have some issues and not work properly at times or with specific setups, so have this in mind if you decide to try the new beta driver as well…

The most notable stereoscopic 3D-related new feature in the 295.51 beta drivers is the addition of support for 3D Vision windowed mode on 3D-capable DLP HDTVs and on “Optimized for GeForce” passive 3D monitors, so you will be able to run games and applications in stereo 3D mode in a window on these as well. Other than that there are quite a few updated or new 3D Vision game profiles, and these are:

- The Adventures of Tintin – rated Good
- Afterfall: Insanity – rated Fair
- Black Prophecy – rated Not Recommended
- Chaos Online – rated Fair
- Da Vinci Online – rated Fair
- DotA 2 – rating upgraded to Fair
- Dungeon and Dragons: Daggerdale – rated Fair
- Ferrari Project – rated Not Recommended
- The First Templar – rated Fair
- Fractal – rated Excellent
- FreeStyle 2 – rated Good
- The Haunted Halls Reach – rated Excellent
- King Arthur II – rated Not Recommended
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – rated Fair
- Kong Fu Ying Xiong – rated Fair
- Love Beat – rated Good
- Marvel Super Hero Squad Online – rated Good
- Microsoft Flight – rated Fair
- Perpetuum – rated Fair
- Post Apocalyptic Mayhem – rated Fair
- Prototype 2 – rated Fair
- Q.U.B.E. – rated Excellent
- Quan Qiu Shi Ming – rated Excellent
- rFactor 2 (mod mode) – rated Good
- Saints Row: The Third – Rated Not Recommended
- Shadow Company: Left for Dead – rated Not Recommended
- Special Force – Rated Good
- Tera – rated Good
- Top Gun: Hard Lock – rated Not Recommended
- Tropico 4 – rated Good
- Worms Blast – rated Good

A word of advice for the game Q.U.B.E. that is rated as excellent, the game kind of reminds of Portal in style and is actually quite fun and works really well in stereo 3D mode, however similarly to Portal the color palette in the game is often highly contrasting and this can lead to experiencing more crosstalk than usual. Also the new driver does add SLI profile for the upcoming game Mass Effect 3, but there is not yet a 3D Vision profile or rating for the game, and the previous games from the series had some issues in stereo 3D mode. Mass Effect 3 has the potential to turn out to be a great game to play in stereo 3D mode if it works properly this time, so hold your fingers crossed for when the game becomes available in March this year.

- To download and try the just released new GeForce 295.51 Beta video drivers …

Stereoscopic 3D Video Interview with LG Electronics at CES 2012

Bloody — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:31:02 +0000

Neil Schneider from MTBS interviews Frank Lee, Manager of Public Affairs for LG Electronics during the CES 2012 . In the interview, shot in stereoscopic 3D, Frank Lee talks about their new glasses-free monitors, simultaneous game-play features on their passive 3D HDTVs, new 3D displays, AIO PCs, SMART TV sets and more. The interview is in three separate parts as it covers quite a lot of stuff, above is embedded only the first video, follow the link below for the other two parts…

- Head on to MTBS3D for the rest fo the video interview with LG Electronics…

AMD Catalyst 12.1 and 12.2 Preview Drivers Available Now

Bloody — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:51:52 +0000

The official version of the AMD Catalyst 12.1 driver is now available based on the <а href="http://3dvision-blog.com/amds-catalyst-12-1-preview-driver-with-improved-stereo-3d-support/">Catalyst 12.1 preview driver released a few weeks ago. Sadly the Catalyst 12.1 driver has no support for the new Radeon HD 7970 GPUs and neither does the new AMD Catalyst 12.2 Preview Driver that was also made available together with the release of the official 12.1 version. For AMD AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series the company recommends users to use the 8.921.2 RC11 driver at least until an official release of the drivers becomes available.

But back to the AMD Catalyst 12.1 driver, as expected from the preview driver released earlier, the new driver adds support for the use of AMD HD3D technology in conjunction with AMD CrossFireX configurations – both for native stereo 3D games using HD3D as well as games relying on the middle-ware partners such as iZ3D and DDD TriDef 3D, as well as well as the new Stereo 3D mode over HDMI 1.4a connections supporting 1080p at 30Hz, but only on compatible displays (anyone tested this already?). Other improvements and fixes in this driver release are oriented at more general things and not at stereoscopic 3D support. As for the Catalyst 12.2 Preview Driver, some improvements to Eyefinity support, but nothing apparently especially targeted at stereoscopic 3D users… maybe in the official 12.2 driver next month we are going to also see support for Radeon HD 7970 as well as other new features such as Eyefinity stereo 3D support with active displays as well as support for 1080p 60Hz 3D mode (anyone know of a 3D-capable display product already supporting this?). So stay tuned for more form AMD and meanwhile do not be in a hurry to pull the trigger for a Radeon HD 7970 if you plan on building a stereoscopic 3D gaming rig.

- To download the latest official AMD Catalyst 12.1 drivers for your graphics card…

3D Vision Blog

DDD Has Released a New Version 5.1 of the TriDef 3D Software

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Phereoshop, a Free 3D Photo Organizer, Viewer, Uploader

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Oil Rush, an Interesting New Game with Stereoscopic 3D Support

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Stereoscopic 3D Trailer for the Upcoming Movie Men in Black 3

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The Latest GoPro HD HERO2 Firmware Brings Proper 3D Support

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3Dfury is a Very Powerful and Flexible 2D/3D Video Converter Box

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Stereoscopic 3D Video Interview With Sensics at CES 2012

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New GeForce 295.51 Beta Video Drivers Are Now Available

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