Converting your 14

Converting your 14” Monitor to a massive Cinema Screen

By Shahzad “RAGEdemon” Ali

Introduction:

I have been experimenting with video files in varying formats for a while, and have discovered a very interesting way to convert a normal monitor to a massive screen using 3D-Glasses.

The idea in itself is simple. You make any video file to a double image with a certain separation. When viewed with 3d glasses, the image seems to be very deep inside the monitor, giving the effect that there is a massive screen there. The outcome is breathtaking in the true sense of the word.

The Principles:

The following diagram demonstrates the basic principles:

The original avi image is split into 2 identical images separated by a certain distance. As can be seen from the diagram, the larger this distance, the deeper and larger the virtual screen seems to be i.e. increased the distance to the separation of the viewer’s eyes means the user will see an image at point infinity, with an infinite sized screen restricted by the size of the monitor, e.g. looking up at the sky into infinity and beyond :-)

These outcomes are also affected by the distance the user is from the monitor screen i.e. The closer, the closer the but larger the virtual screen, and vise versa.

And yes! You get the same “semi-3d” effect that you get at the cinema because of the large screen. Watching the USS Excelsior’s pass-by by in “Star Trek: The undiscovered Country” in this format for the 1st time dropped my jaw and took my breath away, literally.

Considerations:

There is no software that I am aware of that will do this In real time at present. I understand some 3D glasses come with such rare software that only works with their glasses, but nothing widely available. So after months of tinkering, hacking, and slashing of apps any videos, I was successful using a variety of tools.

What is needed:

Virtualdub: An excellent video editing, encoding, and decoding utility. (Freeware)

Http://www.virtualdub.org/

3D-Combine: Very good 3d video editing application.

(Trial version Available)

Http://www.3dcombine.com/

Winx3D Drivers: Drivers for Stereo Video Player

(Freeware)

Http://www.win3d.com/drivers.htm

Winx3D-Video Player

(Freeware) http://mysak.umbr.cas.cz/~husakm/Public/Win3dVideo/Win3dStereoscopicVideoPlayer.htm

A good setup is required: a fast CPU and Graphics Card. Could also in theory work with ATi cards, but is untested. Most nVidia cards should work well. My system Specs used for testing:

Athlon 2400+

nVidia GeForce4 Ti-4600

512MB DDR-333 RAM

(My trusty) ELSA 3D Revelator IR under Windows ME

Procedure:

The basic plan is to first use 3d-combine to shift and re-encode the movie file with a double image. Then we use Virtualdub to encode sound from original video into new 3D encoded Video (3d combine takes all the sound out). Then we install the Winx3D drivers and play the movie using the Winx3D Video Player.

Here we go:

Open 3D-Combine:

1. Go to Video > Combine AVIs

2. Choose the SAME Video for “Left” AND “Right”

3. Choose an output Video file name

4. In “output video format” select Cross Eyed, NOT Parallel.

5. Click “select filters”, browse down to “Horizontally Shift”

6. Click the arrow pointing right, and define how many pixels you want to shift.

7. --I find 80 Pixels works good for my 21” monitor. Experiment for other monitors.

8. Click “OK” and then “Done”.

9. Click “GO”

A dialogue box will appear asking what codec you want to use when encoding. DivX is highly Recommended, I find it is the best compromise between speed and quality. Now just leave it for a few hours to encode (depending on your file size and CPU speed. Should take about 2 hours for a full movie.

Open the encoded file using windows media player. You should see a double image of the original video without sound.

Now you have your movie, you can try to play it using 3D-combine’s player (using sound from original video file). This has never worked for me, as I'm sure it won’t for the majority of you either.

Open up Virtual Dub and load the ORIGINAL file.

1. Go to File > Save WAV --It will take a few minutes to save the audio track.

2. Now open up your new encoded video using Virtualdub.

3. Go to Video and select “Direct Stream Copy”.

4. Now go to Audio and select “WAV Audio”. Browse to your WAV file that you ripped from the original video.

5. Go to File > “Save as AVI”.

Your video should now be fully Dubbed and ready to play using a 3d Video player.

Instal the Winx3D Drivers (they shouldn't interfere with any other 3D drivers installed).

Follow the on-screen instructions until you can see the pyramid in 3D in the test application provided by the drivers. I have had very limited success in windows XP, perhaps my hardware combination was causing some disturbance. In Windows ME, however, everything worked beautifully.

1. Now, Open the Winx3D Video Player.

3. Click Open File and load your Video.

4. Select a resolution. I recommend a low resolution, for fastest results.

5. From “output stereo formats”, select “Relaxed or cross eye”.

6. In output Colour format, select 32-bit.

7. In “Eye coding in source” select “Left Top or Relaxed eye” --There is a bug in the player where if you had selected “parallel encoding instead of cross-eyed” from 3D-Combine, the video would show as “corrupt” in the player. This means that since we encoded cross eye, and have now set cross eye, we are in fact viewing “Relaxed stereo”.

8. Finally, select Video-memory mode as “method 2”. That’s it! With a bit of luck everything has gone well.

9. Click View 3D.

You should be seeing a picture with an image shifted to the right in the right eye, and image shifted to the left in the left eye, If it is Vise Versa, then simply exit and select the other choice at the “eye coding in source”.

The size of your monitor should be projected deep into the screen giving you the impression you are looking through a window (your monitor) at a massive screen in the far-off distance. Without the glasses, the screen should display 2 images similar to this:

Final Thoughts:

Apart from the inevitable ghosting, my idea’s effect is amazing, with massive marketing potential. Its like having a cinema screen costing a small fortune, for the price of a normal monitor with 3D glasses. The product virtually sells itself.

All we need to do is get some company to make us a player that will take any video and just shift images a little, letting the user adjust the separation. It is simple. From what I have ready, it out performs 3DPlus2.0 and similar apps.

If anybody can help make such an application a reality (freeware or otherwise), please let us know.

I have setup a stereovision Channel (“chat room”) where we can discuss anything and everything stereovision. Just follow the link, type in your handle, and click Connect:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/shabaz.ali/stereovision.html

Hope everything helps, Post any comments or cries for help in the forums or in the “chat room” I will try my best to accommodate. When in the channel please make sure to say our names, to bring yourself to our attention, as chances are we’r probably doing 101 other things at the time J

Shahzad Ali (RAGEdemon)

Glasgow

Scotland