3D. True, pure 3D in AGS.

Khris · Mon 03/01/2005 17:39:59

Quote from: Rui "Puss in Boots" Pires on Mon 03/01/2005 06:26:18
khrismuc: wouldn't just 2 characters lose... well, color? I know this method makes everyhting look screwed up color wise anyway, but I've seen many anaglyphs with full color. And in all of them there's the main image and the 2 other images.

Could you post one of these anaglyphs with 3 images? I still think there are actually only 2 of them, one for each eye.
Take a look at this one:

It becomes clear when you look at the top left banana; there appears to be a yellow banana with two 'shadows', but if you look closely, the banana is only yellow where the red&green images overlap. Same for the rest of the image, full color only at red&green overlapping.

I don't think this can be achieved with AGS, even with a decent plugin. I've just noticed that the greens&reds in the above picture are different ones, depending on the color of the object, the green of the big Rs is more turquoise then that of the bananas.
And a plugin would need a map of every bg telling the distance of each pixel to the viewer...

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Mon 03/01/2005 22:28:54

I really don't get your meaning... it still looks to me like three images, and it could probablt be done with transparent images over the character or the object...

...but I'll give it a go. As soon as I find out how to make a 3D image from an non-stereo 2D image with bas-relief. I think it's possible, and this is all only worth it if it IS - it might be unrealistically hard work to really have 2 images of everything, especially when I've so far FAILED to get a good anaglyph maker.

ezra · Tue 04/01/2005 02:17:09

There is software that can convert regular images to anaglyph images. I purchased Edimensional 3d Glasses a while back and it came with this software. When I get back from holidays I'll rummage through my CDs and see if I can find it.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Tue 04/01/2005 06:26:57

You'd do that?! Thank you VERY much! If I could just have the name of the software, I think I'd be able to scrap something up. So far Bas-Relief has turned out to be the most promising, but it still doesn't have that extra quality that manually-made anaglyphs have (of course), although it's main feature IS relying on a depth map. Maybe I'm just not pamming correctly.

Snarky · Tue 04/01/2005 07:47:31

It's really two images (one for each eye). One green and one red. However, where they overlap the colors get added together and come out looking like full-color. Color pictures in newspapers look similar when the color plates haven't been lined up properly.

You probably know that computer graphics are composed of red, green and blue channels. I'm not sure how the anaglyphs deal with the blue, but I suspect that it's added to one or both of the channels. That might explain why the greens are different shades in the picture you posted, krishmuc.

MillsJROSS · Tue 04/01/2005 18:10:41

It's a cool idea. The only thing I'd ever be concerned with, as already mentioned, it eye fatigue. I don't know if I'd be able to play the game without getting a headache. That doesn't mean I'd like to see it tried. Could just be me who gets headaches when looking through those things.

-MillsJROSS

DragonRose · Tue 04/01/2005 19:55:35

MillsJRoss: It isn't just you. I can't even SEE 3D images, because I'm very very minutely wall-eyed. They just look like doubled images to me. Trying to see anything gives me absolutely horrendous headaches.

TerranRich · Wed 05/01/2005 15:37:31

THere's another 3D idea that might be even better, if only it were feasible on computer monitors. Has anyone ever been to the Terminator 3D ride at Universal Studios? They use a 3D projector on a stage and hand out 3D glasses. Except these aren't the red-blue kind, they're the shaded ones. If you take off your glasses, you'll see double-images that are in full color, but with the glasses on, they're still full color, just in full 3D.

If anyone doesn't know how they work, basically the two images are projected using different filtered light. You see, regular sunglasses filter out horizontally-reflected sunlight. If you turn the glasses sideways you'll see different light better than other light. One image is vertically-reflected and the other is horizontally-reflected, and the two lenses of the glasses are different polarized filters. This way, one eye blocks out one image, while the other eye blocks out the other. This way, one eye sees the "left" image, and the other eye sees the "right" image, giving a full color 3D effect. It's quite ingenius and impressed me when I first figured out how it worked.

If only computer monitors could support this, it would be an even better and more feasible method of 3D generation. It could theoretically be possible on a projection-type of TV screen, but it would have to be hard-coded into a chip in the projector. This way, each background, sprite, character, etc. would consist of a "left" sprite and a "right" sprite. There could be some code that would detect the scaling (as well as a "distance from camera" walkable-area setting) and adjust the images accordingly. It would be crude, but effective.

Snarky · Wed 05/01/2005 17:34:11

For an explanation of how these and other methods work, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereoscopy is a good resource.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Wed 05/01/2005 23:30:30

TerranRich, the only real drawback in what you say is the fact that THOSE glasses aren't as easy/cheap to come by/make as the usual red/cyan glasses, and a lot less people would be able to benefit from it.

However, my experiments have drawn to a close. I have zero artistic vein, so it's futile for me to keep trying - I believe this has to be done manually by someone who CAN do it. Graphic-wise, I mean. And by THAT I mean "background-wise". Haven't even tried anything else at all yet, cause if I ain't even got the BACKGROUND...

Ashen · Wed 05/01/2005 23:51:17

I don't know if you've seen it, but I just remembered seeing this tutorial a while ago:
http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161051

It uses photographs, but I imagine you could adapt it to drawn backgrounds. I haven't been able to try it out though, as I don't have any 3D glasses. I'm also not sure how it'd work with scrolling backgrounds - probably not well if at all.

Might not be of use, but I thought I'd mention it.

Minimi · Thu 06/01/2005 00:18:50

I have here a link to a freeware program that can make anaglyph pictures! I hope this is helpful for you!

http://anabuilder.free.fr/ABDownload.html

I found the link on this website : http://www.webgrid.co.uk/graphics_6.html
there are alot more links to nifty free tools there!

Goodluck with everything.

ps : "yup I actually posted on the forums again!"