3D pictures with no Éspecial Éhardware? ÉImpossible? SIRDS (Single èImage Random Dot Stereograms) for Éwindows Écreates what looks like an èarray of random dots, Éthat Éwhen Élooked Éat Écorrectly Éreveals a 3-èdimensional picture.
Posters of SIRDS have Éfound Éthere Éway Éinto Éart Éshops such as èAthena recently. People pay extortionate amounts of money for these 3D èpictures which are created by a very simple process.
If you have not seen any examples Éof SIRDS before, I will explain èhow to view them. Firstly though, I'll explain how to use the program:
System Requirements:
Any PC that can run Windows version 3.0 or higher.
A colour graphics card and monitor is recommended to view the
bitmaps you are going to render.
Installation:
If you are using Windows 3.0, copy the file COMMDLG.DLL into
your Windows directory.
Double click on SIRDS.EXE from File Manager
or
Make a new program group using FILE|NEW and drag SIRDS.EXE
from File Manager into the program group. Double click
on the icon to start the program.
For an example, select FILE|OPEN and Édouble click on TEST.BMP. To ègenerate the SIRDS, click on SIRDS|GENERATE and wait.
Viewing SIRDS
-------------
Once you get used to it, Éviewing SIRDS comes fairly naturally. If èyou cannot see them at first, Ékeep Épercevering, Éit will come in the èend and believe me it is worth Éit. ÉIt takes some people five minutes èto see their first SIRDS and Éit Étakes Éother people hours just don't ègive up!
Right. First generate the above Éexample, TEST.BMP. Note carefully èthe picture of the face Éwhen Éit Éloads. ÉThis Éis Éthe image you are ètrying to see. The darker Écolours Éare Édeeper into the picture while èthe lighter colours, such as the eyes, are further out of the picture.
Sit a little way from the monitor, Ébut Énot too far: about 2 feet èis perfect. Stare at the Édots. ÉLet Éyour Éeyes Édefocus (try to look è'through' the monitor. Just keep changing focus and relaxing your eyes èand the image should just Éappear. ÉRemember, Édon't give up. You will èget it in the end!
Using SIRDS for Windows
-----------------------
To use the program you have to first create a Windows Bitmap (BMP) èor DIB file. The rules for Écreating Éa Ébitmap Éfor use with SIRDS is èfairly simple. The program Évaries Éthe Édepth Éof Éthe image with the èamount of blue in the Ébitmap É(it Éwas Éthe Éeasiest Éway to do it!). èForget Windows Paintbrush Éunless Éyou Éexperiment Éwith Éthe standard èpalette because it uses ÉWindows Émethod Éof Édithering Éto obtain its ècolours. Dithering does not work when generating SIRDS. The best way I èfind is to use Éa ÉDOS Épackage Ésuch Éas ÉNeopaint, Éuse a grey-shade èpalette. The darker colours are in the background.
When you have a bitmap, load Éit Éinto ÉSIRDS for Windows by using èthe FILE|OPEN dialog Ébox. ÉThe Ébitmap Éshould Ébe Édisplayed Éon the èscreen. To generate the SIRDS, click on SIRDS|GENERATE. Once generated èyou can print or save the ÉSIRDS Éusing Éthe Émenu options in the FILE èmenu.
If you do use Paintbrush, Éyou Écan Édraw the image in Paintbrush, èmark it as a block and Éthen Éselect EDIT|COPY. To generate the SIRDS, èclick on the ÉSIRDS Éfor ÉWindows ÉFILE Émenu Éand Éselect ÉPaste form èClipboard. You then select SIRDS|GENERATE.
You can also set various options concerning the SIRDS generation.
Pixels per Point:
Specifies the amount of pixels allocated to each individual point. èIf you have a very high resolution Édisplay you may want to raise this èvalue.
Colour Levels:
Specifies the amount Éof Édifferent Édepth Élevels Éthe Éimage can èdisplay. ÉLevels Ébelow Éabout É8 Éare Énot Érecommended Ébecause Éthe èdifference between depth levels is so Égreat Éit is difficult to focus èon the SIRDS. The best way to create Éa SIRDS with only two levels (or èa small amount of levels) Éis Éto Éuse É16 Éor É32 levels and draw the èbitmap image with black Éas Éthe Ébackground Éand Éa Édark grey as the èforeground. This keeps the levels Éclose Étogether making it easier to èview. if you don't understand what I mean then try it!
Random Bar Width:
Changes the focus point of the Éimage. ÉThe higher the number, the èfurther you have to defocus your Éeyes Étherefore Éthe harder it is to èsee the image. The advantage of using Éhigher numbers is that it makes èthe depth levels closer together making the image look smoother.
Tips on generating SIRDS
------------------------
If you fancy writing a message in ÉSIRDS, Éit is best to use fonts èwhich are not too curvy. The line width Éhas to be quite thick as well èbecause you tend to get Éinterferencr Ébetween the letters making them èunreadable. An example text bitmap TEXT.BMP is supplied as an example.
As mentioned before, Windows ÉPaintbrush Éis not entirely suitable èfor generating SIRDS due to the fact that it dithers colours. However, èthe standard Paintbrush palette Écontains mainly non-dithered colours. èYou can experiment with these to Ésee Éwhat depth levels they produce. èYou will usually Éuse Éblack Éas Éthe Ébackground Ébecause Éit has the ègreatest depth.
I hope you have Éfun Éwith Éthis Éprogram. ÉIt Éis a public domain èprogram so you can copy, lend, Éburn, Émutilate Éor eat it any way you èwamt to, just please, please keep all of the files together.
