Stereo 3D is a program that allows anyone to create random-dot stereograms, as seen in many books including the Magic Eye™ series. It is quick, fast, and simple, and works on virtually any color Macintosh. Stereo 3D creates 3D images from a grayscale PICT, created in any paint or image-editing program, and takes only seconds to finish an image on most Macs.
Features
* Accelerated for Power Macintosh!
* Runs on any Mac with a 68020 processor or Power Mac with 4 megabytes of RAM,
8-bit color or greater, and System 7.
* Creates 3D images in full color or black and white.
* Up to 256 levels of depth.
* 3D image resolution can be set with the click of a button. Resolution ranges from 72 dpi
for screen display to 1200 x 1200 or greater for output to high quality printers.
* Images can be saved as PICTs, printed from within the application, or copied to
the clipboard.
What's New in v2.1?
(Note: these features are not shown in this demo, which is version 2.0)
* The rendering engine was completely rewritten to include the new features listed below:
- Hidden surface removal - removes unwanted fragments and artifacts which appeared at
areas between two different depths and repeated across the image.
- Symmetrical design - prevents pattern "skewing" toward one end of the image.
- Smoothing - increases the number of different levels of depth at low resolutions to provide
smooth curves and slopes instead of the stair-stepping and tiering between different levels of
depth previously seen in images.
* The "New..." dialog box was simplified.
What's New in 2.0?
* Now supports patterns in millions or thousands of colors, even on a 256 color Mac.
* Faster rendering times - especially when creating high-res images.
* 16 new patterns included, many in millions of colors.
* Fixed a number of bugs, including a problem with saving under low memory conditions.
About the Demo
Stereo 3D is shareware. Included in this download is a demo version of Stereo 3D. All normal menu items, including Save, Print, and all clipboard operations are fully functional. The only difference in the demo is that it has a limited choice of depth PICTs to create 3D images from. After paying the shareware fee of $10.00, you will receive the registered version of Stereo 3D with all features enabled. Please note that this is the non-commercial price and is intended for personal use only. Companies or individuals who plan to use Stereo 3D on an unlimited number of computers at their work site or who plan to use images created in Stereo 3D for a commercial product must purchase a commercial license. This option is available in the registration dialog box.
Stereo 3D User's Manual
Many of the functions in Stereo 3D are self explanatory, such as Print, Save, etc. However, the "New…" dialog box has options that may need clarification and will be explained below.
Resolution: This field allows you to set the desired resolution for the final 3D image. It cannot be set below 72 and, at high resolutions, you may need to increase the memory partition of Stereo 3D. Please note, do not create a grayscale PICT in a paint program at resolutions greater than 72. This will not affect the final image. Instead, change the resolution using this field.
Parallax Shift: This number, normally set at 0.65, controls the distance between the two components of objects in the image. You should normally not have to change this setting, but acceptable values are between 0.5 and 0.8. The apparent depth of the 3D image is greater for smaller values of this setting, and lesser for larger values.
Select Depth PICT: This button brings up a dialog box that allows you to choose one of three depth PICT to be used. In the registered version of Stereo 3D, any PICT on your hard drive may be selected through this dialog box.
Select Pattern: This button brings up a dialog box which prompts the user to select a PICT file, on their hard drive, to be used as a pattern. Please note, the optimum width for a pattern is 1-1.5 inches. Ex: at 72 dpi (dots per inch), the best width for a pattern is between 72 and 108 pixels wide.
Random Pattern: This check box tells Stereo 3D to generate a random pattern instead of using a pattern from a PICT file.
Width and Height are used to designate the size of this random pattern. The height may be adjusted, but the width is initially set to the optimum value according to the resolution typed in field 1 and shouldn't be changed.
Color is a check box which determines whether the random pattern is created in color or black and white. Color looks much better on the screen, but black and white works better for B&W printer output.
Troubleshooting
If you encounter a problem while using Stereo 3D, a dialog box will inform you of what happened. Often, you will simply need to increase the memory partition of Stereo 3D if you are creating a high resolution or large image. If you encounter a fatal error, try reinstalling the program from its archive (.sit file).
If there is a problem that you cannot solve, please contact us via email at:
ChrisS1343 (on America Online)
chriss@abs.net (through the internet)
We will try to respond as soon as possible.
Thank you for trying Stereo 3D!
If you like this program, please register for only $10.00 and receive the full version, which is not limited to three depth images like the demo and can create 3D images from any PICT file. Please note that the $10.00 registered version is for non-commercial use only.
See the Registration menu in the Stereo 3D demo for more information on registering, commercial licenses, and an order form that can be printed from the application.
