How to make 'Anaglyphs' with Paint.NET (= 3d-pictures)

[arik-so]

Requirements:

Paint.NET

No Plug-ins

A pair of 3D-glasses

Anaglyphs are one type of 3D-images. It's the type you need red- and green-blue-tinted glasses for. The glasses separate the picture you see in one for the right and another for the left eye. But in order to do that, the image must be able to be separated.

The red-tinted glass blocks out all blue and green light. Vice versa for the green-blue-tinted glass. The red filter's usually the left one, so the picture for the left eye should be reddish. The right filter is green-blue (let's call it simply R and GB - filters), so the right image should be BG-ish.

However, first of all, we need the pictures.

I take these:

Left eye:

Right eye:

Now comes the tricky part :wink:

We place the pictures in a layer each - incidentally, the have the same dimensions ^^

The it doesn't matter which picture's on top. Anyway, the upper layer must be set to 'Additive' mode.

It's also important that you know which image is from the left and which from the right. It's shown above, but I recommend you to name the layers 'R' and 'L', depending from how your images are placed:

Now, we need the picture from the left eye recolored. Therefore, we highlight the layer with the left-cam-photo, go to :Curves: Curves, make sure it's set to "RGB", hit 'Reset', deselect the 'Red' - button, click somewhere in the tiled area and drag the mouse to the bottom right corner. That way, the GB-color channels are turned off, only red remains:

Then we highlight the other layer, and do pretty much the same, apart from that now the 'Red'-button is not deselected, but on the contrary, the only one selected. If rubbish turns out, click undo and make sure you click 'Reset' before turning down the Red-color channel.

That's how your image should look like now:

Congratulations! You've created an anaglyph.

That's my first tutorial, so please, don't be too hard on me, but I don't mind constructive criticism ^^

PS: In anaglyphs, the focal point, so the object your view is drawn to, has nearly no halos around it. So you can try expanding the canvas (in your still layered picture) and moving the layers around, so e. g. that shadow of the mars robot is most distinct.

That's what I've got:

Now it's your turn! Please post your results.

[Boude]

This has been done before: http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=29434

[arik-so]

Nope. That tutorial is wrong.

One cannot turn one simple image into 3D. One needs two. What's done there, is seeing the same image through 3D-spectacles, but it has no depth: it's not real. No offense, really.

But thanks for answering!

[arik-so]

There is something I must add:

If you need two pictures, simply take a digital camera, secure your position, focus on an object and take a photo.

Then, without moving your head, make a pic of the same object holding your cam at the other eye, but don't forget to rotate the camera slightly in the focussed object's direction.

Make sure you know in which order you shot the pics, so which one is from left and which one from right, and then, only then, you can simply follow my tutorial.

[arik-so]

And here's a tutorial about creating your own 3D-glasses.

Though I don't find it very useful - mainly due lack of understanding what they actually mean - you can have a go trying this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Your-Own-3D-Glasses

[yellowman]

good tut, and you are right it needs two different angles shots, This my try, it is 100% PDN , I didn't check it because I don't have the blue/red glasses, I tried the one in WikiHow but didn't work very well.

Do you think left and right images are in wrong places, could we just switch the glasses colors?

[arik-so]

of course. simply rotate the glasses by 180°

but your picture is right. and it's good. and thanks ^^

but in order to use the full extent of 3d-imaging, I recommend you to focus on an object that has a background that is far away. Or best, a background that is 'a bit far' away and one that is further, for layered distances

[The Mystical Burrito]

Is there a tutorial that focuses on custom made images created without a camera? Preferably something that focuses on how to individually adjust individual layers.

Edited August 31, 2013 by The Mystical Burrito

[pdnnoob]

If you have all the objects separated, lay them all out, then duplicate them and shift them different distances horizontally.

I believe the ones that are farther apart will appear farther away

[Ego Eram Reputo]

You really need the double image to create the 3D effect.  You could try faking it with these: Anaglyphs or Color Aberation

 

Then there is autostereogram technique (link in my sig).

[The Mystical Burrito]

weird, whenever I look out the window of say the bus I ride to and from school every day, the objects further away seem to shift less, than those that are closer. so to me it  would make sense to shift the further away objects less than the closer ones.

Edited August 31, 2013 by The Mystical Burrito

[pdnnoob]

That's not what we're manipulating here, but I think I see what's wrong with how I'm thinking it out. The whole explanation is complicated, so to make a long story short, it depends on whether your red is on the left or the right of the cyan. If it is opposite how the glasses are set up, your eyes will cross to see the image, making it look closer to you than the screen. If it is the same as the glasses, the screen will look like the open door of a blue telephone booth.