Here's some coolness for your Saturday afternoon: while most of us can't afford the hundred of dollars it takes to enjoy
World of Warcraft in real 3D, Toth of Aman'thul is
bringing faux 3D to the masses. There are a bunch of stereoscopic images over on the forums -- these are
pictures that are taken at two slightly different angles, and then put next to each other, so that when you cross your eyes slightly to combine them (kind of like those
Magic Eye pictures -- it's a sailboat), you get a 3D effect. If you really can't see it, he's also made
one animated version that combines the angles into one shot.
Toth had all of the images saved over on Photobucket, but we've combined them all in the gallery below for easy browsing -- make sure to click "Hi Res" in the gallery so you can see the pics full size for the full effect. Unfortunately, Toth doesn't share any details on exactly how he made these (unless he did just take one picture, and then move slightly to take the second, which anyone could try). But the effect of the shots is pretty cool.
Thanks, Betton!Tags: 3d-effect, aman-thul, azeroth, duskwood, full-effect, ingame, its-a-yacht, magic-eye, screenshots, stereoscopic-images, toth
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Screenshots, Galleries, Fan art
Feb 7th 2009 at 12:00PM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ilnara Feb 7th 2009 12:07PM
THERE IS NO EASTER BUNNY!!!!
lulz!
Ne0nguy Feb 7th 2009 12:41PM
id like to look at that gallery but an advertisment for Alli keeps rolling over the 2nd image
Malkavos Feb 7th 2009 12:12PM
Great, now I've gone permanently cross-eyed. Thanks, WoWinsider!
mk Feb 7th 2009 12:19PM
i can't see it :(
btw i saw coraline 3D last night and now i have these 3D glasses. anyone know where i can find more images i can look at with them or maybe someone can make some wow stuff i can look at with the glasses to make wow 3D :D
Amun Feb 7th 2009 7:47PM
You can't find anything to use those glasses on unless you have two projectors laying around and a bit of DIY elbowgrease. They use polarized lenses (one side horizontal, one side vertical) to make sure that each eye can only see one part of the scene -- computer monitors can't produce two differently polarized images, so you might as well recycle those things (or wait for the next 3D movie).
Arashikou Feb 9th 2009 2:40AM
Well, not YET anyway - I saw a monitor at CES that did two different polarized images using some prism trickery for just this kind of thing. But yeah, no normal monitor or TV or other non-special setup can work with those glasses. :(
Matchu Feb 7th 2009 12:19PM
I'm always rubbish at seeing these things, can never grasp the trick.
Malkavos Feb 7th 2009 12:27PM
First trick is to cross your eyes with your face somewhat close to the screen. Try to force the two images to overlap in the middle, perhaps using a landmark of some kind (like the tree in the first picture).
Once the image overlaps, you have to focus, which is really the tricky part. For this, you are using the same muscles you use to correct for distance, so you can either imagine it is closer or further away, letting your eyes compensate until the image clears up, or you can physically move your head closer or further from the screen.
Once the image resolves itself the first time, you will have muscle memory to work with, which is much easier. Finding it that first time can be a pain though. Good luck.
Mr42 Feb 8th 2009 12:34PM
1)some people also find it helpful to close your head until you are touching the screen with your nose and then slowly move away, trying not "zoom" with your eyes
2) personal favourite: focus on an object in distance, fix, move the screen in front of you (kind of easier with notebook) or rotate your head (tricky part is not to re-focus on sthing else) to look "through" the screen.
in both cases the pictures will most likely combine only partially, so you will have to experiment, but you've just passed your first, and it will be much easier if you know what to do
Suzaku Feb 8th 2009 3:22PM
The real trick is to just unfocus your eyes. It's the same as holding up your finger, focusing on it, and then unfocusing so you see double of the finger. A simple example is to hold your finger close to your face, focus on it, and then focus on something beyond it, like this text on your monitor.
The trick to these stereoscopic magic eye things is that when you unfocus your eyes, you see double, and at the proper distance or level of focus, your double vision of the two images will overlap, giving the illusion of depth.
Licister Feb 7th 2009 12:27PM
I can't cross my eyes.
jurandr Feb 7th 2009 4:09PM
I looked at the animation version.. it looks pretty cool. couldn't make the non-animated pictures work for me.
BigBiker05 Feb 7th 2009 12:33PM
On every picture an ad pops up over half of it. I click the X to close it but it just goes to a smaller image that still blocks half the pictures.
BigBiker05 Feb 7th 2009 12:34PM
Nevermind, I refreshed firefox and now the adds are on the side so I can see the pitures.
Evil Sheep Feb 7th 2009 12:44PM
@mk Not sure if it works, as I have no 3d glasses to check it out, but try this one of the dragon.
Evil Sheep Feb 7th 2009 12:46PM
Err, nm, the links don't work...
vexis58 Feb 7th 2009 12:47PM
These look really awful to me. The two images line up in most ways, but they're subtly different in ways you don't notice until you combine them. It seems like the two images were a bit too far apart, more like 1-2 feet than 1-2 inches. Either that or the animation frames moved slightly, or a combination of the two.
The orc looks nice until you notice his shoulders are covering up the troll's face in the first shot and not the second. The netherdrake shifted his wings slightly, and it really doesn't work. Take a look at the two landscape pics from Nagrand. They both have lights in the sky in the upper left that are even noticeably different BEFORE you combine them, and that has nothing to do with perspective.
Azbulldog Feb 7th 2009 1:07PM
They are too big for my screen to view both angles at once.
Traumatic Feb 7th 2009 1:09PM
A schooner IS a sailboat stupid head!
Ultranator Feb 7th 2009 1:50PM
When God? When will I see the sailboat?