The other day I was playing around in the theater in Halo 3 when brilliance struck me, like a plasma grenade to the helmet. I was panning the camera back and forth looking for a good angle on my subject when it occurred to me: with full control over the camera, I can take multiple pictures from slightly different angles. This is the foundation of stereo photography. Since the screenshots aren't locked to the Xbox (I can download them to my PC via the Bungie website), I can process them into 3D screenshots!

The awesomeness of that idea almost overwhelmed me.

Fortunately for me, I've done some work in stereoscopic 3D rendering, so I'm familiar with the concepts and what's involved. It took some trial and error and some number crunching to work out some of the kinks, but I think I've got a pretty good feel for it now. So, without further ado, I present to you: Halo 3(d)!


You'll, of course, need a pair of 3D glasses to see this, particularly red/cyan (red/blue will work, but not quite as well). It also helps to view it as big as possible. I've taken a dozen or so other shots in 3D which you can check out in my Halo 3 Stereo 3D Screenshots (Red/Cyan) set on flickr.

But maybe you don't have a pair of 3D glasses handy (misplaced your Spy Kids 3-D DVD, did you? You could always try Googling "free 3D glasses"...) For those without the color spectacles, try one of the two methods below, either parallel-view or cross-eyed view. Mileage may vary.

Cross your eyes so that the two images become four, then vary your cross-eyedness until the middle two images overlap to form a single (3D) picture. Now try to focus without uncrossing your eyes. Some find it helps to hold a finger between your eyes and the picture, focusing on that (to cross your eyes) until the image in the background seems to converge and be in 3D.

You can view more of these in my Halo 3 Stereo 3D Screenshots (Crosseye) set.


Look straight ahead, lining your nose up with the line between the two images. Let your eyes relax and look "through" the image, as if looking at some distant point beyond the monitor.

Finally, for the truly lazy among us, here's an animation showing of wiggle-stereo, which basically flips back and forth between the left and right eye images. Not the greatest stereo effect, but it gives you a basic idea:



Wanna know how to do it? I've posted a tutorial... How To: Make Stereo 3D Halo 3 Screenshots.