To create a 3D photo/3D picture (or a 3D movie) from two photos, you should use a specialized software which makes this task easy. In this article you can find informations about software, which is able to create 3D pictures (and series of them - for 3D animations, 3D videos and 3D movies) and correct a lot of possible problems with them to get the best 3D pictures possible.

For full version of this software click on this text. Limited FREE version is available here

   It's the program 3DJournal* (it has the same name as our website) - you can get the free version or the full version of it. The free version writes some dots to the finished picture. For your experiments - including the check of all the possibilities of our software and saving files - it should be OK.
   And how to use this software?
  
   (Tip: If you want to convert your older 2D photos to 3D, then you will need the 3DJournalDX Software.)
  
Creating of 3D images
   To create a 3D image you need 2 images - one from your right eye view and second from your left eye view. How to get them? You can read it for example in this article . Load both images to 3DJournal software using buttons located at it's right side. The images then will be shown in their windows. Press Create 3D image button and the 3D image is created. You can see there color ghosts which allow your eyes with glasses to see the image stereoscopically/3D. You can use not only the buttons but the menu as well.
  
Corrections
   If the left and the right images haven't been created exactly as they should have been - and one of them is for example smaller or shifted up, you should make a few corrections now to get as good 3D image as possible. Do this:
   1) Are depicted objects on both images of the same size? If not, use 4 buttons named Size to resize the left image as necessary.
   2) Are the red images of the objects in the same height as their blue (blue-green) counterparts? If there is a difference between the right and the left part of the image then use rotation. By rotating to the right the left part of the photo goes up and right part down. Rotating to the left makes the opposite.
   3) Now use the arrows up and down to position different 'ghosts' of the same things to the same height.
   4) And now use the arrows to the left and to the right. Use 3D glasses and continue the shifting until the 3D effect is the best possible.
   Tip: For quick adjustment of the position of the images use the button with 4 arrows - then in the main (3D) image click to a point in the left image - and then to the same point in the right one. The left image shifts quicker than when you use just standard arrow buttons.
  
  
Save it
   Now you can save the finished 3D image. You can save the whole image or it's part only. And you can resize it as well (more about it you can read further). You can save the image as bmp, jpg, png, jps, pns - simply choose the appropriate extension during choosing of the name of the image file. Special stereoscopic files JPS and PNS are saved with the left image on the right side and the right image on the left side (cross-eyed), for other files the choosen (or default) color coding is used.
  
Extended functions (Extra button)
   Use Extra button to open extended functions window of 3DJournal software. In this window you can:
   * Set color coding of the image. The standard coding is anaglyph for red/cyan glasses, but you can set the coding for example for blue/yellow glasses as well.
   * Set the quality of saved jpg image. We recommend to use higher quality which allow to get a good 3D effect.
   * Create more 3D images at once - for example for creating an animation or movie.
   * Save settings/properties. This function saves for example the rotation, shift of the images, color coding, jpg quality, cropping of saved image for animations etc. So you can return to your image editing anytime and use the older parameters for example for preparing frames for your 3D movie.
  
Extended tools (X2 button)
   Use X2 button to open extended tools window of 3DJournal software. In this window you can:
   1) Set the final size of the 3D image. It will be resized during saving. It is very useful for example during creating of 3D images for your 3D HD movie.
   2) You can rotate the left or the right image bottom up. It is very useful if you need to take you pictures/movies using cameras bottom up. If the images are of different resolutions/sizes then you can use Smart resize to make them of identical size (the bigger one is resized).
   3) Change the colors - you may choose less colors for a better 3D effect or the Live Colors to get results with better colors.
  
How to crop the image
   Press the scissors button to set how you want to crop the image. It will be cropped during saving. At first you can click to the image for choosing the let-top edge of the image, then the right bottom one.
   It is recommended to crop the image at least when using jps and pns stereoscopic file formats.
  
How to use the zoom
   You may use the button with magnifier to see the 3D image in its full size - and the you can precisely set the right and left images to fit together and set the region for cropping of the image with maximum accuracy. Press the button again to see the image in its standard size. Click to the right part of the image to shift it left, you may similarly click to the left, up or bottom part of the image. In case of big image and many operations the shift may take some time.
  
3D animations and 3D movies
   To create 3D animations and 3D movies we recommend:
   1) Save left images of your animation/movie to one folder. Save right images of your animation/movie to another folder. How to create these images you can read for example in this article . The pictures should be numbered, for example this way: Left001.gif, Left002.gif, Left003.gif and Right001.gif, Right002.gif, Right003.gif etc.
   2) Load the first left image and the first right image to 3DJournal software and make all things as usually. Then save it.
   3) Press the Extra button. You can see filled in image names - and you can fill in only the number of 3D images to create. Press Start processing button. All the images will be processed in the same way as the first one - including rotation, shifting and cropping before saving.
   4) Using created 3D images you can create a 3D animation or a 3D movie as described for example in this article .
   Tip: Two buttons with double-arrows let you to go through numbered images forward (for example from 001.jpg to 002.jpg, 003.jpg etc.) or backward. If you press the Shift key and press any of the mentioned buttons, only left image changes. This will help you to easy synchronize images from two unsynchronized cameras.
  
Tips and tricks
   1) How to create a 3D movie/3D video for YouTube: Choose jps files and resize to HD or Full HD. Create a movie from these images. Upload to YouTube and use their online help or informations from 3DJournal.com.
   2) When starting a new 3D image many parameters are cleaned (like the shift, the rotation etc.). It is usually very useful as the images are different. But sometimes you may need just to change one of the images - and not to change the parameters. Then you may choose the new filename in the Extra form.
   3) If you use doubleclick during cropping then you see rulers which can help you to find the right place to crop. If you are finished with cropping and doubleclick again then you may choose the bottom-right edge again.
   4) If you want to use the 3DJournal Software on a computer with a small disply (for example on a Netbook), you can change the size of the user interface using the Menu - Extra - Display Size.
  
(3DJournal)
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   * To create 3D animations and 3D movies it may be necessary to use some more tools available freely on the internet.