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I have stereoscopic photographic images and movies (not generated by Blender) that I would like to display in a scene. Each image is appended by _L and _R. I am able to import them into the background, image editor and UV Editor by clicking the multi view option. It appears that the only way to display these external stereoscopic images in a stereoscopic blender render is to apply them as an image Texture to a mesh, such as a plane. The difficulty is that the stereoscopic image displays correctly in the UV Editor (in stereoscopic mode), but when unwrapped onto the mesh plane it is no longer truly stereoscopic - instead blender simply uses the left image for both the left and right outputs. Is is possible to render such a stereoscopic pair in Blender?

This is the type of stereoscopic image I am trying to show - the left images are appended by _L, and right by _R. Blender understands this notation and format if you click the 'multi view' option when you open the images; and it does correctly show them as true stereoscopic images for background images, reference images, in the Image Editor and even in the UV Editor, but I cannot figure out how to get them to display properly on a plane.

Left image: stereo_L.jpeg

Right image: stereo_R.jpeg

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  • $\begingroup$ Could you post a sample image so it's easier to see what you're working with? $\endgroup$
    – Christopher Bennett
    Dec 6, 2022 at 2:17
  • $\begingroup$ Still no progress on this, though it does seem possible in in Unreal Engine: dariomazzanti.com/blog/… . There is a variable called SteroPassIndex that can be used inside of a custom node, indicating whether the left or right image is being rendered so that the texture can be set accordingly. Blender has a SwitchViewNode that works in the compositor but cannot be used for imageTextures applied to mesh. $\endgroup$
    – 3304me
    Dec 12, 2022 at 2:22

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Sorry, it's a bit hard to tell from your question what the end product you're looking for is, but let me know how far off this example is. I colored the left and right images to further highlight their distinction:

Mix

Here is an image showing the UV map. I scaled the plane by 2 on the X axis and added a loop cut down the middle. I then unwrapped it, rotated the UV map by 90deg, "returned" it to center by moving by .25 on the X, and then scaled on the Y to fit.

UV

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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry about my question being a bit unclear - I really appreciate your efforts to help. Your answer does in fact format the two images into a squeezed side by side form, which would work with a 3D TV/projector or other device if the image is scaled and rendered to to occupy the entire video frame (typically 16x9 aspect), but I am trying to place the stereoscopic photo on a flat surface (such as a picture frame) within a scene that also has other 3D objects. $\endgroup$
    – 3304me
    Dec 21, 2022 at 7:38
  • $\begingroup$ So the material on that surface would have to use the left photo when rendering the left perspective of the scene (along with the other objects), and then use the right photo when rendering the right image. A quick way to test this: when you "Set Stereo 3D" in the window menu and go full screen, Blender will create a left and right image of everything in your workspace, showing the scene from both perspectives. The left workspace will need to show the left photo within the 3D Viewport while the right 3D Viewport should show the right photo. $\endgroup$
    – 3304me
    Dec 21, 2022 at 7:38
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, ok. I get it now, but I'll admit, I've never used the stereoscopy features of blender before. I'm learning about it now - give me a little bit to figure it out. $\endgroup$
    – Christopher Bennett
    Dec 21, 2022 at 15:52
  • $\begingroup$ For the record, the things I have learned thus far are pointing to the notion that it may not be possible - it seems blender's stereoscopy features are intended to produce images such as you have, rather than incorporate them. Trying to separate the images via shader is also proving difficult, because no matter how you slice it, the camera is pointed at the same object (in the same location) from the same view vector - I cannot separate using location, bounding box, view angle, index, etc... Additionally, documentation about stereoscopy in blender is rather sparse. $\endgroup$
    – Christopher Bennett
    Dec 21, 2022 at 16:24
  • $\begingroup$ I'm beginning to wonder if it possible at all. Unreal Engine has a variable - ResolvedView.StereoPassIndex - that let a custom node know if it is left or right that is being rendered so that the node can display the corresponding photo. I haven't been able to find the equivalent indicator in Blender, so it just may not be possible, even though blender can import stereo pairs to be used as background or reference images, and displays then correctly in the image editor and UV editor. It looks like use of stereoscopic images is not yet fully implemented. $\endgroup$
    – 3304me
    Dec 22, 2022 at 0:40

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