i usually have no problem with the images but I cant see the text one above at all – all I see is the negative space coming through like some sort of knot pattern

yes,

i take my glasses off and defocus..easy

btw, n1 ahwiles

Mint. Can’t see my iPhone properly now though.

Took a while, that one! I’d never seen a text one, either.

No idea how they work!

The text one.. I too was looking for an image then I noticed the original text and wondered if it maybe changed to read something else in 2d if you defocused.. then I noticed the stand out text and was able to focus on that. A very rude message, I am offended!

I noticed strange focus tricks in repeating images when I was a kid. I’d look at specks of dirt on the car window and play with focus trying to control the distance between them.. The plastic roof lining of one of our cars had a repeating pattern of dots on texture – one day it suddenly looked really weird and I realised that my focus had locked on the dots causing the texture to look odd, so I practised that. Then the keys on my computer keyboard were all made in the exact same mould so I could do the wrong focus lock trick on them too but it was very hard to keep it locked when reading the two super-imposed letters on each key.. but I got it with practise.. so after all that the magic eye pics were a doddle 🙂

Re how they work – you’ve got two eyes, right. They can be focused on something either close or far away – focus on somethign close then the far away stuff looks fuzzy, and vice versa.

Each eye sees a separate image, you see two at a time and your brain merges them. However, when looking at something both eyes have to point at the object so that the two images overlap and your brain can merge the two images to get a 3d picture.

If your eyes are pointing at something further away and something closer is in your field of view you’ll see two of that thing, but blurry – look at your computer screen and put your finger 8″ from your face – two fingers.

Magic Eye requires you to learn the trick of focusing your eyes on the page but having the lines of sight from each eye converge at a different point, behind the image. This results in two overlapping images like your finger, but they’ve carefully made the pattern of dots so that when you overlap them they make another picture. But because each eye is seeing something slightly different your brain merges them and constructs a 3d image – because each different image is carefully calculated.

Got that? Good.

I can never see them

except i did get this text one – briefly, then lost it

Molgrips has the right idea, you need to diverge your eyes to overlap the 2 images to create the 3D image, so rather than looking directly at the image look behind it, it’s a bit easier at first if the image is on glossy paper or behind glass to look at a reflection which will get your eyes moving in the right direction.

Astigmatism shouldn’t effect your ability to see magic eye pictures unless you have amblyopia (a lazy eye), if you have good vision in both eyes and good stereo vision there’s no reason why you shouldn’t see them with a bit of practice.

I have astigmatism btw.. I tried 3d telly in a shop and couldn’t see it, so I thought that was why. But I tried a different shop and it seemed to work fine so I dunno.

If you’re really bored you can stare “through” a radiator so the vertical bars overlap; if your eyes “lock” like this it’s really weird, you can’t tell how far away the radiator is.

Passes the time when the loo faces the radiator, that’s for sure…

If you’re really bored you can stare “through” a radiator so the vertical bars overlap; if your eyes “lock” like this it’s really weird, you can’t tell how far away the radiator is.

you’d have to have pretty **** severe memory problems not to remember it’s exactly the same distance away it was when you first started looking at it.

doh!

Garden by Juliana65, on Flickr.

This is my first try at a 3D / stereoscopic picture: I can see it but does it work for anyone else? The image could be bigger, but when I enlarge it it’s harder to get the stereoscopic effect.

(All comments to the effect that the lawn / trees etc need a trim will be ignored / treated with the contempt that they deserve)

Anyone else going to post their 3D pics for comparison / instruction on how to make them look good?

Takes a minute, but yes, I can see that.

I think a little bigger would help, and more background detail to help lock in. It’s tricky to get your head exactly level.

Thanks Cougar. Points noted. I’ll keep trying – I have a few more ideas.

I wonder if it’s possible to make a 3D pic from one picture by cropping it two different ways? Just going to try…

It would seem not – just makes me cross-eyed trying!

Finally got the text working 🙂

Out of interest (& looking to excuse my failure 😕 )

Of those who can’t see these things, who has lots of floaters ?

(I wonder if they’re distracting my focus from looking at “nothing” – can’t look at ordinary still images on a screen for long without them becoming very irritating & I have to look away and back again)

That whirligig one is mint. I can see three sets, but the middle pic looks like I’m looking through my phone. Bizarre!

I wonder if it’s possible to make a 3D pic from one picture by cropping it two different ways?

No, cos the image content will be the same. You have to have different information (ie a slightly different angle) in each pic otherwise how’s your brain going to know what’s at the front and what’s at the back?

Out of interest (& looking to excuse my failure)

Nothing to do with that.. your eyes can converge on something, and focus on something – the trick is learning how to control these things independently.

The washing line – how far did you move the camera?

Nothing to do with that.. your eyes can converge on something, and focus on something

I think you’re missing my point. My focus and line of sight is often distracted by my floaters so, no, I can’t always focus/concentrate my view on something (esp something static)

scaredypants – Member
Out of interest (& looking to excuse my failure )

Of those who can’t see these things, who has lots of floaters ?
I have..
But that’s not how you do it focus ‘through it, kind of two or three feet behind it, see f you can see the shark.

My focus and line of sight is often distracted by my floaters so, no, I can’t always focus/concentrate my view on something

There’s always things in your field of view unless it’s dark – learning not to be distracted by them is all part of learning how to control your focus.

Facing left.

Ah, another way in which you’re better, mols
(‘scuse me while I exercise
🙄 😉 😯 )

I’m probably better than you in a few ways.. you are however better than me at creative use of the STW smilies 🙂

@scaredypants – floaters don’t help (I have lots of them) but I can still get the 3D stuff.

@molgrips – you’re dead right: no 3D from one picture, just brain-ache. The washing-line pictures were taken just a few centimetres apart. The technique that I used was to place my feet about one foot apart, then to rest my weight on my left foot without lifting my right foot off the ground, then repeat the picture (with the AF on the same point on the washing line) with the weight on my right foot. You could use manual focus if you feel like it, but it didn’t seem necessary as I was focusing on the same thing. I think the crucial thing is to focus on the same point for both pictures.

I can’t claim any credit for the technique – I got it here. I didn’t use the software suggested (as it seemed to suggest it would upload my images to a third party server) – I just created a new image in Paint.NET (free and brilliant) and pasted the two images onto a black background with a border around and between them.

Would love to see some more 3D pics from the STW photo crew…

hmmm, I got the the fish too – again once only

I can now barely focus on the room around me

Once you’ve glimpsed the 3 D shape it becomes much easier to see. Hunting for the correct focus is not easy. What is the thing behind the shark?