Paris-based Darkworks is wandering the floor at GDC making some pretty big promises. They say their upcoming TriOvis for Games SDK will allow developers to build in 3D support to 2D games. The real benefit would be that it would not require the purchase of a 3D capable display.

Darkworks is saying that all the 3D-ification happens in the software and the special 3D glasses. Apparently, this means those not wearing glasses would see a regular 2D image without the blurring of a 3D image. The technology will be available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

If this proves to be a feasible option, we may see DLC for existing games that enable 3D with the TriOvis system. Darkworks has said that the process of adding TriOvis to an existing game is very simple, taking anywhere from a few days to a week. We are really floored by the possibilities here. Let’s hope this is for real.

Apparently it doesn’t matter whether you love the idea of 3D TV, or hate it. The industry is going full speed ahead with the 3D roll out. See, today was a momentous day for 3D TV, when the very first consumer 3D TV supporting the new standards was sold (sort of). Best Buy in Manhattan sold Brad and Ashley, a couple from the upper west side, a $2900 bundle consisting of a 50-inch Panasonic TV, a Panasonic 3D capable Blu-Ray player, and one pair of 3D glasses.

The event was clearly a PR move; the first Samsung 3D TVs have been popping up in Best Buy showrooms and Amazon pages for weeks. After completing the purchase, the lucky owners were deluged with questions by reporters that apparently had nothing better to do. You’ll soon be able to swing by your local Best Buy to get the same bundle, but don’t expect the same sort of treatment.

Anyone purchasing 3D TVs and Blu-Ray players will be waiting a while for content. DirecTV has promised 3D channels will be available by June, but movies will be slow to arrive. The most recent Ice Age film will be out “soon” and Avatar should arrive later this year. But there’s still the problem of the 3D glasses, which currently cost $150 each. Will consumers shell out for extras, or will there be a lot of BYO3DG (bring your own 3D glasses) Superbowl parties? We don’t even know if Brad and Ashley got a second pair. Maybe Ashley will just have to squint really hard.

Like it or not, 3D is destined for your living room, and there's a race to get there first (just ask Panasonic and Best Buy). But how much can you expect to plunk down on a fancy new 3D television set?

Samsung answered that question today by announcing the availability and pricing info for its next-generation lineup of LED HDTVs, including several 3D-capable units. The least you can expect to pay for 3D, at least for a Samsung set, is $2,000, which buys you a 40-inch HDTV. Pricing goes up from there, all the way to $7,000 for a 55-inch set due out in April.

"Our commitment to innovation has always been strong. We’re not only delivering elegant design and eco-friendly energy consumption, but we’re adding a new dimension to superior home entertainment through a broad lineup of 3D LED TVs," said John Revie, vice president of Home Entertainment for Samsung Electronics America. "We are passionate about this year’s LED TV lineup as we once again raise the bar on technology innovation by delivering a superior TV experience and leadership in the HDTV space."

While Samsung announced 27 new models in all, 8 of them will come with built-in 3D (C7000, C8000, and C9000 series). All of these include Samsung's Real240Hz refresh rate technology and are compatible with major 3D format standards, the company said.

See here for a full list of details and new models.

Image Credit: Samsung

Like it or not, 3D is destined for your living room, and there's a race to get there first (just ask Panasonic and Best Buy). But how much can you expect to plunk down on a fancy new 3D television set?

Samsung answered that question today by announcing the availability and pricing info for its next-generation lineup of LED HDTVs, including several 3D-capable units. The least you can expect to pay for 3D, at least for a Samsung set, is $2,000, which buys you a 40-inch HDTV. Pricing goes up from there, all the way to $7,000 for a 55-inch set due out in April.

"Our commitment to innovation has always been strong. We’re not only delivering elegant design and eco-friendly energy consumption, but we’re adding a new dimension to superior home entertainment through a broad lineup of 3D LED TVs," said John Revie, vice president of Home Entertainment for Samsung Electronics America. "We are passionate about this year’s LED TV lineup as we once again raise the bar on technology innovation by delivering a superior TV experience and leadership in the HDTV space."

While Samsung announced 27 new models in all, 8 of them will come with built-in 3D (C7000, C8000, and C9000 series). All of these include Samsung's Real240Hz refresh rate technology and are compatible with major 3D format standards, the company said.

See here for a full list of details and new models.

Image Credit: Samsung

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, you know that 3D is this year’s entertainment buzzword. With 3D blockbusters like Avatar scoring megabucks in the theaters, 3D cinema’s jump to the living room is all but a foregone conclusion. But where does that leave all your old 2D files and DVDs?

Thanks to a couple of very cool programs and some clever scripting, there’s hope for them yet. In this article, we’re going to show you how to use AviSynth and VirtualDub, along with a script from the 3D Vision Blog to give any 2D film the 3D treatment.

Convert to 3D with AviSynth

To convert our movies to 3D, we’re going to start with a program called AviSynth, so point your browser at bit.ly/2EO5A2 and download the newest version, then run the installer. You’re probably used to running most new programs after you install them, but don’t bother trying with AviSynth—it doesn’t have a user interface. Instead, it functions as a codec, allowing media viewers such as Windows Media Player to understand AviSynth scripts, in the form of AVS files.

As you may have guessed, we’re going to use one such AVS script to upconvert our 2D file to 3D. It’s not magic—the script simply exploits some common visual cues to take a decent stab at applying a 3D effect to a 2D movie, but it’s certainly better than nothing. The script was written by the author at the 3D Vision Blog, and is available here. Go to the site, copy the script (it’s the first big chunk of code) and paste it into notepad.

Before we can use the script it needs a little customization. First, change the filename at the beginning of the script from “Avatar_Trailer_HD.avi” to the filename of the video you want to upconvert.

Save the script with a .AVS filename extension to the same directory as the video file.

At this point, you’re all set to view your movie in 3D. To do so, simply open a media player that works with AVS scripts (such as Windows Media Player) and tell it to open your freshly created .AVS file. Assuming you’ve done everything right so far, you should see an extra-wide version of your video, with two slightly different frames playing side by side. This is the 3D file, formatted to play with Nvidia’s 3D Vision technology. If you would prefer anaglyph (red/cyan) 3D, for use with a pair of filter glasses, you need to make a quick modification to your script. Comment out (by adding a # to the beginning of the line) the line that says StackHorizontal(f2, f1). Then, uncomment (by removing the #) the line that says # MergeRGB(f2.ShowRed, f1.ShowGreen, f1.ShowBlue).

Save Your 3D Video with VirtualDub

So, we’re looking at our video in 3D. Now we’re done, right? Not quite. AviSynth works in real-time, synthesizing an AVI (get it?) from a source file and a script, frame by frame, as the media player requests those frames. This is hard on your CPU, and means that if you want to view the file on any other computer, you’ll need to install AviSynth first. Instead, we’ll now show you how to permanently save the 3D video to your hard drive.

To save the movie, you’ll need a program called VirtualDub. VirtualDub is a lightweight, open source video editor which is especially good at quickly reencoding videos. Go to the VirtualDub site and download and extract the program.

The next step of the process is to make sure that VirtualDub has the tools it needs to make a high quality copy of the 3D movie. More specifically, it needs codecs—one for video and one for audio. The Xvid MP4 and LAME MP3 codecs are excellent, open source examples of each. If you don’t already have these codecs installed for use with some other media program, you’ll need to get them now. The Xvid codec can be found here, and the LAME codec can be downloaded here. Once you’ve downloaded both, run the installers to registers the Codecs in Windows.

Set VirtualDub to use Xvid by clicking Video -> Compression… and then selecting Xvid MPEG-4 Codec. Set it up for audio by first clicking Audio -> Full processing mode and then clicking Audio -> Compression… and selecting MPEG Layer 3.

Finally, open the .AVS file for your 3D video, and click File -> Save as AVI. Give your file a name, and you’re done.

Crytek’s CryENGINE has always been a fine looking game engine, but it’s been missing one thing. In case you haven’t guessed, that thing is 3D. We’re not sure anyone was really pushing for this, but at GDC 2010, Crytek will be showing off their new CryENGINE 3 with stereoscopic 3D.

The new engine is reputed to be near photorealism in its rendering. Crytek also plans to give developers a new tool called LiveCreate. This feature will allow game designers to work on, and play their CryENGINE 3 game for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms at the same time.

Nvidia has also made some noise about the coming age of 3D, saying that 3D will be “all pervasive”. Some estimates peg the number of 3D enabled games in 2010 as high as 50. We don’t know if this whole 3D thing will take off, but CryENGINE 3 will probably still be really pretty in 2D. Are you waiting with bated breath for 3D gaming to hit the mainstream?

The message during CES was pretty clear: 3D is coming to the living room. Helping to put it there, Acer this morning announced two new Vidia 3D Vision-Ready video projectors.

"The new Acer video projectors provide incredibly compelling and realistic 3D video and images that make customers feel like they are part of the experience," said Irene Chan, senior product marketing manager for peripherals, Acer America. "With the Acer projectors, consumers can enjoy existing 2D content as if it were developed in 3D for a more immersive entertainment and learning experience – whether it’s a fictional journey, a scientific exploration of the universe or a tour of ancient archaeological sites. Of course, customers will thoroughly enjoy the superior visuals projected from these new models even while watching traditional 2D content."

First up is the Acer H5360 projector, which beams content in 720p. Acer rates this one at up to 2600 ANSI lumens and a 3200:1 contrast ratio. You'll also find an HDMi port, three RCA jacks, component video, S-video mini DIN, 2.5mm audio mini-jack, and a 15-pin D-Sub

Sitting a little lower on the totem pole is the Acer X1261 projector. Unlike the H5360, the X1261 boasts a native XGA resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio, although Acer claims it can be adjusted to a 16:9 aspect ratio. This one comes rated at up to 2500 ANSI lumens and a 3700:1 contrast ratio. Input sources include composite, component, S-video mini DIM, and a stereo mini jack.

Both projectors come capable of handling 3D content when combined with Nvidia's 3D Vision technology, which you can read more about here.

The H5360 ($699) and X1261 ($579) are available now.

Image Credit: Acer

MSI paraded three concept all-in-ones (AIOs) at last month's Consumer Electronics Show. A 24-inch 3D Wind Top was also among that very intriguing trio. The 3D Wind Top is now going to get another opportunity to wow tech-savvy onlookers at CeBIT 2010, which begins on March 2, 2010 in Hannover, Germany.

The 3D AIO will feature a 24-inch 120Hz LED display and full HD resolution, with the 3D shutter glasses included with the PC quite literally adding another “dimension” to the home entertainment experience. However, nothing is known about the innards of  the“world's first large screen, full HD 3D all-in-one PC.”

“MSI's Wind Top All-in-One 3D PC integrates advanced 3D display technology with powerful CPU processing to deliver smooth, clear and vibrant 3D images with a high level of image detail and clarity," the company announced.

No, the whole 3D thing didn’t go away after CES. It’s still happening, and Panasonic plans to get in on the ground floor. The Japanese electronics maker will be releasing four 3D Blu-Ray recorders/players to compliment the 3D Viera plasmas they intend to sell. The new units will be available first in Japan this spring.

The DMP-BDT900 is just a player, unlike the rest of Panasonic’s new line up. It comes with 4 HDMI ports, an SD card slot, LAN, USB ports, Viera link, and BD-LIVE. It will be available for $1,500. The 3D Blu-Ray recorders come with hard drives in 2TB, 1TB and 750GB sizes. These devices will have two digital and one analog TV tuner, 2 HDMI ports, LAN, USB port, SD card slot, and Viera Link. The three models will go for $3,350 for the 2TB model, $2,200 for the 1TB unit and $1,800 for the 750GB one.

So if you’re the early adopter type, and you’ll be in Japan this Spring, start saving up now.

Whether or not you're looking forward to the 3D mania that began during CES, one thing you probably won't have to worry about is a format war. Most companies seem to be on board with the idea of active shutter glasses, and there doesn't appear to be much bickering between cable, satellite, and Blu-ray. And helping to bring it all together, the HDMI Licensing group has made the 3D portion of the HDMI Specification Version 1.4 available for public download.

"The HDMI Consortium recognizes the importance of standardized 3D formats for movies, gaming and broadcast content and the need for non-adopter companies and organizations to have access to that portion of the HDMI Specification," says Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. "As the mainstream adoption of 3D is gaining momentum and content providers define and expand their 3D roadmaps, HDMI is ready to support this major market development."

The group says the HDMI Consortium will release a 1.4a version of the HDMI Specification very soon, and this will include updates to the 3D portion of the spec.

Image Credit: pcmag-mideast.com