Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!tness7!petro!swrinde!ut-sally!im4u!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!lll-lcc!well!ewhac
From: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: LCD Shutter glasses
Summary: Please Don't.
Message-ID: <5614@well.UUCP>
Date: 7 Apr 88 01:36:17 GMT
References: <9560@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Reply-To: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Organization: Very little.
Lines: 55

In article <9560@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> mills@baloo.eng.ohio-state.edu (Chris
Mills) writes:
>My frend and I successfully "modified" a pair of Sega glasses to work on the
>Amiga and viewed a few ray tracings in 3D the other day.  Anyone want me to
>post the connections and/or a program to toggle the right bit at 30Hz?
>
	Please *DON'T* post this information.  Allow me to justify this
position:

	I've helped develop some 3D glasses and 3D software technology for
the Amiga.  We like to think we got it right.  We managed to hack an Atari
StereoTek driver to work on the Amiga, with a dinky vblank interrupt driver
to flip the glasses back and forth.  Mark Riley and I have written software
to correctly draw 3D images, and I have cooked up reliable methods of
digitizing 3D scenes.  We're also working on a glasses driver box that will
hang off the serial port, enabling us to make the driver box cheaper.

	I'll also be helping to write a manual that will enable the user to
recognize and create 3D that is correct.  Surprisingly, a lot of people get
this wrong.  We'll also document all of our routines, provide source code,
and guidelines and pointers for you to write your own 3D code.  We'll also
be showing you how to utilize our stuff to view 3D videotapes (such things
exist in Japan, you know).  You'll be able to GenLock your 3D computer
images onto 3D video, and have it look correct.

	This will be a commercial package.  When it will be released, I
don't know.  Probably about the same time that ASDG's 2000-n-1 comes out
:-).

	This may appear to be an attempt to secure some royalty income for
myself, but it isn't.  I'm attempting to prevent multiple standards from
emerging, and all sorts of pathological problems from cropping up.  For
exmaple:  Did you know that the StereoTek glasses are electrically backwards
from the Sega glasses?  They flicker exactly backwards from each other,
meaning that images that look correct through one set of glasses may look
very strage through the other set.  It is important to consider this since I
suspect we'll be getting a lot of business from former Atari owners who
would like to use their old set of StereoTek glasses.  Our vblank glasses
driver can compensate for this simply by clicking on its WorkBench icon.

	Other problems exists, among them being that no one seems to know
how to create 3D properly, including LucasFilms.  I'd like to see our
package out there before anyone starts writing 3D stuff so that people will
at least have a solid base upon which to build.

	I'm pleased that there are people enthusiastic enough about 3D to be
willing to hack up their own stuff.  But if you post your information, I
fear that it will lead to uncoordinated hacking.  One only needs to look at
the IPC discussion to see where uncoordinated hacking is getting us.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape  ihnp4!pacbell -\
 \_ -_		Recumbent Bikes:	      dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac
O----^o	      The Only Way To Fly.	      hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack")
"Work FOR?  I don't work FOR anybody!  I'm just having fun."  -- The Doctor