mkv 3D side by side to normal 3D

[slayer_of_all]

Don't know if I'm in the right section to ask this, if not sorry. But here is my question, I have an mkv 720 side by side 3D movie that I want to convert to the 3D format that is out now, the 3D format that is in movie theaters (sorry I don't know what its called). Can anyone help me with this?


Thanks

[imhh1]

Hi,
no you can't go from sbs to regular 3D bluray format (packframed 3D). But the 3D effect is pretty much the same with a SBS 3D mkv, the difference is the resolution.

[slayer_of_all]

That sucks, so what I would have to use paper glasses to watch it? Or the glasses? Or will it work in a 3D player?

[imhh1]

yes it will work on any 3D tv with 3d glasses .
just turn on the side by side mode.
and if your bluray player can play mkv files it will work .

[Cornucopia]

@imhh1, you aren't being that helpful if you give incomplete (or false, in one case*) information.

@slayer_of_all, you need to first understand that there is a difference between how a stereo3D file is recorded/stored, how it is transmitted, and how it is displayed/viewed.

Movie theatres (RealD, mostly) store their files as separate L and R view Jpeg2000 picture sequences. Their playout server combines those into alternating frames (aka "frame sequential") for transmission via Dual-link HD-SDI to the projector, while at the same time it syncs the Z-screen polarizer lens/filter (in front of the projector) to alternate between Clock-wise & Counter-clock-wise circular polarization states, in tandem with the accompanying picture view. You wear Circ. Pol. glasses and it shows alternating L+R images.

You 3DTV doesn't use a RealD projector, so you wouldn't want it to display that way (there are a few consumer RealD and/or frame-sequential projectors out there, but we'll discard those for now). Consumer 3DTVs display either via Active LCD from TV-generated frame-sequential, or via Alternating Line circular polarization ("FPR" = "Film Pattern Retarder"). The former uses LC shutterglasses (with battery power), the latter uses Circ. Pol. glasses, just like the theatres do (so you can actually use them at home if the angle of polarization is a close enough match, which it often is).

TVs get their transmitted source (usually) via HDMI, which can format the stereo3D signal in a number of different ways. The most common is Frame-packed (not "pack frame"), which gives Full HD 3D at 24p framerates and 720p at 60p framerates (very few other frame-packing options). It can also transmit formatted as SbS, or as TaB, or as Alternating Line/Row (similar to interlaced), or sometimes as Alternating column or as Checkerboard (alternating row & column).
If given an HDMI signal in one of those formatting modes, where the 3D signalling info is present, your TV should automatically switch to the appropriate mode. However, very few playback devices support the full range of modes, so it is often the case where ONLY the frame-packed mode also transmits the 3D SEI signalling. All else will require you to manually engage the 3D and choose which format.

99+% of 3D blu-ray players output frame-packed mode. They are converting what is present on the 3D blu-ray disc to that format at the player's output.
The 3D blu-ray disc itself stores the stereo3D picture as MVC-encoded video (AVC-compatible main stream+MVC-only-compatible dependent stream, wrapped in MPEG-TS container as M2TS & SSIF files - you need BOTH). The dependent stream houses the "difference" between the main view (L?) and the 2nd view (R?).

*YES, it is quite possible and not uncommon to convert from SbS to MVC (with subsequent authoring to 3D blu-ray). Vegas Pro does that all the time, as do others (PowerDirector, and Multi-AVCHD, IIRC).

********************************

So, if you WANT to create a 3D title that is intended to play in a 3D blu-ray player, you HAVE to store as MVC, even if your source material is already SbS. Plus, it will need to be authored, burned, etc. This will make it universally playable in 3D (with 3DBD and equivalent players), but there will be a quality loss due to the reformatting & re-encode.

If you just want your 3D title to be playable in 3D on your 3DTV, leave it as is and manually engage the SbS 3D mode on your TV. This will avoid the time/expense and quality loss of a re-encode. But you won't be able to guarantee that it will be playable on anything but your own system (even that might be problematic, depending upon your choice of player and your source container+codecs).

Scott