The VideoLAN Forums

Hi everybody!
I'm new to the board and hope I'm posting in the right category

So here was my Problem:
I got a 3D side-by-side MKV-Movie but I only have a 2D TV - my question was how to get only the picture of the "left eye" in fullscreen with the right aspect ratio?

And after about an hour of playing around... that's how I solved it:

1. Start VLC (you don't have to play a video at this time)
2. Go to "Tools" -> "Preferences" (CTRL+P on Windows)
3. On the lower left corner choose "Show settings" -> "All"
4. On the left part of the settings window, scroll down and select "Video"
5. On the right part of the settings window, scroll down to "Source aspect ratio"
6. Type in the aspect ratio with the width doubled - for example 32:9 for a 16:9 video, or 8:3 for a 4:3 video...
7. Click "Save" and exit VLC
---Keep in mind that the changed aspect ratio will be saved for all your videos - remove it after watching 3D or your normal videos might seem to be a bit stretched ---
8. Start VLC and play your 3D video, pause somewhere at the start
9. If you don't already know, check your video resolution under "Tools" -> "Media Information" (CTRL+I on Windows) -> "Codec"
9. Go to "Tools" -> "Effects and Filters" (CTRL+E on Windows)
10. Go to "Video Effects" -> "Crop"
11. On "Right" type in the half of your horizontal pixels
for example: 1920x1080 ---> 1920/2 = 960 px or: 1280x720 ---> 1280/2 = 640 px
12. Click on "Close", hit "Play" and enjoy your movie in 2D ;D

I'm not sure if there's an easier way to solve this, but maybe I can help someone with this!

There is a easier way with wall filter.

There is a easier way with wall filter.

Wall filter only works in ver. 1.*.*
In ver. 2.*.* it's not working anymore...

it would be great if we can have this 3D SBS to 2D mode as a shortcut in the zoom or aspect ration menu, so that we can switch fast between the 2 modes.
it is a hassle to have to do all this work to watch a 3d movie (in 2d mode) ...specially when our library has mixed 3d and 2d content.
Maybe this can also be automated in VLC in future version....
Do you know how i can help build this into future versions? i have some limited programming knowledge

I'm a little surprised this is an issue with an otherwise excellent viewer. I tried the above-mentioned solution with no luck.

The ability to switch between modes or convert or SBS/3D to 2D should be almost automatic by now I would have thought.

corel windvd is theoretically supposed to support sbs 3d bluray and sbs 3d video files. i only mention it because it is hard to get 3d working in a simple way. i know it costs money and may not support every 3d movie because of codecs, but there you go.

on a side note, is bluray half sbs or full sbs?

I managed to fit it perfectly in my screen. The changes I made were the following:
•Changed aspect ratio to 32:9
• Opened video effects -Window>Video Effects (Cmnd+ E in Mac)
•In the tab "Crop" I set it to crop 960px from the right only. (My screen resolution is 1280x800)
VLC v2.0.5
Mac OS X lion 10.7.5

I hope this is useful. It took me a while to come up with this simple workaround. VLC should definitely include such option by default.
Regards

Is there not a plug in for VLC that will allow me to play the HSBS in Anaglyphic 3D Red/Cyan. If I can get this right I can convert all my HSBS files to Anaglyph to watch on my TV.

Does anyone know if there is a way to increase or decrease separation on a side-by-side 3d file in VLC player? Stereoscopic player has built in separation controls, but I can't seem to locate any on VLC. When I go into 3D mode on my TV, the 3d effect is blurry because the separation needs to be increased (I am using a LG 3DTV through my HTPC setup). The side by side images are too close together and it makes it unwatchable. Thanks.

I use bino to watch 3D SBS or TAB movies works SUPER (converts to Anaglyph all color modes and multiple tweakings possible) all os supported and FREE
http://www.bino3d.org

Board index ‹ VLC media player ‹ VLC media player Feature Requests:
[How-to] Watch 3D movies (e.g. mkv half-SBS) in 2D

I managed to fit it perfectly in my screen. The changes I made were the following:
•Changed aspect ratio to 32:9
• Opened video effects -Window>Video Effects (Cmnd+ E in Mac)
•In the tab "Crop" I set it to crop 960px from the right only. (My screen resolution is 1280x800)
VLC v2.0.5
Mac OS X lion 10.7.5

I hope this is useful. It took me a while to come up with this simple workaround. VLC should definitely include such option by default.
Regards

Hey this is wonderful! I was wondering how exactly did you change the aspect ratio to 32:9 though? Please let me know. Thanks

The aspect ratio can be changed by going into the preferences of the application, then click on the button that says "Show all" and then go into the Video settings. Scroll down a little and you should find source aspect ratio. Change this value and click "save".
Remember that this will change the aspect ratio for all the media you play. Reset all your settings before watching different content other that the SBS.

If there is something like "Custom aspect ratios list" in VLC on Mac, then use that option instead of "Source aspect ratio", so then you do not need to reset settings. You just choose the right AR in VLC menu if necessary: Video > Aspect Ratio > ...

The aspect ratio can be changed by going into the preferences of the application, then click on the button that says "Show all" and then go into the Video settings. Scroll down a little and you should find source aspect ratio. Change this value and click "save".
Remember that this will change the aspect ratio for all the media you play. Reset all your settings before watching different content other that the SBS.

Hi, I was reading your post and I am having a hard time finding what you say there. I have VLC Media Player 2.0.5 running on my MacBook Pro 13", and I have OS X 10.8.3, and if I go to Preferences - Show All - Video, there is no such "Source Aspect Ratio" option to manipulate. And if the movie is being played, the menu for source aspect ratio shows other ratios but no the 32:9. Could you show any screenshot of what you are posting? Thanks!

If I do this to a 1080p 3D movie, will it effectively make it half quality or 540p (if that even exists)?
I don't have a 3D screen or glasses, but would like to future-proof (as much as possible) my downloads by downloading 1080p 3D movies (as they seem to be the latest & greatest), but if it is halving the quality in my scenario, then I'll just stick to regular 1080p videos.

Thanks

It would make it 1080p, but half width.

The double-width aspect ratio (32:9, etc.) can be saved in VLC's Custom aspect ratios list (the fourth line below Source aspect ratio), which appears as an additional option in the Video drop-down list, once the video has begun playing. The Custom crop ratios list is located directly above Source aspect ratio, but I'm not sure if that can be used to store the 960 px right (or left) setting for easy selection after starting to play a video...

If I do this to a 1080p 3D movie, will it effectively make it half quality or 540p (if that even exists)?
I don't have a 3D screen or glasses, but would like to future-proof (as much as possible) my downloads by downloading 1080p 3D movies (as they seem to be the latest & greatest), but if it is halving the quality in my scenario, then I'll just stick to regular 1080p videos.

Thanks

1080p only really refers to the resolution of a movie, not it's actual quality. We tend to use it to refer to high quality movies because the higher resolution means your can expect a higher data rate and therefore a better picture. If you take a 1080p HSBS movie, cut off one of the sides, and stretch it to the right aspect ratio then it'll still be a 1080p movie because the half you're watching is still 1920x1080. As long as the movie has a pretty high bit rate it'll still look fine.


I made VLC command line shortcuts with the right aspect and cropping for each 3D movie I have (on Windows). That way I don't have to set it each time.

I found this method and its much quicker and easier.

Tools, Effects and filters, Video effect tab, Use the the scroll bar and go right to advanced, check anaglyph 3d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b26FIZ2mZXQ

I wrote shader for direcx. To use it save code as sbs.hlsl file, go to Tools->Preferences switch Show settings to All and in Video->Output modules->Direct3D check Use hardware blending support, set Pixel Shader to HLSL File and set correct Path to HLSL file. Next restart VLC.
To switch SBS L-R to U-D comment "newCoords = float2(In.Texture.x / 2.0, In.Texture.y); //SBS LEFT RIGHT" by adding "//" before the line and uncomment "// newCoords = float2(In.Texture.x, In.Texture.y / 2.0); //SBS UP DOWN" by removing "//"

To watch normal movies just set Pixel Shader to Disabled