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3D Stereo Graphics for Macs?
goombah99 asks: " I'm trying to view protein molecular models in 3D in my Mac OS X equipped office. I've demo-ed StereoGraphics CrystalEyes glasses and could not get them to work: I tried them with both a G4 (ATI rage 128 pro graphics adapter) and with a 800MHz Powerbook G4 with an external CRT. I've considered the NuVision (AKA MacNaughten) passive display system but it wont work with my preferred Molecular Graphics application PyMOL, which uses a 'blue-line' frame synchronizer rather than an 'over/under' synchronizer or Quad-buffer scheme. PyMOL is hardware accelerated so provides nicely rendered and shaded molecular images. Then there's the question of what graphics card to use--preferably one that does not require special drivers (that could break on an OS upgrade). I've tried several discussion groups but without success. Can anyone provide a success story for viewing molecular graphics in 3D on a Mac? Can anyone discuss the merits of different schema (blue line, quad buffer, stereo-ready card, etc), and suggest other molecular graphics programs for Mac OS X."
just tried the Gforce 2 from Nvidia. (stock card in the G4 I tested) this also did not activate the CrystalEyes Emitter.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I don't think I can.
But I bet that Apple can. Try calling 800-MY-APPLE and ask to talk to someone about high end 3D. I mean, if they can make 3D annimated movies on a Mac, surely...
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
For $1000-2000 you could have a decently fast computer that you won't have ANY difficulty running 3D applications with 3d goggles.
(This will of course be modded down as troll)
BUT if you are sharing this application with others, it may be worthwhile to set up a "shared" computer that can deal with things that are a pain in the butt at your Mac oriented office.
~foooo
I use mac spartan. It uses the old fashioned red/green glasses but works pretty well.
Jeff
...but it seems to be a special version of the CrystalEyes product. According to the Q&A page, you need a Radeon or geForce card; Rage is not supported. You also need a plain ole CRT display as opposed to one of the spiffy new LCD ones.
What Would the Fab Five Do?
3D Stereo on VMD should work on Mac. Please visit VMD's website for more information.
VDM? link please?
Having written stereo code for a molecular graphics program, UCSF chimera, I really want quad-buffered stereo in a window so my program can present a modern GUI and a stereo image at the same time. I don't like blue-line stereo because it is for full screen stereo and that screws up the GUI. Unfortunately for the Mac, I know of no graphics cards that support quad-buffered stereo. We have asked Apple about it and they are "considering" it. Please keep pressuring Apple to add quad-buffered stereo support -- it will only happen if Apple does it because Apple writes its own graphics card drivers. In the mean time, check out the micropol displays from Vrex. We have preliminary support for them in chimera and I'm sure you could get Warren Delano to add support to pymol.
Came with a set if IR synced LCD shutter glasses, and handled any program which used OpenGL.
www.Formac.com
formac's web page does not list video cards anymore. And what do you mean any program which used openGL: was it blue line or over/under or something else.
Forward, retransmit, or republish anything I say here. Just don't misquote me.
SGI stereo-capable displays are hellacheap on eBay. I got a 20-inch monitor for $189.
SGI is losing ground, but they still own the visualization market...for good reason.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Have a look at this Q and A
http://www.macinchem.fsnet.co.uk/Macosx/Stereo for mac Q and A.doc.sit
Yee must remove thy Eye Patch befor using them "Threee Deee" Glassess.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
okay so what brand of eyewear were they using? will a geforce 2 or 3 work too if alreadyhave one? what are the advantages of different stereo modes...etc.. all good questions.
Why don't you just code (or pay a PyMOL developer to code) an extension to PyMOL to support whatever hardware device and stereographic method that is convenient for you on the platform of your choice?
Macs are gay? HILARIOUS!
I wonder what other comedy gold you have in your repetoire? Women are bad drivers? 7-11 workers can't speak English? No wait, I got it: doctors have bad handwriting!!!
What are you doing posting on Slashdot? You should be doing standup right now!
I've been able to get stereo to work with pymol using the StereoGraphics setup and the Stereo Enhanced Version of Pymol; I was using a beta version of Pymol. Version 0.88 now has stereo support (but I have not tried this version).
NuVision does not at the present time have a pass through that works correctly....I did get their emittor to work using the StereoGraphics pass through.
All of the work was done on a 1 GHz PowerBook with external CRT that can do above 100 MHz.
For Pymol and other programs to work they have to have the capability to put the system into Full Screen mode (with Blue line windowing does not work).
Pymol performed great under this setup.
Please give more details on the emitter swindle your pulling here. I prefer the NuVision prices and have in mind getting the screen (passive mode) instead of the active goggles. if you could speculate on that too that would be nice. what graphics card are you using.
I've used the Formac Performance3 (Permedia) card with the glasses it comes with. The card is hopelessly outdated now so it's not installed in my box anymore but it worked flawlessly with ANY OpenGL program that was running. I'm not sure if Formac has a current card that will support the glasses, but you can check. If not, then you could always just buy one of the cards off of ebay or something since it would probably be good enough to drive the things that you are doing if you are currently using a Rage128.
;)
Unreal looked nice in 3D, although it does tend to get you sick after a long time of playing.
LCDs are not going to be able to refresh fast enough for shutter glasses like the CrystalEyes. You will need to have a monitor that has a refresh rate of at least 100Hz.
I've worked with the CrystalEyes products in an SGI CAVE setting for quite sometime and they are a fine product. You should be able to get some information from them as to why your setup isn't working.
I've found a solution that's likely better. I've never heard of this "Blue line" method. but it supposedly works with anything using frame-alternated, line alternated or side-by-side/over-under methods:
http://www.stereo3d.com/displays.htm
Several companies have started making a nifty new kind of flat panel display that does polyscopy without headgear, eyestrain or sync ports. this is done by the use of a lentographic prism. as is used in premium video covers, so-called "Holographic" pack-ins from cereal boxes and so-forth. I hear it gives incredible looking results. but the displays are expensive(The cheapest one I know of is the $1700 2015XLS from DTI. which is also the one I'm most likely to buy) so I likely won't touch them until I actually see one in action.
While the aforementioned DTI unit uses a serial cable and some software on Windows PCs to control whether it's in monoscopic or stereoscopic mode, which stereoscopic mode it's in and such. front-panel controls allow other machines(Anything with one or more of the three supported stereoscopic output formats). how exactly does one get any OpenGL or RAVE application to cough up stereoscopic output on a Mac?
I've used the Formac card(Which. for the original poster. is actually a bit faster than the Rage 128) in my old 6500(It's currently driving the secondary on my G4). but is there some kind of software to do this with faster(I.E.: AGP) 3D cards on a Mac?
Furthermore. has anyone seen one of these autostereo displays in action?
Eric