YouTube Now Offers 2D to 3D Video Conversion

In a YouTube blog post, the video sharing website has announced it has launched a 2D – 3D conversion tool (beta).

YouTube already offers a facility to convert side by side videos (left and right) into a range of 3D formats via the yt3d:enable=true tag but now regular 2D videos can be retrospectively converted to 3D.

The process is simple. You select a video which you would like to convert from 2D to 3D. On its public viewing page you need to click on the icon “EDIT INFO” above your video. You will then find a 3D VIDEO icon to the right. Clicking on that will bring up two options – Single Image in Frame (normal video) and Two Images in the Same Frame (3D video). If you are converting a 2D video you are most likely to need to select the first option.

YouTube will then create a 3D version of your selected video whilst saving your original 2D masterpiece. After saving changes, the process will happen in the background. Once the processing has been completed, the original video will remain in tact but a 3D icon will appear underneath offering the same 3D viewing options as a natively shot (side by side) 3D video accept a text icon says "Converted to 3D".

It’s a fun feature and definitely worth checking out. YouTube point out that the quality is not as good as the results obtained with two cameras. There are several 2D to 3D conversion software products already on the market for home users but YouTube will now allow people to try conversion for free. This feature is currently in a Beta stage and converted 3D videos don’t currently display in 3D on the HTML5 player or mobile players. This affects users of NVIDIA 3D Vision, and 3D mobile phones.

Recently, YouTube also launched YouTube 3D Video Creator - a tool that combines a left and right image from two cameras, useful for those who want to produce a good 3D effect of objects/landscapes far away that the integrated 3D cameras currently can't handle due to their fixed interocular lens distances.

YOUTUBE 2D TO 3D CONVERSION TEST

The following video will give you an idea of the quality of the 2D – 3D conversion. It is certainly not the best we have seen, as it mainly pushes the scene into the positive plane and the flying Sony camera does not appear separate from any of the screen elements. You decide … (You will need to click on the video title to be taken to the YouTube page for the 3D viewing options).

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