It's so easy to make your own 3D glasses, you can create them right before watching a movie, when you realize that the glasses that came with your 3D DVD are gone! Before you start, make sure that your viewing uses the ancient red blue 3D technology. 3D technology with a more modern approach is also more difficult to make yourself, or more expensive than ordering the glasses online.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Making Red Blue 3D Glasses
Step 1. Create or reuse an eyeglass frame
The strongest option is to use regular glasses or cheap black from a drugstore or hardware store, removing the plastic lenses. At this point, you don't save too much money compared to buying ready-made 3D glasses. Therefore, many people prefer to use poster board paper, cardstock paper, or plain paper folded in half.
- Hard board paper such as oak tag will last longer than other paper options.
- Cutting and trimming eyeglass frames is fairly intuitive, but you can print, cut and replicate the following patterns on thicker paper if you wish.
Step 2. Cut a sheet of clear plastic to use as a lens
Almost any type of clear plastic sheet can be used. Regardless of your preference, cut out a shape slightly larger than the eye hole in the frame so you have enough room to attach it. Here are some of the many options available:
- Cellophane plastic, which is a thin and flexible plastic that is often used as a cover for the window covering of food wrappers, or the outer wrapper of CD boxes.
- Transparency sheet like to use for OHP (projector). You can buy it from the ATK shop.
- The hard CD case (jewel case) itself. This plastic should only be cut by an adult who is skilled enough because of the risk of the CD case breaking. Scrape the surface of the plastic repeatedly and thinly with a knife or general-purpose cutter until the marks are deep enough, then press gently to break the pieces.
- Sheets of acetate (also called acetate film) are available at art supply stores or theater/stage lighting stores. Generally this plastic is available in red and turquoise (cyan) so you can skip the coloring stage of the lenses.
Step 3. Color one of the lenses red and the other blue
Use a permanent marker to color one side of each lens. These glasses work best when you're using cyan instead of regular blue, but blue-inked markers are easier to find and should work pretty well.
- If the coloring looks uneven or inconsistent, smooth it out using your finger.
- The room should look darker when you look at it through the lens. If the room still looks well-lit, color the reverse side of the lens as well.
Step 4. Adhere the lenses to the eyeglass holes with tape
Red lenses for the eyes LEFT while blue is for the eyes RIGHT. Tape the lens to the frame, and make sure the tape doesn't cover the lens itself so you don't get a blurry image.
Step 5. Change the hue and tint settings on your monitor
Try putting on your glasses and viewing your 3D image. If you're looking at a TV or computer screen and don't see the 3D effect, change the hue and tint settings on the monitor until the blue on the screen becomes invisible through your right lens. This event should be clearly visible because the image will suddenly "jump" into 3D.
Step 6. Use glasses to view the blue and red 3D image
Anaglyph glasses are the earliest form of 3D image technology. Identical images are depicted once in red and once in cyan, with one of them shifted slightly. When viewed using glasses with lenses that have the same color, each eye can only detect images of the opposite color. Because your two eyes detect images that look the same from different angles, you will interpret them like real three-dimensional (3D) objects.
- Some 3D (not BluRay) DVDs and games featuring anaglyph or stereoscopic modes can work with these glasses. Do an online search for anaglyph videos and images to find more 3D content.
- Most TV and 3D movie theaters use different technologies. If a screen or 3D image contains colors other than red and blue, these glasses cannot help you.
Method 2 of 2: Using Other Types of 3D Glasses
Step 1. Learn polarized glasses
One type of 3D glasses that is often used in cinemas uses a polarized filter as a lens, and a special projector that can polarize light. Think of the polarizing filter as an elongated barred window: light made to have a vertical (polarized) orientation can pass through the bars and reach your eye, while light with a horizontal orientation cannot pass through the bars and is reflected away. With "grids" on each eye pointing differently, each eye captures a different image, and your brain interprets the two images as a single 3D image. In contrast to red and blue glasses, this image can contain an independent number of colors.
Step 2. Make your own polarized glasses
Making these types of glasses at home is likely more expensive than buying them, especially since cinema or TV shows that rely on this technology include glasses as well. However, if this project appeals to you, purchase a sheet of polarized plastic film that is "linearly polarized" or "plane polarized". Rotate the film 45° from the vertical, then cut it to form a lens. Then, rotate the sheet of film by 90° in either direction, then cut off the second lens. This is the most commonly used design, but you may need to rotate the lens while viewing a 3D image to see a working arrangement. Make sure that you rotate both lenses at the same time as you will need to make both lenses from film that have an orientation difference of exactly 90°.
In fact, the explanation of polarized light is more technical than the above. Modern 3D glasses usually use light with circular polarization, so the viewer does not need to keep his head still while watching. To make this type of lens at home, you will need one sheet of plastic polarizer coiled in a counterclockwise direction and one sheet of plastic polarizer oriented in a clockwise direction. The price is more expensive than the price of linear filter
Step 3. Understand synchronized glasses
Also known as "Active 3D", this technology uses a sophisticated design that cannot be replicated at home. To transmit a different image to each eye (which is the foundation of all 3D technology), the television monitor nimbly switches between two different images, repeatedly every second. The special glasses you wear are synchronized with the television, and each lens alternates between dark and light at exactly the same time, using a liquid crystal cell and an electrical signal. These glasses are considered one of the most effective 3D glasses for comfortable long-term use, but you can't make them in your own workspace, not to mention a television set programmed to sync with the glasses.
Tips
- If you're looking for a game to play with these red and blue glasses, try "Bioshock," "King's Bounty: Armored Princess," and "Minecraft."
- Decorate the glasses using available materials to make them unique.
- For a sturdier option, buy protective eyewear from a hardware store and color the existing lenses directly.
- In cinema, IMAX theaters use linear polarization, while RealD uses circular polarization, although this may change as the two try different options. Glasses for one system will not work in a theater using the other system.
Warning
- Don't wear glasses all the time; 3D glasses can cause headaches.
- Do not drive while wearing 3D glasses.
