VMD-L Mailing List

From: Christopher Neale (chris.neale_at_alum.utoronto.ca)
Date: Sat Aug 12 2017 - 11:29:49 CDT

Dear all:

I am excited about the VMD developments that permit interaction with the Occulus Rift (or similar VR tech), but the only text that I can find (copied below) is vague enough that I don't really understand the breadth of what can be done with VMD and the rift.

the site: http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/minitutorials/vrmovies/
has the text: One of the advanced features provided by VMD versions 1.9.3 and later is the ability to render omnidirectional stereoscopic 3-D images and movies, useful to create so-called "VR" movies on YouTube and for VR HMD movie players on devices such as GearVR, Oculus Rift, and others.

Am I right to understand that one has to first "render" an interactive world that can then later be interacted with via the rift (rotating and zooming the viewpoint interactively)? Or is this simply a stereoscipic movie?

Can the rift be used at all without extensive pre-rendering? If so, is it simply a passive steroscopic viewer or can it be more immersive?

Finally, since a stereoscopic view has two views, do I need two video cards, or just one?

Thanks for the help,
Chris.