VMD-L Mailing List

From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Wed Aug 08 2012 - 09:49:41 CDT

Hi,
  VMD supports a number of different 3-D projection methods.
By default, VMD uses the OpenGL video driver's built-in stereoscopic
display functionality. In the case of the NVIDIA Quadro drivers,
this covers almost any of the normal projection systems one is likely
to run into. Going beyond that, VMD also includes built-in support for
the side-by-side, above-below, and checkerboard style stereo formats
used by some manufacturers. The benefit of using the video driver
rather than the built-in VMD support is that the video driver will make
all display windows look correct on the projection system. If you end
up having to have VMD do the stereo for you without help from the video
driver, then you have to run the VMD OpenGL window full-screen or at
last "maximized" and any other non-OpenGL windows you might want to show
on the stereo display probably won't look right. So, to get the most
flexible solution, you're best off to try and obtain a good stereoscopic
GPU, and use the GPU's OpenGL driver software to run the projector(s) you
choose. We have been using the NVIDIA Quadro GPUs for many years and
they work well in our lab. We have used both quad-buffered frame-sequential
stereo projetors (e.g. Electrohome, Christie Mirage, etc), as well as low-cost
passive stereo projection systems (two off-the-shelf DLP projectors
mounted in a frame, with the NVIDIA drivers set for "clone mode" stereo).
Any of the new 3-D projectors that support 3-D Blu-Ray would likely
be compatible with the NVIDIA Quadro GPUs, so they might be a decent
low-cost option.

Cheers,
  John Stone
  vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu

On Tue, Aug 07, 2012 at 10:43:23PM -0300, Diego Gomes wrote:
> Dear list,
>
> we would like purchase a 3D projector for lab meetings and in an
> effort for popularization of science in public schools.
>
> Will you kindly recommend some compatible with VMD's stereo mode ?
>
> Thanks,
> Diego.
>
> --
> Prof. Diego Enry B. Gomes, PhD
> Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho
> 373 Avenida Carlos Chagas Filho, Sala D-30.
> 21941-902 Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil
> +55 21 2562.6507 | diego_at_biof.ufrj.br 

-- 
NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/           Phone: 217-244-3349
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/       Fax: 217-244-6078