Since my last post regarding how people are doing 3D "wrong", I've done some research, and I've even altered how I play my own 3D games.
Don't mistake me... they're still doing it wrong, just differently than I had originally guessed. My original theory had been that the images for each eye were too far apart. In a very few cases, this still holds true, but in most cases it isn't, as least as far as "deep" effects go.
Long story short, in order to make something appear to be very far away, the separation between the images should be approximately 60cm. This is the average distance between the eyes of a normal person. If the images are 60cm apart, the eyes basically look straight ahead, rather than converging on the monitor that's only two or three feet away.
I've actually increased my 3D settings in most games to match this. That mountain range off in the distance now really appears to be far away. Shallower settings can still provide a level of "depth", but at the cost of immersion.
Since then, I've also discovered what the real problem is with those videos I see on YouTube. It's what's referred to technically as "negative parallax", or in layman's terms, "pop-out"; the effect of something coming out of the screen at the viewer. While this can be very effective in certain situations, in most cases this is the part that comes across as a "gimmick".
Let's examine a couple of examples. I saw a video posted on AVS forum by a user who photographed a flying quadrotor drone in 3D. At certain points in the video, when the drone was only a few feet away from the camera, there was some negative parallax. At several points during the video, I held my hand out toward the screen, and by god, that drone looked like it was absolutely floating directly above my hand. Really amazing stuff.
The problem with some users and games is knowing where to draw the line. I've seen some videos that have almost exclusively negative parallax, where everything is "popping out" of the screen at me. Things like characters, horses, and buildings. These are massive objects, there's no way they can be in front of my 23" monitor that's only a few feet away.
It turns out that's the part that was frustrating to watch.. my eyes were telling me that the objects were closer, while my brain was balking at the idea, insisting that they must be further away. It's similar to what happens when you view 3D content with the left/right eyes reversed (I don't recommend it, by the way, it's incredibly disorienting).
This is the reason why most filmmakers choose the "window" approach. Where almost nothing ever gets closer than screen distance from the audience. Where everything you see is further away from you. This is how I've chosen to play my games, and even at very high depth settings (but not higher than my eyes can handle), the result is extremely immersive and a truly amazing way to play. But as soon as I start pushing the convergence point further out in order to get some of that "pop-out", the effect is ruined. It also muddles with the sense of scale.
So you're still all doing it wrong.. just set your convergence at screen depth. That doesn't mean you won't ever get any pop-out, it just means that when it does happen, it'll be something that's actually supposed to be only a foot or so away from your face. It'll make you suddenly jump back, and then you'll smile and say "that was cool..."
