3D Lenticular Print from Stereo Image

Hi everyone,

I recently purchased some 60lpi 3D (non flip) 5x7 sheets to make some test prints from my Fuji W3. I am using Stereo Photo Maker to create the interlaced image, and I am trying to understand a few things.

1) I am printing at 720dpi on an epson printer. At this resolution, I have 12 pixels under each lens on the 60 lpi sheet.

2) For a 2 image lenticular there are 6 pixels from the left image and 6 pixels from the right image... this looks ok.

3) I did a pitch test as defined here : http://www.vicgi.com/blog/2012/12/12/lenticular-pitch-test-using-photoshop/ . My test image used alternating 6 pixels of black and six pixels of white... all looked good at 100%.

I was able to create one image that has a subtle 3d effect, which is much stronger when viewed with other methods. The lenticular print has a 3d effect, but it is harder to see than I expected.

I experimented with the trial of Triaxes, and the output was more "interesting" than just 2 images. The problem is the depth maps are very poor, and I don't really have the time and skills to fix them. I tried a few other methods of creating depth maps, and they all had major issues with my test photos.

Do any of the experts here have any suggestions for getting better effect from a stereo pair? This is just for my own personal use, and I'm not looking to invest anything over $100 for software.

Thanks! - Sean

Thanks threed123!  I'll try this out. I was actually trying to do the exact opposite, trying to get perfect alignment, like i would for using an optical side by side viewer. I'll give it a shot and post my experience. - Sean

I have made a few prints so far and here are my initial impressions :

• Bright Backgrounds make for lots of ghosting... avoid bright sky, clouds, etc
• I'm not sure if it has to do with aligning the lens with the image, or just the way the lenses work, but the best auto-stereoscopic 3d effect always seems to come when viewing the final images from off angle... straight on viewing where I would prefer the effect, seems to not work.
• One image I printed from the La Brea Tar Pits, of a skull in the mud has the best 3d effect overall... it is very monotone brown tone, and the depth of the image from front to back is probably just a few feet.
• The photos that seem to work best seem to be when subject is in foreground, and background is a flat plane ( a wall etc). Busy images with objects with large 3d separation in the background (IE. people,trees etc) tend to show too much ghosting. 

It's been an interesting experiment, and I have a better handle on what type of images will work from the W3-3D so it will save time avoiding images that are too "Busy"

If I could easily create super accurate depth maps from a stereo pairs, I would try with other types of images... not really looking for a new camera rig or solution at this point.

Thanks to everyone that offered comments and input! - Sean