How to create stereoscopic screenshots for debugging VR

[ghoder]

The current beta 1.01 has some VR bugs and often it is hard to describe the bugs that we see in VR. As another forum member pointed out, it is possbile to create stereoscopic screenshots that show the images of both, the left and right eye channels using e.g. the Oculus Debug Tool. When debugging VR, a stereo picture can be worth a thousand words and may help frontier staff to identify and fix the issue.

Here is a method for creating stereo images that works for me using Oculus Rift.

1. I do not use Steam VR but start Elite from the usual launcher.
2. Once Elite is up and running, I open the Oculus Debug tool that I find here:
C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-diagnostics\
3. Next I open the menue entry Tools->Mirror. A window pops up showing both eye channels with distortion.
4. If one does not like the view, you can right-click into that window and choose the entry "both eyes".
5. Capturing the window with the usual method (PrintScr) does not work for me for some reason. So I use the GIMP to capture the content of the debug window.
6. In GIMP I choose File->Create->Screenshot and choose "Record a single window"
7. I drag the crosshair to the selected window and a the content of the window appears in the GIMP for further processing.

Here are some example shots showing several current VR bugs:

Dislocation of the blue blobs in the FSS.

Black pixelated bar in the FSS.

Ghost shadows of planet and cockpit in DSS.

Different light sources for surface structures in the left and right channel.

If you have an easier method or are using another method for your system, let us know. Cheers!

 

[Chromezero]

Thanks for sharing this. With the Vive, we have a "mirror screen" option which shows the images sent to the headset. You should be able to use a simple "Print Screen" to capture the image, then save it like you normally would. In any event, it's interesting to see the bugs you've identified here.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

This is superb

So easy to see the issues!

Great stuff

 

[Avago Earo]

ghoder, I hope you have put these screenshots up on the bug reporting forum. There is a thread describing these very issues and I think your pictures illustrate them perfectly.

 

[ghoder]

ghoder, I hope you have put these screenshots up on the bug reporting forum. There is a thread describing these very issues and I think your pictures illustrate them perfectly.

Yes, the images are also on the bug report subforum.

 

[Nagual]

Thanks for sharing this. With the Vive, we have a "mirror screen" option which shows the images sent to the headset. You should be able to use a simple "Print Screen" to capture the image, then save it like you normally would. In any event, it's interesting to see the bugs you've identified here.

I've tried this, and it only outputs a single image.

edit... Found the menu..

 

[sgurr]

Thanks for this ghoder, now I just need to figure out how to do this with a WMR device.

Good shots of some of the problems.

 

[Micha]

Awesome, thanks for the info! It will indeed make VR bug-reporting better.

PSA:

The Windows "Snipping Tool" is a fantastic screenshot tool which can capture the entire screen, a window, or an arbitrary section, and is already installed on Windows. It can also be used to make minor annotations on the screen shots similar to OP's.