Yes. This can be done in PD but I didn't see any posts about it when I did a quick forum search, and most online results were for paid apps.

I did a little more research and found that it's actually very simple. Assuming that you've got the cameras mounted and aimed properly, here are the steps:

1. Rename the clips before importing to make sure you don't accidentally swap them. Use something with L and R in them


2. Place the (first 2) L and R clips anywhere on the timeline, select both, then click on Sync by audio


3. Trim as desired, then place the synced pair in the desired timeline location


4. Open the L clip in PiP Designer and change the following 3 settings, then click OK to save and exit. It should looked squished in half horizontally, like this:


5. 


6. Open the R clip in the PiP Designer, and make the identical changes EXCEPT set Position X to 750


7. Produce the synced clips to the same Standard 2D output profile your source clips are, such as 1920x1080 30p.


8. Drag the newly produced clip to the timeline, right click and select Set Clip Attributes, then Set 3D Source Format...


9. Choose Side by Side format, then click OK:


10. 


11. Set PD's 3D timeline viewer for Auto Detect, or your preferred viewing mode:


12. 


13. You can now edit, add titles and do everything to finish your 3D masterpiece


14. Finally, produce your full 3D clip using one of the 3D produce profiles. Be sure to use the Side-by-Side Half Width (L/R) option

Note that these are the exact same steps if you ever need to make an over/under 3D video, only instead of setting the Width scale to 0.5x, set the Height to 0.5x and use 0.250 and 0.750 for the Position Y controls. Also set the correct 3D source format for the produced clip.

I've also created a test project with crude hand-held test clips and the produced output. You can download it from this OneDrive folder, and even drag your own clips onto the existing L and R clips on the timeline.

Simply choose replace each time, and your clips will be automatically formatted the correct way, and the only thing you'll need to do is drag the right edge of each clip out all the way so the full duration is visible.

At that point, do the Sync by audio step and you'll be good to go!

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Thank you for the great explanations, i try by myself your method (with try and error i fund that we need first to export into 2D format [Produce/ Standard 2D] (not export into 3D format, if we export into 3D format we have 4 images at place of 2 side-by-side).

PowerDVD play fine in 3D, this file, by selecting "VR Glasses icon / 3D Source Format / 3D Side by Side Format"

I'm glad it worked for you!

Also, thanks for pointing out that I didn't specify that the combined clip needs to be produced with a Standard 2D profile. I've updated the instructions to show that, and added the final step of producing the full project to 3D.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

[Update, please see my next post , i fund a method to merge/combine independent L/R pictures and save-it as a unique 3D picture with PowerDirector 16/17]

Unfortunately this method only "work" for videos (by importing the Left and Right clips) and exporting-it with [Produce/Standard 2D] features.
For 3D photos this didn't work(by importing the Left and Right photos if you take 3D pictures, with 2 cameras) and try to combine/merge and save-it as a unique 3D pictures[MPO/JPG/JPS]. The only option for the moment is to export as video file.

Also with this method i didn't find how to adjust the parallax(of the Left/Right clip), before exporting the clip. [This feature is only available if you import native 3D videos/3D photos.]

So for the moment you need to export as it, then you need to import the clip and go in [Fix / Enhance, 3D Orientation, and ajust the Horizontal/Vertical slides for adjust the parallax/missalignement of the two frames of the 3D clip/3D photo]

Misalignement fix for the Left/Right image of Native 3D content

Your post was asking how to merge two independent clips using PD, and I showed how that can be done. It's a two step process, and obviously you can't use the Fix / Enhance > 3D Alignment tool until after you've created the new 3D clip from the two individual source clips.

Also, I'm not sure why you're expecting PD to create 3D pictures. It's a video editor, and all of the 3D producing options are for video clips, not still images. You can use a 3rd party app to create 3D MPO files.

ok i fund a method to merge 2 images (Left + Right) and export-it as a unique 3D picture with PowerDirector 16/17. [This method include also adjusting the misalignment of the two images before exporting]

This method apply if you take 3D Stereo pictures, with 2 cameras (like with 2 x Canon Powershot cameras with SDM installed for synchronisation, which take 2 separate mono pictures Left & Right of the same scene)


Method#1 (So-So quality)

1 First import the Left and Right images on the PowerDirector timeline.
2. Apply the steps (1 to 6) descripted by: optodata (by applying apropriate resizing fit(squish in half horizontally the two images Left & Right) in PD "PIP Designer"
3. Close the "PiP Designer"
[Now, make sure the "3D preview" is not activated, it must be "Standard 2D Preview" if not, it will not work.]
4. Take a "Snapshot" and save-it as a .Jpg image
5. Import the saved image(.jpg) on PowerDirector timeline, right-click-on, Set Clip Attribute, Set 3D Source Format, Side-by-side format.
6. Enable "3D preview, Anaglyph Red\Cyan"
7. Then, open "PiP Designer" and disable: "Maintain aspect ratio" then , resize the picture (Stretch the image horizontally to fill the entire screen), then click OK.
8. open, "Fix/ Enhance" enable "3D Orientation" and adjust the 3D Parallax/Misalignement of the two images(Horinzontal/Vertical), then, close the window.
9. Take a "Snapshot", this will save your image with .MPO extension
10. Finish, NOW, PowerDVD or any 3D capable player can show it correctly.


Method#2 (Best quality)

HIGHTER QUALITY 3D STEREO PICTURES
How to make 3D STEREO PICTURE with PowerDirector16/17 and MS Paint, if you have 2 separate files (Left and Right images) from the same scene.

1 - open MS Paint
2 - click on "Resize"/Pixels/uncheck Mantain aspect ratio" and double the horizontally size of your picture: "3840 x 1080 pixels" if your Left side picture are 1920 x 1080p. (1920 x 2 = 3840 pixels wide)
3 - click on "PAST" (and import your Left picture in Paint), next, click again on "PAST" (and import your Right picture and align-it at the right side). Now you will have a 3D side by side unique picture, but missaligned.
Next you need to save-it as an uncompressed image (BMP format) and import-it in PowerDirector16/17 to edit the image missalignement/colors/etc.
4 - open PowerDirector and import "exemple.BMP" image, right-click on your image(on timeline) and Set Clip attributes/Set 3D source format/Side by side format, next click on "3D" icon(under your image) and select Anaglyph Red/Cyan.
5 - open Fix/Enhance, 3D Orientation, and adjust manually the image misalignement to avoid windows violation, adjust colors etc, next click on "camera icon - take a snapshot of the video" and save your image as a 3D Stereo MPO image.
Done.

For some reason, this method give highter quality results without visible quality loss of your originals (L/R) pictures, and the "3D Stereo Picture" obtained by this method is much more sharper/clear and have more depth.


I hope this will help

Quote I hope this will help

Thank you for writing up the steps for making 3D snapshots! I'm glad you got it working and shared your technique here.